Chat and Text Your Friends from Yahoo! Mail Classic
- Posted January 28th, 2009 at 10:00 am by AndrewM
- Categories: Classic Mail, General, New Stuff
Hello All – This week I want to take a moment to introduce you to Brandon Savage. Brandon is our Senior Product Manager for the Classic version of Yahoo! Mail. He’s got an exciting new feature to share with you. So take it away Brandon…
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I don’t know about you, but when I hear the word “classic,” I think of a cherry red ’57 Corvette zipping down an open freeway… and about Yahoo! Mail Classic, of course.
It was with that beautiful ’57 Corvette racing through our minds that we designed the newest feature to hit Yahoo! Mail Classic: integrated chat and mobile texting, courtesy of our friends at Yahoo! Messenger. Zippy, real-time communication, without having to leave your Yahoo! Mail Classic inbox. With the addition of chat and mobile text, you can now choose the best way to communicate with friends who are online or on the go. It’s already a popular feature in the new Yahoo! Mail, so popular, in fact, that it seemed only right to give our dedicated Classic Mail users a smarter, more social Webmail experience, too.
Imagine this: the next time you sit down to compose an email to your sister reminding her that Mom’s birthday is TODAY, and that Mom is expecting a phone call, like, NOW, you notice that she is online, too. Instead of email, why not try chatting in real-time?
Or, for all you parents out there, ever tried to get in touch with your child while they were hanging out with their friends? Never fear, Yahoo! Mail is here – just send a mobile text right to their cell phone!
How does it work, you ask? Well, when you sign into your Yahoo! Mail Classic account, your Chat & Mobile Text contact list will appear on the left of your screen (you can place it above or below your personal folders, whichever you prefer). If your status says “Offline,” just click on it and select “Available” to sign in (fair warning to Yahoo! Messenger users: signing in here will log you out elsewhere). Once you do, you’ll see a list of all of your Contacts who are online and available to chat. We also show you the names of any Contacts with mobile phone numbers, for mobile texting, of course. Just click on a name to start a conversation!
Easy, right? But don’t take my word for it, go ahead and take this exciting new feature for a spin by sending a chat or mobile text message of your own. Chat and mobile text is rolling out to all Yahoo! Mail Classic users over the next couple of months, so cool your engines and please be patient if you don’t see it right away. We’ll get to you soon, I promise. Improving a classic takes time!
Brandon Savage,
Sr. Product Manager, Yahoo! Mail Classic
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- 138 Comments
January 28th, 2009 at 11:45 am
When is the search functionality going to be restored for Yahoo! Mail? It hasn’t worked in eight months. It doesn’t return any results that are more than a month old. I’ve contacted service and they wrote back saying they’d resolved it, but it still doesn’t work. I love all the exciting new stationary and slide shows, but a search function that works is really important to me!
January 28th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
How about fixing all the existing problems before adding useless features. How about a spam filter that actually filters spam?
January 28th, 2009 at 3:59 pm
Exactly clone – what is going on at Yahoo? They really need to sort out their spam problems and yet they’re working of stuff like this instead? Unbelievable!!
January 30th, 2009 at 3:35 am
You are all right 100%!!!
Why try to develop new and unnecessary things to the Yahoo! Mail users when you can fix the problems that exist now in Yahoo! Mail???
Enhance the SPAM protection, add more space to the attachment limit ( more than just 10MB). Only then start thinking and developing the new features!!
January 31st, 2009 at 8:53 am
Well you actually have that, it´s called mail plus and costs 20bucks a year and gives you bigger attachments and a better filter. I use it since it can integrate all my various mail addresses into one inbox.
February 1st, 2009 at 11:48 am
I know there is such an option but it is a money and money doesn’t grow on trees.
Gmail hands all these features (POP3,IMAP,20MB attachment size and a lot more) for free!!!!!!!
The problem why I am not using Gmail is because I don’t like its interface and the way it shows my messages and contacts.
