BitlBee User Guide

Jelmer Vernooij

Wilmer van der Gaast

Sjoerd Hemminga

   This is the initial release of the BitlBee User Guide.

   Permission  is  granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this
   document  under  the  terms  of  the  GNU  Free  Documentation
   License,  Version  1.1  or  any later version published by the
   Free  Software  Foundation  with  no  Invariant  Sections,  no
   Front-Cover  Texts,  and no Back-Cover Texts. You may obtain a
   copy  of  the  GNU  Free  Documentation  License from the Free
   Software  Foundation  by visiting their Web site or by writing
   to:  Free  Software  Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite
   330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
     _________________________________________________________

   Table of Contents

   1. Installation

        Downloading the package
        Compiling
        Configuration

   2. Usage

        Connecting to the server
        The #bitlbee control channel
        Talking to people

   3. Support

        BitlBee is beta software
        Support channels

              The World Wide Web
              IRC
              Mailinglists

   4. Quickstart

        Add and Connect To your IM Account(s)
        Managing Contact Lists: Rename
        Step Four: Managing Contact Lists: Add and Remove.
        Chatting
        Further Resources

   5. Bitlbee commands

        account - IM-account list maintenance

              account add
              account del
              account on
              account off
              account list

        add - Add a buddy to your contact list
        info - Request user information
        remove - Remove a buddy from your contact list
        block - Block someone
        allow - Unblock someone
        set - Miscellaneous settings
        help - BitlBee help system
        save - Save your account data
        charset
        private
        save_on_quit
        html
        debug
        to_char
        typing_notice
        ops
        away_devoice
        handle_unknown
        auto_connect
        auto_reconnect
        auto_reconnect_delay
        buddy_sendbuffer
        buddy_sendbuffer_delay
        default_target
        display_namechanges
        password
        query_order
        lcnicks
        rename - Rename (renick) a buddy
        yes - Accept a request
        no - Deny a request
        qlist - List all the unanswered questions root asked
        register - Register yourself
        identify - Identify yourself with your password
        drop - Drop your account
        blist - List all the buddies in your contact list
        nick - Change friendly name, nick
        import_buddies - Copy local buddy list to server
                (normally only needed when upgrading)

   6. Misc Stuff

        Smileys
        Groupchats
        Creating groupchats
        Groupchat channel names
        Away states

Chapter 1. Installation

   Table of Contents

   Downloading the package
   Compiling
   Configuration

Downloading the package

   The   latest   BitlBee   release   is  always  available  from
   http://www.bitlbee.org/.   Download   the  package  with  your
   favorite     program     and     unpack     it:    tar    xvfz
   bitlbee-<version>.tar.gz  where <version> is to be replaced by
   the version number of the BitlBee you downloaded (e.g. 0.91).

Compiling

   BitlBee's  build system has to be configured before compiling.
   The  configure script will do this for you. Just run it, it'll
   set  up  with nice and hopefully well-working defaults. If you
   want  to change some settings, just try ./configure --help and
   see what you can do.

   Some variables that might be of interest to the normal user:
     * prefix,  bindir, etcdir, mandir, datadir - The place where
       all the BitlBee program files will be put. There's usually
       no  reason to specify them all separately, just specifying
       prefix  (or  keeping  the  default  /usr/local/) should be
       okay.
     * config  -  The  place  where  BitlBee  will  save  all the
       per-user settings and buddy information. /var/lib/bitlbee/
       is the default value.
     * msn,  jabber,  oscar,  yahoo - By default, support for all
       these IM-protocols (OSCAR is the protocol used by both ICQ
       and  AIM)  will  be  compiled in. To make the binary a bit
       smaller,  you  can  use these options to leave out support
       for protocols you're not planning to use.
     * debug  -  Generate  an  unoptimized  binary with debugging
       symbols, mainly useful if you want to do some debugging or
       help us to track down a problem.
     * strip  -  By  default,  unnecessary parts of the generated
       binary  will  be  stripped  out  to  make  it  as small as
       possible.  If  you don't want this (because it might cause
       problems on some platforms), set this to 0.
     * flood  -  To  secure  your BitlBee server against flooding
       attacks,  you can use this option. It's not compiled in by
       default because it needs more testing first.
     * ssl  -  The  MSN and Jabber modules require an SSL library
       for  some  of their tasks. BitlBee can use three different
       SSL  libraries:  GnuTLS, mozilla-nss and OpenSSL. (OpenSSL
       is,  however,  a  bit  troublesome  because  of  licensing
       issues,  so don't forget to read the information configure
       will  give  you  when you try to use OpenSSL!) By default,
       configure  will  try  to  detect GnuTLS or mozilla-nss. If
       none  of  them  can  be  found, it'll give up. If you want
       BitlBee  to  use  OpenSSL,  you have to explicitly specify
       that.

