Using LinkedIn toolbars to make your job easier
The vision and goal for LinkedIn is to help you get the job done as easily and quickly as possible. There's good news for those of you looking for a productivity tool. This week we've just released a new version of LinkedIn's Outlook toolbar. This version adds support for Outlook 2007 and Windows Vista, and has a number of key bug fixes. If you didn’t see a message to update when you logged into LinkedIn, you
can install it here.
For those of you who don't know, we provide free toolbars for Outlook and the IE and Firefox browsers. The Outlook toolbar helps you build and maintain your network through a few features. Here's a feature comparison:
And did I mention that it’s free? It’s important to note that the Outlook Toolbar adheres to LinkedIn’s privacy policy. Your contacts won’t be uploaded, invited, or experience any additional e-mail due to installing the Outlook Toolbar. We provide the toolbar as a productivity enhancement for you while you use LinkedIn.
So, what’s next for the Outlook Toolbar? We are well into the next release where we plan to make it
much easier to quickly build a network with the right people who matter most to
your professional career. As always, you’ll have complete control over
who is invited to your network. We’ll share designs with you as they are
ready.
Click here to download the Outlook toolbar
Jay Neely May 29, 2007
Lucian, I'm very disappointed in this release. Not because you're giving us tools: that's great! I'm disappointed because you need to give us tools that work with the tools we're using! And while Microsoft Outlook may still be the e-mail solution of choice for people locked in a cubicle, any LinkedIn member that's serious about getting things done and using the best tools available to them should be using Thunderbird, the open-source, better e-mail alternative to Outlook. It's made by the Mozilla Foundation, the same group responsible for Firefox, the better browser alternative to Explorer.
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/thunderbird/
Best,
Jay Neely
http://socialstrategist.com
Lucian Beebe May 29, 2007
We certainly appreciate your interest in our tools! Though sorry we haven't covered your e-mail client. We do get requests for Thunderbird support occasionally and seeing your interest helps us prioritize it. In the mean time, you can use the Firefox (or IE) toolbar integration with several web e-mail systems. You can get the Info box mini-profile for everyone who sends you e-mail in GMail, Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail.
Lucian
Sheilah Etheridge May 30, 2007
Hey Lucian,
Just wanted to say hi and thank you for all the help you have given me over the last several months. I know you are always trying to improve the site. Thanks
Sheilah
Don Morgan Jun 2, 2007
I get an Linkedin error message every time I open Outlook - "The join my network on LinkedIn" invitation could not be sent to xxxxxxx@aol.com. Error Message: "Please enter a last name". How do I fix this?
Don Morgan Jun 2, 2007
See http://www.linkedin.com/answers/technology/information-technology/computers-software/TCH_ITS_CMP/51402-12392474 for the "Answers" post regarding the blog post I just made.
Kathie Thomas Jun 4, 2007
I'm pleased to see there is an update - the version I was using kept hanging up. However I never received any message to say there was an update and it wasn't until I sent a message to Customer Service to find out what was going on that I found out there was one. I must admit your blog isn't yet the first place I come to, to find something out - perhaps it needs to be linked at the top of the screen, rather than the bottom, to encourage more visitors here.
janet Jun 4, 2007
Hi...I have the same problem when I try to get info.....the page is blank...so I dont bother....can you fix that..regards janet young
www.chiengineering.co.za
Jouni Jun 6, 2007
Hi,
Another request for Thunderbird support, just for your records.
However I would prefer even more any mobile device support! The latest site update made it totally impossible to check all contacts on mobile... Fortunately other parts are working - slow due big size of web pages, but at least accessible.
--jouni using Nokia N93 and N770 devices
Chris Brown Jun 9, 2007
Is there anyway to have a female version of the male executive icon that is used next to experience?
I get stuck with 1/2 the world thinking I'm a guy since my name is Chris anyway, but I'd love to have a female icon instead of the shirt & tie. You can keep the same Icon, just replace the tie with pearls & earrings works. thanks.
Chris Brown
Bill Jun 19, 2007
Lucian,
Have the security issues been resolved?
See this entry for more information.
http://www.sciencetext.com/remove-firefox-addons-improve-security.html
Bill
Ricardo J. Jun 22, 2007
Hello
I'm a long time user of Eudora and I would definitly use a LinkedIn plugin if it was avaliable for this popular email client.
