Plug-ins

What is a plug-in?
A plug-in is a specially designed software module that can "plug in" to WorkgroupMail in order to perform specific processing on incoming messages, before they are delivered and on outgoing messages, before they are sent. Plug-ins may affect whether a message is quarantined before being sent or received. Plug-ins usually have a user interface and this can be accessed from within the WorkgroupMail Administrator program. Various plug-ins are shipped with WorkgroupMail, but you may also write your own plug-ins (see developing plug-ins).

Available plug-ins
  • MailScan plug-in: rule based content filtering.
  • VirusChecker plug-in: integrates Norton AntiVirus and McAfee VirusScan with WorkgroupMail.
  • Shared Address Book plug-in: lets all users share an address book.
  • Mailing List plug-in: provides a way of maintaining an unlimited number of mailing lists.
  • Message Archiver plug-in: a free plug-in which lets you archive and restore sent and received messages.
MailScan plug-in
MailScan is a rule-based content filtering plug-in. It lets you specify any number of rules which, if the conditions are met, will quarantine an incoming or outgoing message, preventing it from being sent or received until it is approved by the appropriate person.

For example, you might wish to quarantine every message sent to your important customers so that a manager can check that the message is acceptable, or you may wish to prevent all staff from receiving GIF or JPEG files or files greater than a certain size. Additionally, you may wish to quarantine any message that contains a rude word. Of course, if any of these conditions are met you will want the option to notify the appropriate person or people. MailScan can also be used internally to make sure confidential information is not accidentally or intentionally sent outside of the organization. This and a great deal more can be achieved using the MailScan plug-in. Click here for more information.

VirusChecker plug-in
The VirusChecker plug-in works in conjunction with Norton AntiVirus or McAfee VirusScan to enable WorkgroupMail to scan incoming and outgoing messages for viruses before they are sent or received. Click here for more information.

Shared Address Book plug-in
Automatically extracts the name and address of every recipient in all incoming and outgoing messages that are sent or received by WorkgroupMail and adds them to the WorkgroupMail address list. The names and addresses in this list are then made available by an LDAP server. This means that LDAP clients, such as Outlook and Outlook Express can automatically lookup the e-mail address of a name, or part of a name, typed into the To: field of a New Message window. Click here for more information.

Mailing List plug-in
Lets you set up any number of mailing lists. Anyone can subscribe to the mailing list, either from a form on a web page or by sending an e-mail message to the mailing list with a subject of "subscribe". The Mailing List plug-in will then send out a confirmation message which the subscriber must respond to in the allocated time. Once the reply to the confirmation message has been received, that person will then become a full member of the list. The Mailing List plug-in lets you create open lists, announcement lists and discussion lists. Click here for more information.

Message Archiver plug-in (free!)
Keeps an archive copy of every sent and received message. You can use the Message Archiver administrator to show messages between specified dates and to extract archived messages for delivery to a specific user. Click here for more information.