2. Using my.aol.com
If the Setup Wizard gave you an error (e.g. "unable to import favorites") or you feel only a partial group of favorites was brought over, try going to my.aol.com and import your Favorite Places there. This usually kicks AOL Desktop into completing its migration, or "synching" with the host successfully. (What's happening? Well, there are two favorites databases: an old one used by AOL 9.0 and AOL 9.1, and a new one used by AOL Desktop. We need the two to talk to one another.)

You may need to sign out of AOL Desktop then sign back in to see the full results.

Full Instructions for trying the my.aol.com route can be found in this earlier blog post:
http://desktopblog.aol.com/2008/02/21/test-your-aol-favorites-import-functionality/

3. If you get stuck, we can help
If you're still having problems, please open up your old software and send us the error logs. Here's how you do that (see the screenshot, too):

1. Open up AOL 9.0 / AOL 9.1 (you don't need to sign on)
   
2. Click the "Help" menu at the top and choose "About AOL"
3. With the "About AOL" screen open, press and hold "CTRL" and press "E" (CTRL+E). This will open up all the error messages, including Favorites synching issues. (Favorites synch issues will have "FP" in the error comment.)
   
4. Select the text in the Error Messages window, then copy and paste it into an email.
5. Send the error message to "DesktopHelp265 (at) aol.com". (This email address will be monitored by me and a few other AOL employees, and you may get a response asking for some more information about your Favorites.)

Good luck!

Thank you for your help!

Laura

___
Laura Peterson
Product Lead, AOL Desktop

Click the "Favorites" link in the browser menu to expand the folders (as you can see in the screenshot below). You can also add, import, or manage favorites from this menu via the links at the top.



Favorites Menu view:

• Quickly expand folders and their contents
• Link to "Import Favorites"
• "Suitcase and heart" menu contains your AOL Favorite Places from a prior version of AOL

• Click the "heart" to open it.
• Sidepanel view also lets you view, edit, remove and add favorites.
• Double click folders to expand them.
• Click and hold to drag favorites or folders into other folders or to change the order
• "Suitcase and heart" folder at the top contains your AOL Favorites Places from an older version of AOL

How do I add links to Favorites, the Toolbar, or send in an IM or Email?

The heart menu from 9.1 is still around -- it's now the "add" button in the browser to the left of the URL field. Click this menu and choose one of the choices in the dropdown. Here's a screenshot:



In my next blog article, I'll take you through the steps to carry Favorite Places over from older versions of AOL as well as troubleshooting issues for anyone who has more questions.

Cheers,

Laura

As promised, here's a closer look at the Address Book simplifications and enhancements that you'll find in AOL Desktop version 10.1. (If you haven't downloaded version 10.1 yet, get it here.)

When you open the Address Book from your mailbox or a draft write mail form, you'll notice that the search, edit, and other action buttons are on top. Secondly, double-clicking on a contact will automatically create a new draft write mail form. (Alternatively, double-clicking when an existing draft is open will add that contact to the same existing draft rather than creating a new one. For example, if you're already writing a letter to one friend and you want to add a second friend from your Address Book, double-clicking on your second friend's contact details will automatically add their address to the existing draft.)

Here's a screenshot demonstrating the convenient auto-filtering search box and the new Address Book layout.

This screenshot shows you how to add a new or existing contact to a mailing list. (Are you looking for the "Groups" from AOL 9.0 and 9.1? Don't worry: Mailing Lists are the same thing as Groups!)

Finally, here are three steps demonstrating how to add the entire contacts in a mailing list to a write mail draft.

Do you have an Address Book tip that I haven't covered? Share it here by adding a comment!

Cheers,

Laura

____
Laura Peterson
Product Lead, AOL Desktop

AOL Desktop version 10.1 officially launched on Tuesday! It's available for download on Discover AOL.

You'll find more desktop themes and colors, enhancements to the Favorites and Address Book layout, and improvements in speed and stability in AOL Desktop v.10.1.

I'll go into more depth on Favorites and Address Book in the next few articles. Right now, I want to show you how to make AOL Desktop all your own.

Personalizations: With the Personalize menu in AOL Desktop v. 10.1, you can choose themes, customize the software with any color you want, apply your own personal photos to the background, and even set up a rotating photo slideshow.

Whenever you make changes inside the "Personalize" menu, your selections will be previewed in the software in real time.

Themes: Right-click on the background of AOL Desktop with your mouse to bring up the "Personalize" menu. This will bring you into the "theme" area, where you can select stock themes or modify and store your own.

Appearance: This is where you can change the color of the software using a number of pre-set colors. Or, select "custom" to launch the Windows color chooser to choose from even more colors.

The News

I'm pleased to share that my friends on the AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) social media team have created a custom chat room for the deaf community. You can access this room conveniently within AOL Desktop or via an external browser. All you need is an AOL or AIM screenname to chat.

