YAHOO MESSENGER : DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL

Download and Install Yahoo Messenger

1. Go to http://messenger.yahoo.com

2. Click the Download button. The download/install process should begin automatically.

3. When the installation screen appears (as shown below), follow the instructions provided during each step of the installation.

The installation screen says "Step 1 of 6". There are actually only 5 steps. There does not appear to be a "Step 4" (see screen shots below).

If after Step 1, you receive the following message, click No and proceed to PART TWO of these instructions.

YAHOO MESSENGER : CREATE A YAHOO MESSENGER ACCOUNT

Create a Yahoo Messenger Account

If you previously downloaded Yahoo but: 1) did not create an account, 2) cannot remember your account name, or 3) want to create a second account, follow the instructions below. 1. When you have completed the installation process, you should see a confirmation message in your browser window. Click "Sign up now" under "Get a Yahoo ID. " If you closed the browser window that displayed the "Congratulations! You have successfully installed Yahoo Messenger", then you can go to http://messenger.yahoo.com and click the "Sign Up" link next to "New User" at the top of the page. 2. Complete the Yahoo Account form. A sample form is shown below. While it's not required include an an alternate email address on the Sign Up form, it is best to include one because if you lose/forget your Yahoo login name/password, Yahoo will send you an email with the login name/password to the Yahoo email address that was created when you set up your messenger account. However, since the login and password for your Yahoo email account is the same as the login for your Yahoo Messenger account, you will not be able to retrieve the email. In this case you will be forced to create a new Yahoo account. 3. Write down the User ID and any other pertinent information from the confirmation screen. Keep this in a safe place as you will need the login name and password each time you use Yahoo messenger/Yahoo email.

YAHOO MESSENGER : LOGIN AND CONFIGURE

Login and Configure Yahoo Messenger

1. Locate the Yahoo Messenger icon on your desktop and double-click to start.

2. In the sign-in box, enter your Yahoo ID and password. IMPORTANT: Do not select "Remember my ID & Password", or "Automatically sign-in" unless you are using your own personal computer. If you select "Sign-in as invisible", you will be able to see who's online (those people who are on your contact list who are currently logged into the service) but they will not be able to see that you are online. You can easily switch between "invisible" and "available" once you are logged into the service.

3. The very first time you log into Yahoo Messenger you will need to a few preferences. Select Messenger-->Preferences.

Unless you are a proficient user of instant messaging programs, we recommend that you set the preferences according to the images below (you will not have to change preferences for all categories).

Once you are more familiar with Instant Messaging and your IM program, you may later wish to add any functionality or features that are "de-selected" in the screen images shown below. You can change your personal preferences (settings) at any time, simply by selecting "Preferences" from the Messenger Menu. For more information on Yahoo Messenger Features (activated via "Preferences") see: http://messenger.yahoo.com/

YAHOO MESSENGER : CREATE CONTACT LIST

Create Your Contact List

1. Before you can use Yahoo Messenger to communicate with others, you will need to create a contact list. In order to do this, you must know their Yahoo username. For example, the person you want to communicate with has a Yahoo user name umucdemo.

To add this user to your contact list, you need to select the add icon located on the Messenger tab.

2. Enter the Yahoo ID (username) of the person you wish to add to your contact list. If you think you will have a hard time remembering who the username belongs to, enter the person's first and/or last name. This is the name that will be displayed on your contact list. Click on Next.

3. You can categorize usernames on your contact list. Simply type the name of the group into which you want to categorize the username (i.e., work, school, family, friends, etc.). Yahoo messenger will send an instant message to that person, who can then accept or deny your request to include his/her name on your contact list. If that person is off-line, the "accept/deny" message will be presented to him/her the next time he/she logs in to Yahoo Messenger.

Note: If the person whose username you are adding to your contact list does not recognize you by your Yahoo username, he/she may select "deny" upon receiving the request. Therefore, you will find it helpful to include a brief note as shown in the example image below. When you have entered your note, click Next.

The person whose username you are attempting to add to your contact list will receive a Yahoo Message that resembles the one shown below. Likewise, when someone attempts to add your Yahoo username to his/her contact list, you will receive the same type of message.

4. The "add to messenger list" status window appears. Yahoo Messenger includes an address book feature, in which you can add contact details for each name on your list. To add more details about a particular contact, click the "Add More Details" button.

Because of potential privacy concerns associated with the online storage of your Yahoo Messenger Address Book, we recommend that you RESTRICT the information you include on the contact details form to only that which is absolutely necessary for instant messaging this person from contact list. Once you have filled in any info you want to include, select the Save & Close button to exit the contact details form.

5. Repeat this process for any Yahoo usernames you wish to add to your contact list. If you chose to enter in additional information as outlined in step 4, you will need to repeat Steps 1-4 to enter addional contacts. Other wise you can select Next to add addional contacts or select Finish when you are done adding contacts. Remember, you can only use Yahoo Messenger to communicate with those people whose usernames appear on your contact list.

We recommend that you also add your own username to your contact list. That way, you will be able to see your name/online status the same way that others see it on their contact lists.

6. Check your contact list in Yahoo Messenger. As shown in the screen image below, Yahoo Trainer has been added to the contact list. In this case, Yahoo Trainer's username is actually umucdemo. Note the following:

• A yellow smiley face next to the display name indicates that the person is online.
• A gray face means that the person is either off-line or "invisible".