I also hate this chat feature of Gmail that is stucked at the side of the mail box and Y! Mail is nice and comfy but the Y! Mail staff wants to add all these unnecessary features to it, too.
February 4th, 2009 at 5:17 am
Welcome to the club….
YMail has been slow to implement features or has entirely failed to implement features that users want and they’ve been quick to implement features that users don’t want.
I don’t think that YMail even knows what IMAP is… They sure act like it… oh wait… they have “Zimbra”… what a joke. Imagine GMail IMAP locking itself to the Chrome Browser…
Andrew still hasn’t bothered to respond to a single comment in the other thread.
February 1st, 2009 at 3:15 am
c’mon yahoo is z best
February 4th, 2009 at 10:14 pm
What spam? I`ve been on yahoo for years and yet have to experience any spam?
Maybe it`s time to get a computer that is newer than 1983…lol
January 28th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
txt and instant
February 1st, 2009 at 8:14 pm
hello”im sam just wan’t all of you help the poor…
February 3rd, 2009 at 7:41 pm
hey, Im Mindy I want to help
February 9th, 2009 at 11:15 am
yeah great idea, start with me no job,lots of bills.But keep me trying.
February 10th, 2009 at 10:21 pm
say more bout that g
January 28th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
This sucks. Why does yahoo keep changing stuff. Leave well enough alone already. I’ve already abandonned yahoo news, am I going to have to switch to gmail too?
January 28th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
I want to join
January 28th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
You bear a striking resemblance to Prince William.
January 28th, 2009 at 6:30 pm
Since Brandon seems to be the only one doing any kind of work around there, why don’t you get him working on IMAP like GMail has?
January 28th, 2009 at 9:31 pm
Why not offer me the new “advantages” and see if I want them first instead of sticking them on my page and making me search for ways to delete them? There are so many problems at Yahoo.com to fix; how about doing that first, instead of adding new potential problems for your members?
January 29th, 2009 at 3:48 am
What about something as simple as adding more color options in the new yahoo mail..?? I’ve been suggesting this for months. My yahoo has all kinds of color customization options. Why can’t the Yahoo Mail interface match. The few measly color options that are currently available are pathetic compared to other mail services…!
January 29th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
I wish people would complain less. I hardly ever hear anything positive from someone who actually likes what Yahoo! does. Adding features and stuff.
Of course everyone’s entiltelt to their own opinion and likes or dislikes. ;-)
I personally like the new features. I like having things in one place for example.
And that Chat thingy is a welcome addition. Way to go YAHOO!!!
I do miss a couple things though, and that is having more color options – and themes for our mailboxes – ala Google ….and conversation threads by subject, also ala Gmail. Otherwise I like Yahoo Mail and am hoping that sometime soon they will add these features.
January 30th, 2009 at 8:42 pm
Me too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
January 30th, 2009 at 1:56 am
I don’t want this service. How do I eliminate the “Chat & Mobile Text” from my Inbox page?
February 9th, 2009 at 10:43 am
Anyone know the answer to Emily’s question?
January 30th, 2009 at 5:52 am
i want to do y this messanger that is suppose to stop sending me fauturl notice that my emails cant be sent out
February 6th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
Well get over it stupid!
January 30th, 2009 at 9:14 am
Can you add the “mobile text” option to the chat feature in the New Yahoo Mail interface..?? I like seeing a list of mobile phone contacts.
January 30th, 2009 at 10:24 am
It’s already there, check under the drop-down arrow next to “New” on the top LHS. I use it all the time, it rocks.
January 30th, 2009 at 9:46 am
I don’t find this feature on my inbox page. Where’s it hiding?
February 11th, 2009 at 10:38 am
no not really but do you chat
January 30th, 2009 at 11:47 am
Is the chat feature no longer in the mailbox?
January 30th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
It is lot to do but it is hard to it I had to keep on calling my mommy she send it to but I did not do it.
