Dev October 2005

dev@lists.roundcube.net

238 participants
355 discussions

Highlighting the folder drop-target
by Eliot Kristan 10 Oct '05

10 Oct '05

Hello, I just discovered RoundCube and jumped on the list last night. What a great job with the ideas and the code! I was thinking the same thing that Mark had about drop targets. I added a mouseover / mouseout sequence to program -> steps -> mail -> funcs.incbeginning at line 214 when the <li>'s for the individual mail folders begins. Mouseover gives the <li> a new class called 'rollover' which I defined in skins -> default -> mail.css at line 255 with the other mailboxlist styles. With this the individual mailbox will take on a highlighted background color (could be other styles too, of course) when you roll a dragged item over it. The only thing with this is that the inbox and trash png's dissapear during the rollover. You could of course do individual rollover classes for the inbox and trash <li>'s. Attached is a bitty text file of these changes. It's great to be here! Best, Eliot > - Drag-and-drop targets: I noticed Zimbra changed the dragged item to green > when over a valid drop-target. A helpful UI clue to assist users if easy to > implement. On 10/9/05, Thomas Bruederli <roundcube(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > 2005/10/8, Mark Mackay - Orcon <mark(a)orcon.net.nz>: > > > > Hi guys - > > Hello Mark. Thanks for your long list of good ideas! > > > > I'm new to the list as I only stumbled across Roundcube the other day, > and > > can't find any mailing list archives (are there any?); so forgive me if > I > > repeat any feedback/questions. First off - awesome webmail client. Been > > waiting for a good open source Ajax webmail, and was certainly not > > disappointed. Found Zimbra at around the same time, and definitely very > > cool. but obviously on the heavy side. > > > > This latest version seems to address some of the previous version issues > > that I spotted, however there's a few things I'll note here which are > > wishlists/feedback: > > > > HIERARCHICAL FOLDERS > > Great to see in the new version, but the current presentation isn't as > ideal > > when you have lots of folders. I think would be boosted substantially by > > > having sub-folders initially hidden and expandable, although possibly > saving > > the "expanded" view in a cookie or prefs or something. It also truncates > > the name of long (or deeply nested folders). > > Totally agree. The current solution was just added very quickly and > surely has to be improved with more functionality. > > > > NAVIGATION / UI > > I watched about 5 people initially try to use Roundcube for the first > time, > > and everyone seemed to initially struggle with working out the > navigation > > options. Ajax is new to most, so not everyone's used to the way things > can > > work yet. Some suggestions: > > > > - Make the cursor change to an hourglass when you double-click on a > message, > > or put a progress bar/icon somewhere - so that people know something > should > > be happening. It wasn't very obvious to double-click (based on the way > the > > cursor/selection stuff happened) - so maybe make the clicking title > > automatically open the message, or provide a location on the line where > a > > single click will definitely work. > > Because Roundcube does not come up with (ugly) checkboxes on each line > to select a message, we used one click for the message selection. Also > it was some sort of a test, how a web application using double-clicks > will work. I already got lots of feedbacks concerning this topic. > We also made some tests with setting the hourglass-cursor and it's > possible to do so but if you reset the cursor to 'default' (this has > to be done for the whole document) then all buttons will loose their > hand-cursor. If someone has a better solution for that, please let me > know... > > > > - Two nav bars: The nav at the top and bottom is a bit confusing to > users, > > so I'd suggest putting them all in the one location. Feedback from my > > initial test users is that some of the icons aren't obvious as to what > they > > do (the inbox at the bottom, "logout" -- could be confused with delete > -- so > > maybe make delete a trash can? This is obviously changeable through the > > skins, but feedback provided in case you think it's worthy updating the > > default skin. > > The current skin actually is just for development and was designed by > a programmer and not by a real screen designer. The lower nav bar > should be some sort of a task list. > We have people working on a new skin for RoundCube. > > > > - Use of alt-tags, window.status messages, etc: For a first-time user > > there's no real clue as to what buttons do except their icon. The > mouseover > > URL doesn't provide much insight, as it's all JavaScript references, > etc. > > All buttons have title-attributes set for the <a> tag but IE prefers > to use the empty alt-attribute. Modern browsers all show up the titles > set for each button. Also the skin architecture allows to create > buttons with a text label. > > > > - Drag-and-drop targets: I noticed Zimbra changed the dragged item to > green > > when over a valid drop-target. A helpful UI clue to assist users if easy > to > > implement. > > Good point. I'll try to improve this. > > > > - Speed with large mailboxes: The first time I logged in (with 380 > > messages, but about 40 subscribed folders) took an age. I realise the > cache > > needs to be built up, but this first-time hit (our imap server is > currently > > quite slow, which may be contributing to it) is quite unbearable for > users. > > Perhaps a message could be displayed like "Updating message listing" so > that > > it moves off the initial login screen more quickly? Ditto for loading up > an > > un-cached mailbox, although the "loading" at the top helps. > > If logging in for the first time, all mailboxes are listed and the > client requests a message count for each one. This is what takes a lot > of time and it certainly has to be improved. > > > > - Mysql max_allowed_packet: Encountered a user (with about 3000 messages > in > > inbox) exceeding the default max_allowed_packet of 1M. Worked by > boosting > > it, but there may be some issues with really large mailboxes under the > > single-cache-entry for per mailbox. Certainly a read-me note would help > for > > this. When it did encounter the issue, the error was plastered behind > the > > message list; although I think the changelogs indicates a possible fix > in > > the latest version for this. > > I already know this problem. Unfortunately it's not mentioned in the > INSTALL or README file. Also for caching messages with large > attachments, max_allowed_packet should be increased. I know that the > current caching method is not perfect and can be dead slow with more > than 5000 messages in one box. > > > > - Livegrid: You've probably already seen it, but check out > > http://openrico.org/rico/livegrid.page. This concept would > > be great for dealing with large imap mailboxes. Removes the need for > > pagination, and may be possible to reduce loading time by caching > on-demand. > > Live grid is nice but since you are talking about usability, I think > the scrolling behavior of the list is a bit confusing. Further I'm not > sure how browsers can deal with tables containing > 20.000 lines. > > > > > > ATTACHMENTS > > I seem to be having issues with Windows XP service pack 2 (and IE 6) > with > > attachments. The new window loads but then says files are being blocked > from > > downloaded (PDF doc). when I accept the download file it then asks me to > > save it rather than view it inline. I think this is something to do with > the > > iframe, and may not be affecting other users (could be a mime setting on > my > > webserver I guess). If sticking with the embedded attachment approach, > I'd > > put some instructions to trust the website or something (but then again, > not > > necessarily a good idea for webmail where any sort of attachment could > be > > presented). > > RoundCube only opens a new window for attachments which could be > displayed within the browser (like images and PDFs). Other file types > will be downloaded directly. This functionality should be improved > with a plugin-checker detecting if the browser can display a specific > file. > > > > > > DELETING > > - Bug? When viewing a message and clicking "Delete" up the top the > current > > build displays progress then reverts back to message listing and doesn't > > > appear t delete the message. When you highlight the message in the > listing > > and do delete, it does quickly disappear though. > > Probably a caching problem. I'll check that > > > > > > Well that's it for my first post. Thanks for the great work so far. > Shaping > > up to be a kick-arse webmail client. Let me know if you like the > feedback, > > and I'll continue to assist with more usability comments. > > You are welcome to do! > > > > Regards, > > Mark Mackay. > > Best regards, > Thomas > > >

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Roundcube Plugins/Extensions..
by Praneet Kandula 10 Oct '05

10 Oct '05

Hi Everyone, Glad to see a nice community is evolving around Roundcube. I wanted to point out something to keep in mind before development got too far ahead. By nature, any good piece of software will try to find a middle-ground between feature-bloat, and bare-bones mode. Since most developers have decided that they cannot figure out exactly what will make all of their users satisfied, they develop a plugin architecture into their product, which enables third party developers to add features to the program. Almost all of the successful programs, whether desktop based (Firefox, thunderbird, etc.), or web based (wordpress, squirrelmail), etc. have done this. Roundcube allows for a certain degree of customization though skinning, which is great, but I believe as we move forward, we should expose a plugin API so that third party developers can develop great plugins. Squirrelmail has been quite successful in this regard: http://squirrelmail.org/plugins.php , fostering an active development community of plugin authors, who might eventually move into core development after they get comfortable with the code. So basically to summarize, I'll outline what I think the advantages that a plugin API gives us are: 1) Features that are controversial, such as a WYSIWYG editor, can be implemented without "bloating" the core code, yet fit into the program nicely for people that want them. 2) The core developers have some pressure off them because if someone really wants a feature, they can easily implement it as a plugin. If the plugin gains popularity, it can later be rolled into the main code. 3) Builds an active community around roundcube. Both squirrelmail and wordpress have been very successful at attracting third party developers because of how easy they make it to develop extensions. I'm sure there are many more advantages to a plugin api, but these are the main ones i could think of. Also, as far as implmentation goes, I believe wordpress has an excellent plugin API, simple to develop on, as well as simple to maintain. Take a read here: http://codex.wordpress.org/Plugin_API Sorry for the super-long mail guys, but I thought this was an important issue to be addressed (IMHO) :-) -- Praneet Kandula

