With the Mozilla Thunderbird plug-in you can carry out a series of OpenERP operations directly from Thunderbird, such as:
• create a contact or partner from an email, • open a partner from an email,
• save an email and its attachments in OpenERP,
• send any attachment to an OpenERP document (such as opportunities, customers).
Thanks to the plug-in, you can effortlessly link emails and attachments to the corresponding opportunity in OpenERP, or link an attached product folder to a customer, for instance.
In this chapter, only the actual possibilities of the plug-in will be discussed. For more information about how to install and configure the Thunderbird plug-in, please refer to the chapter thunderbird.
From the Thunderbird toolbar, have a look at the OpenERP menu.
The Push option allows you to archive emails to OpenERP, either to new document types or to existing ones. It also allows you to create a new contact.
The Partner allows you to open the Partner in OpenERP according to the email (i.e. contact email address) selected.
With Document, you can open the document (i.e. a customer, an opportunity) concerned in OpenERP. Make sure your web server is running to use this functionality. You have to open the mail to use this feature.
• Link an email to an existing document in OpenERP
Figure 6.6: How to Access OpenERP from Thunderbird?
To archive an email in OpenERP from Thunderbird, select the email and click the Push button. Alternatively you can open the menu OpenERP → Push: the Push to OpenERP screen will open.
CHAPTER 6. CONNECTING WITH YOUR EMAIL AND ACCESSING FROM YOUR MOBILE DEVICE 63 In the Link to an Existing Document section, check Partner. Then select the customer you want to attach the selected mail to. The plug-in also allows you to select several customers at once, simply by selecting a customer and pressing the ctrl button while selecting the next one.
Suppose you decide to no longer link the selected email to a customer, but instead to an opportunity. Then you have to click the Search button to refresh the Documents list to display your opportunities. From the list of available documents, you can select any document type you defined in the Document Settingssection.
• Create a New Document
This feature can be used to create any of the configured document types in the Document Settings tab. Suppose you would like to create a new lead from an email. In the Create a New Document section, select CRM Lead, then click the Create button. A new lead will be created in OpenERP from the selected email.
• Create a New Contact / Partner
If the partner or contact from your email does not exist in OpenERP yet, the Thunderbird plug-in allows you to create one on the fly simply by using the information contained in the email.
Select the email from which you want to create a new contact, then click the Push button. In the Create a New Contact section, click the New Contact button. This option offers two possibilities: either you just create a contact (address), or you create a partner with the contact linked to it.
• When you just want to create a new contact, complete the address data in the dialog box and click the Save button. The contact will then be created in OpenERP.
• When you also want to create a new partner, complete the contact data. Then click the Create Partnerbutton, add the partner’s name and click the Save button.
• You can also add a new contact to an existing partner. Click the Search button next to the Partner field and select the corresponding partner from the list. Then complete the contact data and click the Save button.
• Open the Document created in OpenERP
From your mailbox, simply by clicking an email, you can directly access the corresponding data in OpenERP. Go to the menu Tools → Document which will open the corresponding document (e.g. a lead) in OpenERP, directly from the email you selected.
Figure 6.7: Creating a Contact on the Fly from Thunderbird
Knowledge Management
The Thunderbird plug-in 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.
• 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.
CHAPTER 6. CONNECTING WITH YOUR EMAIL AND ACCESSING FROM YOUR MOBILE DEVICE 65 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.
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.org/products/thunderbird/
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.
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. 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.
Here is an example of how to configure extra document types. Suppose you would like to link mails to a purchase order.
Figure 6.8: 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.
1. In the Title, type Purchase Order,
2. In the Document, type the object from OpenERP, in this example purchase.order, 3. In the Image, select an icon you would like to use,
4. Click the Add button to actually create the document type. A Word about Objects
To find the object you need in OpenERP, go to the menu Administration → Customization→ Database Structure → Objects. OpenERP will only show objects for which the corresponding Business Applications / Modules have been installed. You can only add objects to Thunderbird that are available in the selected database.
CHAPTER 6. CONNECTING WITH YOUR EMAIL AND ACCESSING FROM YOUR MOBILE DEVICE 67 Figure 6.9: How to Add Extra OpenERP Document Types to Thunderbird?