Ubuntu 9.04 integrated GMail Notifier

[defreng]

Hey guys,
I saw those nice new Ubuntu 9.04 features like those polished notifications and the indicator applet and thought that an integrated gmail-notifier would be very nice. Because I didn't found any I decided to write one:

13.04.2009: New Version 0.9 out!
14.04.2009: Major Bug fixed. Please update to ~ppa3!
https://launchpad.net/gm-notify
-> Screenshots and release announcement on http://bleedingpaper.com

greetings
Alex

[danielrmt]

I use the mail-notification package. You need to change something in the gconf-editor for it to work with the new jaunty notifications. I don't know if it works with the indicator applet, as I don't use it.
I'll look into your new notifier today.

[gnomeuser]

Reading the source code over quickly it does seem to touch some important corners such as safely storing the password and account information in the keyring.

Could you perhaps expand this into proper GMail integration into GNOME. Such that enabling this would also set the default mail application to xdg-open + urlmagic and give some integrated UI to set account information.

Aside that this is really a life saver in terms of bringing integration with the most commonly used webmail services further.

In the same vein, would you be open to expanding this into a framework for supporting additional webmails in such a way. I imagine my fiancée who uses Yahoo! mail might be inclined to enjoy better integration for her mail as well.

[defreng]

yes, you're right. The program itself is missing some functionality, espacially a config interface to enter the credentials. I just followed the "release early, release often" strategy and published what I already had including a simple script to set the account data, but I'm already working on a graphical configuration.

To be true my first aim is to complete this as a notification application for gmail-accounts. The GMail integration into GNOME could be a thing I could tackle when I finished the notification part to my satisfaction. Maybe you could add a blueprint into launchpad which describes in detail what you mean?

greetings
Alex

[defreng]

and hey - that's it

A brand new release of the gm-notify is out. Version 0.7 including a graphical configuration tool and the possibility to play a sound when a new mail arrives.

Download it at https://launchpad.net/gm-notify/0.x/0.7

I hope you enjoy it!

UPDATE: You can find some screenshots again at www.bleedingpaper.com

[Saint Angeles]

im really impressed!

i'm gonna mess around with this and let you know how it goes. thanks a lot!!

[gnomeuser]

To simplify the UI for the configuration, you can use libcanberra to interact with the standard sound theme. this will also give you the consistent sounds with the rest of the desktop.

Then that becomes "Play sound when mail arrives [x]"

You should also give an indication of the measurement you use for the check interval.. 90 what. Mins, secs, hours, months? Additionally here I believe Google requests that the lowest check rate be 15 mins so maybe if the user selects something below 15 mins either reject it with that reason or allow it with a warning asking them politely not to abuse googles free service in according to the terms of use.

And for the next time, can you please provide screenshots in US English, it makes it easier to assess the dialog texts and such.

[s_spiff]

Ok, tried it. Seemed to install smooth. Only thing is Jaunty rpos could not find python-indicator.
Anyways, when I configure and run I get this:

gm-notify.py Traceback (most recent call last): File "/usr/local/bin/gm-notify.py", line 22, in <module> import pynotify, indicate, urllib2 ImportError: No module named indicate

any ideas?

[defreng]

@s_spiff:
damn, I'm sorry. This is a typo: The package is named python-indicate.

@gnomeuser:
The integration with libcanberra sounds quite good to me.
And at least 15min checkinterval is very long! Do you have a source for this (I hope it is not correct )?

@Saint Angeles
thx

[gnomeuser]

Originally Posted by defreng @gnomeuser: The integration with libcanberra sounds quite good to me. And at least 15min checkinterval is very long! Do you have a source for this (I hope it is not correct )?

It used to be part of the terms of service you signed, as well as in their documentation for developers. Even if they now long express a set interval limit, you should consider the abuse clause and disallow checking below some reasonable limit say 10 mins. It is a free service and they will terminate accounts due to abuse.

I hope you will still address the other concerns I put up.

*edit*

also I used rosetta to translate this sucker into danish, your strings aren't as translator friendly as they could be. As 1.0 approaches I would love to work with you to enhance that situation.