January 30th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
Could these new changes be the reason why since late morning I keep getting the following message when I try to check my external accounts???
“The following errors occurred when fetching your external mail:
lastUnsupported
lastUnsupported
lastUnsupported”
January 30th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
I want a blog now!
January 30th, 2009 at 8:40 pm
i just join so i do relly no about this stuff
January 30th, 2009 at 8:48 pm
what is a blog!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
January 30th, 2009 at 11:16 pm
[...] you can get to them faster than email (remember when we thought faxes were fast?). Read more on the Mail and Messenger [...]
January 31st, 2009 at 12:34 am
Whaaz up Ladies Shaggnastys back from da A.K. Livin in Sac town
January 31st, 2009 at 3:15 am
hello!what are you doing
January 31st, 2009 at 3:17 am
sent me a msg at my email
January 31st, 2009 at 7:22 am
send me a msg at my email thank you
January 31st, 2009 at 7:29 am
would like to see how this work so i can talk to my family
January 31st, 2009 at 7:32 am
this can come to my cell phone?
January 31st, 2009 at 9:01 am
My wife thinks you look just like Kenneth Ellen Parcell–”Kenneth the Page” from the hit NBC sitcom “30 Rock”. I think you look more like Prince William (as pointed out above) but you do have a definite Kenneth thing working. Anyway, you seem like a good dude. Take care.
January 31st, 2009 at 9:34 am
sounds ok but does the chat get charged as multimedia to the person messaging me back? Don’t want the standard “check with your carrier” answer. If it comes through as true texting your unlimited package should pay for it. If it comes through as multimedia somebody without an unlimited plan would be in for a shock when they received their bill
January 31st, 2009 at 9:35 am
this is the best
January 31st, 2009 at 9:38 am
hey oh yeah ill join
January 31st, 2009 at 9:42 am
hey any single guys
January 31st, 2009 at 10:25 am
i like it now how do i get started
January 31st, 2009 at 10:48 am
I opened my yahoo messenger and got a message that “I had one email in your personal email” not in a message box but in a warning box that asks me to click on go to pvt mail or ignore (I don’t remember the actual words on the buttons) I clicked on got to pvt mail and nothing happened and I checked my normal “cheif_fucowy@yahoo.com” email and nothing there. what is this pvt email and how do I access it?
January 31st, 2009 at 11:59 am
Bring back the Old at&t email w/out YAHOO. At least I could access all my bellsouth accounts from a single page.. not anymore, and having to enter my account id/pwd everytime I click on a link is a major step backwards. Not to mention having to enter in anti spam codes just to email a message… very dissapointing.
January 31st, 2009 at 7:53 pm
You better leave us a way to opt out of this garbage. This was but one of the reasons I did not use the “new” mail. I use chat for chat, e-mail for e-mail, and do NOT want the two to meet. I rarely chat anyway. Forcing this on us is not what we want. Please catch the clue.
February 1st, 2009 at 8:40 am
Is there a way to have an audible signal when I get a new instant message?
February 1st, 2009 at 9:02 am
“It’s not a bug… it’s a feature!”
How’s that IMAP coming along Brandon?
February 4th, 2009 at 10:17 am
Doesn’t look like anyones going to work on a feature that people really want. We only want one thing IMAP, and they won’t get that.
February 1st, 2009 at 11:03 am
Please correct the situation which I am facing. No e-mails get through from only one party. This person is on my contact list so I don’t understand why his e-mails are missing. If you need the e-mail address please advise and I will provide it.