Tricia Jun 25, 2007
Hello Lucian,
I installed the LinkedIn Outlook toolbar this weekend. I run Windows XP SP2 and Outlook 2003.
Today I noticed that after a message displayed in my reading pane that when I switched to a different folder and message, the new message did not display in the reading pane. Whatever had been displayed in the reading pane was frozen to the reading pane.
Also, I noticed that I could not highlight within a message in the reading pane to "Grab" them and add them to my contacts. I even opened up the message and tried to highlight, but it still did not work.
Finally, the third problem I noticed was that when I went to my calendar and right clicked on a time to add a new appointment, the default for adding a new appointment did not appear when I right clicked.
So what gives? I uninstalled the LinkedIn Outlook toolbar and now Outlook works fine like it did before.
I welcome any comments or suggestions as I really liked the feel of the LinkedIn Outlook toolbar.
Lucian Beebe Jun 26, 2007
I want to reply to many of the comments. Sorry for being late with some of these.
Kathie: We did not turn on auto-update for this release for most people. We will for the next release where we have some very helpful new features. Glad you found it, though!
Janet: Not sure what you mean here. Please e-mail me and let me know what we can fix for you: lbeebe at linkedin dot com.
Bill: We are aware of the posting you refer to in your comment. We are looking at the actual impact of this now. We tend to believe that the problem isn’t as serious for the LinkedIn Firefox toolbar as the posting makes it seem because we never auto-update your Firefox toolbar. We simply ask whether you would like to update. If you say yes, we send you to www.LinkedIn.com to download the latest. This reduces the potential for problems dramatically over the "silent update" model of other toolbars mentioned. We also have a number of internal mechanisms in the toolbar that will prevent this sort of problem in a real-world scenario. Still, we are looking closely at this.
Tricia: Hmmm. Tough one. The best way for us to help resolve this is if you can send us an e-mail. There's a nice feature in the Outlook toolbar that will send us a diagnostic message. With the toolbar installed, you will see a LinkedIn menu on the main Outlook window. Select the LinkedIn-->Send Feedback menu item and add my e-mail address to the message that opens: lbeebe at linkedin dot com. Also, if you can include this blog comment or some way to help me connect your e-mail and this comment, that would be great.
Thanks all for your comments!
Lucian
Craig Jun 29, 2007
Add another request for Thunderbird support
Giordano Jun 30, 2007
Hi,
I second the request for Thunderbird support... exporting my contacts is hell right now. We need a toolbar!
Giordano
Brandon Barber Jul 3, 2007
Does anyone else have an issue with attachments loading very slow with LinkedIn Toolbar loaded in Outlook?
Lucian Beebe Jul 3, 2007
I haven't seen this problem either here in development or from other users. Send me an e-mail directly at lbeebe at linkedin dot com if you want to try to troubleshoot it with us.
Lucian
Joshua Jul 26, 2007
Hi,
One more request for Thunderbird, for your records.
The Outlook tool is great but I used Thunderbird for a while and I am sorry about the numerous contacts I miss because I can't retrieve them from Thunderbird the same way I found many contacts through Outlook and Gmail.
Linkedin is great, thanks!
Joshua
Stewart Rogers Jul 30, 2007
Thanks again for the updates.
One request though...
Please could you state EXACTLY what version the toolbar is on the site and provide a 'change log' or 'release notes' section.
You only ever seem to report the main version number but often I've seen that there have been bug fixes that aren't in the version I'm running.
Or put a 'check for updates' option in the actual toolbar so that it stays up to date...
Thanks...
Michael Kenward Jul 30, 2007
When I used the Outlook addin, it prevented me from sending messages.
I have many email accounts. When I hit the "Send" button, messages went to the Outbox. If I then opened the Outbox, the messages changed from the italic format (denoting pending) to ordinary "Roman". The messages then refused to leave the Outbox.
As soon as I turned off the Linkedin Toolbar, normality returned. Turn it on, back to square one. Not much doubt, then, about the source of the problem.
By the way, you should date or version the various releases of this tool. Perhaps even release notes. I have just been to look for an update. No idea when the file there was created.
Justin Hitt Jul 30, 2007
It's not clear if any bugs were fixed for LinkedIn toolbar and Outlook 2003 SP2. You have a nice tool, hope you consider expanding it to support other CRM software. Will you be supporting additional platforms in the future?
