Well, I have a new tool in my referral arsenal. Zimbra officially launched their Zimbra Desktop 1.0 client. Although I prefer the Zimbra web interface, I am frequently asked about desktop email applications. Because the Zimbra desktop client has support for multiple email accounts across multiple providers, and provides an integrated calendar and contact solution, it has become my favorite recommendation. It works especially well for daily use or off-line use while traveling. I also recommend Zimbra to clients as an Outlook replacement – it has a similar look and feel, but it’s free!

Finding the download is pretty easy:

Direct from Zimbra: Zimbra Desktop 1.0

If you have business Email Hosting from XMission you can find it by logging into your Zimbra webmail on XMission.

• Look in the upper right hand corner and there you will see “Offline version”.
  This link takes you direclty to the Zimbra Desktop download website.

• Install and you are on your way.

Just a friendly reminder, IMAP is the best setting to use on most mail accounts.

Also of note, if you currently use the Base version of Email Hosting, then Zimbra Desktop will not integrate your contacts and calendar into your webmail interface on XMission. Unless you are using a Standard or Premium version of Zimbra, your contacts and calendar will just live on your desktop within the application.

Happy emailing!

Back in the days of old, POP3 was the best way to handle your email with your desktop mail application. The problem with POP (Post Office Protocol) is that it downloads email to whichever machine you are using at the time. This means that unless you access all your email from one machine, you can end up with some messages on your desktop, others on your laptop, and even others on your phone or PDA. Talk about a productivity and convenience killer! Ouch!

IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) keeps everything—even your sent mail and other mail folders—in sync with the copy on XMission’s servers, which avoids the problem of messages being scattered across your machines. IMAP gives you email portability via your mobile phone’s email application,  your favorite desktop email app at home and at the office, or the web interface.

For me, portability is crucial. I use several devices to access email: the office desktop, my phone, my laptop, and sometimes a random computer on the road. This need for access, no matter where I go, is why IMAP is so fantastic. IMAP keeps my email synced on every access device no matter where I am. It just makes life easier.

Putting this to work for you is simple. See the XMission support wiki for easy to follow configuration instructions on setting your favorite mail client for use with our IMAP service. There is no extra charge and all XMission email services support IMAP.

One last suggestion, if you want your email world to be even easier, use webmail. Most XMission accounts use https://webmail.xmission.com and our business Zimbra users access email, calendars, and collaboration tools through https://zimbra.xmission.com. All computers (and most mobile devices) have a compatible browser that supports webmail. The convenience is fantastic and you will never be stuck without your email again.

If you have questions about any of the XMission business email solutions please give us a call, 877-964-7746, or drop an email to sales@xmission.com. We are happy to help you out.

Now go be productive!

I’m sure you have been hearing about this Zimbra email product that XMission includes with our web hosting suite and how great it is for business use.

Now what do you do if your business needs to share calendars, documents, address books, tasks, email, and more? What if you have a crusty old mail server and fear the tremendous cost and hassle of upgrading? Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone else providing your users support anytime of the day or night and eliminating those 3AM phone calls? Wouldn’t it be nice to save some money? Regardless of the reason, this seminar is for you.

Let me show you the way.

Details:

XMission Zimbra Seminar  (free) Thursday, February 5th at 3 pm 51 East 400 South Suite 200 RSVP to john@xmission.com as there are only 8 seats available for this session

Topics we will cover in this free seminar:

Address Book

Calendar

Documents

Shortcuts

Advanced Search features

Domain Admin Interface (setting up accounts)

Q & A session

This 90 minute seminar is designed for those considering the Zimbra Standard or Zimbra Premium services with XMission. You can review the XMission Zimbra Suite here:   http://www.xmission.com/products/hosting/email/

I look forward to your RSVP.  If you cannot make this session don’t worry, we will be hosting these once or twice a month based on interest.

See you Thursday! – John

Viewing Contacts in Address book

To access Contacts, click on the Address Book pane in the web interface or Zimbra Desktop client.

