An Update on Trillian
Do you use one or more instant messenger services? Maybe you have friends on AIM or MSN and others on Yahoo! and even more on ICQ.
Whatever your case may be, isn’t it a pain to have to connect each of them, log on and then keep an eye on all of them at the same time? I think it is!
Wouldn’t it be nice if you only had to open one and you’d be able to see all your contacts in one place?
Well, that’s easy and possible, with some help from Trillian.
Now, WorldStart has introduced Trillian to you before (click here to check it out), but it has improved a lot since then, so today, I’d like to take you through the whole installation procedure once again. Trust me, it will be worth it if you use IM services on a regular basis. Let’s get started!
First and foremost, you need to go to the homepage of Trillian here to get the program. Once you’re there, just select the Download button.
This will take you to the Download site where you can elect to start the Download and then choose Run.
You will need to accept the license agreement, as normal, and then you will be asked to make two selections.
Here’s the first one:
Do you want to also install the Weather Channel desktop? Unless you uncheck the box, this will be done automatically.
The second choice is here:
Do you want to install the Ask search engine toolbar? Be sure to uncheck both of the boxes if you do not.
Eventually, you will see a confirmation screen that tells you the installation is complete.
Then you need to choose between the two versions of Trillian. There’s the Basic version, which is free or there’s the Pro version, which is not. Make your choice and then continue on.
Thereafter, you can decide which nickname and which graphic you want to use (probably what you have been using to date if you’ve used an IM program before).
The red ellipses show you where the choices are to be made for your nickname and picture. They’re also what you can use to locate an alternative picture elsewhere on your computer, if desired.
The next choice is to set up Trillian for the messenger services you use. Here’s what the screen looks like:
As you can see, it’s just a case of clicking the right boxes and then hitting the Next button.
Following that, you need to equip Trillian with your usernames and passwords for each of the IM services you use (see the image below):
That’s about it! At this stage, you are now ready to start Trillian and find all your contacts, now all in one easy to use location:
However, there are a few finesses you can utilize as well and I will now give you a quick overview of them here.
By selecting Trillian, Trillian Preferences, a Message Window will come up, which will give you the opportunity to make some changes about how you are notified when one of your contacts signs online, for example.
The Notifications tab will give you audible options when a contact takes a specific action.
The Text Conversations screen will enable you to format quite a bit of the message layout as well.
Audio does what it says: it will enable you to control many aspects of the sound quality.
File Transfers will, among other things, enable you to run your virus scanner over incoming files. That is, if you use your IM program to transfer them.
Finally, if you add other IM services later on, you can use the Plug-ins tab (below) to enable them to be added.
So, now with Trillian, you have all you need to keep track of all your friends, wherever they might be. Now, go on and enjoy many happy hours of instant messaging!
~ David Woodford