Creating and Embedding the widget
Pidgin - Technical Instructions
1. Setting the Pidgin for uniform login and settings/ centralized logging
2. Configuring Pidgin to work with Meebome

I would put an example of what I'm talking about here, but PBWiki seems to have some issues with styles/scripts, so the widget on this page will either show me as online or offline and not switch to L-Net.

Creating and Embedding the widget

Creating the widget

Depending on which Widget you decide to go with, the creation instructions are different for each one. All of them eventually give you a line or so of code which you can cut and paste into your web page(s). My only caveat is with Pluggoo - IF you want your page to switch between Pluggoo and another VR service (as described below) Plugoo should be configured using you AIM/AOL account.

Creating a seperate window (or link that opens one) for the widget

If you use Plugoo, this is a non issue, as it has a great built-in "un-dock" feature. If you go the MeeboMe route, it becomes crucial, otherwise your patron must stay on the same page (and use the same tiny IM window) throughout your entire session. To resolve this issue, I used a javascript library some bright person created - with a few modifications.

Since we had the widget already embeded, I just wanted a link that would enable people to open an independent window so, after saving the javascript to an appropriate directory I added the following 2 lines to the include file that shows up on all of our webpages:

1) At the top: <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.wou.edu/provost/library/scripts/meebome_lib.js"></script>

2)Where I wanted the link to show up: <div align="left"><a href="javascript:launch_meebome('2')">Open larger &<br>unconnected IM window</a></div>

The creator of the javascript library gives directions for how to make this a non-javascript link (if you are adding it on MySpace, Blogger, or another hosted site that doesn't allow scripting in links) but it flashes and automatically closes a new window, which is distracting and, since our site dosen't block these actions, I chose to use the javascript link to keep it simple for our patrons.

I've tested this configuration with 4 browsers (Firefox PC& MAC, IE 7, and Safari), with pop-up blockers on and off, and with security settings from low to high and haven't run into any problems, so am fairly confident in it for now.

Configuring an automatic switch between a widget and a VR service

Caleb Tucker-Raymond did some great instructions on this. Below are the customizations I've done for WOU's set up (this is the in case I'm hit by a bus contingency). If you don't read Caleb's guide, the one thing you will need to obtain before using the following code is a key for AIM.

Two pieces are needed on each page the widget changover happens on:

1. The CSS styles and javasript to check AIM presence (cut and paste this into the "head" of your html/php/etc. page):

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://o.aolcdn.com/aim/web-aim/aimapi.js"></script>

<script type="text/javascript">

     AIM.widgets.presence.launch();

   </script>



<style>

#lnetlink .AIMPresenceWidget_online

{ display: none; }

#lnetlink .AIMPresenceWidget_away

{ display: none; }

#widget .AIMPresenceWidget_offline

{ display: none; }

#lnetbusy .AIMPresenceWidget_online

{ display: none; }

#lnetbusy .AIMPresenceWidget_offline

{ display: none; }

#AIMBuddyListContainer

{ display: none; }

</style>

2. The widget(s). Cut and paste this into the point on your page at which you would like to have your widget appear/switch with the L-Net (or other) link:

<div id="widget">

<div class="aolbar">

<div id="AIMBuddyListContainer" wim_key="WOU's key here"> </div>

<div class="AIMPresenceWidget Our username">

<div align="center">





<ul>

<li><div align="left"><a href="javascript:launch_meebome('2')">Open larger &<br>unconnected IM window</a></div></li>

<br>

<li><div align="left"><a href="http://www.wou.edu/provost/library/research/reference.php">Other IM options</a></div></li>

</ul>

</div> <!-- Closes the center alignment -->

</div> <!-- Closes the AIMPresenceWidget section-->

</div> <!-- Closes aolbar section-->

</div> <!-- Closes the widget section-->

<!-- this is a section I added to appear when our status changes to Away (configured in Pidgin to automatically happen after a few minutes of mouse/keyboard inactivity) or Busy -->