You can view your contacts either as a list or as contact cards. To change the view click on the View button and select either List or Cards. Personally, I prefer the List view.

Adding a new Contact to your Address Book

To add contacts just click the New button, then enter information in the appropriate fields.

Click "New" to create Address Book entry.

You can also add a contact directly from email by using right+click (Windows) or option+click (Mac) on the senders name, select Add to Contacts in the pop-up menu. Complete the information in the fields provided and Save.

Importing your Contacts

If you are using another contact manager program, you can import your existing contacts by saving them in “Comma-Separated Values” (.csv) format. See the program’s Help file for instructions on doing this. Note: For Apple Address Book, there is a useful utility by Antonio Lore called ab2csv.  XMission does not support this app but Mac users find it simple to use.

To import your contacts into Zimbra, click on the Preferences pane and then select the Address Book pane. Browse for the CSV File and then click the Import .CSV File button. You will be able to name the contact list and assign the folder a color of your choice. That is it, you are done.

Import .CSV File, found in Preferences pane.

Adding Emailed Contacts to your Address Book automatically

Zimbra can automatically add names and email addresses to your Emailed Contacts list from the email addresses you send to. To enable this feature, click the Preferences pane and check the “Add new contacts to ‘Emailed Contacts’” box. I find that every now and then I have to go through and delete temporary addresses, such as those used by craigslist.org and other services.

Creating a new Address Book

The ability to have multiple address books is a very useful Zimbra feature. To create a new address book, first go to the Address Book pane and click New Address Book above your list of contacts. Name your new address book and select a color for it. Click OK and the new address book will appear in your list of address books. Easily move contacts from one Address Book to another by clicking and dragging Contact(s) from one Address Book to another.

Simply click on New Address Book to create a new one.

Sharing your Address Book

To share an address book, click on the address book you would like to share and select “Share Address Book” from the pop-up menu.

Sharing with Internal users

You can share with individuals or groups on your XMission Zimbra domain. This is very similar to the process used to share calendars with other Zimbra users as covered in a previous post about Calendar sharing.  Set the access controls and Zimbra will send email Share Request to the user(s) you selected. Upon accepting the share, the Address Book will appear in their list of Address Books. Any changes you make to this address book with appear in their share. Note: If you grant other users Manager status, any changes they make will show up in your contacts folder. Always be certain how much access you want others to have before sharing folders.

Sharing with External guests

To share with external guests, simply provide their email address and set a password for them. XMission’s Zimbra server will email them with their login information and a URL allowing them to download a .CSV file of your shared Contacts folder.  Note: When you use external guest or public settings on an address book it is always read-only.

Public sharing

You can also make an address book publicly available. Follow the process to share your Contacts folder of choice, set to Public. This will show a custom URL you can provide to anyone. Copy this URL for future reference. Next, click the OK button to complete setting Public permission for this Contacts folder. Email your sharing URL and the end user can download the .CSV file.

Creating a Distribution List (Mailing List)

All XMission Zimbra accounts support distribution lists. To create lists, select New Contact Group from the New pop-up menu. Enter a name for your distribution list and then enter email addresses in the “Add Members to this Group” box. You can search your Contacts folder, the Global Address List, and your Personal and Shared Contacts folders for email addresses to add to your list or enter them manually in the box below. This is very slick. I use this to create custom invite lists for events and my other email list needs. Distribution Lists may have limitations on the number of addresses allowed as large lists can unduly tax the mail server. Note: It is a courtesy to always use BCC when sending to large email lists, simply enter your email address in the To: field so they know it is from you.

Searching for Contacts

Quickly find a contact by using the Search tool in the Zimbra web interface or Zimbra Desktop client. Type part of the name you are searching for in the box and then click the Search button (or hit return) to find your contact.

Use the Search field to find Contacts in your Address Book.

Need additional help?

For more help click the Zimbra Help button or visit the XMission Zimbra Support pages and the Zimbra forums.

Those are the basics of sharing your Contacts using the XMission Zimbra Suites. It is pretty simple and intuitive.

