Using webmail with your email client: Difference between revisions

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m (Replaced several instances of POP3 with POP for consistency)
m (removed mention of tiscali support for webmail extension, added aol.)
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==Extension==
==Extension==
The [http://webmail.mozdev.org/ WebMail extension] for Thunderbird enables access to Yahoo, Hotmail, Lycos, MailDotCom, Gmail, Tiscali, and Libero webmail using Thunderbird. It has a [http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?t=558335 dedicated thread] in the extension/theme releases forums.
The [http://webmail.mozdev.org/ WebMail extension] for Thunderbird enables access to Yahoo, Hotmail, Lycos, MailDotCom, Gmail, AOL and Libero webmail using Thunderbird. It has a [http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?t=558335 dedicated thread] in the extension/theme releases forums.


The WebMail extension is also useful when a firewall blocks access to a POP or SMTP server. For example, if your firewall only allows connection to port 110 for POP and port 25 for SMTP you can't connect to Gmail's mail servers. But you can still use Gmail using the WebMail extension since it uses port 80 with http to send and receive messages. The FreePOPs add-on could also be used to workaround the firewall but it doesn't support sending messages.
The WebMail extension is also useful when a firewall blocks access to a POP or SMTP server. For example, if your firewall only allows connection to port 110 for POP and port 25 for SMTP you can't connect to Gmail's mail servers. But you can still use Gmail using the WebMail extension since it uses port 80 with http to send and receive messages. The FreePOPs add-on could also be used to workaround the firewall but it doesn't support sending messages.
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The disadvantages are:
The disadvantages are:
* Its more complicated to setup.
* Its more complicated to setup.
* It frequently returns "negative vibes" when something fails rather than a useful error message. You need to enable its logging, try again, and figure out which of the many log files to examine when that occurs.  
* It frequently returns "negative vibes" when something fails rather than a useful error message. You need to enable its logging, try again, and figure out which of the many log files to examine when that occurs.


==Add-ons==
==Add-ons==

Revision as of 22:16, 20 October 2008

This article was written for Thunderbird but also applies to Mozilla Suite / SeaMonkey (though some menu sequences may differ).

Thunderbird supports using POP and IMAP mail servers for fetching/reading new messages. It does not support webmail. If you want to use webmail (or WebDAV or HTTPMail) with Thunderbird you need to use an extension or an add-on that essentially makes it emulate a POP or IMAP account.

  • Yahoo! typically provides access to a POP server if you have a free account in a non-USA yahoo domain (for example de.yahoo.com) though you may have to sign up for Yahoo Delivers. If you get a free account in the USA (www.yahoo.com) you only have support for webmail and need to add something like the YPOPs! add-on or the webmail extension.
  • Gmail provides a free POP server with all webmail accounts.
  • MSN/Hotmail does not provide a free POP server. The webmail extension is the most popular workaround. If you have a IMAP account check whether your email provider provides the ability to automaticly fetch messages from hotmail and put them in the remote inbox of your existing account.

If you check "Tools -> Account Settings -> Server Settings -> Leave messages on server" you can access your mail both from Thunderbird and from a browser. You may want to set the number of days it keeps a copy to avoid filling up your webmail mailbox.

Extension

The WebMail extension for Thunderbird enables access to Yahoo, Hotmail, Lycos, MailDotCom, Gmail, AOL and Libero webmail using Thunderbird. It has a dedicated thread in the extension/theme releases forums.

The WebMail extension is also useful when a firewall blocks access to a POP or SMTP server. For example, if your firewall only allows connection to port 110 for POP and port 25 for SMTP you can't connect to Gmail's mail servers. But you can still use Gmail using the WebMail extension since it uses port 80 with http to send and receive messages. The FreePOPs add-on could also be used to workaround the firewall but it doesn't support sending messages.

The webmail extension and YPOPs! are the most popular solutions for Yahoo webmail. The webmail extensions advantages are:

  • It correctly reports the size of a message so that the "do not download messages larger than X" setting works.
  • It only runs when Thunderbird is loaded.
  • The same version works in both Windows and Linux (you can dual boot with just one version).
  • If you use other webmail accounts that it supports you only need to deal with one solution.