February 1st, 2009 at 1:34 pm
i want to kno how to join
February 1st, 2009 at 1:35 pm
thannnnnnnnkkkkkkkkkkkssssssssssss
February 1st, 2009 at 9:20 pm
toi chi yeu va mau yeu mot nguoi cho du nguoi ay ko con yeu toi thi trai tim toi cung mai thuoc ve nguoi do.anh yeu em rat nhieu em biet ko mong rang tinh yeu cua chung minh mai mai tot dep
February 2nd, 2009 at 3:07 am
i appreciate yahoo
February 2nd, 2009 at 8:07 am
add me
February 2nd, 2009 at 8:42 am
What happened to the OLD format to send email, with the buttons for fonts, size, colors, stationery, etc? Seems like it just disappeared overnight about a month ago! Please bring it back!! I don’t want to go to Gmail or any other site, because I was so used to the YAHOO format and now I am not a happy camper! I just hate change.
Please and Thank You!
February 2nd, 2009 at 9:10 am
how do i get off of yim connections ? im not feeling it . BUT everthing else is AWESOME ! ( =
February 3rd, 2009 at 2:54 am
guess my old e mail with all my pictures are lost after yahoo changed my e mail name ?
February 3rd, 2009 at 9:08 am
dude that sucks i guess ppl is right about yahoo. Its realli confusing sometimes!!!!!
February 3rd, 2009 at 8:22 am
smaller size
February 3rd, 2009 at 9:04 am
like ur idea we can actually have yahoo on our cells thats cool and connect 2 ur family and friends!!!
February 3rd, 2009 at 9:05 am
like ur idea we can actually connect 2 our family and friends!!!
February 3rd, 2009 at 2:11 pm
i can’t chat when the first time i connected i could of chat please help me
February 3rd, 2009 at 2:34 pm
Any idea when the beta calendar or the beta mail apps will be updated? I’d like to see some new features and apps
February 3rd, 2009 at 3:32 pm
JHIOGUHOISHG
February 4th, 2009 at 8:27 am
bring back the older verion, I hate the useless bells and whistl,
also the best feature was contact express.Bring it back pleaseeeee.
yes it was excellent feature.
also get rid of all jave
February 4th, 2009 at 11:09 am
ALL the e-mail in my inbox for the LAST TWO MONTHS has totally VANISHED!!!!!!
WTF??????
February 4th, 2009 at 11:54 am
This Yahoo confuses me. All my colors and sizing are gone on my “send” email form. Where did they go??????
February 4th, 2009 at 11:55 am
The mail does not work today, is anyone else having an issue?
February 4th, 2009 at 11:55 am
The yahoo e-mail does not work today, is anyone else having an issue?
February 4th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
do any or you think texting is bad i mean it is fun and all but driving with it i mean it can couse death.
February 4th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
Didn’t ask for Connections. Don’t like Connections. Don’t want Connections. Can’t opt out of Connections. Don’t want to look at those stupid little box-faces. Hate the extra step it takes, now, to get to my inbox. Oh, Brandon, do please read these posts. They are from the people who use what you create. Who do you really work for? Please offer an ‘opt-out’ option. Thank you.
February 4th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
Well, and update from my last post. They added an option to eliminate the display of Connections. The opt-out feature is working in Firefox, but not in Internet Explorer 6.0.
February 4th, 2009 at 7:02 pm
after i read your wonderful blog i decided to join your blog and i had some fun…. thank you so much and have a nice day!!
February 4th, 2009 at 7:15 pm
part 2
after i read your wonderful blog i decided to join your blog and i had some fun…. thank you so much and have a nice day!!
February 5th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
getting error messages constantly. error 5, 15, 16, not browser specific. whats goin’ on?
February 5th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
hey i love diz
February 5th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
this is great
February 5th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
Yahoo! Mail needs better emoticons and super emoticons.
February 5th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
I CAN IRANIN SPEEK IN CHATE ROOM
February 5th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
At least Ryan responded to the comments on this blog and tried to engage us and keep us up to date. This blog has gone down hill since he left.
February 5th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
I think rather than introduce things users don’t want- I don’t chat, and I could care less about ’social media’ and ‘connecting.’ -maybe the performance of the actual service could be improved. A radical thought, I know.
