[Pidgin] #604: Some characters appear as boxes with numbers in them

[Pidgin]

#604: Some characters appear as boxes with numbers in them
----------------------------------+------------------------------
 Reporter:  PSyMastR              |       Owner:  datallah
     Type:  defect                |      Status:  new
Milestone:                        |   Component:  winpidgin (gtk)
  Version:  2.0                   |  Resolution:
 Keywords:  font text boxes dice  |
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Comment (by Med):

 Hello there everyone

 Replying to thezest
 > The following is my solution to display Chinese characters (conversation
 window, incoming/outgoing messages, buddy status, buddy list, etc.) on my
 Windows XP:
 >
 > Go to Pidgin -> Preferences -> Converstations, choose a Conversation
 font which supports your character. In my case, it is Tahoma.
 >
 >
 > Right-click on the Windows desktop area, choose Properties, then click
 on the Appearance tab, and Advanced button.
 >
 >
 > Under the Item dropdown list, change all the items that support Font to
 the one defined in Pidgin. In my case it is Tahoma.
 >
 >
 > Apply the settings and look at your Pidgin window, it should take effect
 immediately.

 [[BR]]
 The latter part of this works! All you have to do is edit the 'Message
 Box' dropdown option (it's not necessary to edit every one that has a font
 option) from Microsoft Sans Serif (default) to any font that shows your
 characters. I tried two different fonts: MS Unicode & MS Sans Serif and
 picked the one I liked better (which was MS Sans Serif as the text on
 Firefox tabs became much less readable when using MS Unicode)

 '''Note: It is not necessary to match fonts in both Pidgin and Windows
 Appearance settings'''

 Initially I did not follow the Pidgin Preferences change as per step 1 in
 thezest's post above and that's how I ascertained it wasn't necessary to
 match fonts. After successfully implementing the change to the Windows
 Appearance settings, I went back and changed Pidgin's settings and
 concluded the following;

 '''* The Windows Appearance settings only affect the Buddy List display'''

 '''* The Pidgin Preferences settings only affect text in chat windows'''

 As for the reason I experienced this in the first place, I think it was
 because I had to do a complete OS restoration from a backup from a couple
 of years ago. There were old Pidgin install files after the backup was
 restored and it must've messed something up when I updated. I tried to
 reinstall Pidgin (2.10.9) but it made no difference, however I did not try
 uninstalling Pidgin first, cleaning up and then reinstalling.

 I have no problems displaying Asian languages on my English install of XP
 and only found this problem with Pidgin.

 Hope this helps.

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Ticket URL: <https://developer.pidgin.im/ticket/604#comment:72>
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