squirrel mail

[#1]

I Got so fed up with using squirrel mail due to it's slow speed and error messages that I gave up using it, however having moved across to Linux and trying again it seems much faster with no error messages appearing so I now wonder if the fault might have been down to something in windows 7 or some other program on my computer ?

[#2]

I would doubt if it's the Win 7...
If you look back on threads on this forum you will find many, many complaints about squirrel (renamed by some as snail) mail
I think I was one of the first to complain a couple of years ago...
Needless to say it has been so sluggish for as long as I can remember, even before Vista and Win 7 !!!!!
ditch it and go to googlemail, I did and never looked back..........

[#3]

Some architectural changes were made a few months back that will have helped speed things up a bit. Whilst on the subject, the Webmail platform is due an overhaul and It looks like we may be kicking off a trial of an alternative platform before too long...

[#4]

Quote from: community

I would doubt if it's the Win 7... If you look back on threads on this forum you will find many, many complaints about squirrel (renamed by some as snail) mail I think I was one of the first to complain a couple of years ago... Needless to say it has been so sluggish for as long as I can remember, even before Vista and Win 7 !!!!! ditch it and go to googlemail, I did and never looked back..........

guess a few of those complaints were from me !
Must admit I use Gmail as my main e-mail service but it's handy having a second address for all these programs that require registration and then bombard you with all sorts of advertising material.

[#5]

Quote from: Bob

It looks like we may be kicking off a trial of an alternative platform before too long...

Sounds intriguing and about time 🙂

[#6]

Quote from: Bob

Some architectural changes were made a few months back that will have helped speed things up a bit. Whilst on the subject, the Webmail platform is due an overhaul and It looks like we may be kicking off a trial of an alternative platform before too long...

Sorry, but I have heard this all before........
"before too long"  has been said before some time ago, so ..don't hold your breath...it probably means 'sometime before the end of the decade?
Come on PLUSNET, give us some info we would prefer to hear....

[#7]

Quote from: Bob

Some architectural changes were made a few months back that will have helped speed things up a bit. Whilst on the subject, the Webmail platform is due an overhaul and It looks like we may be kicking off a trial of an alternative platform before too long...

Well, if it happens Bob, any improvement would be great.
You put me on Roundcube last year and I have been mostly using that instead of Squirrelmail but it's not much better.
Roundcube:
+ Slightly better user interface, better new message composition (no need to enter captcha text when not on PN connection), automatically shows new messages in Inbox (SqM does not and has to be refreshed)
- Still as treacle-slow as Squirrelmail - this is a server problem I understand so please FIX IT, it has been a problem for years, you may have tweaked it but I didn't notice; Compose new mail does not start in a new window/tab unless you explicitly right-click and make it do that (but SqM does); Ctrl-click does not open message in new tab (SqM does); Unread message count does not decrease if you read a message in a new window/tab (SqM does); After you send a message the window reverts to Inbox and you can have more than one Inbox open, but only one of them updates (SqM does not). Roundcube clearly does not like multiple tabs/windows.
I got so fed up that I tried using Gmail as a client which almost worked except for the show-stopper where my email address in sent mails shows as "<me@googlemail.com> on behalf of <me@mydomain.com>" when opened in Outlook, and this is ugly and unacceptable for work.
Any new client needs to be much better and not show any of these problems.
No matter what new webmail software you introduce, the server side needs to be fixed or thrown out and replaced or the same old problems with very slow response will be there, and this is the No. 1 problem. Response time must be a few seconds no matter what. Gmail performance should be the requirement. You are, after all, part of BT, one of the world's biggest Telcos, and not a plucky little outfit in Sheffield despite your cute Yorkshire branded adverts.
Cheers, Ian.

[#8]

Quote from: community

Quote from: Bob Some architectural changes were made a few months back that will have helped speed things up a bit. Whilst on the subject, the Webmail platform is due an overhaul and It looks like we may be kicking off a trial of an alternative platform before too long... Sorry, but I have heard this all before........ "before too long"  has been said before some time ago, so ..don't hold your breath...it probably means 'sometime before the end of the decade? Come on PLUSNET, give us some info we would prefer to hear....

Well we tried upgrading the Roundcube install we had last Monday in preparation of opening the platform up to the wider customer base but the upgrade failed due to unforeseen circumstances. There's a bit of work to be done before we attempt it again. I did announce this to the customers that have access to the platform already.

Quote from: changi

You put me on Roundcube last year and I have been mostly using that instead of Squirrelmail but it's not much better.

As alluded to above, it's looking very likely that we'll trial Roundcube in a greater capacity.

Quote from: changi

I got so fed up that I tried using Gmail as a client which almost worked except for the show-stopper where my email address in sent mails shows as "<me@googlemail.com> on behalf of <me@mydomain.com>" when opened in Outlook, and this is ugly and unacceptable for work.

That doesn't happen for my domain, although I'm choosing to send that via Gmail using a third party SMTP server which might be something to do with it (you can't do this with the Plusnet relay servers).

Quote from: changi

Any new client needs to be much better and not show any of these problems.

Have you any suggestions for a Webmail package you'd prefer we use? They all have their pro's/con's IME. We almost certainly won't be building our own in-house solution.

Quote from: changi

No matter what new webmail software you introduce, the server side needs to be fixed or thrown out and replaced or the same old problems with very slow response will be there, and this is the No. 1 problem. Response time must be a few seconds no matter what.

Agreed.

Quote from: changi

Gmail performance should be the requirement. You are, after all, part of BT, one of the world's biggest Telcos, and not a plucky little outfit in Sheffield despite your cute Yorkshire branded adverts.

True, but neither are we as much as a behemoth as Google when it comes to web-apps etc.

[#9]

On the subject of Gmail, I was once a customer of Virgin Media (when I lived in a cabled region).
What they offered on their email service was a somewhat cut down version (read: much less customisation) of the Gmail interface. In terms of new features I found it was always a month or two behind what Gmail users had.
See Register article: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/04/15/virgin_media_gmail/
Not sure what the commercial likelihood of doing this is, but I think Bob as you infer (and changi you say!), Gmail is a very nice web based client to use!

[#10]

Sky also use a rebraned gmail and btinternet use yahoo (urgh)

[#11]

We've definitely looked at outsourcing to Google in the past, although at the time it wasn't seen as a viable/cost-effective alternative. I can't remember the specifics now, but there was certainly a good reason why we couldn't go down that path.

[#12]

Bob, thanks for the reply.
I don't have any better suggestions as I don't know about other webmail platforms. I have found Mozilla Thunderbird to be a decent client program but I don't think there is a webmail equivalent. I think Roundcube + faster server + cleaned-up behaviour like I described above would be quite good. If you get the new version running, I am keen to try it.
I think the Gmail "sent on behalf of" problem is only visible when viewed in Outlook. However I'll look into using a 3rd party SMTP server.
Ian