- Gzipped Tar format: webbmail.tar.gz
- Zip format: webbmail.zip
- Web-B-Mail/
- The main directory for the files in the package.
- Web-B-Mail/README.web-b-mail
- The README file. READ this first!
- Web-B-Mail/admin.passfile
- Temporary admin password file for the program.
- Web-B-Mail/registered.users
- File that will contain the list of registered users.
- Web-B-Mail/web-b-mail.cgi
- The actual CGI script that does everything.
- Web-B-Mail/userlog.txt
- File that will contain the user activity log.
- Web-B-Mail/mymail.gif
- Web-B-Mail logo image.
- Web-B-Mail/photos/
- The directory ("folder") where user photos should be stored.
- Web-B-Mail/photos/photonot.gif
- A "Photo Not Available" image for users with no photos.
- Web-B-Mail/mailboxes/
- The directory where user mailboxes will be created and stored.
[Demo] [Who's using?] [System Requirements] [Download!] [Bug Fix Announcements] [Changelog] [License]
Program Summary
[Version 3.0 Released 08/17/2003]Web-B-Mail is a VERY simple Web-based messaging system. It does NOT integrate with Internet email, nor is it any kind of Internet email client or server. It keeps messages internally to itself on the website. Only those who have accounts on the system can mail others on the system. It was originally intended for use by online classes or classes of small children for whom Internet email access might be inadvisable.
Web-B-Mail is also NOT supported on any platform other than Unix/Linux-based ones, so please don't ask for support for Windows at this time.
WARNING: If you do not run this program suid, then all your users' mailboxes will be completely open for anyone in the world to read them, and probably write to them. Please don't use this if you don't know what suid means.
Working Demo
If you'd like to see what it can do, take a look at the demo of the system in action. Log in with the username "newstudent" and password "new." You can send mail to others on the system, or even to yourself by replying. NOTE: While Web-B-Mail does NOT interface with regular Internet email, it does have the ability to send a notification to a user's regular Internet email address when they have mail in their Web-B-Mail box. It is intended to be completely separate from Internet email and to be its own self-contained system. If you are looking for a free web-based Internet email program, please check out SquirrelMail at http://www.squirrelmail.org/.You can also try the administrator page to see the various options available to you as the owner of this program. Use username "admin" and password "password". If you want, you can create a user and then delete it just to make sure it works. :) If the password doesn't work for the demo, please email me and I'll set you up. You may also read the README file for this program.
If you've gotten Web-B-Mail to work, send me the address of your
website and I'll post a link to it.
Heh. I think the warnings about only being supported under Unix/Linux has scared some people
away. I know of a few sites using it currently, but they haven't "officially" sent me their
links. If you're using it, drop me a link and get free traffic for your site as someone
brave enough to run Web-B-Mail! :-)
The web server where this script will be installed must have Perl 5.000 or higher. Scripts that send email require that "Sendmail" or "qmail-inject" be available on Unix/Linux-type systems. Scripts that send email under Windows-based systems require use of the Socket Perl module (Socket.pm). All scripts may require the Perl CGI module, CGI.pm .
This script is NOT supported on the following web hosting providers:
Tripod.com
Angelfire.com
Lycos.com
Also, sorry, but the scripts are not supported under mod_perl, PerlEx, or speedy_cgi as I don't have any way to test them in that environment. :-(
You must be able to execute cgi programs on your web server. If
you're not sure whether you have permission to do this, or are not sure
how to configure the files, please ask your system administrator, or
check the web pages of your web hosting provider for Help or Support
information. For a free web hosting provider who supports CGI scripts, or
low-cost web hosting providers, you can try looking at
the "Some Places to Host
your Website" page I've put together.
The web server must support both the GET and POST request methods. (Ask your
hosting provider about this if you're not sure.)
Please remember: you get what you pay for, and free web hosting
services are often worth what you pay for them.
But first, the obligatory plea for funding. :-)
All the files you need are contained in these packages. Download it
in the format you wish. If you have MS Windows, there is a program called WinZip (available
at TuCows) which will
uncompress and de-archive tar/gz files as well as Zip files. The package contains the following files: After a major release, you may get one or two messages a week.
Mostly, though, I'm afraid it's less than once a month.
You may also sign up for announcements about other scripts on
the
main Scripts for Educators Mailing List page.
This list is ONLY for announcements specifically about Web-B-Mail:
(Scroll down if you don't want to read this part. You
do NOT have to give money to download these scripts!)
Like
the scripts? Give me a dollar, or say thanks!
If you like the scripts, you can send
me cash through PayPal, Amazon, or through snail mail
or you can show
your support in other ways. Remember: only about one
out of 100 people who download the scripts even says
"Thanks." :-)
On a Unix-type system, if you have console or command prompt access, you
may unzip the tar.gz file by typing 'gunzip < webbmail.tar.gz | tar -xvf
-'. If you're not very familiar with Unix, you may want to ask someone
who is to help you. The latest version of Stuffit for the Mac will also
handle tar.gz files.
I strongly recommend that you sign up here for update and bug fix
announcements about this script. I will not spam you with advertising: I
just want to make sure you have the latest fixes. :-)
The program will send a confirmation message to your email address when
you sign up. In order to get on the announcement list, you MUST click on
the confirmation link contained in that email message. This is to
protect you from someone signing you up as a joke, and to protect me
from being accused of spamming. Since update announcements are sometimes
few and far between, sometimes people forget that they've subscribed and
report me for sending junk mail. Luckily, the system logs the address,
time, and date of everyone who signs up so that I can prove I'm only
sending to people who asked for it. :-)