Themes that is.  Some know that you can append ?skin=name to the end of your server’s url to test a skin without changing your preference value, but here’s another way to open a bunch at once – the Skin Previewer Zimlet.
Select those you wish to try out, and new browser windows are opened for side by side comparison:
(You can download com_zimbra_skinpreviewer over in the gallery for use against ZCS 5.0.11+ or ZD RC1.)
So you’ve checked out available themes – now how to take advantage of them all? Beach, Waves, and Yahoo tend to be our favorites; but every so often a dose of Lemongrass, Hot Rod, Zmail, or Steel is in order.
Switch themes daily, or whatever frequency you desire using the new Skin Changer Zimlet:
Gallery Page: com_zimbra_skinchanger (ZCS 5.0.11+ / ZD)
Need ideas for your own themes? Checkout the theme creation guide or the chameleon attributes for simple branding.
Sometimes there’s so much going on that we can’t take time to look forward on our calendars. Which always means scrambling at the last minute to get a present, send a card, or plan a party. A few social apps have saved me – barely. While there is an RFE you can vote for, Raja has once again come to the rescue with another Zimlet.
Kick off a scan of your existing contacts via the panel:
Choose exactly who to create reminders for, then select how many alerts you want and when to display them:
Like the Email Reminder Zimlet, we make use of a separate calendar for the re-occurring events; again marked as private / not shown in your free-busy status:
A short video of the new Zimlet in action:
You can find com_zimbra_birthdayreminder in the Gallery for use against ZCS 5.0.12+ ( Zimbra Desktop install directions are over here).
More Info for Alerts
Often when I have an event or meeting coming up, other relevant information (like a phone bridge, remote session information, or who’s attending) is deep within the body but hard to get to from the current appointment alert.
com_zimbra_openappointment started as a separate add-on, but is now part of the alerts dialog code. It inserts a link so you can quickly navigate to your calendar for further details:
While an enhancement like this may not seem like much, it serves to highlight the convenience of using mashups to extend the UI to your needs.
Like it? Got a great idea for a extending Zimbra? Leave a comment below or drop in over at the Zimlets forum section.
Internally of late we refer to him as “The Zimlet Machine”, since Raja has been pumping them out so fast it’s hard to keep up. Now there are so many new mashups to show off we’ve declared it Zimlet Month. So browse the gallery, try out the experimental Zimlets in the source, and even if your not a developer you can drop us an idea for new ones, or just mention tweaks you’d like to see made to existing Zimlets over in the community forums.
Ok it may not be a continuous month – a few of these will require 5.0.14, and others depend upon core changes to 6.0.x; they’ll be in your server’s zimlet directories shortly. If your not into running the 6.0 betas, teaser screencasts are attached; check them out and start the feedback rolling – we want to make these Zimlets exactly what you expect of them when it’s time to deploy.
Honestly how many times have you flagged something, only to forget to check your ‘is:flagged’ search? The same goes for a ‘followup’ tag. I’m definitely guilty of it. How do you not forget about those important emails? Create an appointment reminder right?
One might drag critical emails to the mini-cal, mark them private, remove the meeting invites for any pre-filled attendees, and store the events in another calendar to stay clutter free; but first you have to remember to do it, plus it’s multiple steps. The Email Reminder Zimlet solves all that without pulling you away from your inbox.
Flagging an email creates an appointment with a reminder set a few hours later by default:
You can also use it on drag to the panel icon, or when composing an email to take care of creation twice as fast:
The events show up on a separate ‘Email Reminders’ calendar so you can easily toggle visibility; they’re marked as private and set to show as free in order to not obscure your free-busy status:
A quick screencast of the Zimlet in action:
Gallery download link: com_zimbra_emailreminder
Requires 5.0.12+ (5.0.11 w/o flagging capability). It can also be used in Zimbra Desktop RC1 – we’re working on multiple ways to make them easier to install in the desktop client, but you can find current directions here.
Enjoy this Zimlet or have an idea for enhancing it?
-Perhaps a per-user setting for the default reminder time?
-Would you like us to go with just single click buttons for 1 day / 3 days / 7days / 2 weeks / 1 month?
-Or even a “silent” appointment creation setting that doesn’t prompt you?
Let us know what you think in the comments!
 There have been alphas and betas. We took all the benefits of a rich AJAX web-client into the offline application world (including fast search, platform independence, and mash-ups, in addition to drag-n-drop; for both the client navigation and in uploading of files from your desktop). People have told us we started a revolution in local access to mail, calendar, tasks, documents, and briefcase items when we introduced full sync with Zimbra accounts. I’m inclined to agree – but we also knew it was about freedom of your data, regardless of where it might be stored, so we expanded Zimbra Desktop to work with more providers than a Swiss Army knife has tools.
Zimbra’s been in the offline world for 2 years, and we’ve got an impressive roadmap of desktop features lined up that’s about to rock the collaboration world weather you take it on a plane, train, rv, or boat. Release candidate 1 is a feature complete product for the planned 1.0 general availability release, and includes many bug fixes since the packed beta 5. This version is also the first release that is available to be included in our support program for our network edition customers; those interested should contact their sales rep to participate.
Our desktop releases have been churned out roughly every three months, and many are just so excited for new updates that we decided to implement an early-adopters upgrade program as well. Your given the option to participate in the testing network by checking a box during the last screen of installation:
One click, and your desktop is now on the fast track to receive our same internal upgrade pushes. They aren’t true “nighties” per-say, but we hope to release updates in the week to month range after a little quality assurance.
Download it via auto-update, build from source, or for those just discovering Zimbra Desktop for the first time: You can grab the installer here for Linux, Windows, or Mac.
Have an idea for extending Zimbra? We’re interested in hearing your thoughts on it below or over in the Community Forums.
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