First I should say I love gnome shell a lot. Its awesome and its notifications are too good . I can directly chat in them without even opening another window. But my only problem is it doesn't recognize smileys. It just displays them as simple text. But I love smileys a lot and I miss them :( Any idea how to enable them(I dont think we can enable them) and If not, any idea if its in road map of gnome shell ?
SnapOverflow
My hypothesis is yes, there will probably be support for them in the close future. I had a discussion recently about integration of chat sessions in irc, and it was explained that while the core can be modified to include the functionality, it can also be implemented in the form of an extension. Basically, with enough understanding, the shell has infinite capability. Extensions make anything possible, aside from making your bed.
The dev I spoke with commented that there is a need of design for that functionality, which means smilies probably need a designer as well. To follow the progress of things like development I suggest visiting these pages and irc:
Recent Changes
Gnome-Shell IRC:
irc://irc.gnome.org/#gnome-shellRoadmap
Extensions under review
And for much more info check Gnome Live!