Thanks for reading and should you need our help just give us a call! Together we can find the best solution for your needs with one of the 3 distinct levels of XMission Zimbra hosting.

XMission’s Zimbra Suite makes it easy to share your calendar: simply right click on the calendar you want to share and click on “Share Calendar”.

Right click on the calendar of your choice, click on Share Calendar.

The “Share Properties” pane, show below, is where you can share your calendar with internal users on your domain, external users, and/or grant access to your public calendar. In addition you can grant access as view-only, or allow complete (Manager/Admin) access. Manager and Admin status allows others to make changes on your calendar.

The Zimbra Share Properties pane is very easy to use.

Enter the email address of the individual(s) you want to share your calendar with. Set share recipient “Role” appropriately. You can even send a note with the calendar share which can be very useful. Important: setting a calendar to “Public” means it is wide open to the world and anyone with the URL can download your calendar .ics file or view it in .html format.

Once shared, emails are automatically sent to those you granted calendar access. Here is what the email looks like:

Example of the Zimbra "Share Created" email.

The recipient can “Accept” or “Decline” the calendar share. You will not be notified of their receipt unless they sent an email back to you. Most calendar programs allow them to name your calendar as they see fit. In this case the calendar was named “XM John Webster’s Calendar” which was also set to Blue for easier identification in the Calendar view:

Accept and name the calendar share.

You also have the ability to grant access to your specific calendar’s .ics file through a direct URL (pictured above in the “Share Properties” window), or to html calendar by adding .html to the calendar name. This example shows Joe The Plumber’s html calendar for Public viewing (image shows week view). The html calendar allows the viewer to select Day, Work Week, Week, Month, or Today just by clicking on the icon:

HTML view of your public calendar.

There is another quick way to get the web address of your calendar, simply right click and choose “Launch in a separate window” (see image below). Your selected calendar will pop up in a new browser window. Copy, paste, and share that URL as needed. Use this URL to embed your calendar in websites. Calendars set to “Public” view also offer RSS subscriptions; viewers simply click on the RSS icon in the browser navigation window to subscribe.

Launch the HTML view of your calendar in a separate window.

Those are the basics of sharing your calendars using the XMission Standard and Premium Zimbra Suites. It is pretty simple and intuitive.

Keep watching this blog! Future posts will cover Contacts sharing, Documents sharing and management, using the Sync Connectors on your Mac & PCs, and much more.

Thanks for reading and should you need our help just give us a call! Together we can find the best solution for your needs with one of the 3 distinct levels of XMission Zimbra hosting.

Our mighty email administrator, Joaquin, has added a great Zimlet to all XMission’s Standard and Premium Zimbra configurations. (XMission’s Base product does not include this feature.) This Zimlet allows you to drag and drop files directly to your Compose window and Briefcase in Firefox. Yes, it is just that easy using Firefox!

You can read about this plugin on its info page, or simply download the file now. Install this to your browser for some Firefox and Zimbra good times!

How to use:

Compose: To use the drag-and-drop feature, you must drop the file you wish to load directly on top of the grey text in the Compose window which reads, “Tip: drag and drop files from your desktop to add attachments to this message.” If you try to drop your item in the body of the Compose window it will not work.

Example of the Zimbra drag-and-drop text found in your Compose window.

Briefcase: Simply drag the file and drop it in the parent directory window. Easy enough!

Zimbra Briefcase view - drop your file in the first column. Easy!

Caveats:

• Using the drag-and-drop feature over your office network connection, your uploads should be pretty fast. When using DSL or Dialup please understand that the upload lacks a progress bar. It may act like you did nothing, but the little “page loading” circle will run in the upper right corner of your browser window. Once the upload is completed your file should show up.
• You cannot use the drag-and-drop feature when launching a separated Compose window. It only works withing the primary Zimbra Suite window.
• Included with XMission Standard and Premium Zimbra suites.
• Only Firefox is supported. Consider this a perk for using Open Source software!

Thanks to the email team for the continued progress!

