WFU Google Mail Thunderbird IMAP

For Wake Forest Thunderbird users who want to IMAP their new WFU Google Mail

This is the easiest way I have found

Credit for the xml file and the basic instructions: Ching-Wan Yip

Rewritten and posted by me.

Disclaimer: This has worked for me on multiple wfu machines. I tested Spring & Summer of 2011 with the then current versions of Thunderbird on a T410, a T420, and a desktop. I make no promises or guarantees.

USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. BUYER BEWARE. CAVEAT EMPTOR. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

  1. use the wfu.edu.xml file below OR download Yip's original file: http://www.wfu.edu/~yipcw/is/thunderbird/config/wfu.edu.xml
  2. save it to \program files\mozilla thunderbird\isp
  3. Since it will create a new account with username@wfu.edu just like the old pop account, rename the old pop account to differentiate
  4. Thunderbird > Tools > Account Settings > Account Actions > Add Mail Account. This will trigger an automatic setup of the WFU Google Mail account as an imap account in Thunderbird (I'm using TB3, but this method worked in late versions of TB2).
  5. You may or may not want to make the Google SMTP server the default and double check that the appropriate accounts are set to use the appropriate smtp server. Some people report that changing the smtp settings in TB's GUI did not seem to work and they had to edit the prefs file manually. I have not run into this problem. You could even delete the old smtp server and make all the accounts use the Google smtp server.
  6. Once the WFU Google Mail account is in Thunderbird, you can begin copying local messages and folders up to Google by dragging and dropping on the account.
  7. If you need to move TB address books and distribution lists, you can use a TB Add-on called Google Contacts. If you install it after the Google account is set up, it will create a sync situation between Google Contacts and the TB address books.