Pidgin Setup for Library IM Services - Meebo Me Widget for Anonymous Users

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Pidgin Setup for Library IM Services

Getting Started | Centralized Logging | Usage Statistics | Meebo Me Widget

What About People That Do Not Use IM?

IM is wonderful for patrons that already use IM. For those people that do not already use IM on their own, it is useful to provide a chat solution that allows anyone with a modern Web browser to chat with a librarian. Meebo Me Widgets are one simple, popular, and free way to do this. This way, patrons do not need to register for an IM service in order to chat with their librarian. These widgets require a recent version of Adobe Flash Player on the patron's Web browser. Be aware that links you send through the widget are not clickable by the patron.

LibraryH3lp widgets are another way to offer web chat to patrons without IM accounts; they use JavaScript and do not require that the patron's computer have Flash. Links librarians send to the patron are also clicakble in LibraryH3lp. The rest of this web page will focus on Meebo Me setup in Pidgin, but many of the same principles apply to LibraryH3lp.

Using Pidgin to Monitor your Meebo Me Widget

You can chat with patrons using your Meebo Me Widget from Pidgin, so that:

Your staff do not have to monitor two applications (Pidgin for IM and a Meebo Me Widget via a Web browser) simultaneously.

Your Meebo Me chats are centrally logged right along with your other Pidgin transcripts.

Meebo Me uses the XMPP (Jabber) protocol, so it is easy to monitor the librarian-side of a Meebo Me Widget through Pidgin. After you have created your Meebo Me Widget, use Pidgin to create a new XMPP account. The screenshot displays the details. Note that the Screen name matches the login name for your widget, the Resource is Pidgin, and the Server is meebo.org.

Automatically Authorize Meebo Me Patrons

When you set this up, you will notice that you will be prompted to authorize a buddy request for each visitor to your Web page that includes the Meebo Me Widget, even if they do not want to chat with you. You can automatically authorize these buddy requests by using the the pidgin4lib plugin (right-click, save target/link as). Unzip the pidgin4lib.dll file and place it in Pidgin's plugins directory. Then enable it within Pidgin (Tools-->Plugins) and you will no longer see authorization requests from your Meebo Me Widget. The plugin will also authorize similar requests from MSN patrons.

The plugin also sets the new chat alert sound to repeat every 30 seconds until the librarian sends one reponse to the patron, assuming you have sound alerts turned on.

If you are running Pidgin using the PURPLEHOME environment variable, you can also run the pidgin4lib plugin centrally. Create a plugins directory under your .purple directory and place the pidgin4lib.dll file inside. Enable the plugin as usual.

Developers and other interested parties can download the pidgin4lib plugin source code here (right-click, save target/link as). The source code uses the FunnelWeb literate-programming preprocessor and carries the GNU General Public License.

Website comments or questions: Pam Sessoms
Suggestions on Library Services? Give us your feedback.
URL: http://www.lib.unc.edu/reference/eref/pidgin/meebomewidget.html
This page was last updated Thursday, April 17, 2008.

What About People That Do Not Use IM?
IM is wonderful for patrons that already use IM. For those people that do not already use IM on their own, it is useful to provide a chat solution that allows anyone with a modern Web browser to chat with a librarian. Meebo Me Widgets are one simple, popular, and free way to do this. This way, patrons do not need to register for an IM service in order to chat with their librarian. These widgets require a recent version of Adobe Flash Player on the patron's Web browser. Be aware that links you send through the widget are not clickable by the patron. LibraryH3lp widgets are another way to offer web chat to patrons without IM accounts; they use JavaScript and do not require that the patron's computer have Flash. Links librarians send to the patron are also clicakble in LibraryH3lp. The rest of this web page will focus on Meebo Me setup in Pidgin, but many of the same principles apply to LibraryH3lp. Using Pidgin to Monitor your Meebo Me Widget You can chat with patrons using your Meebo Me Widget from Pidgin, so that: Your staff do not have to monitor two applications (Pidgin for IM and a Meebo Me Widget via a Web browser) simultaneously. Your Meebo Me chats are centrally logged right along with your other Pidgin transcripts. Meebo Me uses the XMPP (Jabber) protocol, so it is easy to monitor the librarian-side of a Meebo Me Widget through Pidgin. After you have created your Meebo Me Widget, use Pidgin to create a new XMPP account. The screenshot displays the details. Note that the Screen name matches the login name for your widget, the Resource is Pidgin, and the Server is meebo.org.
	Automatically Authorize Meebo Me Patrons When you set this up, you will notice that you will be prompted to authorize a buddy request for each visitor to your Web page that includes the Meebo Me Widget, even if they do not want to chat with you. You can automatically authorize these buddy requests by using the the pidgin4lib plugin (right-click, save target/link as). Unzip the pidgin4lib.dll file and place it in Pidgin's plugins directory. Then enable it within Pidgin (Tools-->Plugins) and you will no longer see authorization requests from your Meebo Me Widget. The plugin will also authorize similar requests from MSN patrons. The plugin also sets the new chat alert sound to repeat every 30 seconds until the librarian sends one reponse to the patron, assuming you have sound alerts turned on. If you are running Pidgin using the PURPLEHOME environment variable, you can also run the pidgin4lib plugin centrally. Create a plugins directory under your .purple directory and place the pidgin4lib.dll file inside. Enable the plugin as usual. Developers and other interested parties can download the pidgin4lib plugin source code here (right-click, save target/link as). The source code uses the FunnelWeb literate-programming preprocessor and carries the GNU General Public License.