<div id="lnetbusy">

<div class="aolbar">

<div id="AIMBuddyListContainer" wim_key="WOU's key here"> </div>

<div class="AIMPresenceWidget Our username">

<span style="color : #CCCC99;">If WOULibrary is busy, try <a href="http://www.oregonlibraries.net/academic">L-Net</a> for assistance 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.</span>

<p> </p>

</div> <!-- Closes the AIMPresenceWidget section-->

</div> <!-- Closes aolbar section-->

</div> <!-- Closes the lnetbusy section-->

<div id="lnetlink">

<div class="aolbar">

<div id="AIMBuddyListContainer" wim_key="WOU's key here"> </div>

<div class="AIMPresenceWidget Our username">

<a href="http://www.oregonlibraries.net/academic"><img src="http://www.wou.edu/provost/library/website/images/logos/l-net%20119x87.gif" alt="l-net online reference" width="119" height="87" border="0" align="left" class="photo_noborder" style="background-color:#FFFFFF; vertical-align: top" /></a>

<p>             </p>

<p><a href="http://www.oregonlibraries.net/academic">L-net</a> <span style="color : #CCCC99;">provides reference service when WOU

librarians are unavailable. L-net is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.<br />

              <a href="http://www.oregonlibraries.net/email">Email reference help</a>

              is another option.</span></p>

              <p><a href="http://www.oregonlibraries.net/">More about L-net</a>.</p>

</div> <!-- Closes the AIMPresenceWidget section-->

</div> <!-- Closes aolbar section-->

</div> <!-- Closes the lnetlink section-->

Pidgin - Technical Instructions

If you decide to use MeeboMe and don't want to use Meebo as your IM client, the next best alternative (and the one we use at WOU) is Pidgin.

The latest version of Pidgin is available on their site. Download it and follow the initial instructions to install.

When Pidign is initially installed, it will install with all of its settings in the directory belonging to whomever is logged in at the time, meaning that all settings (accounts, buddies, preferences, etc.) are only available to that person. The following will help you set up a "shared" install of Pidgin.

Setting the Pidgin for uniform login and settings/ centralized logging

(Thanks to the UNC Chapel Hill Libraries for much of the detail in this section.)

Pidgin actually runs on "purple" so I apologize for the terminology switches in this section - once you have it set up, it is easier just to refer to the whole thing as Pidgin, but purple is a must-know term in the configuration process!

To make sure that everyone logs in using the same information and to save transcripts/logs in a centralized location, you will need to set an environment variable. Pidgin will also store all of its settings at this location, along with the logs. If you don't do this, each individual user will need to configure the IM accounts you use (including MeeboMe) and the logs will be stored in various places (kind of a pain if you're using them fo usage statistics or monitoring the type of questions you get).

The environment variable must be called PURPLEHOME. Enter a file path to specify where logs will write. For example, we use the purplehome variable:

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\pidgin

This variable can be set manually or through a registry edit that can be called in the login scripts of those who need access to transcripts (talk to your systems folks about this one). This way, default settings return with each login.

To set the environment variable manually:

Right-click on My Computer

Go to Properties --> Advanced tab

Click Environment Variables button

In System Variables (lower box), set a variable called purplehome with its Value being the path to the desired location (Example: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\pidgin).

To make the registry edit (alternate method for the very technically savvy) :

Create a text file ending in *.reg (for instance, pidgin.reg). Inside the text file, paste the following text. To run the registry edit, double-click the text file, or call it from a login script. Of course, change the purplehome location to suit your needs.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlSession ManagerEnvironment] 
"purplehome"="I:apps/pidgin"

Once the variable is set (using either method), copy the files that contain Pidgin's settings to the location you specified. Do this so that, when Pidgin opens, it can find account settings, populate its buddy list, etc.