   After  running configure, you should run make. After that, run
   make install as root.

Configuration

   By default, BitlBee runs as the user nobody. You might want to
   run  it as a seperate user (some computers run named or apache
   as nobody).

   Since BitlBee uses inetd, you should add the following line to
   /etc/inetd.conf:

6667    stream  tcp     nowait nobody /usr/local/sbin/bitlbee bitlbee

   Inetd  has  to  be restarted after changing the configuration.
   Either  killall -HUP inetd or /etc/init.d/inetd restart should
   do the job on most systems.

   You  might  be  one  of  the..  ehr,  lucky  people running an
   xinetd-powered distro. xinetd is quite different and they seem
   to  be proud of that.. ;-) Anyway, if you want BitlBee to work
   with  xinetd,  just  copy  the  bitlbee.xinetd  file  to  your
   /etc/xinetd.d/  directory  (and  probably edit it to suit your
   needs).

   You  should  create  a  directory where BitlBee can store it's
   data files. This should be the directory named after the value
   'CONFIG'     in     Makefile.settings.    The    default    is
   /var/lib/bitlbee,  which can be created with the command mkdir
   -p  /var/lib/bitlbee.  This  directory  has to be owned by the
   user  that  runs  bitlbee.  To  make  'nobody'  owner  of this
   directory,  run  chown nobody /var/lib/bitlbee. Because things
   like  passwords  are  saved in this directory, it's probably a
   good idea to make this directory owner-read-/writable only.

Chapter 2. Usage

   Table of Contents

   Connecting to the server
   The #bitlbee control channel
   Talking to people

Connecting to the server

   Since  BitlBee  acts  just  like any other irc daemon, you can
   connect  to  it  with  your favorite irc client. Launch it and
   connect  to localhost port 6667 (or whatever host/port you are
   running bitlbee on).

The #bitlbee control channel

   Once  you  are  connected  to  the  BitlBee  server,  you  are
   automatically  joined to #bitlbee on that server. This channel
   acts  like the 'buddy list' you have on the various other chat
   networks.

   The  user  'root'  always hangs around in #bitlbee and acts as
   your  interface  to bitlbee. All commands you give on #bitlbee
   are 'answered' by root.

Talking to people

   You  can  talk  to  by starting a query with them. In most irc
   clients,  this  can  be done with either /msg <nick> <text> or
   /query <nick>.

   To keep the number of open query windows limited, you can also
   talk to people in the control channel, like <nick>: <text>.

Chapter 3. Support

   Table of Contents

   BitlBee is beta software
   Support channels

        The World Wide Web
        IRC
        Mailinglists

BitlBee is beta software

   Although  BitlBee  has  quite  some  functionality it is still
   beta.  That  means it can crash at any time, corrupt your data
   or  whatever.  Don't  use it in any production environment and
   don't rely on it.

Support channels

The World Wide Web

   http://www.bitlbee.org/   is   the  homepage  of  bitlbee  and
   contains  the  most  recent  news  on  bitlbee  and the latest
   releases.

IRC

   BitlBee  is  discussed  on  #bitlbee  on  the OFTC IRC network
   (server: irc.oftc.net).

Mailinglists

   BitlBee doesn't have any mailinglists.

Chapter 4. Quickstart

   Table of Contents

   Add and Connect To your IM Account(s)
   Managing Contact Lists: Rename
   Step Four: Managing Contact Lists: Add and Remove.
   Chatting
   Further Resources

   Welcome  to BitlBee, your IRC gateway to ICQ, MSN, AOL, Jabber
   and Yahoo Instant Messaging Systems.

