Mobile phone problem of Google Contacts 0.6 Beta

I've just fixed the mobile phone problem reported in the TB3 testing thread. Please see the thread and try 0.6b2. Thank you for the many reports.

Maximize Message Pane will be back for Thunderbird3

I've got many requests to update Maximize Message Pane (MMP) for Thunderbird3. I didn't know it was used such many users and required even on Thunderbird3. I think Thunderbird3's tab functionality will be an alternative. It is true for some users including me, but now I know there are ones who need MMP since they don't use tabs or don't need the folder pane while seeing the thread pane.

Now you can download the first beta of MMP for Thunderbird3 at my homepage: v1.1.00b1. It has the same functions as ones for Thunderbird2 except for the following:

• Jump folder function is removed
• Navigation bar is removed

Please report if you find some problems. When new beta is available, the post will be updated. Please keep watching it too.

New Tab Button 0.1.21

New Tab Button 0.1.21 is now available for download. This version adds new tab icon to the header view (see the preview). You can open a message in a new tab by clicking it. If you don't need the button, open New Tab Button's option and uncheck the "Add button to header view" option. It also supports Thunderbird3.0.*. It means you can install it to forthcoming RCs and official release builds.

Update extensions for forthcoming Thunderbird 3RC

I've updated extensions in order to be compatible with Thunderbird3.0.*, which means they can be installed forthcoming RC and official release builds. The updated extensions are the following: Tag Toolbar, Check and Send, Priority Switcher, Google Contacts. Please see the post for details and add a comment there if you find any problems.

Tag Toolbar manages recently used tags

Tag Toolbar v0.8a4, which is a test version for Thunderbird3, has a new system category "Recent Tags". See the category list in the Tag Toolbar. You can find "Recent Tags" category in the bottom of the list. It records 5 recently used tags by default. Of course, you can customize the number of tags to be remembered in the option dialog.

It is one of frequently asked features. It is useful feature for power users who manage tons of tags. Of course, I know there are users who do not need it. If you don't need it, input 0 for the number of recent tags in the option dialog. "Recent Tags" category will disappear from the category list.

Update extensions for Thunderbird 3 Beta4

I've updated test versions of my extensions to support Thunderbird3b4. Please see the Thunderbird3 Compatibility Testing Thread and try the latest builds. The following extensions compatible with Thunderbird3b4 so far:

• Tag Toolbar 0.8a5
  
• Check and Send 0.9a3
  
• Priority Switcher 0.6a5
  
• Google Contacts 0.6a5
  
• New Tab Button 0.1.20

I'm looking forward to your feed backs.

Google Contacts 0.5.55

Google Contacts 0.5.55 is now available for download. It fixes the following problem:

• Fixed: group mapping setting does not work

I recommend all user to update.

Checking attachment file size on Thunderbird3

I've added attachment file size checking function to Check and Send 0.9a2 which is test version for Thunderbird3. It is very simple functionality. Before you use it, you need to specify max size of attachments; you can find the option in the Attachments tab of the option dialog (see the preview). Check and Send calculates the size of all attachments and alert if it exceeds the limit before sending a message.

It also fixes bugs in the previous test version: v0.9a1. I hope you enjoy the new version and new functionality.

New Tab Button 0.1.18

New Tab Button 0.1.18 is now available for download. It includes the following changes:

• Changed: remove open a message by double-clicking option since Thunderbird3b3pre has the option
• Added: open multiple messages in the same time
• Fixed: cannot work on a Gloda Search result pane
• Changed: support only Thunderbird3b3pre
  

Synchronize contacts without email addresses by Google Contacts

Thunderbird's mail lists cannot contain card without email addresses. So, if a Gmail group has contacts without email addresses is synchronized with a Thunderbird mail list, such contacts cannot be added to the mail list.

I have received many questions and requests for that. So, I addressed the problem in v0.6a3, which is a test version for Thunderbird3.

On synchronizing, if a contact does not contain an email address, it adds a fake email address, which is like xxx@pseudo.googlecontacts. The address is used only for keeping a card in a mail list and will not appear at Google side.

In order to use the functionality, check the option in "Email address complement" in the Conversion tab of the option dialog.

New Tab Button 0.1.17

A new option is added to New Tab Button 0.1.17: "Hide tab bar when only one tab is opened". It just sets up mail.tabs.autoHide preference, which is Thunderbird3's hidden option.

By the way, I've been asked about auto update of the addon many times. You cannot receive update notification since it is an experimental addon at AMO. And I don't plan to make it public until Thunderbird3 is released. So, please check this blog or AMO regularly.

