Mail: New mail UI/UX for Usermin/Webmin

[iliajie]

Hi,

Everyone is interested in new mail outlook please post your ideas. The main concept provided by me will be based on Google Mail. In case you have any ideas or proposals before I start bringing it to life, go ahead and post your ideas/proposals here.

This is the example of how I would like the new mail interface look like

---

Mail related issues:

1. Mailbox not refreshing using Authentic Theme:
2. Send mail doesn't work (timeout) when used in Safari

[SteffanCline]

This is what you're making for Usermin? Looks nice. I've been using Roundcube for some time. There's a lot of good plugins for it with filtering etc. Saw an Outlook theme for it but $100 seemed steep. This is definitely nice. Might I suggest using TinyMCE or CKEditor (http://ckeditor.com/) for the HTML?

[singhdd93]

Really Love the new design ...
I think CKEditor is much better than TinyMCE.

[iliajie]

Thanks. Yes, I will use CKEditor too and most likely will use it.

[GMo888]

The interface seems to me very well.

It would be nice to have the opportunity to right clicks on the subject of mail to reply, forward ... A bit like Outlook Web Access ...

[iliajie]

Yes, context menu will be there for sure!

[divyeshsachan]

Interface is looking decent in attached pic.
Here are few suggestions:: Provide drag & drop for easy files attachment, multiple mail select + drag & drop to folder for easy mail movement across folders.
As per my opinion instead of three column view for writing mail, mail writing should be in dialog (as like in file editor in your authentic file manager) or like dialog in gmail in bottom right corner or in full second column. The point is, while drafting a mail, one rarely look at his list of mails in any folder and if it's in three column view second column of mail list will unnecessarily occupy much screen space.

:-)

[iliajie]

I will consider all of your proposals. I will however and most likely make that gmail like composer optional..I like the way it is on the screen shot.

The theme will just inject additional options to the module's configuration.

[apurva577]

The Mailbox looking very rich and user friendly. I hope it can have the ajax functionality like gmail and roundcube. It will add an biggest punch on it.

By when it will have its launch or first release ?

[iliajie]

I'm starting working on new graphs now and perform other ongoing improvements.

While doing it, I'm gonna submit a request to Webmins/Usermin back-end support for getting data in JSON format. Whenever it's ready, I'll start.

Yes, it'll be ajaxed surely. I'll try making it as good as gmail.

[aminkh17]

+1

[iliajie]

Work in progress. My plan is to release it by the end of summer.

[Stinkykiller]

It would be nice if the theme in Usermin can pull email + aliases of specific virtualserver and show this in "From:" like drop down menu. Something like this:

- main VS email
--- alias 1
--- alias 2
--- alias 3
etc.

Leave the tab "From" in case someone want to insert custom email but on main window where the email is composed it would be nice to have this option.

[iliajie]

When I start working on the email, I will take all considerations and try to make it best.

Thanks.

[Stinkykiller]

Maybe i should post this suggestion on Vmin site, not sure if this should go as Usermin or Authentic feature. Your opinion?

[iliajie]

Hard to tell. Most likely, I will make mail work as an extension (like File Manager) as it gets very hard to collaborate thoroughly on this kind of matters.

Ideally it would be best to separate logic and presentation completely but it's not going to work fully for our project.

Later my extensions could be merge with Webmin branch/modules - no problem.

Working this way, provides much faster access to new features and lets me to enroll faster the new features.

[iliajie]

Estimated time for newish Mail support is 18.40+

[Stinkykiller]

Forgot to mention in my earlier messages. Design looks great but it would be nice to offer few color schemes because not everyone is fan of bright colors. Aside of that i like it.

[iliajie]

Alright, I will consider it. ;)

[apurva577]

Hi Bro... First of all I Really appreciate your work and I inspired alot from you.

I have few more suggestions for new mail interface.

1. Generally to access mail user needs to login webmin. It would be great to have the functionality to set the subdomain from root user to access new mail interface like webmail.example.com or in domain base url like example.com/webmail which displays login screen to access only mails like roundcube.

2. Another option to backup all mails and can import that backup on another server having virtualmin/cpanel which helps to easily migrate in case of host transfer.

By when its expected the first version of new mailing module to be get released ?

[iliajie]

Hi,

I'm actually about to start, pretty much right after Webmin 1.830.

About your points, I must say that they are all already there. For the first, Usermin exists for user-level access to the server. For the second, backups can be easily done by copying Maildir folder to the other server.

[bobrocksgithub]

Hi qoob, I do have one request (ok 2):

1. Enable user-selectable colors for the login page (and keep the ability to use a custom logo)
2. Enable the ability to deactivate the 'usermin' logo and text, so that only the custom logo is visible at login...

Your template for mail looks good to me!

[iliajie]

I'll consider it. Thanks.

[bobrocksgithub]

If it helps, the login for nextcloud looks great.
They keep the branding on the bottom, but allow the page to be fully customized.
Thanks for your excellent work and your consideration!

[iliajie]

Hi,

Sure, I will take a look.

[topstarnetwork]

I can not waite to see it on production server, I love it!

[tpnsolutions]

UI concept is looking pretty sexy! Ofcourse, coming from you bro it's no surprise :-)

[iliajie]

@tpnsolutions It will be even hotter. 😆 It's just a prototype.

