Shoutbox

Ok, so now I understand, your problem is with a skin and not Plus! itself.

As you know, without a skin, they show black as normal.

What skin are you using? Maybe there's a setting in the skin options to change the colour, which could be what the button is?

Otherwise, Skin Options can be found by using the instructions in my last post in Preferences.

In my plus that button is for playing games, and i remember specifically having to download a script to change the names to colors in the contact list. The skin is working fin and the particular on i am using does not allow for any alteration excpet for the color scheme. but the contact list remains black.  This is sooooo frustrating

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Originally posted by Chris4
which could be what the button is?

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That's a sponsored game button from Messenger Plus!. Those buttons depend on your local. So not everybody sees the same buttons or point to the same stuff.

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Originally posted by Chris4
Ok, so now I understand, your problem is with a skin and not Plus! itself.

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I'm not sure if he has a skin installed and enabled though.

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Originally posted by KNOTTYONE
and i remember specifically having to download a script to change the names to colors in the contact list.

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Then you must be mistaken because there is no script which can do this.

The only thing which can change the overall default black color of the names in the contact list is a skin though.

However, if you had such a skin, and you installed another one, then the previous one will not be able to change the overal default black color of the names anymore. Only 1 skin can be enabled at a time.

Also remember that skins are version dependant. So, if you had a skin and you updated Windows Live Messenger, chances are the skin is not compatible anymore and thus can't change the default color of the names anymore.

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btw, here are some terms explained. It is vital you understand them (and use them properly) and what the differences are. Otherwise we are not talking about the same things:

- 'Windows Live Messenger' is the program you use to chat to your buddies.

- 'Messenger Plus!' is an addon which adds more functionality to Windows Live Messenger; it does not replace Windows Live Messenger.

- A 'script' is a small programming feature of Messenger Plus! which can add even more extra functionalities to Windows Live Messenger. Mostly by using commands. Scripts do not change the look of Windows Live Messenger.

- 'skinning' is also a feature of Messenger Plus!. It can create a whole different look for Windows Live Messenger, like completely different window shapes, buttons and icons which look completely different, etc. This is a completely different feature than a 'scene'. Skins do not contain any programming feature.

- A 'scene' is a feature of Windows Live Messenger itself. It simply changes the overall background color scheme and the background picture of the so called 'me'-area (the top part of your contact list) and the top of a conversation window.

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KNOTTYONE, can you go to your Messenger Plus! preferences and take a screenshot of the skinning options:
Plus! > Preferences & Options > Customize! > Skins

If you have a list like the one shown below, where "Standard Messenger Look" is ticked in the list, then you do NOT have a skin installed and enabled.

Before I installed the newest version of PLUS , iIhad this exact skin enabled, but the names in my contact list were purple. I had to put a code in front of thier names to do this. But when I attempted to do this all i saw was the code in front of their names, no color. When i rebooted, it looked as it does now.

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Originally posted by KNOTTYONE
Before I installed the newest version of PLUS , iIhad this exact skin enabled, but the names in my contact list were purple. I had to put a code in front of thier names to do this. But when I attempted to do this all i saw was the code in front of their names, no color. When i rebooted, it looked as it does now.

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If you had to put a code in front of their 'nicknames' then it had nothing todo with the skin.... You can do this without any skin because that is a basic feature of Messenger Plus!.

PS: note the word 'nicknames', another term, not to be confused with 'contact names'. Because you can not change the name of the contacts! You can however choose a nickname for your contacts which will be shown instead of the contact name. Choosing a nickname for your contacts is a feature of Windows Live Messenger.
(Right click a contact and choose 'Add a nickname')

However, the color codes are a feature of Messenger Plus!. If you put color codes around the nicknames then Messenger Plus! will colorize the nickname.
But, this feature must be enabled in Messenger Plus!....
If it is disabled, you will see the color codes. If it is enabled you will see the names colorized according to the used codes.

But according to your screenshots you do not have any nicknames set for the contacts. So, nothing will be colored. Aka, you will see everything in black (the default foreground color), unless the contact himself has used color codes in their name.

Also note that a skin can override these colors. You would then instead simply see the color used by the skin, and you wont see the color codes you have set in the nicknames (or which the contact have set in their name).

So:
1) check if the following option is enabled:
   Plus! > Options & Preferences > Customize! > General > Use formatting attributes to color contact names in Messenger Windows.

2) Make sure you have added nicknames for every contact in your contact list.
   (right click on the contact in the contact list and choose 'Add nickname')

3) Make sure you have added the proper color tags around every nickname for every contact in your contact list. eg: [c=6]nickname[/c]

4) Make sure you don't use a skin which alters the default foreground color of names in the contact list.
   (Plus! > Options & Preferences > Customize! > Skins)
   Although I'm not 100% sure if a skin can überhaupt have any influence on this though
   Because, internally, the colorization of names is probably done after the skin settings have been applied

EDIT: 5) And although it isn't the cause of all of this, don't forget to remove the skin 'Customize Windows Live Messenger' because that isn't compatible with the Windows Live Messenger version you're using.

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Originally posted by KNOTTYONE
iIhad this exact skin enabled, but the names in my contact list were purple.

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That skin, Customized Windows Live Messenger, is NOT compatible with the version of Windows Live Messenger you're running (2009).

You probably upgraded Windows Live Messenger (not Plus!) from 8.5 to 2009 (9.0) and now you don't have the customizations you had before, correct?

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Originally posted by Chris4
That skin, Customized Windows Live Messenger, is NOT compatible with the version of Windows Live Messenger you're running (2009).

You probably upgraded Windows Live Messenger (not Plus!) from 8.5 to 2009 (9.0) and now you don't have the customizations you had before, correct?

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That doesn't matter as it is not the cause of the black names.
It also doesn't alter the color of names.
So, in fact, it doesn't matter if he had it installed or not.
See my previous post.

but yeah, he should uninstall it anyway since it isn't compatible

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Originally posted by CookieRevised
It also doesn't alter the color of names.

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I thought there may have been a setting in Skin Options to do so.

Very confusing how the OP switches from it being a skin, a script and then manually adding the codes.

OH ya, I forgot to tell you that when I initially installed the upgrade for plus, the contact names that first showed up were not mine.....I had to go into messenger ad re add them from the privacy tab......so I have no idea what happened. I had one contact that was my own, and he was still purple, I see now however, that he has also turned black. I do have the correct boxes ticked, that was the first thing I did after installation.

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Tell me about it Chris, I have no idea what the heck happened, but something obviously did.

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Originally posted by Chris4
Very confusing how the OP switches from it being a skin, a script and then manually adding the codes.

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indeed... got me confused too, hence why I posted those explanations of those "terms" and why I requested a SS of the installed skins
Shows again how important it is to use the proper naming of things...

If he hadn't mentionned "color codes", we would probably still going around in circles

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Originally posted by KNOTTYONE
Tell me about it Chris, I have no idea what the heck happened, but something obviously did.

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I just explained it what happened and told you how you could have all the names purple again:
CookieRevised's reply to Colored Names in contact list