WMail - a POP3/SMTP Webmailer for vBulletin

What is this?
---------------
WMail is a "webmail client" - a front end, like a mail tool installed locally on your PC, for using POP3/SMTP mailboxes.

In short:
WMail adds POP3/SMTP access to vBulletin.

A live demo can currentliy be found on my testing board here:
http://vbdev.area-42.net/wmail.php


Key features:

• The obvious: Getting mailbox content, reading mails from every POP3 mailbox and sending mails through any SMTP server (configurable in the user options)
• written from scratch, spezificially to be used with vBulletin 3.5.x - not a port of something
• fully phrased and templated down to the last bit
• Full multipart support for downloading (and sending) attachments
• When reading mail the mail text is parsed for BB-Codes, so you get the graphical smillies from the forum, text formatting and URLs automatically become clickable links
• When replying to, or forwarding, mail the text of the original mail is quoted, propper quotemarks are added and a quote-header is added (customizable via template)
• various options for admin and users to customize the webmail client
• Does NOT require any special modules to be compiled into your PHP installation (like the IMAP libraries)
  (for techies: this uses basic socket connections instead of special PHP function calls)
• Admin can override certain aspects of the user config (forcing to use a given mailserver, force using forum email address and such)
• Write your mails using vB's WYSIWYG editor
• buildin (yet simple) addressbook for your E-Mail contacts
• Read/Unread markings - unread mails are highlighted, options for "mark selected read", "mark all read" and "mark selected unread"
• custom hooks to make it easy to develop addons for it
• automatically adds links to the webmailer in "Quick Links" menu, navbar and UserCP. Usualy no template edits needed when using default ones (can be disabled for each link in admin options)

Planned features:

• Support for multiple config sets per user
  (and so multiple mailbox accounts that can be querried)
• Sort mails into folders
• User configurable filters (for automatically sorting mails into folders)
• Preview of mailtext in inbox view (bellow subject)
• Forward mails as PM / Forward PMs as mail
• Reply to threads and PMs by mail
• Give/Provide your members an own eMail adress and inbox on your forums!
  • Members can recieve and send mails as "username@forumdomain.tld" without the need for an own POP3 account anywhere
  • Admin only needs ONE "real" POP3 box as "catch all".

Installation
--------------

Level : EASY
Duration : a minute or so
Files to upload : yes (11)
Products to import : yes (1)
Templates to edit : usually none


ChangeLog
===========
1.00 - first final release

• Fixed some minor bugs
• Login details are no longer stored as plain text in the database (*see note bellow!)
• Added option to save login details in a cookie on the users local computer instead of storing them in the forum's database

* Note on storing the login details in the database:
The login details are only base64 encoded when stored in the database.
A more secure encryption would make no sense anyway, the login details must be decrypted to be passed to the POP3/SMTP server - one well placed line of additional code in the POP3 or SMTP class could save the decrypted info anywhere the admin likes.
This "encoding" is only meant to prevent login details to be read (in plaintext) when doing maintanance to the database and stepping over it.
For fully securing the login details the "Save in cookie" option has been added.

Known Issues:

• On some installations mass deletion of mails (via "Delete Selected" from the inbox view) does not delete all mails
• Sometimes you get "-4 mails in inbox" - reloading the page then shows the correct inbox again

Besides of those two issues, that do not really break the function of the webmailer, it seemed to run pretty stable so far - that's why I decided to release 1.00 without having them resolved.


(more changelog entries in the readme)

____________________
This vBulletin extension is FREE! Be welcome to download and use it.
However, if you feel like supporting further development any donation is appreciated :bunny:

[dreck]

<font color="SeaGreen">* /me nominates this for HoTM too.</font>

[Ambie]

This is beautiful! I did have a problem with the SMTP though.When I was setting it up in my usercp, the Auth type wouldn't stay on login, so I went into the admin panel and chose that to override that area, and it works great now. Thank you for this!

[TRR]

Originally Posted by maranello

Umm, now there is another bug, I cant seem to delete e-mails in my inbox

I have this same issue. I can delete from within an email, but not using the checkboxes.

[Hellcat]

Originally Posted by sybarites

Any news on the release date?

I'd really liked to have resolved the remaining two bugs.... But so far I have no clue of a possible cause
(The "-4" error and the failed attempt to mass-delete mails)

So I think I will put them on a "known issues" list.
Besides those two, that are not really "showstoppers" in sense of totally breaking ti app, it seems pretty stable now.

So, I will pack up a clean new export and post it as 1.00 final within the next days (maybe I get to it even tonight already).

I will continue hunting for the causes of those buggers while working on the new features.
This way it will advance at least


A big thanks to everyone for your support and patience


-Michael

[Snake]

Wooho thanks for that good news buddy. ^_^

[PixelFx]

This is pretty cool, could you possibly add support for multiple mail boxes to come into one users account controled by usergroups?

example I have about 8 mail servers. It would be nice to pull emails into one location

[dreck]

Originally Posted by PixelFx

This is pretty cool, could you possibly add support for multiple mail boxes to come into one users account controled by usergroups?

example I have about 8 mail servers. It would be nice to pull emails into one location

read the Planned features

Originally Posted by Hellcat

Planned features:
Support for multiple config sets per user
(and so multiple mailbox accounts that can be querried)
Sort mails into folders
User configurable filters (for automatically sorting mails into folders)
Preview of mailtext in inbox view (bellow subject)
Forward mails as PM / Forward PMs as mail
Reply to threads and PMs by mail
Give/Provide your members an own eMail adress and inbox on your forums!
Members can recieve and send mails as "username@forumdomain.tld" without the need for an own POP3 account anywhere
Admin only needs ONE "real" POP3 box as "catch all".

[hawkan2580]

Beauty!!! Works like a charm for me, not a single issue found... I did find some things at first but after a simple re-install of the plug in with override.. it works without issues for me...

Thanks heaps, very nicely done!

[Dennis B]

Hellcat,

I just saw 1.00 was released, congrats on a great hack.

Now a question, does this hack support SSL connections over port 995?

Thanks,

[Hellcat]

Here comes the final
(I did not yet include the VBA module or the edited templaes posted in this thread - but I will definately put them into one of the next updates )

• Fixed some minor bugs
• Login details are no longer stored as plain text in the database (*see note bellow!)
• Added option to save login details in a cookie on the users local computer instead of storing them in the forum's database

* Note on storing the login details in the database:
The login details are only base64 encoded when stored in the database.
A more secure encryption would make no sense anyway, the login details must be decrypted to be passed to the POP3/SMTP server - one well placed line of additional code in the POP3 or SMTP class could save the decrypted info anywhere the admin likes.
This "encoding" is only meant to prevent login details to be read (in plaintext) when doing maintanance to the database and stepping over it.
For fully securing the login details the "Save in cookie" option has been added.

Known Issues:

• On some installations mass deletion of mails (via "Delete Selected" from the inbox view) does not delete all mails
• Sometimes you get "-4 mails in inbox" - reloading the page then shows the correct inbox again

Besides of those two issues, that do not really break the function of the webmailer, it seemed to run pretty stable so far - that's why I decided to release 1.00 without having them resolved.