[JimTR]

Having used the theme for a while the only feed back is in some folders I get this

as you can see there are some ghost messages

[iliajie]

Are you using IMAP or Mailbox? You should see the same result in other mail clients and with older themes as well.

I guess, it's the stuck cache (broken indexes). In case you're using Dovecot, try:

doveadm force-resync -u <username> <mailbox>

https://wiki2.dovecot.org/Tools/Doveadm

[JimTR]

Tried that no difference but Thunderbird does not find the ghost entries
usermin read

Thunderbird Read

[iliajie]

Do you get the same result in Gray Theme?

[JimTR]

Yes it does happen on all themes

[iliajie]

Well, try to stop Dovecot, delete indexes under:

~/Maildir/

..and restart Dovecot. It will work in case your Mail storage format for Inbox option in Webmin/Usermin Configuration/Usermin Module Configuration/Inbox format and location set to Remote IMAP server.

[gnadelwartz]

I updated to latest usermin and authentic to see the newest mail ux.
are the many Buttons as they are intended? looks totally different than you screenshot above ...

Usermin Version | 1.780
Authentic theme version | 19.44-RC1

as I now see the button translation, I'll make some adjustments to be clearer and shorter if possible.

in addition I was looking for sceduled E-Mail and was confused to not find it in the Mail or composer.
finally I noticed it's in the regular usermin section mail .. wouldn't it be nice we can schedule mails from composer or at least have a menu entry in mail to create them?

[iliajie]

Kay, hi.

Thanks for your feedback.

About buttons in mail preview - it's still an old, not-reworked section.

New mail UI is being released in parts. First was mail preview, and just recently I added mail compose.

New mail composer includes scheduling emails right from the composer, the way it's done in GMail.

[gnadelwartz]

after update from repo and restart I get the new composer which was not the case before. thx!

[iliajie]

Tell me how the new composer feels like for you, if you have a chance to run tests.

If GPG is enabled in Usermin Configuration you will also see GPG menu entry there.

[gnadelwartz]

when creating a new message and want to change priority I get this:

may be missing strings?

[iliajie]

Is it when your run Usermin in German? What about default English, does it work for you?

[gnadelwartz]

in english the strings are shown correct.

I also found that the mail folders are not shown after login. I have to switch to dashboard and back to mail. then inbox, sent etc sre shown.

[gnadelwartz]

found also an issue with language handling with new nessage.

• when language setting from webmin and in usermin is the same all massages are displayed e.g. in german.
• when language is set from webmin -> usermin settings to English utf-8 (not based on browser) and language set to german in usermin you get mixed language.
  

all regular usermin messages are german as expected, but messages in new Mail UX are mixed ...

edit: this may a caching issue, when switching on and off automatic selection on Browser language everything is german ... but I can reproduce it:

• start is my default setup: german-utf8 in webmin usermin setting and usermin, incl. language based on browser enabled. from now everything done in one window!

• change language in usermin to english

• change language in webmin usermin setting to english and disable browser based language.

• change language in webmin to german

now I have mixed language in new mail as shown in picture.

• switching language based on browser in webmin usermin setting on and off (without going to usermin) solve the issue.

ah, and proxy setup as always ...

[iliajie]

Kay, does the same happen if used with Gray Theme?

[gnadelwartz]

I can test it, but I'm shure it does only affect new mail UX, as e.g. old Mail preview is not affected ... done ... after fixing a problem with switching to grey theme (missing /) .. no problems switching language as described, all messages are shown correctly, also in old composer

[iliajie]

There were fix issues that I fixed:

1. Incorrect UI language returned (date select didn't work in local lang)
2. Added page reload with nice UI message, upon language change
3. Fix priority missing labels in other languages 9c61790

Thanks for reporting!

[superlgn]

In gnadelwartz screenshot of the new composer, there appears to be an inline address book icon on the right side of the recipient field. Is that still present in 19.45? I'm not seeing it or any way to select someone from the address book when composing a new message.

[iliajie]

This hasn't been implemented yet.

[TwoLifestyles]

It's already 2023, we still get "forward functionality no implemented yet" error when trying to forward an email.
Will this be fixed soon?

[iliajie]

It's already 2023, we still get "forward functionality no implemented yet" error when trying to forward an email.

When do you see this message exactly? How can I reproduce it on my side?

[TwoLifestyles]

Simply log into the read mail module of Usermin, check a message, and click the forward button at the top.
Screenshots show what happens.
I also included OS and Authentic theme version info in case you needed that.

[ksihota]

Forwarding displays properly when you are in the message but not when you do it this way

[iliajie]

Alright, I see what you mean. It will be fixed in the next Authentic Theme 21.06.

Thanks for the heads up, as I also discovered and fixed a few other event-related bugs!

[TwoLifestyles]

Thank you!
One final question.
Will you be adding the ability to add a picture or attachment within the signature section?
We have some good signatures created in Canva, but we can't use them because there is no where to attach a file to the signature, or add one with the text field.
Maybe a proper text editor such as WYSIWYG, or other similar editor with the ability to attach images would help.

[iliajie]

We have some good signatures created in Canva, but we can't use them because there is no where to attach a file to the signature, or add one with the text field.

Sounds like a good improvement. Although, I'm not sure if I have time to work on this particular feature any time soon. There is a lot to do.

But I will add this to my todo.

[TwoLifestyles]

Thank You!

[shoulders]

I know this is an old thread, the image in the first thread looks great, modern and clean.