mail.it plugin

Support, Tips and Tricks for Proof Group's fmSpark "merge anything" utility for FileMaker Pro.
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2008 6:47 am
PostPosted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 11:20 am
Hi,
I was able to send email on the computer I started testing the product on. However, I get errors on everyone else's computer "The mail.it plug-in is not correctly installed. The plug-in must be installed before email messages can be sent."

I thought this should be handled automatically when opening the fmSpark file for the first time and restarting (as I didn't have to do anything else on my computer). After doing so I still get the same error.

It doesn't seem to be a user/group specific problem because I am unable to run it successfully logged in as me on the other computers.

Any ideas?
SeedCode Staff
SeedCode Staff
Posts: 2764
Joined: Thu Nov 20, 2003 11:01 am
PostPosted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 1:21 pm
Hmmm. I can only suggest a couple of things to check as I haven't seen or heard of this before...

- if the files are being served, make sure that all fmSpark files (including fmSparkUtil.fp7) are open on the machine in question. You may need to revisit the sharing settings for some files to get them all served.

- if your on XP or Vista, make sure that you're working with the extracted files and not opening them from within the still-zipped archive. Try quitting FileMaker and then right-clicking on the .zip and selecting "Extract All". Then be sure you're working with the extracted files. (Don't really think that sounds like it, but you never know.)

If neither of those help, post some more details about your situation and we'll figure it out.

- John
John Sindelar
SeedCode
Posts: 42
Joined: Wed Jul 08, 2009 2:18 am
PostPosted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 5:31 am
I'm getting the same problem here.

fmspark is hosted via fmserver and connected to a hosted database. When I start fmspark, the welcome screen says that the mail.it plugin status is loading. If I leave it, nothing happens and I can't send email (error message is that the mail.it plugin is not installed). If I click on the mail.it Loading..... message and force the mail.it install, it installs the plugin and says that the mail.it plugin is correctly installed - please restart. I restart and we're back to the plugin status loading.... message.

Any thoughts? I'm certain that this is a problem local to either my mac or the server but I'm lost for ideas....
SeedCode Staff
SeedCode Staff
Posts: 2764
Joined: Thu Nov 20, 2003 11:01 am
PostPosted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 6:29 am
When you're getting fmSpark open and you see "Loading..." make sure that fmSparkUtil is open as well (make sure you can find it in the Window list). You'd likely get asked for it specifically if it wasn't, but just to be sure.

Then try installing the plugin manually. You can do this by taking the copy installed from one of your local machines and installing it in the user's space instead of the application space where fmSpark is trying to install it. Here is where you'd put it on different platforms:

* Windows XP: C:\Document Settings\User Name\Local Settings\Application
Data\FileMaker\Extensions

* Windows Vista: C:\Users\User Name\AppData\Local\FileMaker\Extensions

* Mac OS X: Macintosh HD:Users:User Name:Library:Application Support:FileMaker:Extensions

Once it is installed there, restart FileMaker on that machine, open your served databases and you should be set.
John Sindelar
SeedCode
Posts: 42
Joined: Wed Jul 08, 2009 2:18 am
PostPosted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 6:52 am
I don't have the last two folders here : Mac OS X: Macintosh HD:Users:User Name:Library:Application Support:FileMaker:Extensions

I created them and left fmspark to do its thing but no change. fmspark isn't copying any files to this location instead it appears to be copying the plugin here :

Mac OS X: Macintosh HD:Users:Applications:FileMaker Pro 10 Advanced:Extensions

as I now have 6 copies of mail.it.fmplugin ( Mail.it.fmplugin, Mail.it. 2 fmplugin, Mail.it. 3 fmplugin, Mail.it. 4 fmplugin, etc).

I'll delete all of these plugins and start from scratch - let you know how it goes.
SeedCode Staff
SeedCode Staff
Posts: 2764
Joined: Thu Nov 20, 2003 11:01 am
PostPosted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 7:02 am
Mantic wrote:I don't have the last two folders here : Mac OS X: Macintosh HD:Users:User Name:Library:Application Support:FileMaker:Extensions

I created them and left fmspark to do its thing but no change. fmspark isn't copying any files to this location instead it appears to be copying the plugin here : .


You want to create them, place the mailt plugin in here, let fmSpark do its thing.

One other thing to check is that your files are on the server with the correct permissions. One way to do this is to open fmSpark and see if you can open and edit a Recent mailing. If you can then you're all set, if not, check the OS level permissions of the files on your server against those of another served FileMaker file and change the OS permissions on the fmSpark files to match (this is generally only an issue on Mac servers before 10).
John Sindelar
SeedCode
Posts: 42
Joined: Wed Jul 08, 2009 2:18 am
PostPosted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 7:12 am
Well as I said, I created the folders you specified and first copied the mail.it plugin there (no change) then deleted it and left fmspark to copy it in (it didn't). fmspark keeps copying the files here :

Mac OS X: Macintosh HD:Users:Applications:FileMaker Pro 10 Advanced:Extensions

but rather than overwriting the plugin, it keeps creating new copies with an incrementing numeric in the field name.

