Use Checkgmail with new Ubuntu Notifications

Short version:

Open a terminal and execute the following command in it:

sudo apt-get install checkgmail libnotify-bin && sudo wget http://users.cs.cf.ac.uk/R.P.Coombs/checkgmail -O /usr/bin/checkgmail

Now restart checkgmail. It will now display all new mail notifications using Ubuntu's new fancy-looking notifications. But don't worry, you can still open/archive etc. by hovering over the checkgmail icon as usual.

Long version:

I have modified CheckGmail to use Ubuntu's NotifyOSD notifications (see above pictures). I reckon this looks much better than the original little yellow box that CheckGmail uses.

My code does not affect the yellow box that appears when you hover over the CheckGmail icon, so you can still do this to preview / archive / open / etc. your emails.

You can run the command (above, in the short version) to install my modified CheckGmail program. The first part of the command (sudo apt-get install checkgmail libnotify) installs the original CheckGmail program (as this is required) and libnotify, which is what we'll use to display the new notifications.

The second part of the command (sudo wget http://users.cs.cf.ac.uk/R.P.Coombs/checkgmail -O /usr/bin/checkgmail) copied my program from the internet and saves it onto your computer in the place of the original CheckGmail program file.

My program is identical to the original program, except for the popup method. It is important that you trust my code before you install it onto your system as, if I were nasty, it could be malicious. I promise that I'm not malicious, but if you don't believe me you can view my code here and compare it with CheckGmail's original.

Once you have successfully executed the command you can start CheckGmail by running checkgmail, or, if checkgmail is already running, you must restart it by right-clicking the checkgmail notification-area icon and clicking restart.

P.s. this is another solution, which is better because it does not modify the original code:

http://helpforlinux.blogspot.com/2009/11/get-checkgmail-to-use-ubuntu.html

With a bit of work this could be great!

12 comments:

cr33dog said...

Hey - thanks for this! But I think your encoding settings might be wonky - compare the original to yours in meld, kdiff, etc. - a lot of the non-ascii chars are out of whack.

Just FYI - and thanks again ;)

Chris

Bob said...

well its a nice feature if it works.

I applied the command in the terminal but nothing happened after the installation (which was 100% complete, no errors).

could you please help

cr33dog said...

@Bob: run 'checkgmail' in a terminal, or add it to your startup programs (Sys->Prefs->startup Apps).

Unknown said...

thanks cr33dog. I'll check out that diff and update the code when I get a chance. I must do the long version for this blog, too! (Same thing, just more explanation—might've helped BOB).

Are you all sorted now, BOB?

Bob said...

we I tried what you mentioned but it didn't work yet.
I ran checkgmail but got a "command not found".

I added the command in the startup applications but nothing happened as well :(

Unknown said...

ahh sorry BOB. I didn't actually say that you need to have checkgmail installed (from the repos) already before you can use my mod. So run:

sudo apt-get install checkgmail

first, then run the code in this blog and it should work just fine :-)

Bob said...

well that's better :D but i still have one problem. i entered my usename & pass, but it keeps giving an error that they are not correct. maybe gmail's off line is interfering (i have the off line enabled from the labs)?

cr33dog said...

I use checkgmail with Offline enabled - no problems here...

Unknown said...

Hmmm, I have no problems with that (but I used to with an older version). If you're sure your login is correct, try running "checkgmail -no_cookies". Does it let you login then?

Bob said...

things are now working. all it needed is an update coz i had a 401 error. anyways thx guys for the help :D

Unknown said...

Good stuff! Enjoy! I'm planning on making a Gmail/Wave/Reader notifier combo (in the style of checkgmail) sometime, so that'll be well cool if I have time to make it.

Thanks again for helping cr33dog. I'll update that code as soon as I have time!

Unknown said...

Updated the code and wrote the long version :-)