Thunderbird/TopMissingDomains

In Thunderbird 3, we have a new account configuration system which can get pre-defined configuration information from the web, among other methods of configuration. This means that for the most frequent domains, we can easily make Thunderbird configuration fast and correct, leading to more happy users of Thunderbird using the best (e.g. most secure) configuration possible.

We can look at the autoconfig server logs and identify which are the domains that are most often requested, and which of those are currently not served by the database. This list of "top domains" is therefore a very high leverage way for us to make adopting Thunderbird easier.

To add a domain to the database requires a few steps, to ensure that the information is correct and that users' privacy is ensured. In particular, we need:

1. a correctly formatted configuration file
2. confirmation by a someone other than the file submitter that the data corresponds to a web page published by the ISP
3. some security checks run on the configuration.

Because 2. may require reading public web pages in languages that the current ISPDB contributors don't know, we'd like to solicit help from the current Mozilla l10n contributors to help us.

The security requirements mean that this process is relatively heavy-weight, so we want to be fairly efficient about which domains we review first. We'll be looking at the logs on a periodic basis and filing bugs for the "top 20" domains that we aren't supporting, and soliciting help for those domains first.

Configurations for these top-20 domains will get reviewed before configurations for less popular domains.

For each domain, the process will be:

1. Create a bug for that domain in the Mozilla Messaging:ispdb component
2. Update this page with a pointer to the bug
3. (asap) Create a configuration based on Thunderbird's autoconfig code
4. Find someone with appropriate linguistic and other skills to review the configuration
5. Update this page with a note explaining that the bug has an owner
6. Get the configuration reviewed, checked in, deployed.

We currently need help for the following domains in the following countries:

Russia

• mail.ru, yandex.ru, rambler.ru bug 493758 Status: in progress

Italy

• libero.it bug XXX Status: needs owner
• alice.it bug XXX Status: needs owner
• tiscali.it bug XXX Status: needs owner

Poland

• wp.pl bug XXX Status: needs owner
• o2.pl bug XXX Status: needs owner

Czechoslovakia

• seznam.cz bug XXX Status: needs owner

Austria

• aon.at bug XXX Status: needs owner

Belgium

• skynet.be bug XXX Status: needs owner

Switzerland

• bluewin.ch bug XXX Status: needs owner

France

• sfr.fr bug XXX Status: needs owner
• neuf.fr bug XXX Status: needs owner

USA

• cox.net bug XXX Status: needs owner
• msn.com bug 549035 Status: closed but maybe not pushed yet??
• sbcglobal.net bug XXX Status: needs owner

Germany

• versanet.de bug XXX Status: needs owner

UK

• btinternet.com bug XXX Status: needs owner
• ntlworld.com bug XXX Status: needs owner

Configuration File Format

The configuration file format is defined by the Relax-NG schema.

Notes

If secure options are offered by the ISP, we require them in ISPDB, so that users will default to secure connections. Sending and receiving email over cleartext is not a practice we wish to encourage.

Where to get help

Ask on #maildev in irc.mozilla.org