   The  center  of  BitlBee is the control channel, #bitlbee. Two
   users  will  always be there, you (where "you" is the nickname
   you are using) and the system user, root.

   You  need  register  so  that all your IM settings (passwords,
   contacts,  etc)  can  be  saved  on  the  BitlBee server. It's
   important  that  you  pick  a good password so no one else can
   access  your  account.  Register  with this password using the
   register command: register <password> (without the brackets!).

   Be  sure  to remember your password. The next time you connect
   to  the BitlBee server you will need to identify <password> so
   that  you  will  be  recognised  and  logged  in to all the IM
   services automatically.

   When finished, type help quickstart2 to continue.

Add and Connect To your IM Account(s)

   Step Two: Add and Connect To your IM Account(s).

   To add an account to the account list you will need to use the
   account   add   command:  account  add  <protocol>  <username>
   <password> [<server>] [<port>] [<ssl>].

   For  instance,  suppose  you  have  an  ICQ  account  with UIN
   72696705 with password QuickStart, you would:
< you> account add oscar 72696705 QuickStart login.icq.com
< root> Account successfully added

   Other available IM protocols are jabber, msn, and yahoo. Oscar
   is  the  protocol  used by ICQ and AOL. For oscar, you need to
   specify  the  IM-server  as a fourth argument (for jabber, msn
   and  yahoo  there  is  no  fourth  argument).  For AOL Instant
   Messenger,  the  server  name is login.oscar.aol.com. For ICQ,
   the  server  name is login.icq.com. For jabber you may specify
   custom  port (if you connect to server with non-standard port)
   and/or ssl option if you want secure connection.

   When  you  are finished adding your account(s) use the account
   on  command to enable all your accounts, type help quickstart3
   to continue.

Managing Contact Lists: Rename

   Step Three: Managing Contact Lists: Rename

   For  most  protocols  (currently  MSN,  Jabber, Yahoo and AOL)
   BitlBee  can  download the contact list automatically from the
   IM  server  and  all  the  on-line  users should appear in the
   control channel when you log in.

   BitlBee   will  convert  names  into  irc-friendly  form  (for
   instance:  tux@example.com will be given the nickname tux). If
   you  have more than one person who would have the same name by
   this logic (for instance: tux@example.com and tux@bitlbee.org)
   the second one to log on will be tux_. The same is true if you
   have a tux log on to AOL and a tux log on from Yahoo.

   It  would  be easy to get these two mixed up, so BitlBee has a
   rename  command  to  change  the  nickname into something more
   suitable: rename <oldnick> <newnick>
< you> rename tux_ bitlbeetux
 * tux_is now known as bitlbeetux
< root> Nick successfully changed

   When finished, type help quickstart4 to continue.

Step Four: Managing Contact Lists: Add and Remove.

   Step Four: Managing Contact Lists: Add and Remove.

   Now  you  might  want to add some contacts, to do this we will
   use  the  add command. It needs two arguments: a connection ID
   (which  can  be  a number (try account list), protocol name or
   (part of) the screenname) and the user's handle. It is used in
   the following way: add <connection> <handle>
< you> add 0 r2d2@example.com
 * r2d2has joined #bitlbee

   In  this  case  r2d2 is online, since he/she joins the channel
   immediately.  If  the user is not online you will not see them
   join until they log on.

   Lets  say  you accidentally added r2d3@example.com rather than
   r2d2@example.com, or maybe you just want to remove a user from
   your list because you never talk to them. To remove a name you
   will want to use the remove command: remove <nick>

   When finished, type help quickstart5 to continue.

Chatting

   Step Five: Chatting.

   First of all, a person must be on your contact list for you to
   chat  with them (unless it's a group chat, help groupchats for
   more).  If  someone  not  on  your  contact  list  sends you a
   message,  simply  add  them to the proper account with the add
   command.  Once  they are on your list and online, you can chat
   with them in #bitlbee:
< you> tux: hey, how's the weather down there?
< tux> you: a bit chilly!

   If  you'd  rather  chat with them in a separate window use the
   /msg  or  /query  command,  just  like you would for a private
   message  in  IRC.  If  you want to have messages automatically
   come  up  in  private  messages  rather  than  in the #bitlbee
   channel,  use  the  set private command: set private true (set
   private false to change back).

