IMO

As noted in a previous blog post, I've started working on the 2.0 version of Telaen: a simple but powerful PHP-based Webmail system. Quite a bit has been changed, fixed and added under-the-covers, including baselining PHP 5.4, a more robust installation checker, and some significant performance increases.

However, as I was working to make the backend stuff as up-to-date as possible, it became increasingly obvious that Telaen's UI was extremely dated. It was functional, yes, but made very limited use of CSS, HTML5, Javascript, etc, all of which combine to affect the user experience. Luckily, a very good friend of mine, Mike Hill, has started work on a new UI for Telaen, making it not only more streamlined and attractive, but also much more functional as well.

Now I know, of course, that there are a number of other PHP webmail offerings out there, so some may be questioning the need for yet another. I can think of a few reasons:

• Telaen is designed to have as few dependencies as possible; the goal is that any typical PHP setup will be able to run Telaen.
• No external database is required.
• Extensive support for both IMAP and POP; to be honest, most webmail systems don't support POP at all, or are extremely limited in their support.
• Consistent functionality, no matter which IMAP/POP server is used; most webmail systems are simple "front ends" for IMAP servers, meaning the capability of the webmail system depends on what IMAP server is being used. Telaen puts that capability within the webmail system for a consistent feature set.
  
• Fast caching
• Designed to serve as both someone's primary Email client, as well as their supplemental client.
• Lots of what you need/want, and none of what you don't: Telaen is as simple as it can be, but no more so.
• A fast and secure upgrade path for all those people still using UebiMaiu
• Open to ALL contributions!
  

The last point is important: we really want as many people as possible to use, contribute, drive and develop Telaen. It's a great project for someone just starting out as well as for more experienced developers. Or if your passion is documentation, we could definitely use your help! In fact, however you want to be involved, we want to welcome you to the project.

Our goal is to have a beta available sometime within a month's timeframe. Stay tuned!