New Tab Button 0.1.16

New Tab Button 0.1.16 is now available for download. It includes new option: "Go back to a folder tab after opening a new tab".

Test version of Check and Send for Thunderbird3

Check and Send 0.9a1 is available for download now. It is the first test version for Thunderbird3. It is not fully tested. So, please test it carefully and send me feedbacks.

When a new test version is available, I'll update "Thunderbird3 Compatibility Testing Thread". Please keep watching the post.

Recovered again

The sever is recovered and available now. I'm sorry for any trouble this may have caused you.

Server down again

The server is down again. Please wait until it is available.

Recovered

The server is recoverd.

Server down

My homepage is temporarily down. You can download release versions of my extensions at AMO but cannot get test versions including Google Contacts for Thunderbird3. Please wait until it is recovered.

Thank you for your patience.

First alpha of Google Contacts for Thunderbird3

I've started to make a Thunderbird3 compatible version of Google Contacts. As the initial test version, I released v0.6a1 at my homepage.

As you may know, many changes for address book landed on Thunderbird3. Especially, redesigning of API has significant influence for making extensions compatible with Thunderbird3, including Google Contacts.

For the reason above, v0.6a1 may have many problems. Please let me know if you find problems.

Before you use v0.6a1, I'd like to notify a precaution to you. Due to the redesingning of address book, there are some differences between data created on Thunderbird2 and one on Thunderbird3. When you upgrade to Thunderbird3, Google Contacts converts and synchronizes them correctly. But if you downgrade, Google Contacts cannot treat data created on Thunderbird3. In other words, it does not have lower compatilibity.

When new test version is available, I'll update "Thunderbird3 Compatibility Testing Thread". Please keep watching the post.

Google Contacts 0.5.54

Google Contacts 0.5.54 is now available for download. It fixes the following problem:

• Fixed: Batch mode does not record offline activities

Due to the bug, the batch mode was a useless functionality. I recommend all users to update.

Google Contacts 0.5.53

Google Contacts 0.5.53 is now available for download. It fixes the following problem:

• Fixed: Modification of a mail list is not synchronized

Anonymous comment is temporarily allowed

Anonymous comments had been forbidden in order to avoid comment spams. Now I allow anonymous comments for test. If the blog receives many spams, it may be forbidden again.

Google Contacts 0.5.52

Google Contacts 0.5.52 is now available for download. It includes the following changes:

• Added: auto reload option
• Fixed: duplicated groups/contacts are created when multiple accounts are synchronized

Generaly, auto reload is not needed by synchronizing with Interactive mode and reloading contacts at startup. However, for users who rarely finish Thunderbird, they have to reload contacts manually with the settings. So, the auto reload option is added for users who modify contacts at Gmail while Thunderbird is working. I recommend the option only for such users and don't recommend you to set small number such as 0.1 since reloading contacts frequently will lower the performance of Thunderbird.

Debugging Google Contacts

Google Contacts still has unfound bugs since it is a complex extension. If you find a problem, check the Error Console message. An error message which includes a word "gmcont" is an error of Google Contacts. Please let me know the messages.

Google Contacts also has a verbose mode. If you cannot find an error message in the Error Console, please try the following:

1. Open Config Editor
2. Create a key "browser.dom.window.dump.enabled" as boolean and set it to true
3. Finish Thunderbird
4. Start Thunderbird with -console option
5. Thunderbird will start with console
6. Reproduce the problem and send me messages in the console (mask your personal infomation such as email address before you send it to me)

Thank you for your contribution.

Open a new tab by mouse clicking

I didn't know a way to open new tab except for the context menu in Thunderbird3. So, I implemented a functionality to open a tab by message double-clicking in New Tab Button extension.

But I found that middle mouse clicking opens a message in a tab. It is very convenient method which Thunderbird3 originally has. Try it if you did't know the functionality.

Google Contacts 0.5.51

Google Contacts 0.5.51 is now available for download. It fixes a problem in an address fields conversion, which was reported by kbro at the support thread.

New Tab Button 0.1.15

New Tab Button 0.1.15 is now available for download. It includes the following new features:

• Added: New Tab toolbar button can open folder in a tab, too
• Added: a button is added to the tab bar
• Added: hide Lightning's Today Pane in a new tab (you can disable the functionality by the option dialog)

Anonymous comments are forbidden

As you may know, this blog has received many comment spams these days. I deleted them manually but I cannot continue such tiresome works anymore. So, I forbid to post anonymous comments here. You need to have a google account or OpenID. I don't know whether it blocks spams or not, but it worth trying, I think.