   You  know  the  basics.  If you want to get to know more about
   BitlBee, please type help quickstart6.

Further Resources

   So  you  want  more  than  just chatting? Or maybe you're just
   looking for a feature?

   You can type help set to learn more about the possible BitlBee
   user settings. Among these user settings you will find options
   for   common  issues,  such  as  changing  the  charset,  HTML
   stripping  and  automatic  connecting  (simply type set to see
   current user settings).

   For  more  subjects  (like groupchats and away states), please
   type help index.

   If  you're  still  looking  for  something, please visit us in
   #bitlbee   on   the   OFTC   network   (you  can  connect  via
   irc.bitlbee.org),  or  mail  us  your problem/suggestion. Good
   luck and enjoy the Bee!

Chapter 5. Bitlbee commands

   Table of Contents

   account - IM-account list maintenance

        account add
        account del
        account on
        account off
        account list

   add - Add a buddy to your contact list
   info - Request user information
   remove - Remove a buddy from your contact list
   block - Block someone
   allow - Unblock someone
   set - Miscellaneous settings
   help - BitlBee help system
   save - Save your account data
   charset
   private
   save_on_quit
   html
   debug
   to_char
   typing_notice
   ops
   away_devoice
   handle_unknown
   auto_connect
   auto_reconnect
   auto_reconnect_delay
   buddy_sendbuffer
   buddy_sendbuffer_delay
   default_target
   display_namechanges
   password
   query_order
   lcnicks
   rename - Rename (renick) a buddy
   yes - Accept a request
   no - Deny a request
   qlist - List all the unanswered questions root asked
   register - Register yourself
   identify - Identify yourself with your password
   drop - Drop your account
   blist - List all the buddies in your contact list
   nick - Change friendly name, nick
   import_buddies - Copy local buddy list to server (normally
          only needed when upgrading)

account - IM-account list maintenance

   Syntax:
account <action> [<arguments>]

   Available  actions:  add, del, list, on, off. See help account
   <action> for more information.

account add

   Syntax:
account add <protocol> <username> <password> [<server>] [<port>] [<ssl>
]

   Adds  an  account  on  the  given  server  with  the specified
   protocol,   username   and   password  to  the  account  list.
   Specifying   the  server  is  optional  and  principally  only
   necessary  when  using  oscar.  The  following  protocols  are
   supported  at  the  moment:  jabber, msn, yahoo and oscar (For
   AIM/ICQ.  For  AIM use server login.oscar.aol.com, for ICQ use
   server  login.icq.com.  For  Jabber  the server is part of the
   username  (e.g.  sjoerd@hemminga-online.nl),  it should not be
   passed  in  any  other  way in the command. (E.g.: account add
   jabber  sjoerd@hemminga-online.nl  funnypass)  For  the  other
   protocols  you don't have to specify a server.) For Jabber you
   may  specify  custom  port  (if  you  connect  to  server with
   non-standard  port)  and/or  ssl  option  if  you  want secure
   connection.
< wilmer> account add oscar 72696705 hobbelmeeuw login.icq.com
< root> Account successfully added

account del

   Syntax:
account del <id>

   This  commands  deletes an account from your account list. You
   should signoff the account before deleting it.

   The  account  ID  can  be  a  number  (see  account list), the
   protocol  name  or  (part  of)  the  screenname, as long as it
   matches only one connection.

account on

   Syntax:
account on [<id>]

   This command will try to log into the specified account. If no
   account  is specified, BitlBee will log into all the accounts.
   (Including accounts awaiting a reconnection)

   The  account  ID  can  be  a  number  (see  account list), the
   protocol  name  or  (part  of)  the  screenname, as long as it
   matches  only  one  connection.  Without  any  account number,
   BitlBee will just try to restore any lost connection.

account off

   Syntax:
account off [<id>]

   This  command  disconnects  the  connection  for the specified
   account.  If  no account is specified, BitlBee will deactivate
   all   active   accounts.   (Including   accounts   awaiting  a
   reconnection)

   The  account  ID  can  be  a  number  (see  account list), the
   protocol  name  or  (part  of)  the  screenname, as long as it
   matches only one connection.

account list

   Syntax:
account list

   This  command  gives  you  a list of all the accounts known by
   BitlBee,  including  the  numbers you'll need for most account
   commands.

add - Add a buddy to your contact list

   Syntax:
add <connection><handle>[<nick>]

   Adds the given buddy at the specified connection to your buddy
   list.  The  account ID can be a number (see account list), the
   protocol  name  or  (part  of)  the  screenname, as long as it
   matches only one connection.

