Different statuses

[pidgin at alexoren.com]

On 28-04-2017 18:08, pidgin at mail.iqk.com wrote:
> {Someone will correct me if I'm wrong (and I won't mind).}

Thank you for your reply, but unfortunately it does not fully answer my question.

I am more interested in the statuses of my buddies more than the statuses that I set for myself.
This is in order to play with priorities.

Specifically, the current settings are:

	<pref name='status'>
		<pref name='scores'>
			<pref name='available' type='int' value='100'/>
			<pref name='idle' type='int' value='0'/>
			<pref name='away' type='int' value='-100'/>
			<pref name='extended_away' type='int' value='-200'/>
			<pref name='invisible' type='int' value='-50'/>
			<pref name='offline_msg' type='int' value='-5'/>
			<pref name='offline' type='int' value='-500'/>
		</pref>
	</pref>

As you can see, offline_msg is a status.
And to make it clear, I often see "extended away" on XMPP contacts, and "invisible" on Hangouts contacts.

> You may be attributing the status to have rigid meanings, but most of
> them could be (somewhat inaccurately) described as a "mood".
>
> "Idle" is, also, pretty straight forward.  If you mark yourself as
> "Available", but you're away from your computer/device for a period
> of time (can't remember \what\ period of time), then "Available"
> defaults to "Idle".  The moment you do something on your
> computer/device, then "Idle" goes back to "Available".
>
> Some users wish to manually announce to those on their buddy list
> that they are "Away" (even if they really aren't).  Unlike "Idle",
> "Away" is a manually user-selected status.
>
> I've never seen "Extended Away", but it sound like it's the same.
>
> One can still send/receive IM's in "Idle" and/or "Away".
>
> "Invisible" is also manually user-selected, but to everyone who sees
> you on their buddy list, you will appear to be "Offline".  In
> "Invisible", you can still send/receive IM's. (*I recall there used
> to be one IM service that would not allow you to send/receive if you
> set yourself to "Invisible".)
>
> An "Offline Message" is a thing, not a status.  If you are
> \literally\ offline from a particular IM service, but someone sends
> you an IM, anyway, most (if not all) of the IM services will "store"
> that IM, and it will immediately appear as soon as you log back into
> that IM service.
>
> "Offline" is always straight-forward.  It's a status you cannot
> manually select, except for literally logging out of a particular IM
> service.
>
>
> On Fri, 28 Apr 2017 pidgin at alexoren.com wrote:
>> Can anyone please explain when are the following statuses used and
>> what are the differences between them. This is related both to the
>> user's status and to the buddies' statuses.
>>
>> available (this one is pretty straightforward)
>>
>> idle (what's the difference between it and away?) away (what's the
>> difference between it and idle?) extended_away (when does away
>> become extended_away?)
>>
>> invisible (how does Pidgin know if someone is offline or
>> invisible?) offline_msg (is this similar to offline?) offline