The room is called "Deaf Friends".

We'll be hosting a Beta team chat today at 4 pm Eastern for those on Nexus.

Join other Beta testers and talk with leads on the team about your questions and comments. We're particularly interested in any observations you have about quality and crashes!

Here's the link to get to the Beta chat room at 4 pm today: http://beta.aol.com/projects.php?project=chat

Thanks,

Laura

___

Laura Peterson

Product Lead, AOL Desktop

Fraudulent email alert

A valiant AOL Beta tester just alerted me to a fraudulent spam email that appears to come from AOL, but is actually spam. I'm passing on what the email looks like, how to tell that it's fraudulent, and some more information for reporting fraudulent emails that appear to come from AOL.

The sender's address is "update@aol.com" and the subject is "AOL Notification: [ Account Update Needed ]". If you see an email with this sender and subject or any other fraudulent email that appears to be from AOL, forward it to TOSReports@aol.com. Below is a screenshot of the email.

Phishing and how to detect it

Attempting to obtain financial and other sensitive information by pretending to be a trustworthy organization via email is called "phishing". "Phishing" is when a spammer literally tries to "fish" for information by baiting an unsuspecting person with an email that looks reputable at first glance.

The good news is that many phishers leave themselves open to detection by including spelling errors and other dumb mistakes on their emails which valid corporate communications would never include. The trick is to be sensitive to these things so you don't get dragged in, just as you would be alert to a possible pickpocket or con artist on a street.

Case in point: spammers hope that you'll just quickly glance at the email and click on the link they've embedded without a further thought. By adding the blue AOL graphics that make the email look fairly professional, they're trying to distract you so you won't notice all the errors that the email contains.

A good rule of thumb: even if you're sure the email is legitimate, read it carefully before taking ANY action! Additionally, AOL would never threaten to suspend your account if you failed to verify your details. (Your account would only be at risk if you violated the AOL terms of service by failing to pay for your dial-up, or, for example, by using AOL to spam other members. You would in most cases be given an opportunity to immediate rectify the situation via a pop-up linking to an official AOL website.)

Here's that email in question with some tips to show you why it's spam and not a real email from AOL.

As we head into the summer family roadtrip season, the prices at the pump are a bigger budget factor than ever. Minimize the costs of filling up by checking out MapQuest Gas Prices (gasprices.mapquest.com) before you refuel to find the cheapest gas rates in your area. Once you've found the station you want, use the familiar MapQuest layout to get directions to the station and other information.

Below is a quick tour of MapQuest Gas Prices:

As RSS feeds become more common, you can now access these constantly updating headlines and articles already associated with many of your favorite websites directly from your AOL Desktop toolbar.

Find a website that has an RSS feed associated with it. A website featuring RSS feeds has the orange RSS icon in the right side of the URL field (circled here in blue):

Hi Everyone,

AOL's Voice team, based near picturesque Halifax, Nova Scotia, has always offered some neat phone call management capabilities -- AOL Voicemail, AOL by Phone, and AOL Call Alert.

I've asked Corilee from the AOL Voice team to tell you more about the latest product, AIM Call Out (which works in the latest AOL Desktop Beta), as well as AOL Call Alert, which has always been a great way of tracking and managing incoming calls while you're away from your phone or on a dial-up connection.

To celebrate Mother's Day, all calls made on May 10th and 11th will be FREE!

Hi all,

Want to know what features will be included in the next AOL Desktop Beta? Got a question for the team about AOL Desktop? Looking for help or information?

If so, join me and other leads on the AOL Desktop development, design, and testing team for another open chat this coming Monday, May 12th, starting at 4 pm Eastern.

As always, we'll be taking questions and feedback about the latest AOL Desktop Beta (codename Nexus), which you can download here: http://beta.aol.com/projects.php?project=nexus

Here's a direct link to the Beta chat room, where the AOL Desktop and Beta teams and Beta testers will be congregating for another lively session starting at 4 on Monday. http://beta.aol.com/projects.php?project=chat

See you there!

Laura

--

Laura Peterson

Product Lead, AOL Desktop

Today we released our third AOL Desktop (codename: Nexus) build with a brand new look designed especially for the AOL Beta Community. It's AOL like you've never seen it before.

Interested in shaping the next version of AOL Desktop? Have questions about the current AOL Desktop Beta? Want to talk to the team behind it all?

Chat with the AOL Desktop team, other Beta testers, and the AOL Beta community managers tomorrow afternoon as we launch our third open chat session on the heels of the second AOL Desktop (codename: Nexus) Beta release.

What: AOL Desktop Beta Chat #3

Who: AOL Beta testers, AOL Beta community managers, AOL Desktop team, and YOU!

When: Wednesday April 16 @ 4:00 pm Eastern (1:00 pm Pacific)

Where: All details can be found at http://beta.aol.com/projects.php?project=chat