ICQ for the beginner

ICQ is different from typical chat. The chat you have no doubt heard about is called Internet Relay Chat (IRC). IRC is the one where you go into rooms with a bunch of strangers and possible weirdo's. ICQ is designed for people who want privacy. You only have friends and family listed. Once installed on your computer, you add the users you want, like in-laws, out-laws or relatives er... Anyway when you log on the internet everyone can see each other and have the option of communicating. Of course you do have the option of surfing in complete privacy so even your friends and family can't see you either. You can just close ICQ or put up cute little messages why you don't want to be bothered (my favorite). I'll show you examples later.... oh yea I made pictures and everything.

After installation, ICQ detects when you are online.
You monitor ICQ with an icon that is located next to your
clock on the Win 95/98 taskbar.

The ICQ detect icon is the yellow square next to the clock.		When you log onto the internet, ICQ auto-detects your connection.
When logged on to the internet it changes to a cute little green flower.		By double-clicking the green flower it brings up the user list.
It changes to red if you are logged off ICQ but not the internet.		You may log off ICQ if you don't want to be bothered.

After double-clicking the green flower, this is what your user list looks like.

When the name is in blue, that person is online. Notice Richard's office. We have it set up so my Family can get a hold of me whenever they want when I am at work. By double-clicking on "Richard's office", they can send an instant message that I receive in seconds. An example of what that looks like is further down this page. A single-click gives a list of options. One of these options is to open chat. This gives you a one on one chat window in which you communicate in real time. No one can butt in, unless you allow it. For example, Cousin Kathy Lou, Cousin Jo Beth and Aunt Betsy could all chat together in real time. An example of what a chat window looks like is further down this page. Yup... more pictures!

When the name is red, the person is not online at that time. You can still send a message with a double-click, but they will not receive it until they log on to the internet. Kinda of like an answering machine with text. We're cookin' now huh!

When the name is purple, you are waiting for that person to install ICQ. When they do, they are added to your list of friends. The one you see in this example is a friend of ours who just signed up for internet service and we have invited him to join our buddy list.

Note: Everyone's list is their own. You will not see the people in this example on your user list. You see only the ones you invite. Cool huh!

By double-clicking on a person's name,
it brings up a message window like you see in this example.

After you type your message, click send and it's on it's way. Providing the internet is not lagging or clogged with heavy traffic, the other person will receive it in a matter of seconds.

Note: You are limited to the length of this message. Eventually, you will run out of room. You either have to send shorter messages back and forth or open a chat window which has no limit and is in real time.

When you do single-click on a name, it brings up an option menu for that person like you see in this example.

Here you can do all sorts of things to a person. Send a message, same as the double-click discussed above. Send a file, like a picture or Word document. In this example ICQ Chat is highlighted to request chat with a person. You can also send an address to a web site you want to share. I really like this feature. If you are looking at a web site... you simply click the person you want to send the address too... click that little globe (third one down), it puts the address in the message for you. Once they receive it, they can just click "go to site", no one has to type those long boring web site address'. Who made up all those address' anyway.... got a rope? You can remove a person from your buddy list or if you are really mad at them, you can delete that sucker! If you forgot what you talked about last time you can view the history. You can change their name as it appears on your list. And yes, on mine I have to admit, you will see my brother's name changed to "the pain" from time to time... You can tie ICQ into your email program or an Internet Telephone if you have one installed. Using the "Floating" option, you can pull a name off the user list and stick it anywhere on your desktop so you can see when they pop online.... it looks like this.....

When opening chat with someone, this is what it looks like.

You can change the appearance in many ways. You can change the background color, the font color, the size of the font, resize the window, choose bold, italics and so on. There are also two different styles of chat window. The one pictured here is the one we use. After you type and hit enter, the whole sentence appears. The other view not shown here is the split screen style. We don't care for that one because you have to sit and watch the other person type letter by letter. Oh and if the other person starts to doze off, you can hit CTL+G and the program honks at them with a horn that sounds like it came out of a Model "T" Ford.

Privacy Issues

Ok... now for the privacy part. As far as strangers bugging you, it will not happen unless you select "Available for Random Chat". This is the only way you will get messages from people you don't know. When it comes to your friends and family, the first and most obvious method to keep people from bothering you is to close ICQ all together. If you are like us and need to stay in some sort of contact... you have several options available to you which are covered below....

Clicking the green flower on the bottom of your user list will bring up the menu as seen on the left. The user list is picture towards the top of this page...

Notice the first option is the Random Chat discussed above.

The rest of the options are how your friends and family will see you on their user list. You can see that the basic symbols are self explanatory. Each one of these selections has predetermined messages you can choose from or you can type in your own. In the section below are a few examples....

Well I hope you enjoyed this presentation brought to you by the good people at Hill Tech Inc. It should provide you with enough information to decide whether you would like to try ICQ. If you would like, we can send you an invitation. You can also visit the ICQ site and get more information by clicking the image below...