[Pidgin] #6829: Show/Hide Timestamps Should Apply Retroactively in Chat Window

[Pidgin]

#6829: Show/Hide Timestamps Should Apply Retroactively in Chat Window
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Reporter:  frame25  |        Type:  enhancement              
  Status:  new      |   Component:  pidgin (gtk)             
 Version:  2.5.0    |    Keywords:  timestamp, timestamps, f2
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 When a user hits "Show Timestamps" in the Options menu, all timestamps for
 the conversation should appear. When the user unchecks it, all timestamps
 should disappear. NOT just for future exchanges. It is an absolute head-
 scratcher why the program doesn't now (and hasn't ALWAYS) functioned in
 this manner.

 AIM works this way and always has, and has a brilliantly easy keyboard
 shortcut (F2) for toggling. (It's such a no-brainer, and those who do use
 it do so ''constantly'', that they assigned it such a high-priority
 function key.) This is the only -- and I mean the ONLY -- thing about
 Pidgin I find frustrating and can't always recommend it to my friends over
 the otherwise godawful AIM.

 '''There should be an F2 (or customizable) keyboard shortcut for toggling
 ALL timestamps in the current chat window. This is not just an aesthetic
 flourish--it is one of the most practical and useful features a chat
 program can have.'''

 I do not like having timestamps up while chatting; it's annoying and a
 waste of space. So they're disabled by default. THEREFORE: if I leave my
 computer to have lunch, come back and look at the chat window, see a
 message popped up while I was away, I don't know when it came in! Or what
 if I lose track of time and want to see when the conversation started? It
 is thoroughly absurd for me to have to enable logging and then go digging
 into the log just to find out how long ago that last message came in.

 If there is a specific reason this was decided against in development, it
 should be provided as an option in Preferences, because whatever that
 reason was, it doesn't apply to me or most people, who would ''love'' it.

-- 
Ticket URL: <http://developer.pidgin.im/ticket/6829>
Pidgin <http://pidgin.im>
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