To enable chat mode, click the three-line menu icon at the top-right of your Thunderbird dashboard. Go to “New Message” followed by “Chat Account.”
In the next step you get to choose from one of the four IM options. We will discuss them one by one.
Google Talk
We discussed earlier how useful Thunderbird can be in setting up your Gmail account. For Google Talk, you do not need to use the same Gmail account – a new one will do just fine.
Simply enter your Google password. Thunderbird offers SSL/TLS protection, so you don’t have to worry about security. Additionally, you also have a choice to be prompted for the password each time you log in.
There are one to two additional steps where you get to choose your chat alias. Once finished, a chat icon will be displayed at the top. If for some reason your Google Talk account shows that it is not connected, simply refresh “show chat status.”
Once you choose Twitter, you will initially be asked to provide your username. Then it will lead to the next screen where you must authorize Thunderbird Chat to use your Twitter account. Provide your Twitter password at this step.
As with Google Talk, you will have to go through a few more easy sequences. In the end, enter “Finish,” and your Twitter timeline will be quickly added to the Thunderbird dashboard. All your conversations with followers are available for further action. You can tweet easily and send messages to your followers.
IRC
Thunderbird also supports a whole bunch of Internet Relay Chat (IRC) services. Just click on the network to find your server details. The most popular IRC chatrooms include IRCnet, EFNet, Chatzona, DALnet and QuakeNet which also have Android support.
Take note of the chatroom’s server names, and Port/SSL numbers, which are optional in case you have trouble logging in.
Go back to the Chat Account Wizard in Thunderbird, and enter the server names as shown in the previous step.
After following a few more steps including alias selection, your IRC account is now enabled with Thunderbird. Click Finish to begin chatting.
XMPP
Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) is very popular with VOIP, video, file transfer and gaming applications. Also known as Jabber, the open standard protocol supports discovery across several local domains in isolated locations. This makes it very popular for cloud computing and the Internet of Things.
If you have a Jabber account for any of its numerous projects, enter your username and domain as below. After that, the steps are similar to setting up an IRC account with Thunderbird.
In Summary
Even in the age of smartphones, many of us spend a lot of time in front of a computer. Mozilla Thunderbird is an extremely convenient client to keep track of instant messaging updates. Do you intend to use any chat messaging services with the Thunderbird client? Please let us know in the comments.