Best,
Justin
Lucian Beebe Jul 30, 2007
On the versioning, we do include it at the bottom for the IE and Firefox toolbars, but not for the Outlook toolbar. I will add that. It will appear at the bottom of the page like it does for the browser toolbars.
We need to do a better job of logging changes to each version. This is good motivation to do that.
We are working on the next version of the Outlook Toolbar that has some slick features and I'll take that opportunity to improve both of these areas.
Lucian
Jorrit Aug 20, 2007
Hi Lucian,
Thanks for your effort, the tool looks very promising and the first one that actually will be able to help me in managing my contacts.
I have one problem though, and probably I'm the only one since I was unable to find any references to it so far:
When building contacts, it nicely find all 600+ email addresses, but when I tell the wizard to save them it claims that "the folder is not accessible or does not exist. Please use a different contact folder where new contacts will be stored". In reality, the folder does exist, and I can manually add contacts there.
I did change the target folder, but to no avail...
Any suggestions?
Lucian Beebe Aug 20, 2007
Unfortunately, I am not sure what your problem could be, but send me an e-mail at lbeebe at linkedin dot com and I'm sure we can work it out.
Lucian
Daniel Aug 24, 2007
Howdy,
A client of mine uses LinkedIn, and after purchasing a new laptop and installing Office 2007 is having an issue within Outlook 2007. Curious to know if any of you have experienced this and knew of a solution...
Whent attempting to send an email within Outlook and using the LinkedIn toolbar an error pops up that states:
The "Join my network on LinkedIn" invitation could not be sent because the LinkedIn server has encountered an internal error.
Any help/ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Daniel
Lucian Beebe Aug 27, 2007
Thanks for posting. I think this question just came through our tech support folks, too, so you are finding us on all our channels.
Here's what I recommended to them:
The error is actually coming from the server, not the toolbar itself. Its just displayed in the toolbar window. So, there's nothing wrong with the toolbar installation.
Could be:
- Temporary error on the server. Will fix itself soon.
- Problem with the formatting of the e-mail address. This is probably not the issue, but it could be.
Unfortunately, the guidance would be “just try again in a few hours.” I know, not very fulfilling, but if that doesn't work, then we'll have to dig in deeper and look at that e-mail address.
Our tech support has it and will walk it through to closure.
Thanks for posting
Lucian
Michal Zygmunt Sep 2, 2007
I also installed LinkedIn outlook toolbar and send invitations to my friend, but every time I started my outlook I am getting error "invitation could not be send... please enter a first name...".
I tried to deinstall and reinstall plugin again, but it does not work. It seems that I must have it in "cache" somewhere and after reinstalling it still wants to sends this invitations to me.
How can I remove this "cache" or clean "outbox" that linkedin plugin is using?
Lucian Beebe Sep 3, 2007
When you use the Invite window, it expects that you are inviting from your Outlook address book. We are looking for first name, last name, and e-mail address so we can format them into a message that says something like, "Michal, Please join my network." So, we do try to collect the first and last name.
If you just enter an e-mail address, we will display an error "Please enter a first name. Please enter a last name." Clicking on that error text opens the invitation again. On the invitation window, in the upper right is a button called Fix Invitation. Click that button, enter the first and last names, and send it again.
I hope this resolves the problem.
Lucian
dmitri Sep 13, 2007
Addon for thunderbird please!!!
Mark Sep 24, 2007
Where can I find support for the Outlook toolbar. It crashes Outlook 2007 every time and must be disabled.
Lucian Beebe Sep 25, 2007
Try the new 2.5 version of the Outlook toolbar. We just published it last night. It may fix your problem. There are a lot of bug fixes. If it doesn't fix the problem, with the toolbar installed, take the LinkedIn-->Report a Bug menu on the Outlook window and turn on logging. This will help us pinpoint the problem for you.
So, try the new version and we can go from there.
Thank you
Lucian
David Lewis Sep 25, 2007
Hello,
I have been using the linked in toolbar for a while - I have NEVER been able to submit a request for a connection I ALWAYS get the message:
"The "Connect via LinkedIn" invitation could not be sent because the LinkedIn server has encountered an internal error." (I even have to type this in because the message dialog does not let me copy and paste or send the error message - a worthless piece of crap in my opinion!)