I'm sorry for the inconvenience. If you have a better solution, please let me know.

What's New in Google Contacts 0.5.50: Group Mapping

Google Contacts 0.5.50 has some new functionalities. In the post, I briefly show you one of them: Group mapping functionality. Group mapping is the functionality that map a Gmail group to a Thunderbird address book, not a mail list.

By default settings, all contacts and groups in Gmail are mapped into a Thunderbird address book. A group is mapped to a mail list and a contact is mapped to a card. See the image below.

Assume you have four group, My Contacts, Friends, Family, and Coworkers. And you have three contacts in the Friends group. Google Contacts maps them as follows:

This is the default synchronization. Then, let's enable the group mapping functionality. Open the add-on's option dialog and select the "Advanced" tab. You'll find Group mapping section in the middle of the form.

You can choose one of your groups in a Group cell. It shows only system groups. If you map custom group, choose "Other" and input a group name. The image shows an example that Friends group is mapped to an address book in a account. After you select a group, close the form by clicking the OK button.

Then, click the reload button in the address book window or button in the main window. Google Contacts reconstruct address book as follows:

All mail lists disappear and only contacts in the Friend group exist in the address book. In other words, the address book represents the Friends group.

That is the group mapping. If you add a card to the address book, a contact is added to Gmail and joined to the Friends group. As for a delete operation, you can choose a behavior. See the section below the group mapping in the option dialog. You can select one of the followings:

Default setting is "Delete from Google".

You can reduce contacts by using the group mapping. Moreover, you can synchronize a contact without an email address; due to the limitation of Thunderbird group, you cannot manage such a contact by default synchronization. However, it also has a drawback. Since it does not show all contacts in Gmail, you may add a contact which already exists. It may create many duplicates and make contacts management complicated.

Open Tab Button 0.1.13

Open Tab Button 0.1.13 is now available for download. It newly has an option dialog and all preferences are move into there.

Now, it has the following two options:

• open a tab by double clicking a message in the thread pane
• open/close a tab by double clicking the header view (new in v0.1.13)

Have fun!

Google Contacts 0.5.50 was released

Google Contacts 0.5.50 is now available for download. It is an official update of Google Contacts. In some locales, strings are not fully translated but I've released it since it fixes serious bugs such as crashing issues.

It fixes many bugs, including performance issues, and newly have the following functionalities:

• Group mapping: an option to synchronize a Google group into Thunderbird address book,
• Disk cache: an option to flush memory data to a disk,
• Read only mode.

I'll post later details of the new functionalities.

[Update]
I've re-upload v0.5.50 since the previous one has a problem in locale packaging. Please download again if you download v0.5.50 before 24 March.

Gmail IMAP Account Setup 1.6.20

Gmail IMAP Account Setup 1.6.20 is now available for download. It is the locale update version of v1.6.10. I've submitted it to AMO too. You'll receive an update notification after it is approved by an AMO Editor.

Google Contacts 0.5.50b7

I ended the beta testing for Google Contacts 0.5.50 at b6 butI resume it since serious crash problem was found. It will happen when you install Google Contacts to a brand new profile. Please try v0.5.50b7 if you are faced with the issue. In addtion to the fix, it also includes minor bug fixes. To summarize up, it includes the following changes:

• Fixed: Thunderbird will crash when an address book window is opened
• Fixed: Progress bar does not stop when disk cache is disabled
• Fixed: Settings are not loaded to the option dialog when the account list is empty
• Fixed: Creating backup file for Thunderbird address books fails

v0.5.1x and before also involve the crash problem. I'm going to release v0.5.13 after the fix is verified.

Thunderbird3 Compatibility Testing Thread

I've started to work for making my add-ons compatible with Thunderbird3. I'll update this post when test versions are available. Please test them and give me your feedback as a comment for this post.

I don't plan to release "Gmail IMAP Account Setup" and "Maximize Message Pane" for Thunderbird3. Thunderbird3 will have an account wizard for Gmail IMAP. And Thunderbird3's tab functionality will be an alternative for Maximize Message Pane. These are the reasons for the no plan.