Another great usability tip for Firefox is to use the DragDropUpload add-on. With this you can drop files into attachment boxes instead of browse for them or type in the filename. Drop multiple files and fill all the entries. It is very cool!

If you have any requests on Zimbra topics you would like to see covered in my blog posts please drop me a line. I also offer live training for companies looking to migrate to Zimbra Standard and Premium level services.  There are some tips and tricks that make the transition much easier and the end-user experience much more enjoyable.

Talk to you soon!

This blog post will cover how you can use your Zimbra directory for limited storage needs. Here is how:

Enter the following (replacing the bold section, of course) in the webdav-enabled utility of your choice.

https://zimbra.xmission.com/dav/your full email address here/Briefcase

Upon connecting it will likely prompt you to enter your username and password.  If you prefer to mount your primary Zimbra directory, simply leave off “/Briefcase”

For Mac OS X, in Finder, use the “Go” menu, and choose “Connect to Server” and enter in the above URL.

In Windows XP, the internal webdav implementation is buggy, particularly with ssl (security protocol), so we recommend you use Novell’s Netdrive. Novell has allowed free redistribution of Netdrive. Click Here to download Novell Netdrive.Then, add a new server using the above url. By default, Netdrive doesn’t use any form of authentication, so be sure to turn “Anonymous” off and enter your Zimbra username and password.

A note about the Windows Vista environment. Netdrive doesn’t work with Vista, and it’s webdav implementation suffers from similar problems as XP, we recommend Webdrive for WebDAV on Vista. A trial demo is available at http://www.webdrive.com, and it can be purchased on-line for $59.95.

As usual with linux, there are a number of solutions, from KDE’s Konqueror to dedicated filesystem drivers. Pick the solution that’s right for your environment and follow the instructions.

I use this to transfer files directly into my Zimbra Briefcase. I could simply use the “upload +” navigation button from within the Briefcase pane;  however, I like the mounted drive option as I can simply drag and drop my files and allow them to load in the background while I go about my normal business in my Zimbra web interface.

Quota: Our system provides Premium accounts with 6G and Standard account with 3G of storage for all your Zimbra suite needs. Make sure you leave plenty of room in there for work requirements. XMission allows you to increase storage on any of the Zimbra account levels up to 12G of storage ($1 per GB/month). If you get close to filling your allotted quota it is likely to cause problems so watch the progress bar in the top left corner of your browser.

The web interface has a progress bar indicating how much of your quota is in use. It is very handy.

WWW Interface - Quota Indicator

This drive mapping option it is a very handy feature for small to medium storage needs.

Apple OS X appearance:

OS X (Mac) - Your Zimbra Storage as Remote Drive

Windows appearance:

Windows XP - Your Zimbra Storage as Remote Drive

Linux appearance:

Linux - Your Zimbra Storage as Remote Drive

XMission provides 3 distinct levels of Zimbra groupware services for our business clients, all of which are a substantial upgrade from our previous business level email-only services. No matter how large or small your company is, XMission has a solution for you.

XMission’s Zimbra suite is so flexible and dynamic. If you spend just a little time with it, something new will amaze you every week. I regularly discover something new and useful and I’ve been on the system for 6 months now.

I hope this post helps familiarize you with the powerful Zimbra interface and how to use it to your benefit. We have some great Zimbra screencasts posted in our Hosted Email support wiki.

Should you have any questions about implementing the Zimbra Collaboration Suite for your business please drop me a line – I’ll be happy to chat with you.

Go XMission!

Special thanks to Joaquin, XMission’s Email Systems Administrator, for his input on this article.

If I had to tell you what Zimbra is to me, I would say “life changing.” Out of the countless mail clients I have used throughout the years I have to say that stepping up to Zimbra changed my life. Sounds dramatic doesn’t it? Well, it was. I only wish that XMission had moved to this system sooner.