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thoughts, suggestions, bugs
by Justin Frydman 10 Oct '05

10 Oct '05

Hi Everyone, I found this project on freshmeat and must say it looks great! Here are some things I would like to know how to correct: 1) when trying to delete a folder, it does nothing (I'm using Firefox 1.5beta) 2) when using the "select: all" feature at the bottom of a folder listing page, i can't seem to move them anywhere (it does nothing on drag and drop). Selecting multiple ones manually works just fine, as well as unread. 3) I can see every other imap user in my folder listing, is there anyway to hide this? (very important to me, users can read other users emails if they want. These are virtual accounts) 4) any chance the first time someone logs it can be forwarded to the Identities page to setup their account? 5) the logo should take you back to your email listing. 6) there are numerous errors in your docs (README says squirrelmail in it). The author also uses "Shure" threwout the documents. Proper Spelling is "Sure" 7) A feature that allows an admin to import squirrelmail data (address book etc..) to your app would be awesome. This webmail application looks like the most promising one I have seen with a nice template system, xhtml/css2 support, lovely default template. Plus it seems to run very fast compared to squirrelmail. Oh yeah, wow was it easy to install. Thanks, Justin

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anyone having problems with SMTP auth?
by Joshua Layne 09 Oct '05

09 Oct '05

Hi all, My SMTP auth works fine with Mozilla thunderbird (using system account), but fails with a: *SMTP Error in /opt/web/roundcube/program/steps/mail/sendmail.inc (179):* Connection failed: 554 : Relay access denied No valid recipients in roundcube. Anyone else running into this problem? Have workarounds? I have my SMTP domain, username and password set in the config file - seems like it could be nice to have this keyed off of the end-users username:password also, is there any way to store these in the session and pull them out for this purpose, or is that generally frowned upon? (I always want to do this for "single sign on" across my various PHP apps anyway) thanks for any info, j.

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Complete redesign of the cache mechanism
by DrSlump 09 Oct '05

09 Oct '05

Hi, I've been making some small benchmarks and with big mailboxes I see a noticeable delay when unserializing the cached mailbox array. So I've modified rcube to instead of storing serialized arrays of the mailbox in the db, it now has a 'messages' where each message (only the header actually) is stored in a row. The perfomance gain is about one and a half second in my development machine. It's still just a test, only uid, subject and the date are stored. Althought it's not optimized in any way (a lot of 'deprecated' code is still being executed). I'll keep playing with this approach and perhaps supply a patch if I see it really improves performance. Anyone else interested in this change? ciao, ivan

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Addition to the Planned Features list
by David A. Davenport 09 Oct '05

09 Oct '05

I searched through my dev list archive and didn't see this listed, so my apologies if it's already been mentioned. A signature block would be nice, plus the ability to specify/include a different signature based on the identity chosen. Best regards, Dave

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Using imaps instead of imap
by Torben 09 Oct '05

09 Oct '05

Hi, im trying to setup Round Cube up to use imaps (993) instead of imap (143) but can't see where to change. Any ideas? Thanks in advance :o) /Torben

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Trying Roundcube - can't log in
by Seth Seeger 09 Oct '05

