As all of you must be aware, Ubuntu has ditched Pidgin and has decided to go ahead with Empathy for its upcoming release, Karmic Koala. So, in this article we show you how to do some things in Empathy that we usually take for granted in Pidgin.

1. Set Avatar and Alias

1. To set avatar and alias in Empathy, go to Edit -> Personal Information.
2. In the Personal Information pop-up, select the account for which you want change the avatar/alias.
3. To change avatar, click on the avatar icon, a selection window will come up and you can select your desired avatar from there.
4. To change alias, just enter your desired alias in the Alias field.
5. Click on Close.
   

   Change avatar and alias

2. Import accounts from Pidgin

1. To import your Pidgin accounts, go to Edit -> Accounts.
2. In the Accounts pop-up, click on the button Import Accounts....
3. In the Import Accounts pop-up, select the accounts you want to import and click on Ok.
4. Click on Close in the Accounts, pop-up.
   

   Click!

   

   Import!

3. Add New Group

1. To add a new group, right-click on any contact and select Edit from the menu.
2. In the Edit Contact Information window, under the heading Groups, enter the name of the new group you want to add.
3. Click on Add Group button.

Note: The contact will be added to the new group.

Enter name of new group

4. Disable the contact online/offline sound

1. To disable the annoying audio notification when a contact comes online or goes offline, go to Edit -> Preference.
2. In the Preference pop-up, click on the tab Sounds.
3. Uncheck the checkboxes next to Contact goes online and Contact goes offline.
4. Click on Close.

Note: If you find the popup bubble notiofications annoying as well, you can refer to this article to disable it: How to disable Popup bubble notifications in Empathy messenger

Disable notification sounds

5. Sort Contacts

1. To sort contacts based on their names or state, go to Edit -> Preference.
2. In the Preference, pop-up, click on the tab General.
3. Under the header Contact List, select the type of sorting you want.
4. Click on Close.
   

   Sort contacts

6. Disable the popup bubble notifications

You may like to go through this detailed guide where we explain how to disable Popup Bubble notifications in Empathy messenger.