Last week, meebo.com released a Firefox extension (add-on, plugin, whatever) which integrates the meebo.com service into the Firefox sidebar. A nifty little webcomic can be seen on the meeblog post, or in the announcement box when you log into meebo.

Before I go any further, let me explain what meebo is.

From Wikipedia:

Meebo is an in-browser instant messaging program which supports multiple IM services, including Yahoo! Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, Google Talk, AIM, ICQ, and Jabber and is based on the free and open source library libpurple created by the software developers of Pidgin. The goal of the project is to combine the multiple-network connectivity of Trillian and Pidgin (formerly Gaim) with the in-browser availability of AIM Express.

As the article says, meebo is basically AIM Express, but with the ability to connect to other IM networks (Yahoo!, Google Talk, etc.) in addition to AIM. The interface is much nicer, and some extra features are available if you sign up with a meebo account (conversation logging, account management), but the analogy to AIM Express is accurate enough if you’ve never used meebo before. (But similar or not, if you’re away from your home computer and still use AIM Express to chat, what the hell is wrong with you?)

When I discovered meebo a year ago, it was love at first sight.

Various competitors exist, but I’ve never had a reason to switch (and I imagine the same goes for users of the other services). The layout is a virtual desktop, with IM windows you can move around, resize, minimize, and so forth. On top of that, you can pop-out the buddy list and IM windows so they act like pop-up windows (and thus mimic even more a regular desktop application). These features give meebo the seamless feel of a desktop application, which is surprising given it runs in a browser.

Of course, there are limitations, albeit pretty insignificant ones. Font family and color choices are limited to 11 fonts and a palette of 20 colors; even when popping out the windows, the main meebo page needs to be open; the buddy list automatically orders buddies and groups alphabetically, with no ability to change the order. Considering meebo is an internet application, not a desktop application, these are really more annoyances than limitations.

But the new Firefox extension only adds to these annoyances.

Although the extension allows you to login and view your buddy list in the sidebar, a meebo.com window still needs to be open. The ability to stay connected without having meebo.com open is being worked on for future versions of the extension, but it remains a significant drawback for version 1.0.

In my mind, this absolutely negates the usefulness of the extension. The main reason I have not switched entirely to meebo (since AIM 6.0 pretty much got rid of every feature I liked from earlier versions) is because meebo.com has to be open to use the service. It is definitely a pet peeve, but I just can’t get over it.

The other big annoyance is that the sidebar buddy list does not show groups. Instead, it shows all your online buddies in alphabetical order with no futher organization. People have groups for a reason, so to lump all buddies into a single list seems pretty thoughtless. In my case, I have to scroll past about 20 phone numbers — you can send text messages through AIM — before I even get to a screen name. For all intents and purposes. that means my buddy list is constantly off-screen.

As it stands, the extension is pretty much just a way to automatically sign into the service. However, the service itself and the extension seem to be targeted toward different users. Installing any program, even an add-on, is prohibited in many work and school settings, so I assume the extension is meant for people who use meebo at home, and even more so to people who want to use meebo as their main IM program. At-home users are not going to be interested in an extension that really only exacerbates the service’s shortcomings.

Thankfully, these are easily fixed annoyances.

Without these annoyances, the meebo extension becomes vastly more usable. Instead of opening AIM or Yahoo! Messenger (or even Trillian or Pidgin), users could simply open Firefox. And given the development team’s track record, I am hopeful that an updated version of the extension is in the very near future. The team has always been quick to respond to user feedback, and I don’t see this situation being any different.

A meebo extension is a great idea, and opens the door to a huge range of possibilities, but the meebo team will have to step up their game in order to utilize those possibilities. With version 1.0, I am left wondering, “What was the point?”

More suggestions for future versions: added fonts, Opera extension, ability to reorder groups and buddies, automatic pop out, better way to reconnect after dropped network connections, separation of buddy lists by screen name.

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