   If  you  want, you can also tell BitlBee what nick to give the
   new contact. Of course you can also use the rename command for
   that, but sometimes this might be more convenient.
< ctrlsoft> add 3 gryp@jabber.org grijp
 * grijphas joined #bitlbee

info - Request user information

   Syntax:
info <connection><handle>
info <nick>

   Requests  IM-network-specific  information about the specified
   user.  The  amount  of  information  you'll  get  differs  per
   protocol.  For  some protocols (ATM Jabber and MSN) it'll give
   you  an  URL  which you can visit with a normal web browser to
   get the information.
< ctrlsoft> info 0 72696705
< root> User info - UIN: 72696705 Nick: Lintux First/Last name: Wilmer
van der Gaast E-mail: lintux@lintux.cx

remove - Remove a buddy from your contact list

   Syntax:
remove <nick>

   Removes the specified nick from your buddy list.
< ctrlsoft> remove gryp
 * gryphas quit [Leaving...]

block - Block someone

   Syntax:
block <nick>
block <connection> <handle>

   Puts  the  specified  user on your ignore list. Either specify
   the  user's nick when you have him/her in your contact list or
   a connection number and a user handle.

allow - Unblock someone

   Syntax:
allow <nick>
allow <connection> <handle>

   Reverse  of block. Unignores the specified user or user handle
   on specified connection.

set - Miscellaneous settings

   Syntax:
set [<variable>][<value>]

   Without   any  arguments,  this  command  lists  all  the  set
   variables.  You can also specify a single argument, a variable
   name,  to  get  that  variable's  value. To change this value,
   specify the new value as the second argument.

   To get more help information about a setting, try:

help - BitlBee help system

   Syntax:
help

save - Save your account data

   Syntax:
save

   This  command  saves  all your nicks and accounts immediately.
   Handy  if  you have the autosave functionality disabled, or if
   you don't trust the program's stability... ;-)

charset

   Type: string

   The  charset  setting  enables  you to use different character
   sets  in  BitlBee. These get converted to UTF-8 before sending
   and from UTF-8 when receiving.

   If  you  don't  know  what's the best value for this, at least
   iso8859-1  is  the best choice for most Western countries. You
   can    try    to   find   what   works   best   for   you   on
   http://czyborra.com/charsets/iso8859.html

private

   Type: boolean

   If  value is true, messages from users will appear in separate
   query  windows.  If  false, messages from users will appear in
   the control channel.

   This setting is remembered (during one session) per-user, this
   setting  only  changes  the  default  state. This option takes
   effect as soon as you reconnect.

save_on_quit

   Type: boolean

   If  enabled  causes  BitlBee  to save all current settings and
   account  details  when  user  disconnects.  This is enabled by
   default, and these days there's not really a reason to have it
   disabled anymore.

html

   Type: string

   Determines  what  BitlBee  should do with HTML in messages. If
   set  to  nostrip, HTML in messages will not be touched. If set
   to   strip,   all   HTML   will  be  stripped  from  messages.
   Unfortunately this sometimes strips too much.

debug

   Type: boolean

   Some  debugging messages can be sent to the control channel if
   you  wish.  They're probably not really useful for you, unless
   you're doing some development on BitlBee.

to_char

   Type: string

   It's  customary that messages meant for one specific person on
   an  IRC  channel  are prepended by his/her alias followed by a
   colon  ':'.  BitlBee  does  this  by  default. If you prefer a
   different character, you can set it using set to_char.

