Communicator Help: Installing and Setting Up AOL<sup><font size=-2>®</font></sup> Communicator

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Installing and Setting Up AOL Communicator

Buddy List® Basics

After you set up your first account as described in Setting Up Mail Accounts, the main Mail window and Instant Messenger for AOL Communicator open by default. (If you changed the default Launch Options, only the applications you selected will open.)

The instructions that follow assume that you already have an AIM screen name or an ICQ® number and that you're familiar with instant messaging software:

Signing On for the First Time
HOW IT WORKS: Friendly Names & Screen Names
Checking Messages from Your Buddy List Window

For information about registration, adding buddies, and other Instant Messenger™ details, see Using Instant Messenger for AOL Communicator.

Signing On for the First Time

By default, Instant Messenger for AOL Communicator opens and signs you on automatically after you finish setting up your first AOL member account.

If your Buddy List® window opens successfully but you want to sign on with a different screen name, open the MyIM window and choose Sign On As a Different User.

If your Buddy List window isn't already open, follow these steps from the AOL Communicator Mail window:

1. Open the Window menu and choose Instant Messenger.
2. Enter your AIM screen name and password, if it's not already present.
   If you have an ICQ number, you can enter it and your ICQ password here instead.
3. Click Sign On.
   Your Buddy List window opens.

If you can't sign onto the AIM service: If you've never used Instant Messenger software before, or if for some reason your AIM password is not the same as your AOL member password, you may not be able to sign on successfully using Instant Messenger for AOL Communicator.

If this is the case, go to AOL Keyword: AIM Password and reset your password. You should then be able to sign on using the new password.

To sign on with a different screen name: Open the My IM menu and choose Sign On As a Different User.

You can use any valid screen name with Instant Messenger for AOL Communicator, including both AOL member screen names and Internet screen names, for example from the AIM service.

Look at your Buddy List window: If you've used Instant Messenger software with this screen name before, you'll see your current buddies listed.

If you've never used Instant Messenger software before, see Using Instant Messenger for AOL Communicator.

Some of your buddies who are listed in your AOL Address Book may already be listed by first and last name—or Friendly Name—since AOL Communicator automatically populates the AOL Communicator Address Book with the contacts from your AOL Address Book when you set up your first AOL account.

By default, buddies are listed by Friendly Name. If no Address Book entry is available, the buddy is listed by screen name.

If a buddy's Address Book entry includes both a Friendly Name and an e-mail address, the buddy will be listed by Friendly Name and you can track their e-mail messages from your Buddy List window.

To add or edit Address Book information for an existing buddy, right-click the buddy name and choose Add to Address Book or Edit Contact Info.

For more information on Address Book, see Setting Up AOL Communicator Address Book"

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HOW IT WORKS: Friendly Names & Screen Names

To display a buddy's Friendly Name and e-mail status in the Buddy List window, AOL Communicator needs to have that buddy's name, screen name, and e-mail address available in the same Address Book entry.

For example, when your AOL Communicator Address Book has an entry with the screen name "mr1smth", the first and last names "John Smith", and the e-mail address "mr1smth@aol.com," you can view that buddy by first and last name ("Friendly Name") and track new messages from him in your Buddy List window.

Your AOL Communicator Address Book is automatically synchronized with your AOL Address book when you first set up your AOL account. If your buddies' names and e-mail addresses are already available in your online AOL Address Book, your Buddy List window will display both their Friendly Names and information about recently received e-mail messages.

You can easily add information for existing buddies who aren't yet listed in your Address Book. Just right-click the buddy name and choose Add to Address Book.

If you set up an online directory for use from your Address Book, AOL Communicator can also use entries in the directory to associate information about a buddy's name, screen name, and e-mail address.

Tutorial movie:
View Buddies by Name or E-mail Address

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Checking Messages from Your Buddy List Window

Tutorial movie:
Track New Mail from Buddy List Window

If any of your AOL Communicator Mail inboxes contain unread mail from buddies whose Friendly Names are displayed in your Buddy List window, you'll also notice a small envelope icon beside those names—even if they happen to be offline:

Offline buddies from whom you have unread mail are elevated to their normal place in the Buddy List window, but remain dimmed and italicized. Offline buddies return to the Offline list after you read their mail.

You can also hold down the Ctrl key and click to select multiple buddies, then right-click to write mail or send chat invitations to those buddies.

You may notice that at least some buddies are still listed by screen name. These are buddies that aren't listed in AOL Communicator Address Book (including any corporate or institutional LDAP directory that you may have set up), or whose entries in Address Book don't include the screen names in your Buddy List window.

To display these buddies by Friendly Name and enable the Mail icon to show up beside their names when you receive mail from them, right-click each buddy name and choose Add to Address Book.

New Instant Message notification: When you receive a new instant message, a dot flashes beside the AIM® Running Man icon at the bottom of the Buddy List window and the Instant Messenger taskbar button highlights. To see the new message, click the highlighted taskbar button.

For more information on Address Book, see Setting Up AOL Communicator Address Book

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Last Updated September 16, 2003