Zimlet for syncing Zimbra Desktop with Google Apps' Calendar and Address Book?

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12-02-2011, 03:59 PM
pepeantonio59
FWIW,
I've been using TB for over six months now and I haven't been to happy with it because of some of the same problems described here. To make the story short, when you accept a calendar invite it does not get added to Lightning and it is because of a conflict/bug with one of the add-on I'm using : "Provider for Google Calendar" or "gContact Sync". There is a bug filed somewhere in the TB forums. It does gets added to the Google calendar and then to my iPhone though.

Anyways I wanted to give ZD a shot and I installed it today. I followed some of the suggestions for adding a calendar and having it to sync with Google calendar but I think I made a mistake when I copied the URL but it is working anyways. Maybe the "accidental" mistake is a workaround that solves the issue with calendar syncing; maybe I'm wrong. This is what I did:

Disclaimer: This is working for me but it does not mean it will work for you. If it doesn't please don't come back saying nasty things about me being "whatever", OK?
1. After I set up the IMAP account with ZD I went in to the calendar tab and clicked on the drop down arrow for "New" and from the list selected "Calendar"
2. I gave this calendar a name, selected a color and check the box "Synchronize appointments from remote calendar". This opens a box for a URL
3. Now, this is important. I've read that here you must paste the URL for you iCAL calendar from Google once you get it from the settings. What I accidentally did was to copy paste the HTML URL instead of the iCAL. I realized the error later but decided to try it anyways.
I tested the following with complete success:
- Creted a calendar item in ZD and it appeared in Google calendar
- Created a calendar item in Google and it shows up in ZD
- Deleted from either side and gets deleted in the other end
- Send an invite from inside TB and Outlook and accepted it in ZD which adds it to the Zimbra (local copy of Google) calendar as well as to the Google's one
- Sent and invite from inside ZD to an Outlook 2010 recipient and it adds the invite to Zimbra (local copy of Google) and waits for the accept to add it to Google calendar. About this last action I'm not sure since I don't know if I waited long enough for the item to be added to Google. After taking longer than previous tests I decided to go to the Outlook recipient and accept the meeting. When I came back to Google calendar (in Gmail) it was added.
Maybe I need to do more tests but I'm definitively moving from TB to ZD since it looks like it works for me.
Next is the contacts. On the contacts side I tested the following:
1. Added a contact in ZD with two phone numbers, email, address and company details. Everything gets added in Google contacts except address (I didn't expect to do so; I've read a lot of programs having issues with the way address fields are handled in Google. TB has the same issues)
2. Added a contact in Google with same fields and it gets added to ZD except for the address.
3. Deleted on both sides and it gets deleted in the other end.
4. Finally I opened an existing contact, added a phone number and it gets updated in Google. Didn't do the opposite but I will test it as well.
So there you have it. ZD is syncing both calendar and contacts (albeit not completely) with my Google account. I will also test how Zimbra deals with more than one IMAP and POP3 accounts, since I'm currently managing three IMAP and two POP3 in TB.
12-02-2011, 04:19 PM
pabloikba

Thanks for your informative post. Which OS are you using on your computer? Which ZD version are you using. Are you using the Collaboration Server?

It is amazing to me that you are getting two-way sync with the calendar since we were only able to get the one-way sync from Google Cal.

Also, if you put the addresses in "Other" in TB Google Calendar syncs them.
12-05-2011, 08:12 AM
pepeantonio59

Versions...

@ pabloikba
I'm using Win XP Pro SP3 with the ZD latest version (installed just two days ago). I'm not using Collaboration Server, just the desktop application.

As I mentioned in my post I did tests for a whole day, so the results need to be taken with cautions. Either way I was "encouraged" by the results and I'm ready to put ZD in full capacity this week.

I'll get back to this forum and posts all my experience, since this is important to me personally and professionally (we want to cut our dependence on MSO at work).

Regards,
12-05-2011, 09:39 AM
pabloikba

Quote:

Originally Posted by pepeantonio59

@ pabloikba
I'm using Win XP Pro SP3 with the ZD latest version (installed just two days ago). I'm not using Collaboration Server, just the desktop application.

As I mentioned in my post I did tests for a whole day, so the results need to be taken with cautions. Either way I was "encouraged" by the results and I'm ready to put ZD in full capacity this week.

I'll get back to this forum and posts all my experience, since this is important to me personally and professionally (we want to cut our dependence on MSO at work).

Regards,

And you are definitely getting two-way sync with Google Contacts and Google Calendar? Please confirm this as we have not been able to accomplish this. We get one-way from Google but not back to Google.
One other thing....are you able to access the Google Contacts in Zimbra from more than just the Gmail account? For example, if you have two or more email accounts in addition to the Gmail account, can you use the Google Contacts in Zimbra for those other accounts?
12-05-2011, 10:06 AM
pepeantonio59

Quote:

Originally Posted by pabloikba

And you are definitely getting two-way sync with Google Contacts and Google Calendar? Please confirm this as we have not been able to accomplish this. We get one-way from Google but not back to Google.
One other thing....are you able to access the Google Contacts in Zimbra from more than just the Gmail account? For example, if you have two or more email accounts in addition to the Gmail account, can you use the Google Contacts in Zimbra for those other accounts?

Two-way sync with Google contacts and Google calendar happened as described on my first post. Adding more mail accounts to Zimbra is something we will test this week as I mentioned since we manage five mail accounts. Once I:
- Set ZD with five mail accounts
- Import all contacts to Zimbra
- And set my calendar

I will be able to test everything syncs, including a three way syncing with an iPhone. We will have to wait until Thursday or Friday to complete the tests as I'm extremely busy these days.

Thanks,
12-05-2011, 11:44 AM
pabloikba

I played around with the newest version of ZD on Win7. Using the ICAL under private links in GCal....you are correct. It does work with two-way sync. Also, the Google Contacts sync both ways. A major improvement from previous versions.
Now, the only thing left to resolve is this:
When you make your initial account a google account, and sync the Contacts, the contacts are accessible only when composing an email from that account. In order to use those contacts with other email accounts, when composing the email it is necessary to start as though you are composing in the Google account - select your email address(es) and then change the account in the drop-down menu. Otherwise, doesn't appear to be anyway to use your address book. For some reason ZD wants each email account to have their own Contacts.
12-06-2011, 08:26 AM
pepeantonio59

Quote:

Originally Posted by pabloikba

I played around with the newest version of ZD on Win7. Using the ICAL under private links in GCal....you are correct. It does work with two-way sync. Also, the Google Contacts sync both ways. A major improvement from previous versions.
Now, the only thing left to resolve is this:
When you make your initial account a google account, and sync the Contacts, the contacts are accessible only when composing an email from that account. In order to use those contacts with other email accounts, when composing the email it is necessary to start as though you are composing in the Google account - select your email address(es) and then change the account in the drop-down menu. Otherwise, doesn't appear to be anyway to use your address book. For some reason ZD wants each email account to have their own Contacts.

I'm glad this is working for you; I though I got a miracle but it is nice to know someone else got it working. Regarding the contacts issue when more than one mail account are set, I'll test that first thing when I go full throttle with ZD. I'm planning to test today, but honestly reading about your issue I can't comprehend why will someone put that restriction by design, especially with more and more users managing multiple mail accounts.

I'll get back to you tomorrow.
Regards,
12-06-2011, 08:30 AM
pabloikba

Quote:

Originally Posted by pepeantonio59

I'm glad this is working for you; I though I got a miracle but it is nice to know someone else got it working. Regarding the contacts issue when more than one mail account are set, I'll test that first thing when I go full throttle with ZD. I'm planning to test today, but honestly reading about your issue I can't comprehend why will someone put that restriction by design, especially with more and more users managing multiple mail accounts.

I'll get back to you tomorrow.
Regards,

I think the only way to do this is have each email account sync with the Google Contacts.....

BTW -you can reach me direct at paul AT wwik DOT com
12-06-2011, 11:42 AM
dywang

Quote:

Originally Posted by pabloikba

I played around with the newest version of ZD on Win7. Using the ICAL under private links in GCal....you are correct. It does work with two-way sync. Also, the Google Contacts sync both ways. A major improvement from previous versions.
Now, the only thing left to resolve is this:
When you make your initial account a google account, and sync the Contacts, the contacts are accessible only when composing an email from that account. In order to use those contacts with other email accounts, when composing the email it is necessary to start as though you are composing in the Google account - select your email address(es) and then change the account in the drop-down menu. Otherwise, doesn't appear to be anyway to use your address book. For some reason ZD wants each email account to have their own Contacts.

I think you hit this bug, Bug 66405 – Use other account's GAL for AutoComplete It is marked for 714, which should be released spring 2012, 713 is coming out very soon.
12-06-2011, 04:07 PM
pabloikba

Quote:

Originally Posted by dywang

I think you hit this bug, Bug 66405 – Use other account's GAL for AutoComplete It is marked for 714, which should be released spring 2012, 713 is coming out very soon.

Thanks for the info....that will make a huge difference.

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