Highlight and copy the entire directory to your centralized location

i.e go to c:\documents and settings\username\application data\ and find the ".purple" folder. Copy this to your new location.

Your new directory of Pidgin transcripts and settings will then include (at minimum) the following folders and files:

logs

icons

smileys

blist.xml

accounts.xml

WOU used option 1 and saved our settings to the All Users profile on the C drive. At some point in the future, we may move it to a network drive (at least the data is backed up if we store it on the network), but we did run itno a few permissions glitches with the first install, so it resides on the C drive for now.

Configuring Pidgin to work with Meebome

The Plugin

First, install this plugin. To do this, download the appropriate version and put it in C:\Program Files\Pidgin\plugins. You may want to double check the security settings to make sure that it is available to all users (usually a group called "Everyone"). To do this:

right click on the file (named meebo.dll)
choose properties
Slect the tab labeld Security
If "Everyone" is not listed, click add and type in "Everyone"
Click on "Everyone" in the list and make sure that there is a check in the box marked "Full control"

The account

In order to receive your Meebome IMs via Pidgin, you will need to set MeeboMe up as an account (just like AIM, Yahoo, MSN, GoogleTalk, etc.) in Pidgin.

To do this:

Under the Accounts menu in Pidgin choose Add/Edit.
Click on the button labeld Add.
On the Basic tab enter/choose the following:
Protocol: XMPP

Screen name: Your meebo screen name

Domain: meebo.org

Resource: Home

Password: Your meebo password

Local Alias: An alias you want to use for this account

I checked the "Remember Password" box, as I wanted the login process to be as easy for our staff as possible.
On the advanced tab select:
Connect port: 5222

Connect server: meebo.org

The settings

There are many, many settings you can adjust in Pidgin. The important ones to get it working are:

Under Tools>Plugins - Make sure the Meeboa Auto Add/Remove plugin is checked
Under Tools>Preferences>Status/Idle - I honestly don't remember the default setting, but you will want to adjust the Auto-Away if you are using the code from above.
Under Buddies - Make sure "Show offline buddies" is NOT checked.
Go to C:\Programs\Pidgin. Create a shortcut to Pidgin (or copy the one on the desktop if you chose that option during installation). In place this copy in: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup This will launch Pidgin for anyone who logs onto the computer. It seems like this should be configureable within Pidgin (there is even an option that asks if you wan to launch it at startup!) but I could never get it to work. This way works every time.

The proper care of Pidgin (Maintenence)

The plugin mentioned above is great - as long as you only ever log on and off of Pidgin when no one is on your homepage. Since this isn't the reality at a Reference Desk, there is a little maintenence that probably should be done to keep the program running smoothly.

As folks log in and out of Pidgin while instances of MeeboMe are open, your Meebo buddy list will start to get pretty big (the aren't auto deleted if you aren't logged in and sometimes, even when you are they don't delete correctly). I've never actually encountered a problem with this, but am pretty religious in my maintenence, so it has never gotten that big. There are two ways to clear out the "old" meebome buddies:

For both: Once a month (or more frequently if you have a lot of traffic, you will want to quit all the way out of Pidgin (this means right clicking the the icon in the dock and choosing Quit, not just minimizing the buddy list).

Then...

Method 1 (The first time I tried this, it didn't work. I tried again later and it did, go figure.):

Go to the C drive. Find Documents and Settings > All Users > Application Data > .purple Within the .purple folder find the blist.xml file. Delete it. Re-open Pidgin. If this doesn't work try...

Method 2 (clunky but effective):

Use Dreamweaver or a similar editor to open the blist.xml file mentioned in the Setting the Pidgin for uniform login and settings/ centralized login section above. Select the tag that reads :<group name='meebo'>" and everything after it until you get to the first "</group>" tag. Don't go any further in your selecting or you will acidentally delete your non-meebome buddies! Hit delete, then save the file. Close out and re-open Pidgin.

Basic Info

FAQs for staff