7. To change your own status (how others see you), use the drop down status selector at the top of Yahoo Messenger (see image below). You may select from seven existing status messages or click "New Status Message" to create your own. In the second screen image shown below, we see that Yahoo Trainer has changed her status to "Be Right Back".

YAHOO MESSENGER : ONE-TO-ONE MESSAGE

One-to-One Messaging with Simple Text,
Audio, and Video

At the top of the Yahoo Messenger screen, there are three communication icons (IM,Text, and Chat).

	Use the IM button to open a blank Instant Message window. You can select the contact name from the drop down box at the top of the instant message window. Shortcut: Double-click the display name of the person on your contact list to whom you wish to send a message. This will open an IM message window.
	Do not use the text icon unless you want to send an instant message to someone's cell phone (not advised unless the recipient has given you explicit permission to send text messages to his/her cell phone).
	Do not use the chat icon unless you want to enter a public chat room (not advised).

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Text By selecting the IM icon, a blank Instant Message window will open. You will then need to select from the "To" drop-down menu, the person you would like to IM.
There are two text boxes on the instant message screen. The top box contains the transcript of all text sent by you and your IM contact. Use the lower box to enter the text you want to send. If the person with whom you are communicating is typing a response, it will say so in the lower left corner of the message window. If the person is typing a message, you should wait until you see his/her response before sending additional text.

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Voice Before using Voice as part of a one-to-one instant message (chat session with one other person), consider the following: Although you can listen via your computer's speakers, use a headset mic if you are going to talk. If the other person does not have a headset mic, he/she can still hear you via his/her speakers and respond with text. The speed of each participant's Internet connection and the quality of his/her headset mic will affect the overall audio quality. Quality ranges from crackling ham radio to high-end speaker phone. Generally, the fewer people participating, the greater the overall quality will be (simply because you are reducing the potential number of quality detractors, such as slow or spotty Internet connections, bad microphones, etc.). The audio portion of your chat does not appear in the text window (you cannot see it, you can only hear it). Keep this in mind if there are any ADA compliance concerns (those concerns will be based on who is participating in the chat and whether the chat it is mandatory or optional). Currently, there is no way to save a transcript of the audio portion of your chat. Only the text portion can be saved.

To speak with the person with whom you are text messaging, click the Voice icon. The person will receive an "accept/deny" message in his/her instant message window. If the person does not have a headset mic connected to the computer, he/she will probably deny the request and then explain why via the text window. If the person accepts your request, you will receive this information in the transcript portion of your instant message window, as shown below.

When you begin using audio as part of your instant message, a "Talk" indicator will appear on your instant message window, as shown below. If you do not select "Hands Free", then you will have to push the green Talk button every time you want to say something. "Hands Free" mode works best, unless there are other people in the room with you or there is significant background noise, which you do not wish to "play/transmit" into the message. If you have selected "Hands Free" mode and you need to speak privately to someone standing next to you, select mute. Otherwise, the person with whom you are instant messaging will hear everything you say. If your telephone rings while you are engaged in a Hands-Free voice chat on Yahoo Messenger, you should also select Mute. Be sure to de-select Mute when you are ready to begin talking again via Yahoo Messenger.

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Video

If you and the person with whom you are chatting both have high speed Internet connections, one or both of you you can add video to your chat.

Starting your own Webcam:

Assuming that you have already connected a Webcam to your computer, there are three ways to start your own Webcam:

Option 1: Before you open an instant message with someone on your contact list, click the Messenger menu on your contact list and select "Start My Webcam". A "View My Webcam" link (see image below) will appear next to your name in the IM contact list of anyone who has added your username to his/her list of contacts.

Option 2: If you have an open IM window (with someone on your contact list), select the Webcam icon located on the IM window toolbar.

Option 3: In the IM window, select the Contact menu located on the IM window and select the "Invite to View My Webcam".

If you select either Option 2 or 3 above, the person with whom you are chatting will see an invitation to view your Webcam in the transcript window of the IM window. He/she may accept or decline the invitation.

If he/she accepts the invitation, a small window containing your Webcam video (see sample image below) will appear on his/her screen.

Regardless of the method you use to activate your Webcam, a warning window will appear containing the terms and conditions of Yahoo Messenger Webcam service. Click OK to continue.

You may be prompted to select your connection speed.

Viewing someone else's Webcam: Assuming that someone on your contact list or the person with whom you are chatting has started his/her Webcam, there are two ways to view his/her Webcam image:

Option 1: If you are not engaged in an active chat session yet, click the "View My Webcam" link located to the right of the contact's ID/name on your Messenger contact list.

Option 2: If you are already engaged in an active chat session, click the Contact menu in the IM window, select Contact Options and View Webcam.

Depending on the other person's IM preferences (settings), he/she may have to grant permission for you to view his/her Webcam before the Webcam image appears, as shown below.

If the person does not have a Webcam installed, or the Webcam is not turned on, you may see the following error message:

You can adjust the display properties of the video image from the Webcam menu located inside the Webcam window (see screen shot below):

• Select "always on top" to force the Webcam window to remain on top of your open IM (chat) window. Otherwise, you will not be able to watch the video while you are instant messaging the person in the video.
• Select Small if the Webcam image is too large, relative to the size of the IM (chat) window.

IMPORTANT REMINDER: Only the text portion of your instant message/chat session can be saved. To save the text transcript, select "Save As..." from the Conversation menu located in the upper left corner of the IM box. You must click "Save As...." before you close the chat window. Once the chat window is closed, you will not be able to save or retrieve the text of your chat.