It is great for the other things it does for me - but it comes to doing something for YOU it fails 100% of the time!!!!
Seems you would make this a priority!!!!!
Don Rosen Oct 21, 2007
I have the same problem as Mark. I just installed the Outlook Toolbar V2.5, and had to remove it because Outlook 2007 crashes immediately after launch.
Bertrand Nepveu Oct 22, 2007
Add another request for Thunderbird support !!!
knaak Nov 1, 2007
Thunderbird plugin / toolbar would be great
Luiz Nov 6, 2007
Just another request for Thunderbird support.
Dave Martin Nov 7, 2007
I now have my CV on linkedin. It still has to prove its value to me though, it has to find me work!
As an It person rapidly approaching 50, Ive seen it all come and go (I know, another reactionary hasbeen) and I dont believe all the jazzy features will amount to a 'hill of beans'.
The basics are good though in linkedin, and this will be enough to keep it growing and growing - at least until you guys have had enough and you flog the lot to Google for mega-millions.
What would help, and ensure that linkedin remains an important leap forward in the job market and the global economy would be enhanced options with regard to downloading CVs. Having put my life history on linkedin and got some recommendations, I'm still being asked by recruiters for a MS-Word copy. I dont want to give them one though! I want to give them a url on linkedin where they should be able to download a very pretty one which I've already been able to configure with the right info in.
My linkedin cv with all its recommendations packs a much heftier punch than a bald MS-word job history, but a lot of companies and managers want a CV in their hands given to them by a recruiting company. That way they can hang onto the illusion that they have exclusive access to the person.
Do some work on this and you really stand a chance of orchestrating a small revolution in the way people look for wrok.
Rick Schultz Nov 13, 2007
Another vote for Thunderbird toolbar, please! I had used it in Outlook, and I miss it!
Elizabeth M Jackson Nov 18, 2007
Another request for Thunderbird support.
I have downloaded the Outlook toolbar. I love it, but Outlook cannot handle my Gmail account. So, step two was to download the browser tools; neither IE or the Firefox worked with my Gmail. I uninstalled, rebooted the computer, reinstalled, rebooted the browser, disabled and enabled the add-on tools and a variety of combinations of the previous steps. Also, even if they were working, they wouldn't support one of the main features I'm looking for - the "Keep in Touch" feature. So, long story short, please create a Thunderbird toolbar as similar to the Outlook integration as possible. I'd be elated!
Michael Kenward Nov 19, 2007
Outlook can handle GMail, if you want it to. Just fill in the right POP and SMTP addresses.
Peter Crowell Dec 14, 2007
I've tried twice now to install the LinkedIn toolbar in my Outlook 2007. For the second time, (having uninstalled and tried again), the following message box won't leave me alone: The "Join my network on LinkedIn" invitation was sent but the response from the LinkedIn server could not be parsed.
I'd really like this window to stop popping up every three minutes. Can anyone tell me how to disable it?
Thanks!
Peter Crowell
Allen Iacopinelli Dec 26, 2007
I am also using Outlook 2007 & am getting the same message: The "Join my network on LinkedIn" invitation was sent but the response from the LinkedIn server could not be parsed.
Thanks,
Allen
Jan Aynes Jan 3, 2008
I am having the same problem as Peter Crowell: The "Join my network on LinkedIn" invitation was sent but the response from the LinkedIn server could not be parsed. I have not seen a response or another comment about it. Anyone?
Thanks!
Jan C. Aynes
Skip Bensley Jan 8, 2008
've tried seven times now to install the LinkedIn toolbar in my Outlook 2007. For the 7th time, (having uninstalled and tried again), the following message box won't leave me alone: The seven "Join my network on LinkedIn" invitations were sent but the responses from the LinkedIn server could not be parsed.
Can we make this go away please?
Rick Brennan Jan 8, 2008
I just installed the Linkedin Outlook Toolbar, and made the mistake of adding my email to the email field of one of my invitations - so I could see what invitation looks like to my invitees. That generated an error (seems Linkedin doesn't allow you to invite yourself, and thought thats what I was doing). Problem is, the error keeps coming up every time I send an invite. I tried to uninstall, then reinstall the toolbar to clear the error, but that didn't work. How do I clear this error from the send queue?
