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Message Format

There seem to be two different type of message format that IM clients support.  There is a discreet message type that displays a single message, and you close when you have read it.  A new window opens up if you choose to reply.

There is also the split-screen chat style where you enter text in the lower half of the screen and your text is echoed in the top half along with the person you are talking to.

Both formats have their place.  The Jabber protocol supports the first message type by default, with an optional flag to indicate if the message should be displayed split-screen style.

Unfortunately all Jabber clients that I have seen so far override the flag, and just display each message in the format that the author prefers (usually split-screen style).

Generally, discreet messages are preferred if someone is asking you a quick question or two, because the interruption is minimal.  Even for short chat sessions they are fine, especially if keyboard hotkeys are implemented so that the user doesn't have to take his or her hands off the keyboard to answer each massage.  For a longer chat session however, a split-screen style is probably more desirable as it provides some message history regarding who said what on the screen.  

Often  since quick questions can sometimes develop into longer chat sessions, there should be some way to convert one window type to another.  In the illustration I have provided a widget that will convert a discreet message window into a chat-style window and back again.  Clicking on this will force the window to stay open in chat-style until the user clicks Cancel.

When writing messages, the <Enter> key should perform as normal - creating a new line in the message.  To send the message, the user should click the "Send" button, or press the <Alt>-<Enter> key.  Having the <Enter> key send a message, causes users to send many more shorter messages than they otherwise would, which can get annoying if the other user is in discrete message mode.

If the user decides to CC other people on a particular message, it should be possible to Control-Click on names on the contact list to add those contacts as recipients of the message.

Since Jabber is so fast at sending messages, there is no need for an animation to show that it is in the process of sending.