Notify Me

August 20, 2009 4:21 PM

Is it possible to get Gmail notifier to work with a Google Accounts email address?

I have a Google accounts email address (e.g. [e-mail]) and I am in the process of migrating all of my work email into that one account and away from Microsoft Outlook. I would like to have the ability to:
a) have a prompt when I receive a new email; and
b) have gmail be my automatic email client when I click on an email address on the web.

Gmail notifier appears to do both of those things, but when I install it, it appears that it will only work if my email address is @gmail.com. I do not want to have multiple gmail accounts. Is there something I am missing? Is there another program with this functionality?

I use Windows XP and Firefox 3.5

posted by bove to Computers & Internet (12 answers total)

This Gmail notifier says it works with Google Apps accounts (non gmail domain).
posted by wongcorgi at 4:35 PM on August 20, 2009

I don't know if this is connected, but there is a patch you have to apply if you're using the "always use https:" option in gmail.
posted by sevenyearlurk at 4:40 PM on August 20, 2009

Response by poster: wongcorgi that looks promising but it is $8. I will pay that if I have to, but I would prefer a free solution.
posted by bove at 4:45 PM on August 20, 2009

It appears that it will only work if my email address is @gmail.com.

What? No.

I use the regular Google Notifier with THREE different [e-mail] addresses, all different Google Apps for Your Domain domains. Works fine.

I just enter [e-mail] as the user name.

Google Notifier Version 1.10.5.778, if that matters. Not GMail Notifier, which is the older one. Downloaded from Google a year ago, updated occasionally.
posted by rokusan at 5:16 PM on August 20, 2009

I can confirm that if you sign in to Google Chat with your Google Apps account, you can receive email notifications that way.
posted by trunk muffins at 5:23 PM on August 20, 2009

(Oh, on reading your last bits more carefully: I do run multiple notifiers (there's three little red envelopes in my menu bar, one for each account) and that's OS X 10.5. Maybe the Windows version is crippled somehow. But I'd still check to make sure you're using the correct and latest Notifier from Google, not some old version floating around shareware sites.)
posted by rokusan at 5:24 PM on August 20, 2009

Best answer: I use the Gmail Manager extension for Firefox and it works flawlessly with both regular gmail accounts and domain-hosted accounts. And I have a LOT of them.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 6:13 PM on August 20, 2009

Response by poster: When I install Gmail Notifier, which is the windows version, it installs fine and asks me for my username and password. It will accept [e-mail], but when I ask to view Inbox it takes me to a page entitled: "Sign up for Gmail" and it tells me:

You're currently signed in to your [e-mail] Google Account.
If you complete this form, you'll be adding Gmail to this account, and your Gmail address will become your primary account username.

If you would prefer, you can create a separate Google Account for Gmail. You'll be logged out of [e-mail] and then be able to create your new account.

I am currently using an addon called Gmail Notifier, it works good at notifying me within Firefox. I was hoping I could get notified without having my browser open, plus it doesn't seem to turn on the mailto link function.
posted by bove at 7:03 PM on August 20, 2009

Seconding stavros' recommendation of Gmail Manager instead. I've got mine set up with 3 Gmail accounts and about a half dozen Google Apps for Your Domain accounts. You can tweak it's behavior to do just what you want and even export and import your preferences for use on other machines.
posted by JaredSeth at 8:26 PM on August 20, 2009

Response by poster: The Gmail Manager does seem to give me half of what I want, which is to change the send to function to use Gmail. I was really hoping to have a program that would notify me of new emails without my browser being launched. I may still have to fork out the $8 for the program mentioned above.
posted by bove at 10:58 PM on August 20, 2009

Best answer: Any email address can be a Google Account (including *gmail or a Google Apps email). Still they the three are not equivalents. You're asking for a Google Account email notifier, is this really what you want?

If you're insteasd using Google Apps for email, Google Talk is the "GMail Notifier" for Google Apps. If you're using a non Google Apps email address, get one of many email tray notifications, which connect to a server via POP3 or IMAP to check for new mail.
posted by oxit at 2:34 PM on August 21, 2009

Response by poster: oxit you hit the nail on the head, in combination with the Gmail Manager and Google Talk, I now have exactly what I wanted and I didn't need to pay for the software. Thanks.
posted by bove at 3:31 PM on August 21, 2009