How can I make Pidgin new message notifications more aggressive in Ubuntu 9.04?
I'm running Ubuntu 9.04, and have Pidgin's Message Notification plugin installed. I have "Set Window Manager "URGENT" hint" on, which I was expecting would flash the title bar of the message window, but it doesn't do that.
I also have the Libnotify Popups and Guifications plugins installed, but they only display a notification for fixed period of time, and if you miss it, it's gone. As far as I can tell, the only persistent notification that you have an unread IM is the tiny green dot on the envelope notification near the clock, which is very easy to overlook, and the conversation tab being highlighted in blue, which isn't useful if your IM window is behind another window.
I assume that the "URGENT" hint is being sent to the window, but that my window manager just isn't doing anything with it. Is there any way to make my window manager flash the title bar, or some other way to get a more aggressive notification that will persist until I've brought focus to the message window and viewed the message?
From http://earlruby.org/2013/10/bring-pidgins-window-into-front-focus-when-theres-an-inbound-im/
- Bring up Pidgin’s Buddy List
- Click Tools > Plugins
- Locate the Message Notification plugin and highlight it
- At the bottom of the Plugins window is a Configure Plugin button. Click it
- Under Notification Methods check both Raise conversation window and Present conversation window
- Click Close
Don't know how to make Ubuntu's libnotify do anything different, but Pidgin itself has an option for opening new chat windows when someone sends you a new message. Maybe better then nothing :-)
Go to the plug-ins (control-U) and select "Message Notification." If you want to notice all IMs, turn on the "Raise Conversation Window" option. Popping in front of the other windows is obnoxious and ought to get your attention.
I installed Avant Window Navigator for an unrelated reason (I wanted to use the Remember the Milk plugin), but it had the nice side effect that Pidgin now bounces its icon in my dock, which is enough for me to notice new messages now.