Ever since Gaim changed to Pidgin, there's been something missing... maybe you've noticed it, maybe you haven't.
The developers introduced a major design change, from account-oriented approach to identity-oriented approach.
While this is a good idea, they have completely removed any trace of the protocol icon from the main interface,
moving it to a secondary position (popup menu, hover menu, etc). Their reasoning for this is explained
here.
I agree that this is a smart move for the majority of the userbase, but there are still users who want to see
the protocol directly in the main interface. All attempts to reason with the developers have been met with a
resounding NO. They ask for a reason, and then shoot down any reason you give them as being inaccurate or not
good enough. They describe the users who want this functionality put back as the "vocal minority".
Check
Ticket 414,
Ticket 451,
Ticket 562
for examples of this.
On 2007-07-13, I submitted patch to Pidgin developers, as
Ticket 2146. It has been met by the developers
favorably, and has been included in the main Pidgin branch as of version 2.0.2
Solution
Since the developers obviously aren't going to provide a solution to this, I took it upon myself to provide
the solution. This solution comes in the form of a custom build of Pidgin, called "Pidgin Protocol Mod". The
following changes were made:
An option under the "Buddies" menu is added, called "Show Protocol Icons". This setting is saved in your config.
When "Show Protocol Icons" is selected, a column on the right side of buddy list is added, containing the
protocol icon of the buddy. If the buddy is a buddy group, the default protocol for the group will be shown
(ie: the protocol that is opened when you double click on the buddy group).
This code change came in at under 30 lines. Oddly enough, one of the reasons that was given for not including
this feature was that the code would be unmanageable. Hard to believe that 30 lines of code is unmanageable.
Screenshots
The buddies and buddy groups have been blacked out to protect the innocent :)
Download
The following files are available to download for the current Pidgin build:
