Gigo F.A.Q.

Below are various questions that have frequently come up with regard to Gigo. If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.

General:

1. What is Gigo?
2. What isn't Gigo?
3. Who is Gigo designed to be used by?

Technical:

1. What could be slowing down Gigo?
2. The whole system seems slow but it's the same machine as mail server or I have a very fast (eg. 100Mbit Ethernet) connection.
3. I can't log in (blank login page, failed logins with correct details).
4. I get "Permission Denied" when saving my settings.
5. I get "Permission Denied" errors when viewing emails.
6. I'm upgrading and things seem very broken after uploading.
7. The time difference between me and my server is a half hour value, not a full hour. Is there any way to set a fractional time difference?

1. What is Gigo?

Gigo (an abbreviation of the phrase Garbage In, Garbage Out) is a simple web based email client which supports the common email protocols of POP3 and imap. The key feature of Gigo is simplicity - easy to install, easy to configure and easy to use.

2. What isn't Gigo?

Gigo isn't intended to be a replacement for Outlook, Eudora, Thunderbird or any other fully featured email client. It doesn't have many features that you may expect from such programs and, in it's current incarnation, it never will as this would comprise the fundamental simplicity of Gigo.

3. Who is Gigo designed to be used by?

Gigo is intended to be used to supplement another email client by offering access-anywhere email availability. Gigo was started as something I could check my mail on when I went abroad for a couple of weeks and while it's matured far beyond the original project, the concept of it being a supplementary email client has never changed. If you have a bit of webspace with PHP (or you know someone who does) and are stuck at work or school and you'd like to read your mail or like me you're often traveling and you want to keep in contact, Gigo is the client for you.

1. What could be slowing down Gigo?

The bottleneck is generally between the web server and the mail server - during testing behind a slow internet connection, this accounted for approximately 9.5 seconds for a 9.75 second page load!

2. The whole system seems slow but it's the same machine as mail server or I have a very fast (eg. 100Mbit Ethernet) connection.

Are either server under heavy load? If not, Gigo is probably at fault - if so, please contact me!

3. I can't log in (blank login page, failed logins with correct details).

Are you sure imap is enabled? Gigo checks but it can not be 100% sure. If imap is enabled and both your web server and the mail server is working properly, Gigo is probably at fault - contact me!

4. I get "Permission Denied" when saving my settings.

Make sure the file sys/conf.inc.php has it's permissions set to 666 (readable and writeable by everyone). If this is set and the errors persist, try setting it to 777.

5. I get "Permission Denied" errors when viewing emails.

Make sure the directory data_attach/ has it's permissions set to 777 (readable, writeable and executable by everyone).

6. I'm upgrading and things seem very broken after uploading.

You need to enter the administration section and hit save to update your configuration file. If you have done this, your settings may be incompatible with the new version. Upload the conf.inc.php that came with the latest version and enter your settings again (don't forget that the administration password will be "admin" now!).

7. The time difference between me and my server is a half hour value, not a full hour. Is there any way to set a fractional time difference?

For the interface's sake, the control panel is limited to 1 intervals. To use a different interval, do the following:

1. After setting up everything in Gigo's control panel, choose the nearest time difference.
2. Download the file "conf.inc.php", in the "sys/" directory off where you installed Gigo.
3. Load that file into your favourite text file and find the line that is something like:
   $settings->time["Difference"] = -5;
4. Change the number (-5 in the above example, it will represent the "nearest time" you choose in step a) to whatever suits you, for example:
   $settings->time["Difference"] = -4.5;
5. Save the file - you _must_ save it has a normal text file and overwrite the downloaded configuration file!
6. Upload the "conf.inc.php" file into the "sys/" directory again, overwriting your old copy. You should now have the correct difference. For your convenience, you can still make changes in the Gigo Control Panel and your custom value will be kept.