1 - Inbox
First verify that your Inbox / Email settings (example: Gmail) ... POP/IMAP settings ... that IMAP is enabled for the dedicated email address that you will be using with JoomCRM.
Please note that this dedicated email address should not be assigned to any Joomla nor JoomCRM user. In other words, it's only purpose is as a dedicated email address that JoomCRM users will BCC or Forward emails to and which the JoomCRM Inbox feature uses to check for JoomCRM emails.
2- Plain Text
Second, please verify that within the dedicated email address (Inbox / Email settings) that it is configured as plain text. Please also note that when you BCC or forward email from your personal email address to the dedicated JoomCRM email address that all email messages must be emailed as plain text (and contain absolutely no HTML code) and all sent messages must contain a Subject as well. Note: If you fail to follow this part of the directions the JoomCRM Inbox feature will not work correctly.
3 - IMAP Settings
After enabling IMAP, locate your IMAP settings.
For example, if using Gmail here's a link to Gmail's IMAP settings https://support.google.com/mail/troubleshooter/1668960?rd=1
4 - IMAP Library
Login to the administrative back-end of your Joomla website. Then navigate to Components ... JoomCRM ... Settings ... Email (tab) it will tell you if the necessary PHP libraries for email integration are found on your server.
If there is no message about php libraries it means they are already enabled, and that there is nothing further that you need to do regarding setting up your php libraries for email integration.
Alternatively, if it says the libraries for email integration are not found, you will need to contact your hosting provider if you need assistance with enabling this as server support is beyond the scope of support. They will be able to verify and ensure that your server configuration allows IMAP. In addition, the "IMAP" extension will need to be enabled within your server's your php.ini file.
Note: here are the basic steps if you have the technical skill set, access, and ability to accomplish this on your own.
A) Please ensure that the imap package / library is installed on your server (if it's not already). Linux command example: apt-get install php5-imap
B) Also, remember to edit the php.ini file to enable imap (for email) and also curl (if you wish to use curl to help tell you if your version of JoomCRM is up to date).
Simply, open your php.ini file and remove the semicolon symbol from in front. example:
;extension=php_imap.dll
;extension=php_curl.dll
Delete the semicolon so that it looks like this:
extension=php_imap.dll
extension=php_curl.dll
C) Finally, remember to restart the apache service after saving / making changes to your php.ini file for the changes to take affect.
Linux command example: service apache2 restart
Note: other email settings can also be found within php.ini and sendmail.ini depending on your server configuration and depending on what you need to configure. Your hosting provider should be able to help / assist you if necessary.
5 - IMAP Settings in JoomCRM
Under Components ... JoomCRM ... Settings ... Email (tab). Enter your host name, username, password, port number, and service.
Note: For the CRM / JoomCRM email address, please use a dedicated email address for JoomCRM instead of a personal email address.
Example hosting settings (if using Gmail):
Host: imap.gmail.com
UserName: enter your username for your email account. This is usually your email address.
Password: enter your password for your email account
Port: 993
Service: IMAP
6 - Testing
After you have filled out the correct email settings under the Joomla Administration Components ... JoomCRM ... Settings ... Email and saved the changes ... please "Test your Connection" by clicking the Test connection button to ensure that it is properly connecting. If it does not connect, then there is a problem with the email settings that were provided.
Note: If the above settings are not working, and if the problem is due to a certificate issue please also try Port 143 then re-test the connection. If the problem persists, please contact your hosting provider and or server administrator for assistance.
Note: If using Gmail and you receive an Invalid Credentials or Authentication error message, then please re-verify that the login are credentials. If they are correct and if the issue is still occurring, then please follow the Gmail troubleshooting guide at https://support.google.com/mail/answer/14257?hl=en Specifically, at minimum you will need to edit your Google ... "My Account" ... Sign in and Security ... Connected Apps & Sites (section) ... and change "Allow less secure apps: "Off" to Allow less secure apps: "ON" Please note, Google may also send you a "Sign In attempt prevented" email within your Inbox. This will let you know for sure that the sign in was blocked by Google when testing the email connection which is why you should follow the Google troubleshooting guide that is linked above to help resolve this issue.
That said, after confirming that the test connection works, login to the JoomCRM front-end. Then navigate to the JoomCRM profile. Under "User Inbox with Multiple Email Addresses" ... verify and take note of your Primary Email address.
You will also note that in this section you may also add additional personal email addresses if you choose to do so.
Note: The purpose of the "User Inbox with Multiple Email Addresses" setting is that JoomCRM uses it to prevent spam from entering your account. JoomCRM must recognize the from email address even If you bcc or forward emails from a personal email address that's different than your primary Joomla user account email address.
Also, please note that any email email addresses that are configured / added to the JoomCRM ... Profile ... User Inbox with Multiple Email Addresses ... settings must be email addresses that are owned by your own Joomla / JoomCRM user and which are NOT registered to any other Joomla and JoomCRM account. Note: If you do not follow these directions then the JoomCRM Inbox Feature will not work correctly.
That said, once you have confirmed the above settings.
The way that it works is simply BCC or forward email FROM (the email address that is registered to your primary Joomla / JoomCRM account or accounts that are defined under "User Inbox with Multiple Email Addresses". Send the email TO the dedicated JoomCRM email address that is defined under the Joomla administration ... Components ... JoomCRM ... Settings ... Email.
After an email has been received, navigate to the JoomCRM front-end. And, under Inbox CLICK the Inbox REFRESH button. JoomCRM will then check the Components ... JoomCRM ... Settings ... Email address and download any unread messages that match according to the "User Inbox with Multiple Email Addresses" settings.
