How to Use Yahoo! Chat

Instant messaging has made online communication much easier. Among several instant messaging services today, Yahoo! Messenger with chat is one of the most widely used. It enables friends, families, co-workers, and even sweethearts separated by distance to be in touch as if they are next to each other. Using Yahoo! Chat is easy. But first you need to have the program installed in your computer. After you downloaded and installed the program, follow these steps:

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Internet connection
• Yahoo!Messenger program
• Basic computer knowledge

1. 
    

   Open the Yahoo! Messenger Program installed in your computer. You can access it by going to All Programs-> Yahoo! Messenger. Click on the yellow smiley icon to load the program.

2. 
    

   You need a valid Yahoo! ID to use Yahoo! Chat. Once the Yahoo! Messenger window is loaded, input your ID and password in the corresponding text boxes. There are three options you can check in the bottom of the sign-in text boxes to customize how you want to log-in. If you don’t want any of these options, click on the Sign In button.

3. 
    

   Once your log-in is successful, you will be directed to the main Yahoo! Chat interface. If you already have contacts added in your list, it will show how many are online and offline depending on your settings. You are now ready to start chatting.

4. 
    

   Pick any one of the name in your contacts list that is online. You will know this when the yellow button lights up next to their name. Double-click on the contact to load the chat window. Type your message in the message box and press Enter key. Your message will be sent to the person.

5. 
    

   You will know when the person replied when a message appear on the message window next to the person’s name or when you are not in the Yahoo!Chat environment, the chat window on the bottom of the taskbar will flash. This way you will be notified that there’s a message.

6. 
    

   You can change the text formatting of your messages by making use of the tools on top of the message box. You can change the font of your text, change the size, change the text to bold, etc. You can even add emoticons to your message depending on your mood.

7. 
    

   If you have a web cam attached to your computer you can let the person you are talking to see you while you are chatting online. On your Yahoo! Messenger menu, go to Messenger-> My Webcam. Your webcam will load. To share your webcam, go to the chat window. On the Actions menu, click Invite to View my Webcam.

Tips & Warnings

• When you are chatting with someone whom you barely know, be careful about passing personal information.

Resources

• Yahoo!Messenger

[ampersand]

on 2/18/2009 Thanks for the great information!

[drmargaretjamal]

on 1/28/2009 This is very detailed and useful information. I was just thinking about a good chat option. Thanks. :-)

[SophiaMaria]

on 1/26/2009 Thanks for this useful info! My sister has been at me for a while now to get chatting with her on yahoo. Now I'm gonna try it. Thanks!

[Fuller1972]

on 1/25/2009 I wish I had read this last week, but I figured it out. Thanks for the info on how to use the cam though, I need to set that up this week.**5***