~~NOTOC~~
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====== Mailwatch ======
Xfce4 Mailwatch Plugin is a multi-protocol, multi-mailbox mail watcher
for the Xfce4 panel.
* **[[#Properties|Properties]]**
* **[[#Mailbox Configuration|Mailbox Configuration]]**
* **[[#IMAP|IMAP Settings]]**
* **[[#POP3|POP3 Settings]]**
* **[[#GMAIL|GMail Settings]]**
* **[[#Maildir|Maildir Settings]]**
* **[[#Mbox|Mbox Settings]]**
* **[[#MH Maildir|MH Maildir Settings]]**
* **[[#Latest Release|Latest Release]]**
* **[[#Installation|Installation]]**
* **[[#Source Code Repository|Source Code Repository]]**
* **[[#Reporting Bugs|Reporting Bugs]]**
===== Features =====
* IMAP and Secure IMAP support
* POP3 and Secure POP3 support
* Local Mbox mailbox support
* Local Maildir mailbox support
* Local MH-Maildir mailbox support
* GMail support
* Fully multithreaded design: no panel lockups
* Informative new-message breakdown in tooltip
* Ability to run program on new messages or button click
* Informative logger to help track down mail connection problems
===== Usage =====
The Mailwatch icon remains grey (default color) as long as it does not
detect any new mail. As soon as it checks, and there is new mail, the
mail icon will turn gold (default color). By clicking on the mail
icon, a command, which can be defined in the properties dialog box,
will be launched. A mail check can be forced by middle-clicking the
Mailwatch icon in the panel. Right-clicking on the Mailwatch icon
shows a context menu from which you can choose //Properties// to
access the configuration options. There are also menu items for
forcing an update and the about box.
----
===== Properties =====
Xfce4 Mailwatch Plugin has a variety of configuration options. Access
to the configuration is gained by right-clicking the panel icon, and
by choosing //Properties//.
The main controls for managing mailboxes are //Add//, //Edit//, and
//Remove//. At later stage, we'll walk through adding and configuring
each mailbox type.
External Programs
Mailwatch can launch your mail user agent (or any other program) when
the panel icon is clicked. The name of the executable together with
possible startup parameters goes in the //Run on click// entry
field. You can also define the command to be executed when Mailwatch
detects new mail by typing the desired command in the //Run on new
messages// entry field. Note that the command is executed once for
each time Mailwatch detects new mail, regardless of the number of new
messages received.
Icons
The icons that Mailwatch displays in the panel are configurable. Both
the //Normal// and //New Mail// buttons present a file chooser dialog,
which you can use to select your preferred icons.
Logging
Mailwatch includes a logging mechanism as well. It provides
information about errors and other noteworthy events that take
place. The log is accessible via the //View Log// button. There's also
a setting to //Show log status in icon// in the log dialog which, if
enabled, provides a visual indication of new log events in the panel.
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===== Mailbox configuration =====
In this section we walk through adding and configuring each type of
mailbox.
To add a new mailbox, click //Add// in the main configuration dialog
and a mailbox type selection dialog will appear. The dialog presents
each supported mailbox type in the dropdown list, as well as an
informative description of the mailbox in the label below.
==== IMAP ====
IMAP, acronym for //Internet Message Access Protocol//, is a quite common
mailbox format. An IMAP mailbox is a remote mailbox, so it requires
various configuration options to be able to contact the remote IMAP
server and get information on the mailbox.
To create an IMAP account in Mailwatch, choose //Remote IMAP Mailbox// in
the mailbox type chooser dialog, and you will be presented with the
IMAP settings dialog.
Mailbox Name
A descriptive name for the mailbox. The name entered here will appear
on the Mailwatch icon tooltip, which indicates mailboxes that have new
mail. This setting is required, regardless of the mailbox type.
MAP Server
* Mail server - The hostname of the remote mail server.
* Username - The username to use while accessing the mailbox.
* Password - The password to use.
