2.6 Presence subscription

Having permission to view the presence status of a person is called subscribing to his presence. Presence subscription between two persons can be asymmetric. Subscription state is shown in the roster display by arrows (see Customizing the roster buffer). A left-pointing arrow means that the contact can see your presence (“from”). A right-pointing arrow means that you can see the contact's presence (“to”). The most common case is mutual subscription, a double-ended arrow (“both”).

When jabber.el receives a presence subscription request, it will present it to you in a chat buffer, and offer you to choose subscription mode and send a subscription request back to that person. The “Mutual” button accepts the request and sends a reciprocal request.¹ The “One-way” button accepts the request, but doesn't ask for a subscription in return. The “Decline” button declines the request.

To request subscription to someone, type M-x jabber-send-subscription-request. You will be prompted for the JID to send it to. This command can also be accessed through the Roster menu, by typing C-c C-r in the roster buffer. After that, you will probably want to give the contact a more readable name. The command for that is jabber-roster-change, which is also available in the Roster menu or by typing e on a person in the roster buffer.