09 Oct '05

Hello, I've installed the latest release of Roundcube on my OpenBSD server. However, i cannot log in. SSL: -I've set the default_host to 'ssl://localhost:993' -When I try to log in, the browser just sits there until it times out (no data is returned) -In my mail log file, I see this: imaps SSL service init from <my-ip> Command stream end of file, while reading line user=??? host=<my-host> Non-SSL: -When I do not use ssl, and set the default_host to 'localhost', the browser returns, but I get the following error message: IMAP Error: Authentication failed (LOGIN):<br>"a001 NO LOGIN failed" in on line 0 -In my authlog, I get this (see reason below): Login disabled user=seth auth=seth host=localhost [127.0.0.1] -While I do not want to use non-SSL on my server, I tried it just to see what would happen Possible issues... -I have a self-signed cert for my IMAP SSL -I am not surprised that the non-SSL doesn't work, as I have disabled it, see "LOGINDISABLED" below. More info... -When I telnet to my IMAP port, this is what is reported: * OK [CAPABILITY IMAP4REV1 LITERAL+ SASL-IR LOGIN-REFERRALS STARTTLS LOGINDISABLED] <my-host> IMAP4rev1 2004.352 at Fri, 7 Oct 2005 12:24:17 -0400 (EDT) -When I use "openssl s_client" to look at my SSL's IMAP port, this is what is reported: * OK [CAPABILITY IMAP4REV1 LITERAL+ SASL-IR LOGIN-REFERRALS AUTH=PLAIN AUTH=LOGIN] <my-host IMAP4rev1 2004.352 at Fri, 7 Oct 2005 12:35:07 -0400 (EDT) Any help would be appreciated. Please CC me on any replies, as I am not on the dev mailing list. Thanks in advance, Seth

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Re: Improving cache algorithm
by DrSlump 09 Oct '05

09 Oct '05

Mark Mackay - Orcon wrote: > Hi Ivan - > > I tried this new function, and I think there may be a problem with it (or my > PHP installation, etc). > Roundcube refused to present the login page with this pasted in: > > Running "php4 rcube_imap.inc" produced: > > Parse error: parse error, unexpected T_OBJECT_OPERATOR in > /var/www/roundcube/program/include/rcube_imap.inc on line 321 > > The offending lines were: > > //check for changes using the UID > if ($hdr->uid === end($a_out)->uid) > $revalidate = false; > > It worked when I commented these out, but obviously this skipped the > comparison of the last UID. > Thanks Mark for the bug report, I'm using PHP5 so I guess PHP4 is complaining about the "end($a_out)->uid" bit. Just replace that lines with this ones: $lastCacheHdr = end($a_out); if ($hdr->uid === $lastCacheHdr->uid) $revalidate = false; ciao, ivan

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Improving cache algorithm
by DrSlump 08 Oct '05

08 Oct '05

Hi, I've been reading the IMAP specification to find ways to improve current rcube cache algorithms. The following is from the IMAPv4 specs: 2.3.1.2. Message Sequence Number Message Attribute A relative position from 1 to the number of messages in the mailbox. This position MUST be ordered by ascending unique identifier. As each new message is added, it is assigned a message sequence number that is 1 higher than the number of messages in the mailbox before that new message was added. Currently rcube stores the whole header list for each mailbox in the DB. If the current message count is bigger than the message count of the cache then it fetches the whole header list again and stores it in the cache on DB. I think this could be improved by redesigning the caching algorithm, since each new message in a mailbox is given a sequence number higher than the other ones, we can just fetch the new messages. The following code should clarify the idea: $mbox_count = messagecount($mbox); $cache_count = count($cache); if ($mbox_count > $cache_count) { $newMessages = iil_C_FetchHeaders( $conn, $mbox, "$cache_count:$mbox_count" ); $cache = array_merge( $cache, $newMessages ); } Unfortunatly the specs also say: Message sequence numbers can be reassigned during the session. For example, when a message is permanently removed (expunged) from the mailbox, the message sequence number for all subsequent messages is decremented. The number of messages in the mailbox is also decremented. Similarly, a new message can be assigned a message sequence number that was once held by some other message prior to an expunge. We can solve this however since we have the UID of each header in the cache. Instead of fetching the (mbox_count - cache_count) headers, we can fetch (mbox_count-cache_count)+1, with this we should get as the first header the last one in the cache. We then compare its UID, so if we have in the cache the last header with id=269 and uid=468 but in the new list it has the id=269 but the uid=493 it means that there have been deleted messages in that folder and that we must revalidate the whole list. This could also be optimized but it'll require a quite complex algorithm which I guess is not worth it for most cases. The following pseudo-code should show the idea good enough: $mbox_count = messagecount($mbox); $cache_count = count($cache); if ($mbox_count > $cache_count) { $newMessages = iil_C_FetchHeaders( $conn, $mbox, ($cache_count-1).":$mbox_count" ); if ($newMessages[0]->uid != end($cache)->uid) { //revalidate the cache $cache = iil_C_FetchHeaders( $conn, $mbox, "0:".($cache_count-1)); } $cache = array_merge( $cache, $newMessages ); } The code I think is simple enough although I would like to discuss this before trying its implementation, I'm worried about the specs support in different servers. ciao, ivan

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Dev October 2005