Lucian Beebe Jan 8, 2008
I want to clear up the questions about the "Join my network on LinkedIn" messages. These are created when you take the Invite menu option or when you use the last page of the Build Network Wizard.
In the past, if these messages couldn't be sent because of some error, you'd see an error, and then they would just sit in a folder in Outlook waiting for you to attend to them. There is an option setting that defaults to trying to resend them every five minutes. However, because of a bug, they weren't resent. So, for those who had the Outlook toolbar in the past, you may have had unsent invitations sitting in that folder.
In the new version, we fixed that bug and now all of you are getting messages often telling you that you have errors in your unsent messages. I am suddenly sorry we fixed that bug :).
To get rid of this message, either fix the problem with the messages or delete them altogether. The folder is under your Outbox and is called Unsent Invitations.
I hope this clears things up. Sorry for the delayed response for some of you.
Lucian Beebe
Product manager
LinkedIn
Mark Jan 9, 2008
Another Tbird request for the record.
Thunderbird tool please
Nate Boyd Jan 22, 2008
I am having the same problem as Peter Crowell: The "Join my network on LinkedIn" invitation was sent but the response from the LinkedIn server could not be parsed."
I re-installed the toolbar and have continued to experience this problem. I changed the auto-send invites time from 5 minutes to 480 minutes and hopefully that will at least delay how often the error popup occurs.
Lucian Beebe Jan 23, 2008
Nate, my recommendation is to delete the messages according to my previous comment above and then try again. Because of the changes we made to fix this area of the product, a lot of old messages are now becoming pesky.
Lucian
Munawaali Jaffer Jan 25, 2008
I get the message
"Some errors occurred while sending outgoing invitations. Please review the errors below for more details."
And the details says ...."This invitation cannot be sent right now"
Gene Stark Jan 25, 2008
LinkedIn is an awesome tool as is the LinkedIn Toolbar for Outlook. Can you please develop same for Thunderbird email client.
Thanks
Ejal Bracha Jan 26, 2008
I am having the same problem as Peter Crowell and Nate Boyd: The "Join my network on LinkedIn" invitation was sent but the response from the LinkedIn server could not be parsed."
I did as you recomende but this does not help. Plus I dont have old Invit in my mailbox.
Dave Jan 27, 2008
Lucian,
I have run into the same "parsing" message. I'm glad you fixed the bug - it is actually very helpful to see that note, and it's simple to delete the message.
With that said, I have been unable to invite the past 5 people due to this "parsing bug." Can you provide any suggestions on how to actually fix the program so that the response can be parsed? (As you may or may not know, when
this bug occurs, the actual invite is not sent...something I double-checked via my account online.)
Thanks
Dave
Douglas Sorocco Jan 29, 2008
Lucian -
Thanks for all the hard work. I am also having the parsing issue in Outlook. I have deleted the messages etc. which solves the error of the message popping up, but more troubling is that it doesn't appear that my invitations are actually being sent.
They don't show up in my pending invitations list on the website for one thing. Also, I invited myself at a novel email address and nothing ever showed up in that email inbox.
The usefulness of the Toolbar is greatly impacted if invitations cannot be sent within Outlook, so it would be great if there is a fix currently to this error or something in the very near future.
Thanks,
Douglas
Robert Jan 29, 2008
I get this error in Outlook 2007 Help:
The "Join my network on LinkedIn" invitation could not be sent because the LinkedIn server has encountered an internal error.
Ray Jan 30, 2008
I am also having the parsing error. However this is occuring on new invites i make from the information box. I have deleted them and retried and I get the same problem. This has been occuring for about the last 2 weeks or so with all invites I have done. I just installed the latest toolbar version but it did not change anything. I am using Xp SP2 and Office 2003.
Lucian Beebe Jan 30, 2008
We have identified the bug. The Outlook Toolbar interfaces with the LinkedIn server to send the message. The server is not responding properly for some reason. We are looking into fixing it and I hope can have it back working again within a few days. I'll post again here and other blog postings about the bug as soon as we have it fixed.
Lucian Beebe
LinkedIn
Chad Massaker Jan 30, 2008
I downloaded and installed the latest version of the LinkedIn Toolbar for Outlook. When I start Outlook 2007, the tools bar loads and then Outlooks just hangs. I have since disabled all other add-ins so that the LinkedIn one is the only that loads when I start Outlook and I get the same results.