I haven't been able to send any mailings yet so not sure how to open / edit a recent one, or am I missing something here?

I can't gain access to the server for the moment but should be able tonight - I'll get back to you and let you know if I've missed something there, which is quite probable :)
SeedCode Staff
SeedCode Staff
Posts: 2764
Joined: Thu Nov 20, 2003 11:01 am
PostPosted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 7:29 am
Hmmm. Thanks for the details.

When you get access to the server again send me an email (john at seedcode.com) and we'll set up a screen sharing session to take a look at this. This evening I'm out but email me and we'll set up a time to take care of this.

Best,

John
John Sindelar
SeedCode
Posts: 42
Joined: Wed Jul 08, 2009 2:18 am
PostPosted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 7:31 am
Many thanks John for looking at this (and so promptly). Chances are it's something up with the server - I didn't upload the files myself so can't be sure what happened and I can't access it remotely (Apache problems on my Mac).

Either way, I'll let you know what's happening and email you only if necessary.

Cheers.
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Jul 12, 2009 4:04 pm
Location: Minneapolis, MN
PostPosted: Sun Jul 12, 2009 5:11 pm
I have this same issue on 2 servers and separate installations of fmSpark. The only way I've been able to get things to work is for the user to manually install the plug-in the first time following these steps:

1. Open fmSpark or select fmSpark from the FileMaker Window menu to make sure you have it selected.
2. On the fmSpark Welcome tab, in the area where it says "Plug-in Status" click on it. It will install the plug-in.
3. Quit out of FileMaker and try again. This time the plug-in will be installed correctly.

For some reason...this just isn't running automatically.
Posts: 42
Joined: Wed Jul 08, 2009 2:18 am
PostPosted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 1:18 am
Yes, I noticed this earlier - if I open FMSpark before I open the client's DB, everything works correctly (the mail.it plugin is recognised immediately and mail sends as expected). If I open the client's DB first, FMSpark will not register that the plugin is installed.

The interesting thing here is that my colleague, using another mac, has none of these problems - it connects correctly whichever DB is opened first. As it happens, over the weekend my colleague purchased a new MacBook Pro and transferred his account from his old MacBook Pro to the new one. As part of the process, he rebuilt the laptop and transferred my account from my MacBook to his old machine. I still get exactly the same problems as before so I would argue that this is something up with settings on my Mac. I can't see it being my FileMaker login as it's a duplicate of my colleague's....
Posts: 42
Joined: Wed Jul 08, 2009 2:18 am
PostPosted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 12:24 am
Any ideas yet on what might be causing this? I now have a new MacBook Pro and migrated my account from the old Mac to the new one and the problem was copied across with it.
SeedCode Staff
SeedCode Staff
Posts: 2764
Joined: Thu Nov 20, 2003 11:01 am
PostPosted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 5:43 am
It seems that the permissions aren't allowing the plugin to install automatically and you'll want to follow Tim's instructions above to install the plugin manually.

If clicking that button doesn't work you can place the plugin inside the FileMaker Extensions Folder by hand and then restart FileMaker. You'll only have to do this manual installation once.

If you need to install manually you can find the plugin here.

As to why, I believe the Extensions folder in FileMaker's application folder doesn't have write permissions for the logged in user. Why that problem would survive account migration I can't say, but installing the plugin manually will get you past it.

John
John Sindelar
SeedCode
Posts: 42
Joined: Wed Jul 08, 2009 2:18 am
PostPosted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 3:15 am
Hi John - sorry for the delay in replying. I'm not entirely convinced that it's all down to permissions as the plugin installs correctly as long as fmSpark starts first.

Unfortunately as I've explained, Tim's method doesn't work for me.

To recap : If I start fmSpark first, then it acknowledges that the plugin is installed correctly. If I start the primary database first and then allow fmSpark to start up, then fmSpark fails to acknowledge the presence of the mail.it plugin and attempts to install it. It sits on the fmSpark splash screen with the word loading....... and does nothing. If I click on the loading text and 'manually' install the plugin then it creates a new copy of the mail.it plugin but puts an incrementing numeric in the file name (eg first time I run the Install Email Plugin script the mail.it plugin is called "mail.it 2.fmplugin", the second time it's called "mail.it 3.fmplugin" and so on). All of this is happening in the Macintosh HD/Applications/FileMaker Pro 10 Advanced/Extensions folder.

As you can see it would appear that fmSPark is failing to acknowledge the presence / validity of the mail.it plugin.

I have deleted all other copies of the mail.it plugin from other locations and confirmed that fmSpark is copying them to the correct folder. And it makes no difference if I use the plugin you included in your link.

Any thoughts?

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