The disadvantages are:

  • Its more complicated to setup.
  • It frequently returns "negative vibes" when something fails rather than a useful error message. You need to enable its logging, try again, and figure out which of the many log files to examine when that occurs.

Add-ons

  • YPOPs!: Open source Yahoo! Mail proxy program for Windows, Mac, and Linux. See these setup instructions for Thunderbird (with screenshots) or the official instructions.
  • YoSucker: Open source Yahoo! Mail proxy program written in Perl.
  • Blue HttpMail: Open source C++ library.
  • hotwayd: Open source Hotmail proxy program for Linux.
  • MrPostman: Open source proxy program for Yahoo!, Hotmail, Gmail, and more written in Java.
  • FreePOPs: Open source extensible proxy with Lua scripting for AOL, Hotmail, Netscape, Yahoo! and more.
  • Poppeeper: A freeware solution that allows you to use Hotmail, Mail.com, Lycos.com, RediffMail, Yahoo! Mail, and others, with your e-mail client.
  • Web2pop: (shareware $29 USD) supports Gmail, Yahoo, AOL and others.
  • Hotmail Popper: For MSN and Hotmail on Windows. Costs $17.50.
  • Izymail Online: A subscription based add-on to access Yahoo!, MSN and Hotmail from Thunderbird as if its a IMAP account. You can create folders, and copy/move messages to/from folders. It also automatically creates and updates a mirror copy of your online address book.
  • Pop2OWA: Open source mail proxy program for Outlook Web Acces written in Visual basic.

Accessing other folders

Normally you can only fetch new messages from the inbox folder because the add-on (or webmail extension) emulates a POP3 server. However some add-ons let you specify that the contents of other folders should be transparently merged with the inbox folder when checking for new mail. For example, if you're running Ypops! to use Yahoo webmail right click on the Ypops! icon in the system tray, choose "configure", and then "download folders" to configure what folders get merged. This is completely transparent to Thunderbird, who thinks its fetching new messages from the inbox folder on a POP3 server.

If your add-on doesn't support this check whether your webmail GUI has an option to disable the bulk mail or junk mail folder. That would let you filter Spam messages using Thunderbird (if you want to).

Troubleshooting

If you get a "connection to server pop.mail.yahoo.com timed out" error message its because you didn't specify localhost as the mail server when configuring either Ypops! or the webmail extension. There would be no reason to use those add-ons/extension if you had the right to access the email providers POP3 server. Instead, you're using a local proxy (which you specify as either localhost or 127.0.0.1) that knows how to access the webmail account while emulating a POP3 server to Thunderbird.

If you have problems connecting check that you have a single copy of the add-on running. You might not have configured the add-on to run automaticly when you boot. If you accidentally run two copies of Ypops! it won't connect but only one copy will show in the system tray. You can see the second copy using Windows task manager.

Double check you didn't enable a secure connection in Tools -> account settings -> server settings unless the add-ons instructions explicitly say it needs SSL or TSL. Experiment with setting the absolute minimum number of settings/features. For example the Ypops! v0.84 release notes state don't check "plain text" and "secure transmission using MD5" in its advanced preferences -> security settings. You'd normally assume its safe to use those features since they're part of the add-on.

If the instructions suggest using non-standard ports such as 111 for POP to avoid interoperability problems with your anti-virus program do what they suggest. But if it doesn't work temporarily disable your anti-virus program and use the standard port . If that works then use whatever port the instructions for your anti-virus program say to use, re-enable your anti-virus program and see if it still works. For example many email providers don't support port 111 and Ypops! works fine with Avast! using port 110. Its a good idea to disable any anti-virus checking on outgoing messages as it can cause interoperability problems and if the recipient doesn't have a anti-virus program they have bigger problems to worry about.

If you're using the webmail extension and get a "Sending of username did not succeed. Mailserver localhost responded: undefined is a unsupported domain" error message its because it requires you to enter the domain name as part of the username.

You may need to upgrade to a later version of the add-on or the webmail extension if they change the layout of the webmail site.

If none of this helps browse the issues articles for Thunderbird .

See also