You must have all been using Windows Live Messenger to chat with your friends, how about putting such an IM Window to your Spaces so that your Blog Readers can chat with you. This IM Window will also show your Online Status. And what’s more the reader may not have Windows Live Messenger on his system, that means anyone can chat with you, even a guest can chat with you. This embeded IM Window in your Spaces will show your online status and you must be logged in with your Live Messenger. I have put this IM Window on right side-bar.
This is made possible by the Windows Live Messenger IM Control which lets people on the Web reach you in Messenger by showing your Messenger status on your web site, blog, or social networking profile. The Windows Live Messenger IM Control runs in the browser and lets site visitors message you without them, installing Messenger.
So let us see how to do this:
1. Go to http://settings.messenger.live.com/applications/websettings.aspx Sign in with your Windows Live ID.
2. Check ‘Allow anyone on the web to see my presence and send me message’, if you want to show your presence to all people including those you might have blocked.
3. Click on ‘Create HTML’ to choose which control you want to display on your page. It can be an IM Window, like the one I have put in Spaces here on the right side or it can be just ‘ Status Icon’. Please note that you may not able to use ‘Button’ on Spaces as it can be used only where JavaScript is supported. Also Note that the page is live that is, it will show your Status as Online if you are Online as can be seen from the screenshot below.
Next, you can also choose the size and theme of your liking. By default the size of the IM Window will be 300 x 300 and it accepts higher values only, you can not reduce it. But if you want to reduce it as I have done to accommodate, you have to change it in the HTML code. Copy and paste the HTML code in your site, blog or Spaces.
To add this HTML code into your Spaces, Sign-in to your Spaces and from Customize > Add Modules
And from the ‘Modules’ option select Custom HTML and in this paste the HTML code. Drag the module to arrange them where you like. That’s it.
Now you have the IM Chat Window ready, for your Visitors to Chat with you, discuss various posts you have posted on the Spaces.
You can also put just the Status icon which will display your Online Status and when clicked it will open the IM Chat Window.
Testing the IM Window :
You can test this by sending anonymous message to yourself. You can keep the default name as ‘visitor’ and then you have to pass the Captcha test (character recognition tests) to prevent from spam. This message will be received in your Messenger and from it you can reply back.
Anyone can IM you using it.If somebody you don’t know sends you a message, you will see a warning and if you don’t want people you don’t know to send you messages, then don’t allow messages such as this one option or other option can be chosen.
Using Windows Live Messenger Gadget :
There’s also another method of putting IM Window, that is using Gadget from Windows Live Gallery. You can get it from Windows Live Gallery. It also provides option where to put this gadget into:
But I think you should follow the first method, where you will have more options to choose.