Interval
Defines how often Mailwatch accesses the mailbox to see if there's new
mail. You shouldn't set this too low, as it will create unnecessary
network traffic. It's not recommended to set this lower than 5
minutes, unless you're really sure your service provider is okay with
that.
The default setup uses unencrypted connections and the default IMAP
folder. It is highly recommended that you select an encrypted
connection type if your mail provider supports it. Others may require
an encrypted connection. For that there's the advanced settings
dialog.
=== Advanced Settings ===
Connection
If your IMAP service provider supports encryption for client
connections, you should take advantage of it. There are generally two
implementations of encrypted connections. The most common one uses
port 993 for client connections and encrypts the connection from the
start. The other, less common method, uses the ordinary IMAP port for
initializing the connection and then, before any sensitive data is
transmitted, initializes the encryption with the //STARTTLS//
command. Mailwatch provides default settings for these setups, which
are //Use SSL/TLS on alternate port// and //Use SSL/TLS via STARTTLS//
respectively. If you're not sure which option your mail provider
supports, you can test via trial and error by using each setting, and
then checking the log viewer for errors.
There's also the possibility of using a non-standard IMAP port, if
your service provider so requires. Just check the box, and type in the
appropriate port. The box will pre-fill the default port for the
selected connection type.
Folders
In addition of the connection related settings, you can set the
directory on the server where your mail is stored using the //IMAP
server directory// text box. This setting may not be necessary on some
systems. If you see a large number of strange folder names when
looking in the //New mail folders// dialog box, you may need to set this,
often to something like "mail", "Mail", or "Maildir".
Since IMAP supports viewing mail in multiple folders, it's possible
that you'd receive new mail in folders other than your inbox. If
that's the case, you can use the //New Mail Folders// dialog to instruct
Mailwatch to check mail in multiple folders. The dialog will connect
to your mail server and fetch a list of folders for you to select. Of
course, you'll need to enter the server information first.
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----
==== POP3 ====
POP3, short for //Post Office Protocol Version 3//, is another common
type of remote mailbox. Because of its remote nature, the settings for
POP3 are almost the same as IMAP, with some omissions, as POP3 isn't
as advanced a protocol as IMAP.
Mailbox Name
A descriptive name for the mailbox. The name entered here will appear
on the Mailwatch icon tooltip, which indicates mailboxes that have new
mail. This setting is required, regardless of the mailbox type.
POP3 Server
* Mail server - Hostname of the POP3 server.
* Username - Username to authenticate with.
* Password - Password to use in authentication.
Interval
Defines how often Mailwatch accesses the mailbox to see if there's new
mail. You shouldn't set this too low, as it will create unnecessary
network traffic. It's not recommended to set this lower than 5
minutes, unless you're really sure your service provider is okay with
that.
While for most users providing these settings should be enough, there
are also advanced settings for those who need additional features.
=== Advanced Settings ===
Connection
If your POP3 service provider supports encryption for client
connections, you should take advantage of it. There are generally two
implementations of encrypted connections. The most common one uses
port 995 for client connections and encrypts the connection from the
start. The other, less common method, uses the ordinary POP3 port for
initializing the connection and then, before any sensitive data is
transmitted, initializes the encryption with the //STLS//
command. Mailwatch provides default settings for these setups, which
are //Use SSL/TLS on alternate port// and //Use SSL/TLS via STARTTLS//
respectively. If you're not sure which option your mail provider
supports, you can test via trial and error by using each setting, and
then checking the log viewer for errors.
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==== GMail ====
Mailwatch can also watch your GMail mailbox. Mailwatch does this
securely by using HTTPS and GMail's RSS feed.
GMail Server
* Username - Your GMail username.
* Password - Your GMail password.
==== Maildir ====
Maildir is a mailbox format for local mailboxes and thus there is no
hostname, etc. to configure, but merely a directory where your mail is
stored. A Maildir mailbox has a certain distinguishable hierarchy,
which defines the mailbox (and which Mailwatch expects to find). A
Maildir consists of a top level directory (''~/.maildir'' for example),
which contains three subdirectories (''cur'', ''new'', ''tmp'').
