[TaekwonGirl]

A huge number of us use Yahoo messenger to chat outside of this forum, to keep in touch, exchange stories, cyber, and keep each other in the loop when there's a problem here at fcf.

As most of you probably know by now, Yahoo is pulling the plug on Messenger on August 5th, 2016.

https://www.engadget.com/2016/06/10/goodbye-old-yahoo-messenger/
http://venturebeat.com/2016/06/10/yahoo-is-killing-its-old-messenger-app-on-august-5/

Not only will Messenger not work, other apps that use Yahoo's servers (like Pidgin) won't be able to connect anymore.  Yahoo may or may not come out with a new desktop program, but until then, it's phone or web only, and the web version is absolutely horrible IMO. And the last thing we need is for everyone to scatter to a bunch of different IM programs that don't talk to each other.

But there IS good news. There's another messenger program called Trillian. While Trillian can connect to the Yahoo network, it also has it's own independent network. The features of Trillian are pretty good, and most of the Yahoo features are present (visible/invisible, photo sharing, etc) but with almost no ads.

So if you want a good messenger to replace Yahoo, now is the time to switch, while you can still contact your Yahoo buddies.  It's an easy switch, but a few of my friends have had problems, so I thought I'd make a little Q&A.

Where do I get Trillian?
You can download it here: https://www.trillian.im/download/ (pick the free one of course)

Hey, cool!  All my buddies are already there! Is that all I need to do?
NO!! If you've signed on and see your Yahoo buddies, that means you've signed in with your Yahoo account.  Trillian will do Yahoo, AIM, ICQ and some others, BUT the Yahoo portion will GO AWAY on August 5th. You need to sign up for a Trillian account.

Can I import my Yahoo buddies list?
Unfortunately not. You'll have to add everyone back.  I know that's a pain, but look on the bright side. This will be a great opportunity to clean inactive contacts out of your list.

How do I add a buddy?
Once Trillian is up and running on your PC, click the Trillian drop-down on the contacts list and pick Add Contact...

Ummm, the smileys in Trillian kind of suck.  Can I get the Yahoo ones back?
Yep you can!  Go here to download them: http://6xsnake6x.deviantart.com/art/YM-Emoticons-for-Trillian-104570663

• Once you have them, you need to find this place:
  \Program Files\Trillian\stixe\plugins\ (on some PCs, the Program Files will have (x86) in the folder name.
• Once you find that spot, copy the folder from the zip file there.
• Then go to Preferences in Trillian, choose Skins, and pick the Yahoo smiley pack.

Is there a web version of the chat?
Sure is! Right here: https://www.trillian.im/web/4.0/

Is there anything else I need to know?
Not really. The only glitch I've found so far is that for some reason when you sign off of Trillian it takes a while for it to know you're gone.  So if you see people and they don't respond, they're probably not ignoring you. They may just be offline.


I hope this helps! And if anyone else wants to add to this, feel free.  If anyone has questions, reply and we can try to answer them.

Happy chatting, and so long Yahell!

[TaekwonGirl]

Ok, some problems solved.

Trillian show me as online even though I signed off hours ago.  Can I fix that?
YES!  You need to sign into the WEB version of Trillian: https://www.trillian.im/web/4.0/
Once signed on, click on your name, then click "Sign out".  From now on you should automatically sign when you close the Trillian program.

Can I sign on as invisible?
Yes! Whatever your status was the last time you signed off, that's how you'll sign back on next time.  Hopefully they'll make a better option for this at some point.

[The BIG E]

Thanks for this! Was unsure how to use this!

It's a shame we are now forced into a mass exodus to Trillian (mostly that or whatever IM people want to use), but it's a good thing as well because I've been wanting g something different from Yahell for a long time since they kept changing stuff for the worse. Still, it gave us good memories.

R.I.P in pieces Yahoo Messenger.

[Thai Doll May]

Thanks for making this, Marissa!!

Now I have yahoo smilies on trillian, thank you 

[joxx]

Thanks for posting all of this.

[Linda Sue]

I moved to trillion...so far it has been good.
My biggest pain what upgrading unbuntu.
Once I got unbuntu upgraded it was pretty easy.

[marydfights]

I'm not quite sure how or why but  after seeing LindaSue's post I tried to load Trillian on my Ubuntu and surprisingly was successful as up to yesterday only a pay version was available.

[Dean The Destroyher]

I'm on Trillian as deannwo

[Linda Sue]

How do I add a pic to my user name in Trillion?

[marydfights]

For the Trillian version that works with Ubuntu

you left click on the circle next to your name on the contact list and a two item menu drops down.
the first line is " load icon from file"  click on it and load.

[Linda Sue]

Thanks Mary, is it the same for Windows?

[marydfights]

Thanks Mary, is it the same for Windows?

sorry I don't know

[Linda Sue]

I installed this on Unbuntu after doing the appropriate upgrades.
I had I think by default the chat logs turned on. I noticed as I used Trillion more and more it took longer and longer to load and showing me the entire chat history every time I opened a contact I had a chat with before.
I went into the trillion set up and turned off the chat history, the chat history was still there.
I had to log into the web site, check my settings and then close it.
My chats are now clear.
It seems I had to log into the web site for the change to take affect.
I have sent a email but I have not gotten an answer yet.

Anyone else have that issue?

[RedEnforcer]

Thanks for this Tae!

[Linda Sue]

Once you turn off the logs, I am NOT sure you can turn it back on without spending 20 bucks.