Email Piping for Fluent Support

Local IMAP/POP3 email piping for Fluent Support - a GDPR compliant alternative that keeps your email data on your own server.

Why This Plugin?

Fluent Support Pro's built-in email piping feature routes your emails through WPManageNinja's external servers. This means:

• Your emails pass through third-party servers - Every customer email is processed by external infrastructure
• Privacy concerns - A third party has access to all your support emails
• GDPR compliance issues - For EU businesses, routing customer data through external servers may violate data protection regulations

This plugin solves these problems by fetching emails directly from your mail server using IMAP/POP3, keeping all data on your own infrastructure.

Features

• Direct IMAP connection - Fetches emails directly from your mail server
• POP3 support - Available when PHP IMAP extension is installed
• Multiple accounts - Configure different email accounts for different Business Inboxes
• No external dependencies - Works without the php-imap extension (for IMAP protocol)
• Automatic fetching - Configurable cron interval for checking new emails
• Attachment support - Handles email attachments
• Forwarded email detection - Extracts original sender from forwarded emails
• Debug logging - Optional logging for troubleshooting

Requirements

• WordPress 5.6+
• PHP 7.4+
• Fluent Support Pro
• FLUENTSUPPORT_ENABLE_CUSTOM_PIPE constant enabled

Installation

1. Download the latest release from GitHub
2. Upload the plugin folder to /wp-content/plugins/
3. Add to your wp-config.php:

   define('FLUENTSUPPORT_ENABLE_CUSTOM_PIPE', true);

4. Activate the plugin
5. Go to Fluent Support → Email Piping to configure your email accounts

Note: All dependencies are included. No composer install required.

Configuration

Adding an Email Account

1. Navigate to Fluent Support → Email Piping → Email Accounts
2. Fill in your mail server details:
   • Mail Server: Your IMAP server (e.g., imap.gmail.com, mail.yourdomain.com)
   • Port: Usually 993 for IMAP with SSL
   • Protocol: IMAP (recommended) or POP3
   • Encryption: SSL (recommended), TLS, or None
   • Username/Password: Your email credentials
   • Fluent Support Inbox: Select which Business Inbox should receive the emails
3. Click Test to verify the connection
4. Save the account

Gmail App Password

If using Gmail, you need to create an App Password:

1. Enable 2-Factor Authentication on your Google account
2. Go to Google App Passwords
3. Generate a new App Password for "Mail"
4. Use this password instead of your regular Gmail password

Protocol Support

GDPR Compliance

This plugin was specifically created to address GDPR concerns with Fluent Support's default email piping:

The Problem

Fluent Support Pro's built-in email piping works by:

1. You configure an email forwarding rule to send emails to *@pipes.fluentsupport.com
2. WPManageNinja's servers receive and process your emails
3. The processed email is then sent to your WordPress site

This means all your customer support emails are processed by a third party, which raises significant privacy and compliance concerns for businesses operating under GDPR.

The Solution

With this plugin:

1. Emails stay in your mailbox
2. Your WordPress server connects directly to your mail server via IMAP
3. Emails are fetched and processed entirely on your own infrastructure
4. No third party ever sees your customer emails

Frequently Asked Questions

Does this replace Fluent Support's email piping?

Yes, this is an alternative to the built-in piping feature. You should disable any email forwarding to pipes.fluentsupport.com when using this plugin.

Why is POP3 disabled on my server?

POP3 requires the PHP IMAP extension (ext-imap). IMAP protocol works without it using native PHP sockets. Most mail servers support both protocols, so we recommend using IMAP.

How often are emails checked?

By default, every 5 minutes. You can adjust this in Settings → Check Interval. Note that this depends on WordPress cron being functional.

Are attachments supported?

Yes, email attachments are downloaded and stored in /wp-content/uploads/fsep-attachments/.

Changelog

1.0.0

• Initial release
• IMAP support without ext-imap requirement
• POP3 support with ext-imap
• Multiple account support
• Automatic email fetching via WP-Cron
• Debug logging

License

GPL-2.0-or-later

Credits

• Uses webklex/php-imap for IMAP communication
• Developed by TrueQAP

Disclaimer

This is an unofficial plugin and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to WPManageNinja or Fluent Support in any way. "Fluent Support" is a trademark of WPManageNinja. This plugin is an independent, third-party solution created to address privacy concerns with the official email piping feature.