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Install and Customize Miranda IM

Wednesday, 21 November 2007

Miranda IM is a wonderful instant message client. I’ve used every major instant message client available, and nothing holds a candle to Miranda. It is a multi-protocol client, which means you can chat with friends on AIM, Jabber, ICQ, IRC, MSN, Yahoo, Gabu-Gabu, Google, and others all at the same time. Miranda hasn't gotten the attention it deserves in the past. It is so customizable it can be a daunting task to setup.

I thought I would document the setup and customization of Miranda on my computer. This isn’t intended to be a full guide, but just the specific plug-ins and themes I’m currently using. A basic knowledge of the Windows file system is required. You will need to know how to extract files from a ZIP archive to specific directories in order to install and customize Miranda. This usually involves extracting a dll file from a zip file and placing it in the Miranda Plugin folder. This guide is for Windows NT based PCs (Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Vista) and was written for Miranda IM v0.7.3.

Install Miranda IM

Download Miranda IM (miranda-im-v0.7.3-unicode.exe)

>>> Click Next

>>> Click I Agree

Miranda is a stand alone application and doesn't store information in the Windows registry. This allows me to reinstall my operating system and keep Miranda and all it's settings with no problems. To achieve this I change my destination folder to a secondary hard drive.

>>> Additionally I must uncheck "Store profile data in user home directory", otherwise my profile would be erased when I reinstall my operating system. I do this frequently.

>>> Create a profile name. You can use your name if you like.

>>> If you have your AIM account information you can enter it here. I usually click cancel here and enter everything from the Miranda options window.

>>> I skip this one too.

>>> Click cancel here.

You done with the initial installation. If you started Miranda now, it would look like this:

Install Modern Contact List Plugin

Download the Modern Contact List plug-in (clistmodern.zip). The contents of the zip file should look like:

+---icons
| toolbar_icons.dll
|
\---plugins
 clist_modern.dll

Extract the zip file to a temporary location and copy the files to the appropriate locations.

toolbar_icons.dll >>> Miranda IM \ Icons
clist_modern.dll >>> Miranda IM \ Plugins

Install History++ History Viewer

Download the History++ History Viewer plug-in (historyppbn.zip). The contents of the zip file should look like:

| historypp.dll
| 
+---docs
| hpp_changelog.txt
| hpp_translate.txt
| m_historypp.inc
| 
\---icons
 historypp_icons.dll

Extract the zip file to a temporary location and copy the files to the appropriate locations.

historypp.dll >>> Miranda IM \ Plugins
historypp_icons.dll >>> Miranda IM \ Icons

*You can safely ignore the other files in the docs folder.

Install IEView

Download the IEView plug-in (ieview.zip). The contents of the zip file should look like:

| ieview.dll
| 
\---ieview
 | file.gif
 | message.gif
 | message_in.gif
 | message_out.gif
 | status.gif
 | url.gif
 | 
 +---css
 | chat.css
 | scriver.css
 | srmm.css
 | tabsrmm.css
 | 
 \---Docs
 ieview-license.txt
 ieview-readme.txt
 ieview-templates.txt
 ieview-translation.txt
 m_ieview.h

Extract the zip file to a temporary location and copy the content of the entire folder to the [ Miranda IM \ Plugins ] folder including the ieview directory.

ieview.dll >>> Miranda IM \ Plugins
ieview (entire folder) >>> Miranda IM \ Plugins

Install TabSRMM

Download the TabSRMM plugin (tabsrmmunicode.zip). The contents of the zip file should look like:

+---docs
| \---tabsrmm
| CHANGELOG.NEW
| changelog.txt
| INSTALL
| license.txt
| MetaContacts.TXT
| POPUPS.TXT
| readme.txt
| 
+---icons
| tabsrmm_icons.dll
| 
\---plugins
 tabsrmm.dll

Extract the zip file to a temporary location and copy the files to the appropriate locations.

tabsrmm_icons.dll >>> Miranda IM \ Icons
tabsrmm.dll >>> Miranda IM \ Plugins

Customize Miranda Settings

Start Miranda IM and access the options window by right clicking the icon your task tray and then select Options.

Customize Core Options

>>> On the File Transfers screen

Specify the folder to place received files
Check - Auto-accept incoming files from people on my contact list
Check - Minimize the file transfer window
Check - Close window when transfer completes
Select - Rename (append "(1)", etc.)

This allows you to receive files automatically from friends on your contact list. Most other instant message clients make it difficult to transfer files.

>>> On the Messages screen

Check - Do not pop up dialog askign for new message

>>> On the Plugins screen

Check - clist_modern.dll
Check - tabsrmm.dll
Check or Uncheck aim.dll, icq.dll, irc.dll, jabber.dll, msn.dll, and yahoo.dll based on whether you wish to use that protocol.

You can see I use AIM, ICQ, MSN, and Yahoo. I don't use Gadu-Gadu, IRC, and Jabber.

Customize Modern Contact List

On the left of the Miranda IM Options windows select clist_modern.dll to access options specific to that module.

>>> On the general tab the changes I make are

Check - Hide offline users
Check - Disable groups
Change the Contact list sorting order to 1st: Name / 2nd: Protocol / 3rd: Nothing

>>> On the Behaviour tab I change:

Check - Automatically resize window to height of list
Check - Size upwards

>>> On the Status Bar tab I change:

Uncheck - Show protocol names
Uncheck - Show status text
Check - Make sections equal width
Align = Center

>>> On the Hotkeys screen I uncheck everything except Read Message and Show Hide Contact List. I map those to Alt-; and Alt-'.

>>> My desktop resolution is 2560 by 1600, so I changed the font to a larger font. You might not find this necessary.

>>> On the Row Items screen

Uncheck - Show Avatar

>>> On the Toolbar screen

Uncheck - Show Toolbar with next buttons (this can also be changed with the frames settings)

Customize TabSRMM

>>> On the General tab:

Uncheck - Send on SHIFT - Enter
Check - Send message on 'Enter'

>>> On the Message log tab I select ( Load Previous events less than) and use 90 minutes for the value. When I open a message with, it loads the previous 90 minutes of the conversation. You can adjust this to your preference.

Custom Skins

With the plug-ins installed so far the message window can be customized (IEView), the chat box can be customized (TabSRMM), and the contact list windows can be customized (Modern Contact List). I use custom skins for the contact list and the message windows, but not the chat box itself.

To start create a folder under your Miranda IM folder and call it "Skins ".

Custom IEView Skin

Download Nile (nile.zip)

Extract the contents of Nile to your "Miranda IM \ Skins" folder. You should end up with another folder called Nile in the Skins folder.

>>> After you extract the file, bring up the options windows again (right click Miranda task tray icon and select Options). Select ieview.dll for the module and Message Log tab. Select Use Templates and browse to the nile.ivt file you extracted.

Custom Modern Contact List Skin

Download Simple dark 0.2 (simpledark.zip)

Extract the contents of zip file to a temporary folder. This will create a folder called simpledark. Copy the entire folder and it's contents to the Miranda IM \ Skins folder.