I am running Outlook 2007 and Windows Vista Business all with latested services packs on a Dell Latitude D620: 2.0ghz Core Duo, 2GB RAM
Alexander Sultan Jan 31, 2008
Please consider Thunderbird, since I don't use Outlook. Does anyone know if there is a 3rd party who has designed something yet?
Sam Feb 1, 2008
Having the aforementioned issue myself (the server parsing error). I can say that i have been using the toolbar for over a month and the issue only started a few days (maybe a week+) ago.
Only thing I did so far was to manually delete the invites in the outbox/unsent invites.
But it would be nice to invite my contacts via outlook again... ;)
David Benish Feb 2, 2008
Is there an ETA on when the bug will be fixed? This is driving me nuts.
And how to we change the setting so that it only runs at larger intervals of time?
Thank you,
David
marc Feb 4, 2008
For some reason I have been unable to invite others to join my contact list from my outlook contact folder or from outlook at all. I keep getting the following error message.
“the join my network on linkedin invitation was sent but the response from the linkedin server could not be parsed”. The unsent invitation remains in my unsent box and can not be corrected – any thoughts.
Lucian Beebe Feb 4, 2008
Many of you have reported the bug in sending invitations from the Outlook Toolbar. Thank you for your patience while we've been investigating and fixing it. This bug prevented invitations from being sent and you always saw a message that the message couldn't be parsed. The bug was caused by some changes we made to our authentication model recently.
At this point, it looks like we will be pushing a fix Thursday evening and your toolbar invitations should suddenly start working again. You won't have to make any changes on your side.
Again, I am sorry for the bug and the problems it has caused you, but this should fix the bug.
Lucian Beebe
LinkedIn
David Cutler Feb 5, 2008
I know how these threads work ... but it would be helpful to put the final "Lucian Beebe Feb 4, 2008" solution on top of this page or somewhere more visible.
David "Still Loving LinkedIn" Cutler
Patrick OMalley Feb 8, 2008
I installed the Outlook toolbar tonight, and have had a lot of problems since. It keeps giving me the error message
“Some errors occurred while sending outgoing invitations. Please review the errors below for more details”
then
The “Join my network on LinkedIn” invitation was sent but the response from the server could not be parsed.
Its YOUR message. If you can't parse it, then why do you keep interrupting my work, jumping into the front window, to tell me you can't parse your own message. As you can see on my web site, I am doing a seminar on LinkedIn for 75 people at ASTD next month, and I hate having to tell people not to use the toolbar becuase it is more aggravating than helpful. The web site is www.patrickomalley.com if you want verification, and I also wrote a LinkedIn tutorial at www.patrickomalley.com/linkedin_quick_start_tutorial.htm
Lucian Beebe Feb 8, 2008
Last night, we fixed the bug causing the "cannot parse the message" problem. There's nothing you need to do to the toolbar, it should just start working now.
Sorry for the problems the bug caused.
Lucian
LinkedIn
Douglas Sorocco Feb 8, 2008
Thanks Lucian -
Works now like a charm.
Best,
Douglas
Martin Gaffney Feb 10, 2008
I too had the same "parse" problem which does seem to have stopped now.
However, worse still, as both a Vista and Outlook 2007 user, the LinkedIn toolbar causes Outlook to hang frequently and often causes outgoing email messages to get stuck in the Outbox folder. The only way to fix the problem is to remove the LinkedIn toolbar....everything then works fine. Very, very disappointing as I love the toolbar......if onl it worked properly.
Tom Giles Feb 11, 2008
I manage IT for an SME all of whom use the LinkedIn Toolbar. Since upgrading to Vista + Office 2007 2 weeks ago, the LinkedIn Toolbar has been causing major headaches by crashing Outlook etc. (sounds like exactly the same problem Martin Gaffney has). Any ideas on when this will be addressed?
Lucian Beebe Feb 11, 2008
We are looking again at Vista and Office 2007. We did quite a bit of testing and fixed a few bugs here in the last release, but maybe a patch or a configuration we didn't test is causing problems. We aren't seeing anything here in the lab, but we'll dig into it and fix anything we can find for the next release.
And through the wonder that is LinkedIn, we will reach out and contact some of you to make sure we're testing your particular configuration.