Mailbox Name
A descriptive name for the mailbox. The name entered here will appear
on the Mailwatch icon tooltip, which indicates mailboxes that have new
mail. This setting is required, regardless of the mailbox type.
Maildir Path
The toplevel directory of your Maildir. (Note: This is the main mail
folder, not any of the three subdirectories.)
Interval
Defines how often Mailwatch checks the mailbox for new mail. It is
safe to set a value as low as 1 minute, as this is presumably on a
local filesystem, or at least a local network.
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----
==== Mbox ====
Mbox is another very common local mailbox format in which each folder
is a single, large file that contains all your messages. Because of
this, Mbox expects to find a specially-formatted Mbox file instead of
a directory tree.
Mailbox Name
A descriptive name for the mailbox. The name entered here will appear
on the Mailwatch icon tooltip, which indicates mailboxes that have new
mail. This setting is required, regardless of the mailbox type.
Mbox Filename
The location of your Mbox file (often ''/var/mail/$USER'').
Interval
Defines how often Mailwatch checks the mailbox for new mail. It is
safe to set a value as low as 1 minute, as this is presumably on a
local filesystem, or at least a local network.
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==== MH Maildir ====
MH Maildir is a variant of the Maildir format. For a MH Maildir
mailbox, Mailwatch reads your ''$HOME/.mh_profile'' file for its
configuration, so there are no actual settings specific to MH
mailboxes.
Mailbox Name
A descriptive name for the mailbox. The name entered here will appear
on the Mailwatch icon tooltip, which indicates mailboxes that have new
mail. This setting is required, regardless of the mailbox type.
Interval
Defines how often Mailwatch checks the mailbox for new mail. It is
safe to set a value as low as 1 minute, as this is presumably on a
local filesystem, or at least a local network.
[[|Back To Top]]
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===== Latest Release =====
{{rss>https://archive.xfce.org/feeds/project/xfce4-mailwatch-plugin 1 date 2h}}
[[https://gitlab.xfce.org/panel-plugins/xfce4-mailwatch-plugin/-/blob/master/NEWS|Read the CHANGELOG]]
* **[[https://archive.xfce.org/src/panel-plugins/xfce4-mailwatch-plugin/|Download current release]]** (older versions of this component are also available here)
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===== Requirements =====
* Xfce 4 base libraries, version 4.8.0 or greater
* Xfce 4 Panel, version 4.8.0 or greater
* **Optional but recommended:** GNU TLS, version 1.2.0 or greater and libgcrypt, version 1.2.0 or greater, for secure IMAP and POP3 support
----
===== Installation =====
In order to install a released version fo Mailwatch, issue the
following commands from the root of the Mailwatch source tree:
$ ./configure --prefix=${xfce_prefix}
$ make
$ make install
Where ''${xfce_prefix}'' is the location where Xfce 4 is installed. On
most systems this should be ''/usr''. The make install portion should
be run as root (or via sudo) if the prefix is a system location.
In order to install the Git version of Mailwatch, issue the following
commands instead:
$ ./autogen.sh --prefix=${xfce_prefix}
$ make
$ make install
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===== Contributions =====
The Mailwatch plugin is easily extensible to support extra mailbox types if needed.
If you’d like to see Mailwatch translated into another language,
please visit the page with information for
[[http://www.xfce.org/getinvolved/translation|translators]].
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===== Source Code Repository =====
[[https://gitlab.xfce.org/panel-plugins/xfce4-mailwatch-plugin]]
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===== Reporting Bugs =====
* **[[:panel-plugins:xfce4-mailwatch-plugin:bugs|Reporting Bugs]]** -- List of currently open bugs and instructions on how to submit new bug reports
[[|Back To Top]]
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[[:xfce:xfce4-panel:start:|Return to xfce4-panel Main Documentation Page]]