Add your AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo, and Jabber buddies to your ActiveCampus buddy list! Add your AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo, Jabber buddies Native (non-HTML) IM client support Improved ActiveCampus Explorer design ActiveCampus SOAP access

Welcome back to ActiveCampus! A lot of things have been added since you probably last used the application. This is definately the update o' instant messaging, as we've put a lot of effort into improving our messaging component. The messaging GUI in ActiveCampus Explorer has been completely redesigned and we've also connected everything up to a Jabber server, which means you'll be able to message ActiveCampus, Jabber, ICQ, AIM, MSN, and Yahoo users simultaneously!

Setting up Instant Messenger accounts

In order to add buddies on other instant messenger services as seen in the screenshots below, you'll need to configure ActiveCampus Explorer to do so first. Go to the "Profile" page in ActiveCampus Explorer and select the "IM Profiles" option. From here, you can add the login + password information for your accounts on these systems so ActiveCampus's Jabber server can log you in when you're online and you'll be able to send and receive messages with your non-ActiveCampus friends. I'd reccomend creating accounts on these services specifically for use with ActiveCampus so you don't have to worry about your desktop IM clients fighting over who gets to use the account.

ActiveCampus now acts as a Jabber server as well, so you'll already have access to Jabber without needing any setup (your Jabber ID is your username@activecampus.ucsd.edu).

Native IM clients

Here's an example shot of being connected to ActiveCampus's instant messenging component via a Jabber client, in this case Exodus. We're still working on a native ActiveCampus client, but for now, you can use any Jabber client to get native instant messenging if you want, which means no more having to watch the HTML version of ActiveCampus Explorer for new messages and dealing with the inherrent delay. Point a Jabber client at activecampus.ucsd.edu and use your ActiveCampus username and password to login. Don't have a Jabber client? If you're not using Windows, you probably already have gaim, and if you are using Windows, Exodus is a nice open-source Jabber client. There are clients for Pocket PC, but most are commercial; imov Messenger (formerly JabberCE) exists and frees you to use other apps on your PDA while waiting for messages, but otherwise is a pretty klunky client. There's a whole mess of clients listed at jabber.org. There are a _lot_ of Jabber clients out there; find one you like! One gotcha to be aware of, there's currently a bug in the Jabber server where if you have two Jabber clients connected (ActiveCampus Explorer counts as one), only the first to connect will see buddies on other IMs as online. It's nothing serious, it can just look confusing if you weren't expecting it. Most people will never notice, as they have their native client set to login on startup. We're looking into fixing that bug.

Screenshots of the improved ActiveCampus Explorer

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'Now' Today's UCSD events culled from the UCSD calendar website. World news headlines from Yahoo. Weather report from AccuWeather. Smaller summary of nearby users, sites, and graffiti. Buddies Collapsible display of buddies by category and group. Buddies can appear in more than one group. For example, you could add a classmate in a 'CSE100' group as well as a 'Friends' group. Support for non-ActiveCampus buddies. Buddy Adding Allows adding of non-ActiveCampus buddies. Except for ActiveCampus and Jabber services which are always available, you must configure other IM services in IM Profiles before seeing them as Service options. More intuitive group selection. Profile Privacy setting summary and controls. Instant Messenger configuration. Per-user message history. Instant Messenger Profiles Allows configuration of ICQ, AIM, MSN, and Yahoo accounts. ActiveCampus uses a modified Jabber server to provide basic messaging connectivity to your friends on other instant messengers provided you have accounts on those systems. ActiveCampus automatically assigns you a Jabber ID, your username@activecampus.ucsd.edu. Level of support of these protocols directly corresponds to the level of support in the Jabber server. Messaging Optional conversation tabs to allow an IM-like interface in addition to the default flat IRC-like 'All' interface. Configurable quick phrases making PDA conversations easier to manage (configured by selecting the 'Custom' option). Automatic refresh is blocked while you type; no more dissapearing keyboard on the PDAs while typing. The full date is given for messages that occured on a different day. No longer requires manually marking messages 'read'; the interface is much more like IM/IRC than email now. Old messages from your last session are no longer displayed; they are available from the 'history' interface. Optionally can tag your location onto messages to non-ActiveCampus buddies (Configured in privacy settings)

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SOAP access

Also new for this release we've been working on a SOAP interface to ActiveCampus so you'll be able to make use of ActiveCampus's services in your own stuff! It's still in progress so there's only a very limited amount of functionality available via SOAP at the moment, but we're actively working to fill it out. One use I figure you might be interested in is being able to embed your current location and status in your UCSD webpages, and maybe a 'message me' link too that'll send messages from webpage visitors to you. So.. I've coded an example for you of how to insert that info in your UCSD (or other php-supporting) webpages! This wanders a bit off-topic for the 'new features' discussion, so see here:

ActiveCampus SOAP tutorial.

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