Squirrelmail and Outlook

timcclayton · 26th January 2007, 06:38 PM

Hello all.

I find Squirrelmail very useful when I'm on the road during the day, and wondered if there was any way to view or synchronise an Outlook folder in Squirrelmail.

For example, I file all my clients' e-mails in a folder in Outlook - is there any way at all that I can view that folder in Squirrelmail?

Also, I find that when looking into the "Sent Items" in Squirrelmail, that this does not mirror my "Sent Items" in Outlook. Is this a limitation of POP3 mail or something I'm not doing right...? Is the Inbox the only folder that is "mirrored"...?

Thanks in advance,
Tim.

CSNM-Carl · 26th January 2007, 07:32 PM

I don't think this is possible, you would need Microsoft Exchange or something like SmarterMail Enterprise.

timcclayton · 26th January 2007, 07:34 PM

Is using IMAP an option?

knapper · 26th January 2007, 07:39 PM

Check this thread about imap, it should do what you want:

Imap

peterd · 26th January 2007, 07:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by timcclayton

Hello all.
I find Squirrelmail very useful when I'm on the road during the day, and wondered if there was any way to view or synchronise an Outlook folder in Squirrelmail.

You can't really synchronize with respect to the definition of the word but using IMAP in Outlook should give you the result you're looking for.

Quote:

For example, I file all my clients' e-mails in a folder in Outlook - is there any way at all that I can view that folder in Squirrelmail?

Certainly, just click on the Folders link and subscribe to the folders you want accessible in Squirrelmail.

Quote:

Also, I find that when looking into the "Sent Items" in Squirrelmail, that this does not mirror my "Sent Items" in Outlook. Is this a limitation of POP3 mail or something I'm not doing right...? Is the Inbox the only folder that is "mirrored"...?

Mail clients often put Sent Items in different default folders. In Thunderbird I changed the default to use sent-mail, to keep all my sent mail using Pine and Squirrelmail in the same folder.

Hope that helps.

timcclayton · 26th January 2007, 08:58 PM

Excellent advice - thanks to all of you.

Just as a final thing, I use Pico Backup to backup my Outlook mail items locally on my PC - will this still work if I am using IMAP, or is the e-mail only stored on the server? The mails certainly look like they are locally stored in Outlook...

If they are not going to be backed up in IMAP by Pico, is there a way to backup the messages on the server?

UH-Matt · 26th January 2007, 09:10 PM

You need to use IMAP, this does exactly what your looking for.

To keep squirrelmail and outlook synced you need to leave your email on the server. Using POP downloads and removes the mail from the server, and thus doesnt keep both synced together. IMAP will do that as both squirrelmail and outlook will then share the same inbox and folders.

Regarding backups and such, ill move this thread to the webmaster area for better contribution from customers.

timcclayton · 26th January 2007, 10:02 PM

Thanks Matt.

Alongside the backup issue, I also get an occasional popup error box in Outlook saying "Lost mailbox lock" - does anyone know what is causing this. I have Googled it, but there don't seem to be any answers for it that I can see...?

Many thanks in advance for your help on this,
Tim.

Simon · 26th January 2007, 10:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by timcclayton

Thanks I also get an occasional popup error box in Outlook saying "Lost mailbox lock" - does anyone know what is causing this.

Sounds like someone else is accessing the same mailbox at the same time as you. Or do you have quirrel open at the same time as Outlook while your testing this?

Simon

timcclayton · 26th January 2007, 10:23 PM

Yes I do have them both open at the same time, I was wondering whether that was the cause (one locking the other).

Is there any way around this do you know?

Simon · 26th January 2007, 11:04 PM

Yeah close one! Do you really need both open at the same time.

timcclayton · 26th January 2007, 11:23 PM

Well I tend to open Outlook in the morning, check for mails then head out to my jobs for the day leaving Outlook open. Simply a habit that I can easily stop, I just wondered if there was a simple way around it really.

Does anyone have any knowledge on the backup front too?

MrBen · 27th January 2007, 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by timcclayton

Well I tend to open Outlook in the morning, check for mails then head out to my jobs for the day leaving Outlook open. Simply a habit that I can easily stop, I just wondered if there was a simple way around it really.

If you disable the auto-checking of new email that should sort it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by timcclayton

Does anyone have any knowledge on the backup front too?

I'm not 100% sure, but I think the answer is it wouldn't be a reliable backup. The master email store is the UH server and Outlook basically only caches the emails locally. I understand attachments are always stored on the IMAP server until you request them.

You might find IMAPSize useful. It can apparently do backups, but I haven't tried it yet.

Ben

timcclayton · 27th January 2007, 11:15 AM

Thanks Ben. Is there a way then for me to backup the server side of IMAP on UH to prevent e-mail loss (not that I expect UH's servers to fail, but the mail is an integral part of my business) ?

Tim.

MrBen · 27th January 2007, 02:16 PM

The IMAPSize application I linked to will connect to the UH server and backup the email from there to a specified folder on your computer. I haven't tested it yet, but that's supposed to be one of its features.

The standard backup available in the site admin control panel will also backup all your email on the server too (along with the rest of your website). UH also take their own backups of the whole server as part of their disaster recovery.

Ben

timcclayton · 27th January 2007, 02:30 PM

I had a look at IMAPSize and it isn't even showing me the correct folders, so doesn't seem to be too reliable to me (although it is probably something I am doing wrong).

I am still a fan of IMAP though and will continue on that route - it seems to be much better then POP for my needs.

Thanks to everyone for their help on this.

Euge · 28th January 2007, 03:53 AM

See this post:
Imap