Next, JoomCRM will attempt to match an email address in the email to an existing person (contact or lead) that is saved under the Person (tab). If there is a match, it will automatically save the email as a note to said person's page along with any attachments to the email. If there is NO match, the email will display within the Dashboard ... Inbox ... where you may then manually assign the email and or any attachments to a Deal or Person or both.
The automatic association will work with multiple email addresses provided one or more of these email addresses are already associated to a person (contact or lead) within JoomCRM. However (with the automatic association), please note if one or more automatic associates are made AND IF JoomCRM encounters one or more email addresses that are not associated with an existing Person, then JoomCRM will NOT be able to automatically save the note for email addresses that are not yet linked to a person's page. In addition, you will lose the option to manually save the email as well. Therefore, it's important to ensure that if a person (contact or lead) doesn't exist yet within JoomCRM OR if said person does not have an email address associated to him to go ahead and create said person record and associate the person record with an email address.
Alternatively, if you have forwarded the email to JoomCRM OR if JoomCRM does not recognize any email address you have the option of manually associating the email as a note to either one person (contact or lead) OR one deal OR BOTH a person (contact or lead) and deal. To manually associate the email, simply type the name of an existing person or deal, then choose to associate the email based on the search results. If no name is matched in the search results, it will create a new deal or person with the new name.
7 - Users
Executive users can see all search results and associate an email as a note to any person or deal within JoomCRM.
Manager users can see deals and people (in the search results) that are owned by them. They can also see deals and people that have been shared with them. In addition, they can see deals and people that are owned by basic users within their team.
Basic users can see deals and people that are owned by them in the search results. In addition, they can see deals and people that have been shared with them.
8 - BCC
It is recommended to use BCC or forward instead of CC from your own personal email account when sending emails to the Components ... JoomCRM ... Settings ... Email address. If your clients attempt to respond to the email address that is defined to the Components ... JoomCRM ... Settings ... Email address AND IF the email is not allowed according to the "User Inbox with Multiple Email Addresses" settings it would not be able to be retrieved by JoomCRM.
Whether you BCC or forward is up to you. For sending or replying to emails to clients / customers, it is recommended to use BCC as it works well with the automatic association. If forwarding existing emails, you will have to manually assign instead.
Note: If having trouble retrieving email, please read through and follow the above troubleshooting steps a few more times. Also, please verify that the Components ... JoomCRM ... Settings ... Email ... Test Connection passed, verify that the sent email had a subject, was plain text (and had no HTML code), verify that you are clicking the Inbox refresh button to retrieve the email, verify / check if the email was already automatically saved as a note to an existing person (contact or lead) record within JoomCRM, verify that the sent email is unread within the Inbox (example: Gmail) for the dedicated email address (that is the same email address that is configured within your Joomla Administration ... Components ... JoomCRM ... Email settings). Finally, please verify that the email was sent correctly FROM the correct address and not ignored / considered to be spam according to the JoomCRM Profile ... Primary email address and User Inbox with Multiple Address settings.
Simple example of how the JoomCRM Inbox feature works:
(Note: The below example is a hypothetical scenario)
Example Inc. (a company) has an email address that is used for their CRM (example: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. is the email address that is configured under Components ... JoomCRM ... Settings ... Email. John Smith works for Example Inc. and is a new JoomCRM Executive user.
Today, John logs into JoomCRM for the first time and clicks the profile button to go the JoomCRM Profile settings. Under the section "User Inbox with Multiple Email Addresses" he sees that his "primary" email address This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. that is registered to his Joomla / JoomCRM account is already listed. John wishes to use the JoomCRM Inbox feature to associate emails regarding Deals or People (Contacts or Leads) with their corresponding records within the CRM / JoomCRM system. This way John can better keep track of, record, and organize email communication regarding Deals or People.
However, John notices that JoomCRM filters out spam and will not receive emails in Johns's JoomCRM inbox unless JoomCRM recognizes the "From" email address.
Note: John may return here later and add any additional email addresses to receive from if he wishes to do so. However, it is not always necessary to add an additional email address. The reason is that JoomCRM already recognizes John's email address This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Thus John can use his own email client (Ex: Gmail) to BCC or Forward the JoomCRM email address which is This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
That said, John can now use his favorite email program or client to talk to prospective contacts or leads (People) or regarding deals. If he wants to record the email as notes within the CRM, he can simply add This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. as a BCC email address (Note: the BCC is best if you wish to hide the email address example: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. from being viewable by others). It's especially helpful to hide the BCC address as it will prevent any issues with a client sending the email or replying to the wrong email address as JoomCRM will filter any FROM email addresses it does not recognize.
Alternatively, instead of BCC's the email ... John could forward a copy of any emails or replies to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. where it will end up in his JoomCRM Inbox where the emails can then be assigned as notes.
Finally, before BCC or forwarding the email from This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. John verifys that the email text is plain text in the body of the email and that it contains no HTML code nor HTML code in his email signature. He also verifies that his email contains a subject. John then BCC or forwards the email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. A few minutes pass and finally John logs into JoomCRM and on the JoomCRM Dashboard ... Inbox (section) ... clicks the JoomCRM Inbox refresh button to check the email. Note: Depending on how John sent the email and depending on the FROM email address and other factors the email may either be automatically associated as a note to an existing person record (that matches the FROM email address) OR may appear within the JoomCRM Dashboard ... Inbox so that John may manually assign the note to a Deal or Person record.a