February 5th, 2009 at 9:22 pm
A change of subject. I want to know what people think of HP in general. I think they suck.
February 6th, 2009 at 1:32 am
I don’t know what is it?
February 6th, 2009 at 6:23 am
Hello you wanna Suck my breasts ?!
February 8th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
That is rude!
February 6th, 2009 at 6:44 am
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February 6th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
I would like to try it
February 8th, 2009 at 8:52 am
Hi Jenn.How are you doing?
February 8th, 2009 at 8:54 am
Hi Jenn.How are you doing? I miss you.
February 8th, 2009 at 11:08 am
Hi, Please take me off the chat list, I don’t want a profile or to chat.
sent me a respond to this note. thank you.
Betty Emmons.
February 8th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
I don’t have the chat!! When does it start?
February 8th, 2009 at 8:38 pm
why do i get a larger box with a small icon in the upper left corner, instead of the picture in the emails i receive.
February 9th, 2009 at 4:25 am
هاي
February 9th, 2009 at 4:28 am
انت هون
February 9th, 2009 at 5:01 am
heyy wats up yahoo rocks heheheh
February 9th, 2009 at 5:19 am
I HATE this new feature. If I wanted this, I would have gone over to the new yahoo mail. I turned it off twice and it kept coming back on. If you’re going to add chat, why add it between the mailbox and the folders? Add it below the folders so that people who don’t want it don’t have to have it in their face. Or at least allow users to customize where it is. The new Yahoo mail has chat built right in. If someone wants chat, I would think that they would have gone to the new mail.
I’m sure no one is reading these comments. However, if you are, why don’t you find out who is actually using mail classic and why. What do we like about mail classic? What do we not like about the “new” yahoo mail. There’s a reason a large number of people did NOT want to go to the new mail client (just like the previous poster that does not like gmail.) I can see by the number of comments I’m not the only one who’s upset with this new chat feature, and I have 5 other people in my family who use yahoo mail classic and are not going to be happy but probably won’t post (I just told my wife and her response was, “Oh great,” and that was sarcasm. Really, please move or remove this feature if enough paying customers like myself complain.
February 9th, 2009 at 5:26 am
Remove my name from the list too. I do not want a profile or chat. Please respond to this note so that I may know I have been removed.
February 9th, 2009 at 6:17 am
watz up
February 9th, 2009 at 10:41 am
I did not see anyone answer how we delete this chat feature from my inbox. Anyone know or point me to the directions?
February 10th, 2009 at 2:17 am
..pls! add me on your list!!..huhu…
February 10th, 2009 at 7:21 am
hey I think that would be cool for keeping in touch with ur family
February 10th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
All in all, what they have done to date is pretty cool watch how it has evolved from the very beginning…. to submit link in blogs Communication Evolution
February 10th, 2009 at 1:53 pm
hi brandon you are cute
February 11th, 2009 at 6:09 am
All that useless stuff.
And we still cannot get a confirmation, if and when a sent E/Mail was read.
February 11th, 2009 at 7:08 am
I personally like the feature but it doesn’t show up on my mail screen, how do i get it to show up???? Brandon can you please help!!!
February 11th, 2009 at 11:06 am
hi my name is sarah add me to u men ok
February 11th, 2009 at 5:31 pm
i want to join
February 11th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
how can i send a text message by using yahoomail?
February 12th, 2009 at 12:58 am
HELLO DEAR ONES, YOUR SERVICE IS ALMOST COMMENTLESS TO ME BUT SOMETIMES IT’S JUST LITTLE ANNOYING WHEN I HAVE AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO WORK ON WHILE YOU’R TRYING TO UPDATE THE MAILBOX WHICH ALSO IS USEFULL TO ALL OFF US. ANYWAY YOU ARE DOING A GOOD JOB AT YAHOO.
CONGRATULATIONS.
February 12th, 2009 at 1:00 am
VOLUNTARILY.