Messenger Plus! scripts are text files loaded and interpreted by Messenger Plus! to add new functionalities to Windows Live Messenger. These additions can range from simple automated tasks for your own personal use to more complex windows based features similar to what can be found in Messenger Plus! Live. For example, one could create a 5 line script that changes his sign-in name based on the location where he's signing in. Someone else could write a multi-page script to create an automated screenshot sender. A lot can be done with the Messenger Plus! Live scripting system but as developer, you're the one who'll ultimately decide what to do with it.

Messenger Plus! scripts replace the old Messenger Plus! plugins that were available in Messenger Plus! 3. If you used to develop plugins for the previous version of Messenger Plus!, please read from Plugins to Scripts. Scripts are easier to develop, easier to distribute and much more powerful than the old plugins. Messenger Plus! Live also comes with its own Script Packaging system that eliminates the need for custom installation procedures. A basic script editor has even been integrated to Messenger Plus! making the creation of simple scripts a matter of minutes!

Scripts are organized in folders and files, by default located in the "Scripts" subdirectory of the main Messenger Plus! Live installation directory (by default: C:\Program Files\Messenger Plus! Live\Scripts). Each script has its own directory and the name of the directory is used by default as script's name. The actual JScript code of the scripts is kept in ".js" files saved in Unicode. Having Unicode files reduces the time it takes to load the file (as JScript works internally in Unicode) and also insures complete international compatibility.

By default, every script is created with one file named like the script's directory. The file can be renamed and more can be added if necessary. Having more than one file for a script can be useful to re-use existing portion of codes without mixing them with your own. Every ".js" file present in the directory is automatically loaded, in alphabetical order, and interpreted when Messenger Plus! loads the script so make sure to keep your file count to its strict as more files means more code and more code means longer loading times. Note that ".js" files present in subdirectories will not be loaded. Scripts are loaded when Messenger starts and are not dependant on who is the current active Messenger user. This means that if a script is enabled, it is enables for anybody using Messenger on a given Windows account.

In addition to ".js" files, scripts can add any file they want in their directory to be used while the script is loaded. However, some files/directories have a special meaning to Messenger Plus!, here are they:

ScriptInfo.xml. This file is loaded when the script is started and contains information about the script such as its name, its description, the menus it should display... for more information, please read Packaging your Script.
Images. This is the default directory where Messenger Plus! searches for images when loading an interface window created by the script. However, you can put any other file you want in this directory.

Now that you know what's a Messenger Plus! script, let's discover your scripting environment.

What's a Messenger Plus! Script?

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