   Please  note  that  this  setting  is  only  used for incoming
   messages. For outgoing messages you can use ':' (colon) or ','
   to separate the destination nick from the message, and this is
   not configurable.

typing_notice

   Type: boolean

   Sends  you  a  /notice when a user starts typing a message (if
   the protocol supports it, MSN for example). This is a bug, not
   a feature. (But please don't report it.. ;-) You don't want to
   use it. Really. In fact the typing-notification is just one of
   the  least  useful 'innovations' ever. It's just there because
   some guy will probably ask me about it anyway. ;-)

ops

   Type: string

   Some  people  prefer themself and root to have operator status
   in  #bitlbee,  other people don't. You can change these states
   using this setting.

   The  value  "both"  means  both  user and root get ops. "root"
   means,  well,  just  root.  "user" means just the user. "none"
   means nobody will get operator status.

away_devoice

   Type: boolean

   With  this  option enabled, the root user devoices people when
   they go away (just away, not offline) and gives the voice back
   when they come back. You might dislike the voice-floods you'll
   get  if  your  contact  list  is  huge,  so this option can be
   disabled.

handle_unknown

   Type: string

   Messages from unknown users are echoed like this by default:

   If  you want this lame user to be added automatically, you can
   set  this  setting  to "add". If you prefer to ignore messages
   from  people you don't know, you can set this one to "ignore".
   "add_private"  and "add_channel" are like add, but you can use
   them  to  make  messages  from  unknown  buddies appear in the
   channel instead of a query window.

auto_connect

   Type: boolean

   With  this  option  enabled,  when  you  identify BitlBee will
   automatically  connect to your accounts, with this disabled it
   will not do this.

auto_reconnect

   Type: boolean

   If  an IM-connections breaks, you're supposed to bring it back
   up  yourself.  Having  BitlBee do this automatically might not
   always  be  a  good idea, for several reasons. If you want the
   connections  to be restored automatically, you can enable this
   setting.

   See also the auto_reconnect_delay setting.

auto_reconnect_delay

   Type: integer

   Tell BitlBee after how many seconds it should attempt to bring
   an  IM-connection  back up after a crash. It's not a good idea
   to  set  this  value  very low, it will cause too much useless
   traffic when an IM-server is down for a few hours.

   See also the auto_reconnect setting.

buddy_sendbuffer

   Type: boolean

   By  default,  when  you  send  a  message  to someone, BitlBee
   forwards  this message to the user immediately. When you paste
   a  large  number  of lines, the lines will be sent in separate
   messages,  which might not be very nice to read. If you enable
   this  setting,  BitlBee will buffer your messages and wait for
   more data.

   Using  the  buddy_sendbuffer_delay setting you can specify the
   number of seconds BitlBee should wait for more data before the
   complete message is sent.

   Please  note  that if you remove a buddy from your list (or if
   the  connection  to that user drops) and there's still data in
   the  buffer,  this  data will be lost. BitlBee will not try to
   send the message to the user in those cases.

buddy_sendbuffer_delay

   Type: integer

   Tell  BitlBee after how many seconds a buffered message should
   be sent.

   See also the buddy_sendbuffer setting.

default_target

   Type: string

   With  this  value  set  to  root, lines written in the control
   channel  without  any  nickname  in  front  of  them  will  be
   interpreted  as  commands.  If  you want BitlBee to send those
   lines to the last person you addressed in the control channel,
   set this to last.

display_namechanges

   Type: boolean

password

   Type: string

   Use this setting to change your "NickServ" password.

query_order

   Type: string

   This  changes  the  order  in  which  the  questions from root
   (usually   authorization  requests  from  buddies)  should  be
   answered.  When  set to lifo, BitlBee immediately displays all
   new  questions  and  they should be answered in reverse order.
   When  this is set to fifo, BitlBee displays the first question
   which  comes in and caches all the others until you answer the
   first one.

   Although  the  fifo setting might sound more logical (and used
   to  be  the  default  behaviour in older BitlBee versions), it
   turned  out not to be very convenient for many users when they
   missed the first question (and never received the next ones).

lcnicks

   Type: boolean

   Hereby  you  can  change  whether you want all lower case nick
   names or leave the case as it intended by your peer.

rename - Rename (renick) a buddy

   Syntax:
rename <oldnick> <newnick>

   Renick  a  user  in your buddy list. Very useful, in fact just
   very important, if you got a lot of people with stupid account
   names (or hard ICQ numbers).
< itsme> rename itsme_ you
 * itsme_is now known as you

yes - Accept a request

   Syntax:
yes [<number>]

   Sometimes  an  IM-module  might  want  to  ask you a question.
   (Accept this user as your buddy or not?) To accept a question,
   use the yes command.

