= Managing contact lists =

After you've established your connection to each network you'll see the `&bitlbee` chat room appear.  This is the control channel where you can enter commands.  In the contact list you'll see your online and away contacts, however the offline contacts are not included.

It's also possible to have channels for each account with only the users of that account listed.  This can be done with the `/join &$account` type syntax.

First a list of your accounts.
{{{
11:38 me: acc list
11:38 root: 0 (gtalk): jabber, me@gmail.com (connected)
11:38 root: 1 (jabber): jabber, me@jabber.net (connected)
11:38 root: 2 (icq): oscar, 012345678 (connected)
11:38 root: 3 (skype): skype, skypehandle
11:38 root: End of account list
}}}

To have a dedicated channel for all contacts of a specific account first add a channel for an account.
{{{
11:38 me: /join &gtalk
}}}

Now check the settings of this new channel.
{{{
11:31 me: channel &gtalk set
11:31 root: account is empty
11:31 root: auto_join = `true'
11:31 root: fill_by = `group'
11:31 root: group is `gtalk'
11:31 root: protocol is empty
11:31 root: show_users = `online+,away'
11:31 root: type = `control'
}}}

Notice that here the group `gtalk` is the source of contacts in this channel.

We can change this to include contacts from the account instead.
{{{
11:28 me: channel &gtalk set account gtalk
11:28 root: account = `gtalk'
11:28 me: channel &gtalk set fill_by account
11:28 root: fill_by = `account'
}}}

And we can also include offline contacts in the list.
{{{
11:28 me: channel &gtalk set show_users online+,away,offline
11:28 root: show_users = `online+,away,offline'
}}}

Now online contacts will be shown as having voice (this is indicated by the `+`), and both away and offline contacts will be shown as ordinary users.  If we want to be able to tell away and offline contacts apart, we can assign each group a different status:

{{{
11:29 me: channel &gtalk set show_users online%,away+,offline
11:29 root: show_users = `online%,away+,offline'
}}}

Now online users will be shown as having halfops, away users as having voice, and offline users as ordinary users. You can find out more about the options available for the show_users setting by typing `help set show_users` in a control channel.

The final settings should look something like this:
{{{
11:31 me: channel &gtalk set
11:31 root: account is 'gtalk'
11:31 root: auto_join = `true'
11:31 root: fill_by = `account'
11:31 root: group is empty
11:31 root: protocol is empty
11:31 root: show_users = `online%,away+,offline'
11:31 root: type = `control'
}}}

Do this for each account you want to have a dedicated contacts channel for.
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