This feature is not supported in Web applications.

1. Create a column and assign it the Names style on the Advanced Format tab of the Column Properties box.

2. Check the options for "Column contains a name" and "Show online status."

3. Enter a column formula that evaluates to a name in the abbreviated form of the full hierarchical name -- for example, Jill Patton/ACME/US. This name is required as a look-up value to retrieve a user's instant messaging status.

Note Online status only displays for a single name displayed in a column. You can define a field to accept multiple values, but if more than one name displays in a column, status icons do not display.

Tips

• Users can see the online status icons for names that you enable for online awareness if the User Preference "Show Instant Messaging Status" is enabled for their client. If this preference is disabled, a user will need to click a name to see if the user is available for chat.
• If you do not want to display the abbreviated hierarchical name in the column a user sees, you can create a column that displays a user's short name and link that column to a hidden column containing the abbreviated hierarchical name using the hidden column's programmatic name. Using this technique, the user sees the short name, but the lookup is done using the abbreviated hierarchical name, reducing the likelihood of ambiguous names.

Adding instant messaging to an application
Enabling a field for instant messaging
Names fields
Embedding an Instant Messaging Contact List

Glossary