• Tag Toolbar:
  v0.8:
  
  • Stable version is released. Thank you for the testing!
  v0.8b2:
  
  • Fixed: it should not work on search result tab
    
  v0.8b1:
  
  • Fixed: support Thunderbird3.0.*
    
  v0.8a5:
  
  • Fixed: an error message is shown after customizing a toolbar
    
  v0.8a4:
  
  • Fixed: cannot add tags to a sent message
  • Fixed: support Thunderbird3b4
  • Added: Recent tags category is added
    
  v0.8a3:
  
  • Fixed: an error message is shown while searching tags
    
  v0.8a2:
  
  • Fixed: duplicated "Tag Toolbar" menuitems in context menus
  • Fixed: tags are not grayed out when no message is selected
  • Fixed: chevron button does not work
  • Fixed: Remove All Tags button is not disabled when no message is selected
  • Fixed: Save Query as Category button is not disabled when no query is inputed
    
  v0.8a1:
  
  • Initial version
    
• Check and Send:
  v0.9:
  
  • Stable version is released. Thank you for the testing!
  v0.9b4:
  
  • Fixed: recipients checking is not work if a mail list has a description
    
  v0.9b3:
  
  • Fixed: recipients checking is not work if a mail list is included
    
  v0.9b2:
  
  • Fixed: cannot send a message if search by domains option is enabled
    
  v0.9b1:
  
  • Fixed: support Thunderbird3.0.*
    
  v0.9a3:
  
  • Fixed: support Thunderbird3b4
    
  v0.9a2:
  
  • Fixed: Recipients/recipients' name checking does not work
  • Fixed: Layout of the General tab in the option dialog is horizontal
  • Added: Attachment file size checking
    
  v0.9a1:
  
  • Initial version
• Priority Switcher:
  v0.6:
  
  • Stable version is released. Thank you for the testing!
    
  v0.6b2:
  
  • Fixed: toolbar item is not updated when a tab is switched
    
  v0.6b1:
  
  • Fixed: support Thunderbird3.0.*
    
  v0.6a5:
  
  • Fixed: support Thunderbird3b4
    
  v0.6a4:
  
  • Fixed: Priority in the toolbar is not updated when a tab is switched
    
  v0.6a3:
  
  • Fixed: Priority menu item does not appear in a context menu
  • Fixed: "Commit" functionality does not work
  • Fixed: Support Thunderbird3b3pre
  v0.6a1:
  
  • Initial version
    
• Google Contacts:
  v0.6:
  
  • Stable version is released. Thank you for the testing!
  v0.6b3:
  
  • Fixed: "Enable Remote Content" is always enabled
    
  v0.6b2:
  
  • Fixed: mobile phone is not synchronized
    
  v0.6b1:
  
  • Fixed: add suffix to system group names to avoid conflict of names (ex: Friends:1)
    
  • Fixed: support Thunderbird3.0.*
    
  v0.6a5:
  
  • Fixed: support Thunderbird3b4
    
  v0.6a4:
  
  • Fixed: Group mapping setting UI does not work
  • Fixed: Remove debugging code
    
  v0.6a3:
  
  • Added: Add option to add a pseudo email address to a contact without email addresses (for synchronizing Google groups and Thunderbird mail lists)
    
  v0.6a2:
  
  • Fixed: Sync process does not finish completely at first sync after installation of the extension
  • Added: Show icon in the add-ons manager
  • Added: A message is shown if no Gmail account is detected
  v0.6a1:
  
  • Initial version
• Get before Send:
  v0.8:
  
  • Stable version is released. Thank you for the testing!
  v0.8a1:
  
  • Initial version
    
• Gmail IMAP Account Setup:
  no plan
• Maximize Message Pane:
  v1.1.00:
  
  • Stable version is released. Thank you for the testing!
  v1.1.00b5:
  
  • Fixed: Attachment view is always collapsed
    
  v1.1.00b4:
  
  • Fixed: Maximize when more link on the message header view
    
  v1.1.00b3:
  
  • Fixed: Double-clicking a message in the thread pane does not work
    
  v1.1.00b2:
  
  • Added: Maximize/restore folder pane
    
  v1.1.00b1:
  
  • Initial version
    

Please translate Google Contacts 0.5.50

All strings in Google Contacts 0.5.50 were frozen and it is submitted to BabelZilla. Please translate it into your language.

Google Contacts 0.5.50b6

I've uploaded Google Contacts 0.5.50b6. It fixes a problem in a batch synchronization and add new option to a group mapping functionality. You can choose one of two delete operation when you enables the group mapping: delete from Google and delete from the mapped group.

In addition to that, I decided to use Javascript 1.7 and its yield statement in the beta. I enables the add-on to release CPU regularly. It makes synchronizing time a little bit long but it reduces freezing of GUI.

