[Pidgin] #1863: Please listen to use about protocol icons, anal as we may be, :P

[Pidgin]

#1863: Please listen to use about protocol icons, anal as we may be, :P
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  Reporter:  BigRedBrent   |       Owner:        
      Type:  enhancement   |      Status:  closed
  Priority:  minor         |   Milestone:        
 Component:  pidgin (gtk)  |     Version:  2.0.2 
Resolution:  duplicate     |    Keywords:        
   Pending:  0             |  
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Comment (by krimzon):

 I would like to share my thoughts on this. I spent a while looking for the
 option to show them as in Gaim, then ran across these pages, and settled
 for creating a group for each network and sorting my contacts into those
 groups.

 My main reason for doing this is that without seeing protocol/network
 icons on the buddy list there is no visual explanation as to why I see two
 or more icons for some of my contacts. So when I want to start a
 conversation with somebody it feels like I'm making an arbitrary decision
 between two identical options, but at the same time I know the outcome
 will determine the network used to chat to them.

 If they are using Pidgin or another multi-protocol client then the
 decision is meaningless. But if they use separate clients and favour one
 over another, then I have to hover the mouse a couple of times. This is
 not as simple a difference as it seems ("Look, move, click" to "Look,
 move, wait, look, move, click").

 My need to see protocols sometimes is genuine. Some of my friends prefer
 to use a single IM most of the time, and only reluctantly appear on other
 networks (Some prefer to use the Windows Live Messenger client as they
 regularly use their webcam and voice chat). Some are just extremely
 stubborn, and even after four years of problems talking to them with their
 favourite network I can't get them to contact me any way.

 In my view the problem is that my buddy list isn't populated with
 individual contacts - it's populated with usernames on networks. That's
 why it seems odd not to show those networks. Right now Pidgin seems half
 way between the old way of doing things and a new way.

 I would most like to deal directly with objects representing people in the
 buddy list, and then add their usernames for each of the networks I can
 contact them on, as well as choosing the default network to use when I
 open a conversation with that particular contact.

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Ticket URL: <http://developer.pidgin.im/ticket/1863#comment:11>
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