Lucian
Saji Feb 12, 2008
Even after uninstalling and re-installing the latest version 2.5, I am still getting the error message "The "Join my network on LinkedIn" invitation was sent but the response from the LinkedIn server could not be parsed."".
I am using Outlook 2002 (10.6822.6830) SP3 & XP
Thank you very much for looking into,
Saji
Lucian Beebe Feb 12, 2008
Saji: try deleting the message that's causing the problem and resending it. You can find it in the Unsent Invitations folder. Typically, you can delete that whole folder.
The fix we made should stop these errors and seems to have worked for everyone. You shouldn't have to do anything more than resend the message, but try deleting the old ones if they are giving you a problem.
Thank you for sticking with it
Lucian
Gintaras Kuzma Feb 20, 2008
Is there a silent installer? Or some kind of deployment method to use to install this to end users? As far as I can tell, you must run the installer on a per machine/per user basis.. It would be helpful if there was an installer that I could use to install to multiple users in a locked-down environment, rather than individually.
DK Burnaby Feb 28, 2008
I'm having the parse issue as of today, and I just freshly installed the Toolbar on this machine for the first time. I'm running Win XP SP2 and Outlook 2003 - so what gives? According to Lucian's post, this should be fixed now. Any help?
Martin Gaffney Mar 5, 2008
Lucian - is there any news on fixing the Vista/Outlook 2007 issues yet please? Not being able to use the toolbar is causing me major productivity issues!
Thanks!
Martin Gaffney Mar 10, 2008
....and also.....in case you were not aware....
Trying to use the normal "add connections" method to interrogate your Outlook contacts from LinkedIn when on Vista bombs Internet Explorer out completely.....
Matthew O'Riordan Mar 23, 2008
hi
I am having the same problem people have been describing whereby I am inviting a number of people using the Outlook 2007 Toolbar "Send Invite" feature, and I am getting the error message:
The "Join my network on LinkedIn" invitation was sent but the response from the LinkedIn server could not be parsed.
I have tried reducing the number of people in the invite from 150 to 10 and the same problem persists, I have deleted all old invites from the "Unsent Invitations" folder and tried again, and no matter what I keep having this problem. To be honest this kind of negates the usefulness of this tool if this doesn't work!
Running Vista Professional, Outlook 2007, pretty standard everything else with no other Outlook toolbars.
Feel free to contact me directly on matt at lemon foundation dot com if you want screen shots or help diagnosing the problem. I would very much like to get these invites out in the next day or two if possible.
Matt
Tom Mangone Mar 26, 2008
Still getting the parsed error. Nothing has been fixed. Who is heading up this problem at LinkedIn anyway?
Nino Marchetti Mar 27, 2008
I'll echo the thoughts of some others here - would love to see a Thunderbird toolbar...
Patrick Mar 27, 2008
Keep getting a message telling me invitation can't be sent because they are already a user. It keeps showing up every time I send a new invite.
Bruce Mustard Mar 30, 2008
I am only having problems with crashing when the pda is docked. As long as it is off the cradle, Outlook seems fine. Plug it in, and Outlook soon takes a tour.
Outlook 2007
Win XP SP2
Activesync 4.5
Win. Mobile 5
Miro Kucera Apr 5, 2008
When I am trying to upload Outlook contacts to LinkedIn (Contacts -> Add Connections -> Check Outlook contacts) I always get the following message:
There was an error processing your request.
The was an error initializing your Windows Address Book.
This started appearing after I migrated to a new, Vista-based system. I used the same Outlook 2003 before, on an XP system, and it worked fine.
I am encountering no other problems with my Outlook 2003; any clue what might be the cause, please?
Rob Fleischmann Apr 8, 2008
The "Connect via LinkedIn?" invitation was sent but the response from the LinkedIn server could not be parsed.
I just loaded the LinkedIn toolbar for my Outlook 2007 (Vista 64 O/S) [brilliant concept, btw]
I got the same messages as everyone else, then decided to parse out what the issue was with my modified template. Here's what I found - PRECEDING SPACE!
The LinkedIn response parser doesn't like preceding space (such as the "fitting" spaces I put up to pretty-up my signature)... as soon as I removed it all, the hiccups went away.
I hope this helps everyone.
Cheers!
