--- a/mcabber/mcabber/roster.c	Thu Mar 22 19:27:48 2018 +0100
+++ b/mcabber/mcabber/roster.c	Sun Sep 23 22:52:29 2018 +0200
@@ -108,6 +108,7 @@
   /* Flag used for the UI */
   guint flags;
   guint ui_prio;  // Boolean, positive if "attention" is requested
+  guint unread;
 
   // list: user -> points to his group; group -> points to its users list
   GSList *list;
@@ -729,6 +730,27 @@
   }
 }
 
+//  roster_msg_update_unread()
+// If increment is true, increment the unread messages count for jid by 1.
+// If increment is false, reset the unread messages count for jid to 0.
+void roster_msg_update_unread(const char *jid, gboolean increment)
+{
+  GSList *sl_user;
+  roster *roster_usr;
+
+  sl_user = roster_find(jid, jidsearch,
+                        ROSTER_TYPE_USER|ROSTER_TYPE_ROOM|ROSTER_TYPE_AGENT);
+  if (!sl_user)
+    return;
+
+  roster_usr = (roster*)sl_user->data;
+
+  if (increment)
+    roster_usr->unread++;
+  else
+    roster_usr->unread = 0;
+}
+
 //  roster_setuiprio(jid, special, prio_value, action)
 // Set the "attention" priority value for the given roster item.
 // Note that this function doesn't create the roster item if it doesn't exist.
@@ -1541,6 +1563,12 @@
   return roster_usr->ui_prio;
 }
 
+guint buddy_getunread(gpointer rosterdata)
+{
+  roster *roster_usr = rosterdata;
+  return roster_usr->unread;
+}
+
 //  buddy_setonserverflag()
 // Set the on_server flag
 void buddy_setonserverflag(gpointer rosterdata, guint onserver)