After the b6 release, I'm going to localize the addon and submit to BabelZilla. Please keep watching BabelZilla and translate new strings when it is available there. I'll start to work for Thunderbird3 add-ons after official release of v0.5.50.

Google Contacts 0.5.50b5

Google Contacts 0.5.50b5 is now available for download. It fixes bugs in the previous beta and improves efficiency. In this beta, group mapping is changed. So, you need to set it again before you use it.

This will be the last beta for v0.5.50. Please let me know if you find any problems.

[Update]
b5 has a problem in synchronizing contacts having non-ascii characters by batch mode. So, I'll release an addtional beta. It'll fix the issue and include some new functionalities.

Google Contacts 0.5.50b4

I've uploaded v0.5.50b4. The previous beta, v0.5.50b3 has a problem in batch synchronization. v0.5.50b4 fixes the issue. Please don't use b3. In addtion to the fix, b4 eliminates some ineffective codes in rebuilding an address book. It may improve the performance issue more.

Google Contacts 0.5.50b3

I've uploaded new beta: v0.5.50b3. It optimize a batch mode sync prcess. Moreover, backup functionality is disabled by default.; it is one of reasons for the low performance when a large numer of contacts are synchronized. These fixes includes many code changes. Please test it carefully.

I've implemented almost all functionalities I planed to add to v.0.5.50. If you find any problems, please let me know.

Google Contacts 0.5.50b2

I've uploaded Google Contacts v0.5.50b2. It fixes some bugs in the prevous beta and adds new functionality: Group mapping.

The group mapping is in the "Advanced" tab in the option dialog. You can select one of system groups in a menulist for each account. If you want to choose user created group, select "Other" and input the group name. After you specify the group, only contacts in the group are synchronized. In other word, the group to an address book, not a mail list. If you don't need the function, choose N/A.

For example, if you select My Contacts for the group mapping, all contacts in the group are loaded to an address book. When you add a card to the address book, a contact is added to Gmail and added to the group.

There are two precautions for the group mapping. One is duplicated contacts. Group mapping does not retrieve all contacts in Gmail. So, it cannot check conflicts of contacts. Another is deletion of contacts. Deleting contacts means removing them from Gmail; it does not mean removing from the group. Please note them.

Google Contacts 0.5.12

Google Contacts 0.5.12 is now available for download. It fixes the following problem:

• Fixed: adding/removing contacts sometime fails

Please note it is update release of v0.5.11 and is not an official release of the current betas.

Improving performace of Google Contacts

As many users reported, Google Contacts will slow down Thunderbird when you load many contacts. I started to address the issue and I uploaded the first beta. Please download v0.5.50b1 and try it. Don't forget to backup your contacts before use it. I don't owe any responsibilities for any problems such as data lost.

This beta addresses two performance issues. One is that Thunderbird will freeze when you load many contacts. Freezing Thunderbird is caused by occupying CPU power while loading and parsing contacts data from Google. The new beta yields sometimes while processing data. It will reduce the "Unresponsive script" warnings. Please note it only reduces periods Google Contacts occupy CPU power and it will not shorten the time for a synchronization.

Another issue is high memory usage. When you load many contacts, for example more than 1000 contacts, Google Contacts receives 10MB data or more. It holds it in the main memory and don't release until Thunderbird is finished. So, Thunderbird sometime uses more than 100MB memory and may slow down your PC. v0.5.50b1 newly has a cache functionality. It shares the same memory usage in synchronization.But after the synchronization, it try to release data in the memory. It is experimental functionality and I don't know whether it works on your environment. If you don't need it, you can disable it in the option dialog of Google Contacts. See "Advanced" tab in the dialog.

I don't have contacts whose size is enough to test the version. So, I have not sure the effectivity of the changes. Please let me know how much does it improve or make it worse if you can test it.

And again, please don't forget to backup your data.

Getting back to work

I've restarted addons development. While I'd stopped the development I'd received many mails and blog comments. I'll reply them first and then restart the development.

Thanks for your patience.

Stopping add-ons development and support

I've moved into a house and I cannot share times to add-ons development. Moreover, the new house is offline so far. So, it is difficult to update this blog, too.

So, please let me stop the development and support for a while. It is OK to mail me and post a comment to this blog but my reply will late. I'll inform you when I start them at this blog.

Google Contacts 0.5.11

Google Contacts v0.5.10 has a problem in group synchronization. So, I've released Google Contacts v0.5.11 which disables the optimization of synchronization in v0.5.10. I plan to rewrite the synchronization process in order to improve its speed and memory usage. Please use v0.5.11 until the next version is released.