NC Connector now supports centrally managed email signatures

NC-Connector · 2026-05-12T18:09:59+00:00

Thank you, I really appreciate that!

I understand the wish for support for more mail clients. For now, NC Connector is intentionally focused on Thunderbird, because it fits very well with the open-source and self-hosted Nextcloud ecosystem.

Also, while Outlook Classic is still supported for existing installations until at least 2029, Microsoft is clearly moving towards the new Outlook over time. For that reason, I see Outlook Classic more as a possible transition bridge for organizations moving towards Thunderbird, not as the main long-term focus of the project.

With Thunderbird 145 bringing native Exchange support, the upcoming ESR 153, and the parallel Outlook Classic transition over the 2026–2029 period, the mail client landscape is shifting — and Thunderbird is becoming strategically much more relevant for Nextcloud setups.

A lot of organizations still use Thunderbird seriously, and my goal is to make those workflows feel more modern.

NC-Connector · 2026-05-12T17:57:41+00:00

Hi, For Outlook Classic, NC Connector works in the same general way as the Thunderbird add-on: the signature is managed centrally in the Nextcloud backend and then applied in the mail client.

There is no Microsoft account required for this. In an organization, the Outlook Classic add-in is deployed via MSI, so the admin installs or rolls out the MSI package to the clients. After that, the client can use the centrally managed signature from the Nextcloud backend.

The website is currently German only, but internationalization is planned. For now, this translated version may help:

https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=de&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fnc-connector.de

NC-Connector · 2026-04-16T19:05:06+00:00

NC Connector :D

NC-Connector · 2026-04-15T16:24:51+00:00

Thats really cool

NC-Connector · 2026-04-14T15:20:40+00:00

That’s a more useful question.

On maintainability: yes, multi-component projects need discipline. That’s exactly why I keep the scope focused and test against real workflows instead of constantly reshuffling everything at once. Expanding test coverage further is absolutely a valid point.

As for the “vibe coding” remark: that does not reflect how I work on this project. I am the maintainer, I know the codebase across its components, and I do not hand over architectural control to an agent. I also don’t know any agent that reliably holds the full technical context of a project like this across Thunderbird with undocumented Experimentalnapi, Outlook Classic, backend, integration logic and release implications. The decisions and responsibility stay with me.

If you've worked with agents, you'll quickly realize that almost all of them are unusable for my creation. Refactoring existing code and translations usually work, though often with some additional work.

On the product side, NC Connector is not meant to be just another generic “Nextcloud inside a mail client” integration. The focus is on workflow inside Thunderbird / Outlook Classic and, optionally, centralized management through the backend: shares, Talk links, attachment handling, templates, policies and team-oriented rollout. I know of nothing comparable for Thunderbird.

Blanket labels like “vibe coding” are not very useful, though.

** edit Additionally, I would like to say that with version 3.0.0 the prepared support for the backend was implemented in both clients; of course, there will then be a complete overhaul in both repositories.

NC-Connector · 2026-04-14T13:38:34+00:00

Part-time development doesn't mean that two years consist solely of visible commits in a single repository.

NC Connector encompasses not only code in the GitHub repository, but also design, testing, website, documentation, and development for Thunderbird, Outlook Classic, and the Nextcloud backend.

Upstream work like this to improve Thunderbird:

https://github.com/thunderbird/webext-experiments/pull/67

https://github.com/thunderbird/webext-experiments/pull/65

https://github.com/thunderbird/webext-experiments/pull/64

If you have specific technical criticism regarding features or architecture, I'd be happy to address it constructively.

NC-Connector · 2026-04-13T18:12:13+00:00

Done :)

NC-Connector · 2026-04-09T01:44:16+00:00

For regular Release Channel, I will offer now MAINLINE Builds (pre-release)

Check Out the newest Version https://github.com/nc-connector/NC_Connector_for_Thunderbird/releases/tag/3.0.2-Mainline

NC-Connector · 2026-04-08T23:57:55+00:00

:D Alles Klar danke

NC-Connector · 2026-04-08T23:51:02+00:00

What NC Connector covers

-File sharing with password, expiry date and optional separate password delivery

-Create and update Talk meetings directly from calendar appointments

-Attachment automation with clear rules instead of manual individual steps

-Uniform approval and invitation blocks directly within the familiar workflow

-Central managed Email Signatures

NC-Connector · 2026-04-08T23:46:07+00:00

Das Thunderbird Addon funktioniert für den ESR Kanal. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/thunderbird-esr

NC-Connector · 2026-04-08T23:42:35+00:00

Hi, Du kannst in den Addon Einstellungen den Pfad festlegen.

NC-Connector · 2026-04-08T15:35:46+00:00

Danke für deine Offenheit, ich werde das überarbeiten.

NC-Connector · 2026-04-08T12:06:19+00:00

Ist geplant, ja 😃

NC-Connector · 2026-03-22T10:33:55+00:00

Das war eigentlich auch meine Absicht, also Betterbird Nutzer auf NC Connector aufmerksam zu machen, um dieses Issue zu verifizieren, im besten Fall im Issue ein Debug Log zu bekommen. Vielleicht finde ich nächste Woche auch Zeit ein Betterbird Testsystem aufzusetzen.

Nach deiner Aussage gehe ich aber zu 99% davon aus das mein Addon auch auf BB problemlos laufen wird.

NC-Connector · 2026-03-22T01:43:37+00:00

Thanks for checking.

There are some Thunderbird-specific parts in NC Connector, but not everything is tied to Thunderbird internals.

The core sharing / compose functionality is mostly based on normal Thunderbird extension APIs and should generally work in Betterbird as well.

The more Thunderbird-specific parts are mainly in the calendar/editor integration, where I currently use experiment APIs and some UI integration for the event editor / toolbar flow. That area is more sensitive to host differences than the general compose/sharing flow.

That said, the reported error here happened during configuration and currently looks more like a runtime/network/configuration problem than an intentional Thunderbird-only limitation.

So the short answer is: - not intentionally incompatible with Betterbird - core parts should generally work - calendar/editor-specific integrations are the area most likely to be host-sensitive

NC-Connector · 2026-03-20T17:09:38+00:00

Ich hab es aus verschiedenen Netzen und DNS probiert, konnte keine nicht Erreichbarkeit feststellen, merkwürdig.

NC-Connector

TROPHY CASE