Picons for SquirrelMail

version 1.1

How to install:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. Unpack this archive into the plugins directory of your squirrelmail
distribution.

2. Get hold of the picon databases. You certainly need the UNKNOWN database;
after that, install DOMAINS, MISC and USERS with that priority of importance.
If you have the disk space, install them all.

Under Debian, doing
   apt-get install picon-unknown picon-domains picon-misc picon-users
as root will do this for you. Otherwise, ftp them from
   ftp://ftp.cs.indiana.edu/pub/faces/picons/db/
and install them into the directory /usr/lib/picon (note: not picon_s_.)

3. Optionally, create a directory /usr/local/lib/picon, where you can store
your own picons. (You could also store the picons in plugins/picon, if you
don't think any programs are going to need picons other than this one.)

4. We're going to need a hook that doesn't exist in standard SquirrelMail.
The patch "picons.patch" will add it for you. (It's good at least for version
1.4.4). Go into your SquirrelMail root and type

   patch -p1 <plugins/picons/picons.patch

If you've installed it already, patch will tell you so, and ask whether you
want to install it again. Say no.

5. From your SquirrelMail root, run ./configure, choose plugins (option 8)
and move "picons" into the installed list.

That's it. Have a play. If it doesn't work, mail me and I'll try to give you
a hand.

Possible future development:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It'd be fairly straightforward to add support for some other e-mail icons
(especially .Mac icons and X-faces, but possibly even AIM "buddy" images).

Would anyone be interested in tools to mess around with picon databases?
I could add provision for users to upload their own picons, and to add
your picons to the global picons database in Indiana. Let me know whether
you'd use it.

Credits
~~~~~~~

Much thanks for encouragement and help goes to:

Kent Brodie, Rick Castello, Steve Kinzler, Charles Marcus, nicholas,
Przemek Piotrowski, Andrew Thurman, Valerie Turner, Michael Weber,
and all the people who waited so patiently for v1.0.

Have fun,

Thomas
thomas@thurman.org.uk
(updated May 13, 2005 by Eric W. Brown; I can be found through
http://www.saugus.net/ or http://www.shelltown.com/)