   By  default,  this  answers the first unanswered question. You
   can  also specify a different question as an argument. You can
   use the qlist command for a list of questions.

no - Deny a request

   Syntax:
no [<number>]

   Sometimes  an  IM-module  might  want  to  ask you a question.
   (Accept this user as your buddy or not?) To reject a question,
   use the no command.

   By  default,  this  answers the first unanswered question. You
   can  also specify a different question as an argument. You can
   use the qlist command for a list of questions.

qlist - List all the unanswered questions root asked

   Syntax:
qlist

   This  gives  you  a  list of all the unanswered questions from
   root.

register - Register yourself

   Syntax:
register <password>

   BitlBee  can save your settings so you won't have to enter all
   your  IM  passwords every time you log in. If you want the Bee
   to save your settings, use the register command.

   Please  do pick a secure password, don't just use your nick as
   your  password.  Please  note  that  IRC  is  not an encrypted
   protocol,  so  the  passwords  still  go  over  the network in
   plaintext.  Evil  people  with evil sniffers will read it all.
   (So don't use your root password.. ;-)

   To  identify  yourself  in  later  sessions,  you  can use the
   identify command.

identify - Identify yourself with your password

   Syntax:
identify <password>

   BitlBee   saves   all   your   settings  (contacts,  accounts,
   passwords) on-server. To prevent other users from just logging
   in  as  you  and  getting  this  information,  you'll  have to
   identify  yourself  with  your password. You can register this
   password using the register command.

   Once you're registered, you can change your password using set
   password <password> (as always, without the brackets..).

drop - Drop your account

   Syntax:
drop <password>

   Drop  your  BitlBee  registration.  Your account files will be
   removed  and  your  password  will  be  forgotten. For obvious
   security  reasons,  you have to specify your NickServ password
   to make this command work.

blist - List all the buddies in your contact list

   Syntax:
blist [all|online|offline|away]

   You  can  get  a  better  readable  buddy list using the blist
   command.  If  you  want a complete list (including the offline
   users) you can use the all argument.

nick - Change friendly name, nick

   Syntax:
nick <connection>[<new nick>]
nick

   This command allows to set the friendly name of an im account.
   If  no  new  name  is  specified  the  command will report the
   current  name.  When the name contains spaces, don't forget to
   quote  the whole nick in double quotes. Currently this command
   is only supported by the MSN protocol.
< wouter> nick 1 "Wouter Paesen"
< root> Setting your name on connection 1 to `Wouter Paesen'

import_buddies - Copy local buddy list to server (normally only
needed when upgrading)

   Syntax:
import_buddies <connection> [clear]

   This  command  copies  the  locally  stored  buddy list to the
   server.  This  command exists for upgrading purposes. Previous
   versions of BitlBee didn't support server-side buddy lists for
   ICQ, so the list was stored locally.

   Since  version  0.91  however,  server-side  contact lists are
   supported for all protocols, so the local list is now ignored.
   When  upgrading  from  an  older  BitlBee to version 0.91, you
   might need this command to get your buddy list back.

   The  only  argument  this  command  needs  is your ICQ account
   identification.  If  your  serverside buddy list contains some
   old  buddies  you  don't want anymore, you can pass clear as a
   second argument.

   After giving this command, you have to wait for a while before
   all  the  adds are handled, because of ICQ's rate limiting. If
   your  buddy  list  is  very  large  and  the ICQ server starts
   complaining, you might have to reconnect and give this command
   again.

Chapter 6. Misc Stuff

   Table of Contents

   Smileys
   Groupchats
   Creating groupchats
   Groupchat channel names
   Away states

Smileys

   All  MSN  smileys  (except  one) are case insensitive and work
   without the nose too.

