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AIM Expressions
by Jeff Hester
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 Jeff Hester waters the
plants, empties the waste baskets and
occasionally sharpens pencils at BigBlueBall headquarters.
Sometimes, he writes. |
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What are AIM Expressions?
First released with AOL Instant Messenger 5.0, AIM Expressions
are a way to personalize AIM. Expressions add custom graphics to
your buddy list and instant message windows. They aren't a true
application skin because they don't change the interface, but they
can be fun just the same.
Do my friends see my Expression?
Unless your friend has specifically loaded it, no. Expressions,
unlike Yahoo IMvironments, are not automatically shared with the
people you IM. Only you see it. They will, however, see the buddy
icon used by your Expression.
Can I create my own Expression?
 The
short answer is yes. I've only experimented with one program:
Expression Creator from AIM-Expressions.com. They have a
free trial version that they claim lets you create up to five
Expressions, but when I tried it, it expired after creating only
one! Otherwise, it looked pretty good and it worked!
Basically, here's what you need to create the various images:
- Buddy List Background: 130x160 BMP
- Buddy List Top: 120x60 GIF (you have to
include an image, although it won't actually be used by the
Expression; AIM will automatically display an ad there)
- Buddy List Side: 60xAny GIF (the height
is up to you)
- IM Background: Any sized GIF (experiment
with different sizes to get the result you want)
- IM Side: 125xAny GIF (pick your own
height)
- Buddy Icon: 48x48 GIF (if non-animated)
or 50x50 GIF (if transparent or animated) must be smaller than
7 KB!
The tricky part for most is that the Buddy List
Side and IM Window Side actually must be web pages hosted somewhere
on the Internet (if you want to share the Expression). Set up the
web pages with the images and use <BODY scroll="no"> to turn off the
scroll bars. Then enter the location for all the images and files
into Expression Creator and save the Expression. That's basically
all there is to it!
If you want to share your Expression, all you need
to share is the ARF file. Again, if you host this on a web server,
you can create a hyperlink in this format:
<a href="aim:GetExpression?URL=http://www.bigblueball.com/im/aim/expressions/cw/CivilWar.arf">Civil
War Expression</a>
Replacing the URL with the proper address to your
ARF file. If you're running AIM 5.0 or newer, you can test the link
and
see my first attempt at creating an Expression.
Where can I find more expressions?
Try
www.AIM-Expressions.com, they've got tons of pre-made
Expressions, ready for you to use.
Related Links
Brady Vercher's AIM Expression
Tutorial provides another tutorial that gives advanced users
greater flexibility.
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