Rob
Again - Lucien, et al - Brilliant App! Keep up the level of intuition in anticipating the user's needs - you guys Rock! I have almost 1500 contacts in my Outlook and this toolbar add-on is finally automating much of what I've been trying to achieve with my "6-degrees". It's so rare to find s/w designers that sit back, relax, whiteboard and really come up with something that folks NEED and can use!
Kudos!
Jeff Dierking Apr 12, 2008
One more vote for Thunderbird Support.
I love the features of the Outlook plugin, as I use that at work, but I am not on Windows and Outlook is not a simple option even if I wanted to do so.
I have found a wourk around, but it forces me to rely on my work email client.
Dave Gale Apr 17, 2008
Have recently switched from PC to Mac and although I really dig this machine... I am totally gutted to have lost the "grab" functionality from the Outlook toolbar!
Yet another vote for a Thunderbird toolbar! Please? Pretty please?? Desperate Pretty Please?
;)
Dave
Chris Bryant Apr 21, 2008
+1 for Thunderbird support. Thunderbird is an invaluable tool for email and is likely used more professionally than MSN/Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail, etc.
Thanks!
Chris Milner Apr 24, 2008
I have started getting "the response from the LinkedIn server could not be parsed." again.
I thought this bug was fixed?
Lucian, could you provide a status on this issue?
Thanks
Chris
Mario Sundar Apr 28, 2008
@Rob and others who've voiced your support and encouragement. Thanks!
I understand your concerns surrounding issues, many of which have been dealt with in prior comments. I'd recommend three simple steps to offer you a solution.
1. Please check prior comments if a similar problem has been resolved by Lucian's comment
2. Check out the new customer support site that lists over 400 FAQs you may have on your mind
http://linkedin.custhelp.com/
3. If that still doesn't answer your question, submit a new request, again via the same site. The process is painfully simple.
4. If none of the above works, please contact customer service at customerservice@linkedin.com
Either the blog post owner or I will do my best to help answer your question on the blog, but many of these tactical issues are better resolved via customer service. Thanks, guys!
Ramiro Burr Apr 28, 2008
Can someone please help me wth thi:
"Outlook can handle GMail, if you want it to. Just fill in the right POP and SMTP addresses."
Thanks,
Ramiro Burr
musicreporter@gmail.com
Mikael Björn May 12, 2008
As you see above, we're a couple of people using Thunderbird as our mail client and some of us even use Lightning as the calendar tool integrated in Thunderbird.
Just to give you a bit more leverage for prioritizing the Thunderbird plugin, we all at Sun Microsystems use Thunderbird as our mail client and I think that most of us would love to see a LinkedIn plugin for our corporate mail tool!
Is there some kind of time line for this or will we still be forced to synchronize using other Social Networking sites for the marvelous content of LinkedIn?
Mikael Björn May 12, 2008
As you see above, we're a couple of people using Thunderbird as our mail client and some of us even use Lightning as the calendar tool integrated in Thunderbird.
Just to give you a bit more leverage for prioritizing the Thunderbird plugin, we all at Sun Microsystems use Thunderbird as our mail client and I think that most of us would love to see a LinkedIn plugin for our corporate mail tool!
Is there some kind of time line for this or will we still be forced to synchronize using other Social Networking sites for the marvelous content of LinkedIn?
Tim May 14, 2008
Please support Thunderbird
Caitlin Perez May 19, 2008
I need some help! I tried to add another email address to my account however I keep getting a reply back stating “There was a problem adding the address" It wont let me add it on!
Any suggestions?
Thanks!
Caitlin
Nathan Nahouraii Jun 2, 2008
I just found out that the problem I was having with the message not being sent from Outlook had to do with the number of characters in the message. I was receiving the error message that ended with "server could not be parsed", and when I shrunk the length of the message down it was sent without issues.
Kevin Jenkins Jun 13, 2008
I just started using the outlook toolbar but am getting the parsing error. I see this was discussed back in January and it is still not fixed? Any suggestions? Thanks. Kevin
Mario Sundar Jun 18, 2008
Thanks to all for your comments. Please refer to Lucian's answers to your question in above thread. For all other issues please refer to our customer service site.
http://linkedin.custhelp.com/
Since we're receiving multiple questions that have already been answered we will be closing this thread moving forward.