Mac ICQ Quick Start

Foreword

This quick tutorial is meant to give you immediate access to ICQ's important features. Once you have several friends on your contact list, you will learn all there is to know about ICQ faster than any manual can teach you. You are welcome to experiment with the program - just make sure you backup your Settings folder often (see below).

Installation

Installing for the first time - Click the installer icon and follow the instructions, the installer will create an ICQ folder at the location you specifiy.

Upgrading -Your old ICQ settings are stored in a folder called settings in your ICQ folder (see Figure 1).We strongly recommend that you back up this folder before upgrading. If you install into the folder that contains your previous installation, your old settings will be retained. Otherwise copy your old settings folder into the newly created ICQ folder.

Figure 1. The ICQ program icon and the Settings folder

Registration

After installing ICQ, double click the program's icon (See Figure 1), If you are a new ICQ user (or if you are using a new settings folder) a registration wizard will be launched, You will be asked for the following information:

E mail, nick name, first name, last name - These details will enable your friends to look you up in the ICQ user directories.

-password - Please make sure you remember it before submitting the rest of the registration details. In case you do not want ICQ to ask for your password upon every connection, check the save password box.

-Authorization - This checkbox controls whether or not your authorization is required when another user wants to add you to his/her contact list.

-Additional Information -- You can also choose to add some more information about yourself, such as city, country ,state ,age, gender etc.

Adding Friends to Your Contact List Click the Add/Search users button (or select File/Search-Add users) to search for your friends according to their email addresses, ICQ numbers or names. Note that you can use wildcards in you search, e.,g., searching for email address friend@ic*.* will match all users whose email starts with the letters friend@ic, such as friend@icq.com, friend@icq.co.il and friend@icsm.org. Note: The server limits the number of matches returned, so broad searches (e.g., first name john) will yield only some of the users that match the search criteria.

Figure 2. - The Search/Add users button

Your ICQ Status Your status represents your visibility on the ICQ network. You can select between four online modes and offline (which is the only option if you cannot connect to the server). Online You are connected to the ICQ server and all the users that have you in their contact list can see that you are online. Offline You are disconnected from the server and invisible to all other ICQ users. Away Indicates that you are online but away from his/her computer. An automated reply that can be changed (through file/preferences) will be sent when a message arrives while you are in away mode. Occupied Indicates that you are online but do not wish to be disturbed. An automated reply that can be changed (through file/preferences) will be sent when a message arrives while you are in occupied mode. Privacy In this status you are online but invisible to other users, although you can still see other users that are online.

Figure 3. - The status selection button

The User List The ICQ main window lists all your contacts. In addition the window includes ICQ users who have sent you message during the current sessions (even if they are not among your contacts) and users whom you have asked for authorization to add to your contact list. All the actions applicable to users in this window are available through the small button to the right of each name on the list. When you click this button a menu is popped up (see Figure 4). As you can see, most of the actions on the menu are associated with keyboard shortcuts. The only exceptions are 'dangerous' actions such as deleting or renaming a contact. In order to use the keyboard shortcuts, you must select a user. This is done by a single click on the user's name. The user's name becomes highlighted and he/she becomes the 'target' of your actions.

Figure 4. The user-actions pull down menu appears when you click the button next to the contact's name.

Receive When you receive a message from another ICQ user - be it a text message, a chat request, a URL or any other kind of ICQ message - an icon starts blinking next to that user's name. In order to receive the message, double click the blinking icon or choose receive from the pull down menu. Command +R will also do the trick. Message In order to send a message to a user double click the user's name on the list, or click the pull down arrow next to his/her name and choose message, or use command+m when on that person's name. Chat In order to start a chat request to a user, choose chat from the user-actions menu, or press shift+command+chat. In case you wish to have a chat with more than one person do the same but choose "join session" on your chat request window. URL In order for you to send a webpage address use the pull down menu next to your friend's name or use command+U, in case you have a browser open to a certain location, the address will be automatically entered to your URL message. File In order for you to send a file to a certain user click the pull down menu next to that person's name and brows the files you want to transfer, or you can drag and drop the file to your friend's name on your contact list. Home Page will allow you to get to your friend's home page in case your friend specified one on his/her info , in order to do that use your friend's pull down menu. Info will allow you to view the info that people on your contact list entered , in order to do that use your friend's pull down menu. Rename In order for you to rename a contact on your list use your friend's pull down menu. Delete In order for you to delete a contact from your list use your friend's pull down menu.

Changing Your ICQ Environment

The File menu contains items that allow you to control your interaction with ICQ in different ways:

Change current user - This item opens a submenu with the following options:

• Register a new ICQ number
• Unregister your ICQ number (Note: this action is irreversible)
• Log on to the ICQ server as another user (in case several ICQ users work on the same machine, or when one person has two or more ICQ numbers)
• Add a registered user. This is applicable when you have an existing ICQ number which you have registered on another computer and you wish to use this number. Note: This will not transfer to the current computer the registered user's contact list.

Change Personal Details - Allows you to change any of the details recognized by the ICQ server (e.g., your first/last name, your age or free text describing you). You must 'save' the information to the server before other ICQ users can view your new details. Note that changing the personal information field does not change the corresponding details in the real world. For example, you cannot become younger or older by entering different values in the 'age' field.

Preferences - Allows you to change various aspects of ICQ's look and feel such as colors and fonts.

Miscellaneous Features

The System Menu - Provides WWW links to key pages on the ICQ site. If you have Netscape or another web browser that supports Internet Config (such as Internet Explorer) it will be directed to the page that you choose from this menu.
	The ICQ floater - A small floating window which can be easily identified by the ICQ flower icon. This window is always on top of your desktop unless you turn this behaviour off through the ICQ Floater item in the Windows menu. Double clicking this window will bring the ICQ main window to the front. When receiving events it will be blinking on your floater as well as on your contact list