Yahoo! Messenger Plugins worth checking out...

With Yahoo! Messenger version 8 came the additon of Plug-ins which add features and functionality to Yahoo! Messenger that we can install and uninstall at our whim and fancy.. some are useful, some are just for fun.. and some I just don't get or understand at all, but that's ok because it takes all sorts to made the world go around and I don't mind being a speed bump for some of that time ;)

If trotted along to the Yahoo! Gallery the other day to see what was new and what had been happening over there and while I was poking around I grabbed myself a couple more Yahoo! Messenger Plugins some of them are just for fun but the others are really awesome and add great functionality to Yahoo! Messenger...

Now just a quick reminder before I go listing the ones I use and / or have tried lately....
• the Plugins ONLY work with Yahoo! Messenger version 8, if you don't have version 8 installed don't go near the Yahoo! Gallery until you do.
• remember there are two types of Plugins available for Yahoo! Messenger, Conversation Plug-ins and Tab Plug-ins, both are quite different, if you want to know more about each one and where to look for them when installed, then check out our article Plug-ins
• if you're running v8 and still have trouble with the Yahoo! Plugins then check out our articles Plug-ins, Plugin Problems and Plug-ins... where?
• if you're still having problems then hit our WackyB.co.nz Forum for some one on one help :)

First off, of course, is....Andy's YEmotePLUS plugin
I love this plug-in, it's without doubt my "most used" as it adds easy access to all the Yahoo! Messenger smileys, including the secret / hidden ones, and it lets you customise the layout so you can put all your most used smileys together, or seperate out into personalised categories.. I also love the way it detects if I'm IM'ing with Windows Live Messenger friend and switches to WLM mode displaying all the compatible smileys for us both :)
Description: "Building on the success of the first YEmote plugin, YEmotePLUS has been re-written from scratch to include all the features you requested and some additional. For those that want more then the simple smiley menu of YEmote; YEmotePLUS gives you access to ALL the secret and hidden Emoticons / Smileys quickly nd easily, Multiple layouts let you organize smileys into groups and categories. Customize the layout/background colour with drag'n'drop smileys where you want them, even send your layout to friends running YEmotePLUS!. Click animated smiley to be insert automatically into your text. Full mouse over descriptions (and which versions of messenger Windows / Mac can see them). Right mouse button click to preview all smileys animating. New MSN Live mode switches to compatible smileys when chatting with your Windows Live Messenger contacts."
Yahoo! Gallery Link: http://us.gallery.yahoo.com/apps/380/
if you like Andy's work check out his Off the Record Plugin

for a bit of fun check out Yahoo! Greetings eCard Plugin
I really like this one... often I only have a few minutes to actually spend with my friends online, mostly we just hang out silently together while we work... being able to send an eCard is great way to say a lot with just a little...
Description: "Browse from a selection of eCards to send to your Buddy while you are chatting. The person you are chatting with can then send an eCard back."
Yahoo! Gallery Link: http://us.gallery.yahoo.com/apps/503/

I've only recently signed up for flickr, it seemed logical to then grab the Flickengr Plugin (NOTE: this a Tab Plugin not a Conversation Plugin)
once installed it quickly located my flickr account but it took an age to search through my list of contacts.. but once up and running I haven't looked back :)
Description: "See what your Messenger contacts have been posting to Flickr! The Flickengr tab displays a slideshow of the 25 most recent photos that each of your contacts have uploaded. If you have a Flickr account, the slideshow also includes any of your Flickr contacts who may not be on Messenger. Select a ontact in your Messenger List to quickly jump to their photos. Expand the tab to see a larger view. Click a button to IM the person who posted the photo or to leave a comment. If Flickengr can't find your contacts' Flickr accounts based on their email addresses, you can always manually enter their screen names to display their photos in the slideshow."
Yahoo! Gallery Link: http://us.gallery.yahoo.com/apps/998/

Local Time....(NOTE: this a Tab Plugin not a Conversation Plugin)
is a must have for the time zone challenged.... like myself ;)
Description: "Displays the local time of your contacts. Stay in touch with friends and family in different time zones and arrange online meetings at the proper time of day with business colleges all around the world. If both users have the plugin installed, the local time will be automatically updated and shown."
Yahoo! Gallery Link: http://us.gallery.yahoo.com/apps/1227/

Yahoo! Avatars Space
sometimes it works... sometimes it doesn't... today was a good day and Yahoo! Avatars Space came to the party nicely. The DECORATE command can be a lot of fun, also pay close attention whenever you or your IM friend uses love, heart or angel
Description: "Hang out in style with your virtual friends. Launch this plug-in to open a cool Avatars-only environment that you can customize by changing the background, furniture and artwork. Change your Avatar's mood on the fly and use the DECORATE ommand in your IM conversation to spice up the room with pictures from Yahoo! Image Search."
Yahoo! Gallery Link: http://us.gallery.yahoo.com/apps/984/

What didn't quite get off the launch pad...

My Ma would love Pandaf Sudoku Battle .. if she used Yahoo Messenger... which she doesn't.. dang it all. I couldn't get it to run at all, I was locked in "loading" but my oponent could... dang shame it's not a one player game.. least that's what they said ;)
Description: "Pandaf Sudoku Battle is a two players game plugin. The goal is to complete a shared Sudoku grid with your opponent.."
Yahoo! Gallery Link: http://us.gallery.yahoo.com/apps/1583/

30 Boxes for Messenger is one that I stumbled across just the other day....(NOTE: this a Tab Plugin not a Conversation Plugin)
and it was quite an experience finding out all about it... you see I'd never heard of 30boxes.com before *blush* I'm not getting very far with it though, I can happily log into 30boxes.com but alas not via the 30boxes plugin... but I hear it's a really great plug-in ;)
Description: "30 Boxes allows you to manage your calendar, set your away messages, and keep up with buddy updates from your friends' MySpace, Flickr, Webshots, blogs, and more."
Yahoo! Gallery Link: http://us.gallery.yahoo.com/apps/1227/

abazab Video Sharing appears to be worth getting...
be warned though that Adobe Flash Player 9 is required but this plugin handles the issue perfectly if you need to update your Flash Player. It seems you don't need to have an abazab.com account to view other ppl's clips but if you want to share you're own you'll need one. My own playbox url (for plonking purposes so don't expect to find anything too amazing there) is http://www.abazab.com/users/Playbox.aspx?wid=113734... pity it doesn't recognise it as valiad... but I don't feel too out of place because none of the others I located from their homepage worked either... what did work though was the featured clips... pity about the rest... Description: "View any video clip with your friends! Watch YouTube videos or record your own clips straight from webcam, mobile, or digicam. Save your favorites in a playbox for later viewing. You can even load other people’ playboxes to watch their video collections!"
Yahoo! Gallery Link: http://us.gallery.yahoo.com/apps/1405/