You Determine When and How ICQ Pals See You Online
Are there contacts that you don't want to be able to see if
you're online? Or other contacts that you'd always like to be available for no matter what you're doing?
ICQ Availability Status Modes help you determine your availability.
In this section we help you:
Set Your General Availability
Setting your availability is useful so your contacts know when you're away from your computer. To use these, click the ICQ 
flower.
Note: The exact icon displayed depends on your current status.
Select from the following availability status modes:
Available/Connect: You Appear As: Online, connected to the ICQ Network and available for contact. Incoming Events Notification - Alert sound, blinking icon in your Contact List and applications tray (the gray band at the bottom of your screen in which minimized programs appear).
Away: You Appear As: Online, but away from the computer. Incoming Events Notification - Blinking icon in your Contact List and applications tray.
Note: When your screen saver is activated your status may automatically convert to Away.
N/A (Extended Away): You Appear As: Online, but away from the computer for an extended period of time. Incoming Events Notification: Blinking icon in your Contact List and applications tray.
Privacy (Invisible): You Appear As: Offline (when you are in fact online). Incoming Events Notification: Only users you have sent events to can send events back to you. Notification is by an alert sound and blinking icon in your Contact List and applications tray. Outgoing Events Appearance: You appear as 'Online' with a Privacy icon beside your name.
Offline/Disconnected: You Appear As: Offline/Disconnected from the ICQ servers. Incoming Events Response: You will only receive events when reconnected to the ICQ Network.
Note: As well as overriding the general availability status for specific users you can also override
your incoming events response for specific users - see Customize The Incoming Events Response for Specific Users
below.
Create Invisible/Visible Lists
As well as overriding your general availability under individual contact's Alert/Accept Modes, you can also create lists of contacts to whom you would like to always be invisible or visible.
To add an ICQ user to your Invisible or Visible Lists:
- Click Main -> Preferences & Security under Security -> Invisible List or Visible List
- Click Add To Invisible (or Visible) List. Search for users to add to your List. Select a user from the search results, and click Add User.
- Click Apply to save changes or Cancel to exit without saving changes.
Tips: Add a contact quickly by dragging their name from your Contact List on to the Invisible/Visible List.
To remove a user from the list, select the name of the user from the list and click Remove From Invisible/Visible List. Click Apply to save changes.
Notes: Contacts on your Invisible List see your status as offline even if you are online, however when you are online you'll still receive events sent by them.
Contacts on your Visible list will be able to see your online status even when you're in the Privacy (Invisible) mode and appear to be offline to other users. An Invisible icon 
will appear next to your name on their Contact List so that they know you are in Invisible to other users.
If you have activated your Web Aware feature and you're connected to the ICQ servers, Web status indicators will continue to indicate that you are online, even if you are in the Invisible (Privacy) mode for certain users.
If you chose to activate an Invisible (Privacy) mode with respect to certain users, other users may be aware of your ICQ number online status during the time your ICQ program is connected to any of the ICQ ActiveLists.
Require Permission Before Users Add You To Contact Lists / View Your Availability
Contact List authorization options allow you to choose whether or not your permission is
required for users to add you to their Contact Lists and thereby view your Online/Offline status.
You set your Authorization Mode during the registration process, but to change it:
- Click Main -> Preferences& Security under Preferences -> General
- In the Contact List Authorization window, select whether to allow all users to add you to their Contact Lists (and view your online status) or determine that your permission is required before you can be added.
- Click Apply to save changes or Cancel to exit without saving changes.
Tips: If you appear in the Contact Lists of users who added you before you insisted on "authorization required" and you would rather not, simply add these contacts to your Ignore and Invisible Lists.
Notes: A user can send you a message even if you don't appear on their Contact List, via the "send message" option in the directory search. However they will not know whether you are online or offline (unless, you activated the Web Aware feature (see below).
Enable/Disable Web Aware Availability Feature
By activating the Web Awareness option, other Internet users are able to see your online/offline status from features
including the ICQ Unified Messaging Center and status indicator tools. You set your Web Aware status during the
ICQ registration process, but to activate or deactivate the Web Aware feature:
- Click Main -> Security & Privacy Permissions under General Settings -> General
- In the Web Aware window, check the Allow others to view my online/offline status... box
- Click Apply to save changes or Cancel to exit without saving changes.
Notes: Even if you applied an Invisible (Privacy) mode, when the Web Aware setting is activated and you are online, your online status will be displayed to all users on Web Aware features.