   (Y)
          Thumbs up

   (N)
          Thumbs down

   (B)
          Beer mug

   (D)
          Martini glass

   (X)
          Girl

   (Z)
          Boy

   (6)
          Devil smiley

   :-[
          Vampire bat

   (})
          Right hug

   ({)
          Left hug

   (M)
          MSN  Messenger  or  Windows  Messenger  icon  (think  a
          BitlBee logo here ;)

   :-S
          Crooked smiley (Confused smiley)

   :-$
          Embarrassed smiley

   (H)
          Smiley with sunglasses

   :-@
          Angry smiley

   (A)
          Angel smiley

   (L)
          Red heart (Love)

   (U)
          Broken heart

   (K)
          Red lips (Kiss)

   (G)
          Gift with bow

   (F)
          Red rose

   (W)
          Wilted rose

   (P)
          Camera

   (~)
          Film strip

   (T)
          Telephone receiver

   (@)
          Cat face

   (&)
          Dog's head

   (C)
          Coffee cup

   (I)
          Light bulb

   (S)
          Half-moon (Case sensitive!)

   (*)
          Star

   (8)
          Musical eighth note

   (E)
          Envelope

   (^)
          Birthday cake

   (O)
          Clock

   This list was extracted from
   http://help.msn.com/!data/en_us/data/messengerv50.its51/$conte
   nt$/EMOTICONS.HTM?H_APP=.

Groupchats

   Since version 0.8x, BitlBee supports groupchats on the MSN and
   Yahoo!  networks.  This  text will try to explain you how they
   work.

   As  soon  as someone invites you into a groupchat, you will be
   force-joined  or  invited  into a new virtual channel with all
   the  people  in  there. You can leave the channel at any time,
   just  like  you  would close the window in regular IM clients.
   Please   note  that  root-commands  don't  work  in  groupchat
   channels,  they  only  work in the control channel (or to root
   directly).

   You  can  also create your own groupchats, if you really think
   they  work better than regular IRC channels... Read more about
   this with help groupchats2.

Creating groupchats

   If  you  want  to start a groupchat with the person jim_msn in
   it,  just  join  the  channel #jim_msn. BitlBee will refuse to
   join  you  to the channel with that name, but it will create a
   new virtual channel with root, you and jim_msn in it.

   Now you'll think "Dude, this is just a channel with two people
   in  it, that's not what I want!". Yes, I know. But just try to
   invite  some other people to the channel. (I guess you already
   know  about  your client's /invite command?) Please do keep in
   mind  that  all  the people have to be on the same network and
   contact  list!  You  can't  invite  Yahoo!  buddies into a MSN
   groupchat.

   This  is  all  you'll  probably  need to know. If you have any
   problems, please read help groupchats3.

Groupchat channel names

   About the virtual channel names (#chat_xxx): Please just learn
   to  live with them. Channels don't have (useful) names on most
   IM-networks,  so  we  just  had  to  find  an  algorithm which
   generates  'unique'  names. You can't rename them, and I think
   that'd not be too useful anyway...

   If  BitlBee  fails to create the channel (root should tell you
   about  it), there might not be an available 'switchbox' to the
   person  you  chose.  Just  send the person an ordinary message
   then,  and  the  switchbox  will be created. You can retry the
   join then.

Away states

   As  you  might've expected, you can just use the /away command
   in your IRC client to set an away-state. BitlBee supports most
   away-states supported by the protocols.

   Not  all  away states are supported by all protocols, and some
   protocols  have  different names for them. BitlBee will try to
   pick  the  best  available  alias  from  this  list  for every
   connection:
   Away from computer, Away, Extended away
   NA, N/A, Not available
   Busy, Do not disturb, DND, Occupied
   Be right back, BRB
   On the phone, Phone, On phone
   Out to lunch, Lunch, Food

   So  /away  Food  will set your state to "Out to lunch" on your
   MSN  connection,  and  for most other connections the default,
   "Away" or "Away from computer" will be chosen.

   You  can  also  add  more  information  to  your away message.
   Setting  it  to  "Busy  -  Fixing  BitlBee bugs" will set your
   IM-away-states  to  Busy,  but  your away message will be more
   descriptive  for  people  on  IRC.  Protocols  like Yahoo! and
   Jabber  will  also  show  this  complete  away message to your
   buddies.