The Zimbra Collaboration Suite (ZCS) is a powerful open source server and client software for messaging and collaboration. It includes email, group calendaring, contacts, task management, advanced searching, IM (beta), file storage, zimlets (web 2.0 mashups), and web document management and authoring. Zimbra is designed to handle the diverse needs and high demands of XMission business clients. XMission’s staff uses the Premium package which includes all the features listed above.

Today’s tips are just a few of the extremely useful and powerful keyboard shortcuts for composing and managing email. They work in both the web interface and the Zimbra Desktop application, and have greatly increased my online productivity. My favorites tips are below.

Email Compose window:

• “c” or “n” – compose new mail in main browser window
• “C” – compose new in external window
• “r” – reply to sender
• “a” – reply to all recipients
• “f” – forward message
• “ctrl + s” – send message

Email navigation:

• “Delete” key – deletes the email by moving it to the Trash folder
• “j” – move up one message in the queue
• “k” – move down one message in the queue

Navigation between applications:

• “i” – return to mail from another application such as Calendaring or Tasks
• “g + a” – go to Address Book from another pane
• “g + c” – go to Calendar from another pane
• “g + d” – go to Briefcase from another pane
• “g + m” – go to Mail from another pane
• “g + p” – go to Preferences from another pane
• “g + t” – go to Tasks from another pane

Mail Folder Shortcuts: (I defined these myself in the Mail Folder tab of the  Preferences pane)

• “. + 2” – office email archive
• “. + 1” – personal email archive

Your most commonly used shortcuts will vary based upon your own personal preference.  Please note, “g + d” is supposed to go to the Documents pane but currently hits Briefcase. It appears to be a bug which has been reported to Zimbra.

Quickly you notice that most of these tips are common sense, especially the keyboard shortcuts such as “r” for “reply to sender”. The added power of using the keyboard – rather than your mouse – to manage your email and folders is both a time and wrist saver. Less time using your mouse is less time stressing your shoulders, neck and wrists. Veteran keyboard shortcut practitioners can nearly avoid having to use their mouse at all.

First, log  in to the Zimbra Collaborative Suite (ZCS). Once logged in, proceed to the Preferences pane.

Next, select the  Shortcuts pane.

Here you will see the four available shortcuts options:

The Shortcut List shows common keyboard shortcuts for all Zimbra applications and features. You don’t configure anything in this tab, rather it is a great resource for learning the available shortcuts. Next is Mail Folder Shortcuts where you can set custom keystrokes to move email from folder to folder. The Saved Search Shortcuts let you assign numbers to Saved Searches and quickly access them (with “s + number“). Finally we have Tag Shortcuts, which let you assign numbers to specific tags so you can search for messages with that tag (”y + number“) or tag a message with that tag (”t + number“).

In this following example I am looking at Mail Folder Shortcuts. To save time I try to keep my email management as simple as possible. I defined 4 categories: “defer”, “postponed”, “archive” (my personal email), and “archive-work”. I learned to simplify my email life following the Inbox Zero methodology. It has made a substantial difference in my ability to survive the daily onslaught of email and I strongly encourage you to check it out.

The pane below allows me to set my destination folder and the shortcut number of my choice. This level of flexibility is simply fantastic and why I love this email interface exclusively.

I hope this post helps familiarize you with the powerful Zimbra interface and how to use it to your benefit. We have some great Zimbra Screencasts posted in our support wiki.

XMission provides 3 distinct levels of Zimbra groupware services for our business clients, all of which are a substantial upgrade from our previous business level email-only services. No matter how large or small your company is, XMission has a solution for you. Should you have any questions about implementing the Zimbra Collaboration Suite for your business please drop me a line – I’ll be happy to chat with you.

Go XMission!

Useful links:

• Sales docs: http://www.xmission.com/products/hosting/email/
• Support docs: http://wiki.xmission.com/index.php/Hosted_Email:Hosting_Your_Email
• Cheat sheet: http://www.xmission.com/~john/xmission_zimbra_shortcuts.png

By the way, this entire document was written in Zimbra using the online Documents tool. One great feature is the ability to share your documents with the outside world. Check it out!