Installing the Outlook plugin

125 Figure 11.3: Creating a contact on the fly from Outlook • Open the Document created in OpenERP To access archived data from different documents in OpenERP you can use the menu Tools → Document which allows you to access the document in OpenERP directly from your e-mail. Tip: Knowledge Management The Outlook plugin is compatible with OpenERP’s Knowledge i.e. Document Management. If you install the Knowledge application you will be able to: • search through the content of your company’s documents those that have the type .doc, .pdf, .sxw and .odt and also in archived emails, • have a shared file system that is connected to various OpenERP documents to share information and access it with your favorite browser, • organize and structure your documents such as projects, partners and users in OpenERP’s system. Note: Testing the Outlook adapter If you have installed the Outlook adapter as described, explore its functionality with the database as described in this section.

11.2 Mozilla Thunderbird interface

With the Mozilla Thunderbird plugin you can carry out a series of OpenERP operations directly from Thunderbird, such as: • create a contact or partner from an e-mail, • save an e-mail and its attachments in OpenERP, • send any attachment to an OpenERP document such as proposals, projects, and tasks. This might be useful for sending documents about a customer project to the corresponding project in OpenERP, attaching documents to an order such as proof of payment and order receipts, attaching documents to an employee file such as a CV or annual appraisal.

11.2.1 Installing the Thunderbird plugin

• Step 1: install the Thunderbird plugin in OpenERP Use the OpenERP Configuration Wizard and install the Customer Relationship Management application. In the CRM Application Configuration dialog under Plug-In, select Thunderbird. Then the Thunderbird Plug-In wizard appears. Next to the Thunderbird Plug-in field, click the Save As button to save the plugin to your desktop or any other location on your computer. You can also download the installation manual by clicking the orange arrow next to Installation Manual. 126 Another way to use the Thunderbird plugin, is by installing the OpenERP module thunderbird. When you install this module, the same Configuration Wizard as explained before will be displayed. Follow the same instructions. • Step 2: install the OpenERP extension in Thunderbird. To do that, use the file ‘‘openerp_plugin.xpi‘‘that you saved on your desktop. Then proceed as follows: 1. From Thunderbird, open the menu Tools → Add-ons. 2. Click Extensions, then click the Install button. 3. Go to your desktop and select the file openerp_plugin.xpi. Click Open. 4. Click Install Now then restart Thunderbird. Once the extension has been installed, a new OpenERP menu item is added to your Thunderbird menubar. Tip: Thunderbird version The OpenERP plugin for Thunderbird works as from Thunderbird version 2.0. So check your Thunderbird version before installing, and download the latest version that you need from the following address: http:www.mozilla.orgproductsthunderbird

11.2.2 Configuring the Thunderbird plugin

When you have executed Installation Step 1 and Step 2, the first thing to do is connect Thunderbird to OpenERP. A little configuration needs to be done. Note: Before starting the configuration, make sure your gtk server and web server are running xml-rpc should be allowed. Go to the OpenERP menubar and select ‘ Configuration‘. A configuration window appears enabling you to enter configuration data about your OpenERP server. Figure 11.4: How to Connect to the Server 1. On the Configuration Settings tab, under Connection Parameters click the Change button and type your server settings and xml-rpc port, e.g. http:127.0.0.1:8069, 2. Select the database you want to connect to, and type the user and the password required to log in to the database, 3. Click the Connect button, 4. On the Configuration Settings tab, under Webserver Parameters click the Change button and type your web server settings, e.g. http:localhost:8080, 5. Click the Open button to test the connection. When your connection has succeeded, you would typically want to configure Thunderbird to fit your needs. To define extra document types, go to the Document Settings tab. This is the place where you can add objects from OpenERP that you wish to link mails to. The default installation comes with a number of predefined documents, such as Partners, Leads and Sales Orders.