Let Pidgin show number of new messages and the name of the person?

This sounds like the exact functionality of the current indicator-applet in Ubuntu. What would be better is if we could just make an indicator applet to show updates from all the different programs that interact with the indicator applet.

I dont like the indicator-applet.

This is a really quick and uggly mockup but I like the idea: http://img704.imageshack.us/img704/1840/screenshotgqs.png

I don't really like the indicator icon idea either. I think it would be better to have the notifications on the separate individual icons like is currently the case with the time remaining in the Banshee helper, and the GMail notifier. I like the look of Hund's mock up, maybe this could be integrated with the current Pidgin helper. I think one main notifer applet would create too much clutter and difficulty with so many applications providing different kinds of information. The beauty of a dock is that it can display this information in clearer ways than a panel, which is why I think the panel indicator design works well for gnome-panel.

Another idea I have: http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/208/201001041240081680x1050.png

Showing unread messages, would make it much easier instead of guessing (most of the time) wich one who wrote.

Very nice, but it would be helpful to also have a new message count on the icon as well.

Thanks! I agree.

Maybe an indicator applet could have been used but not as an icon. All programs that uses indicator applet should be showed separately in docky (but in a framework of indicator applet - that can help to solve also evolution, pidgin, empathy,...). I think it is not that hard.