There was a request a few weeks back on the Digsby forums for the ability to have Digsby recognize and interpret aim: links.  AIM Links allow you to add a URL to a webpage which will automatically launch AIM.  You have the ability to specify to “add a specified contact” or “send a message” to a contact.

Examples:

Send a message:

aim:goim?screenname=davux

Output: Send Dave a message!

Add a contact:

aim:addbuddy?screenname=davux

Output: Add Dave to your contact list!

Note:  Alternate aim:// links are also supported.
Usage

This Flexibility works great on message boards and community sites where single-click access to an alternate communication medium is advantageous.

The Catch

This program (like many of my Digsby enhancements) works by simulating a user, and due to some limitations in Digsby itself, I’m unable to gracefully get around this single limitation for the software.  I hope that for most people, it would be trivial.

You must have your AIM account as the primary account in Digsby.

This means that your AIM screen name must be the first one listed when you view your accounts.  You can view your accounts by clicking on Tools and then Preferences and select the Accounts tab.  You can move the account by simply dragging it up or down.

Note: A restart is required for these changes to take effect.

The Software

DigsbyGoIm is easy to use.  You’ll need to install it just once, and it will work without any extra interaction on your part.  There is no need to start run it manually.  Clicking on any aim: link will launch it, and in turn, Digsby.

Once downloaded, copy the executable to a location which you will not accidentally delete it.  The program will register itself to that location, and if you remove or delete the file, links will no longer be handled.  If you do decide to move the program–don’t worry.  Re-running the executable to install will update the references and links will be handled at the new location.

Double-click DigsbyGoIm.exe to install.  You will be prompted with a set of options.

Selecting YES will install the handler.  Note that this will overwrite any current AIM link handler.  You will need to reinstall AIM in order to recover your old link handler.  AIM will continue to function properly in all aspects other than handling links.

If you are using Windows Vista, you will be prompted to elevate.  This is a one-time action and is required in order to add the registry entry to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT that will allow this program to register itself to handle links.

That’s it!  Links will be handled now, and you can enjoy not having to copy and paste screen names to send messages.  Note that addbuddy link identifier will not actually add the buddy to your contact list, but rather just invoke the Add Contact dialog, and fill in the name.  You will have the option to select an alias and click Add. Also note that the message parameter will be ignored for goim links.

Download

DigsbyGoIm 1.1.0