X-Git-Url: https://git.cworth.org/git?a=blobdiff_plain;f=src%2Fsup%2Fa-mail-client-for-geeks.mdwn;h=7358f9fcde581fd80a5e35340c0d940faa53a18c;hb=dea5bca3d4a058e4af22eb8cf5e48d344c103101;hp=a31e0784fd97e083e7a83becad8bde7a67fd08d5;hpb=6a93e8172b8c9ee7e18c4aeab32e0d087c0a3480;p=cworth.org diff --git a/src/sup/a-mail-client-for-geeks.mdwn b/src/sup/a-mail-client-for-geeks.mdwn index a31e078..7358f9f 100644 --- a/src/sup/a-mail-client-for-geeks.mdwn +++ b/src/sup/a-mail-client-for-geeks.mdwn @@ -39,37 +39,37 @@ interesting conversation with Jamey Sharp about what the ideal mail-handling system would look like. Here are some of the ideas we came up with: - * Program presents me with messages that need my attention, (a - chronological sort of the archive with unread items in bold does - not count). - - * When I decide a message does not need my attention I can make it - "go away" into the archive, (and "mark as read" does not - count---I want to file away messages but still track whether - they are read or not in the archive). - - * Threads must be first-level objects, (in particular I want a - kill-thread command that archives not only the current messages, - but all future messages received in a given thread). - - * System should support arbitrary tags on messages. Tags can be - applied automatically, (such as applying categories to mail - received on lists), and applied ad-hoc by the user. - - * System should allow searching over the entire archive with most - recent results appearing instantly. Search terms can include - tags, message headers, or full-body search (including phrases). - - * In addition to full-archive search, incremental refinement - should be possible, (a new search based on the results of a - previous search). - - * There's no need for folders in this system. Tags and - incrementally refined, tag-based searching provide all the - benefits, (without the bug in folder-based systems where a user - has to hunt among many folders to find one where a search - returns non-empty results). In particular, the "inbox" view - should just be a search for unread and non-archived messages. + * Program presents me with messages that need my attention, (a + chronological sort of the archive with unread items in bold does + not count). + + * When I decide a message does not need my attention I can make it + "go away" into the archive, (and "mark as read" does not + count---I want to file away messages but still track whether + they are read or not in the archive). + + * Threads must be first-level objects, (in particular I want a + kill-thread command that archives not only the current messages, + but all future messages received in a given thread). + + * System should support arbitrary tags on messages. Tags can be + applied automatically, (such as applying categories to mail + received on lists), and applied ad-hoc by the user. + + * System should allow searching over the entire archive with most + recent results appearing instantly. Search terms can include + tags, message headers, or full-body search (including phrases). + + * In addition to full-archive search, incremental refinement + should be possible, (a new search based on the results of a + previous search). + + * There's no need for folders in this system. Tags and + incrementally refined, tag-based searching provide all the + benefits, (without the bug in folder-based systems where a user + has to hunt among many folders to find one where a search + returns non-empty results). In particular, the "inbox" view + should just be a search for unread and non-archived messages. That was basically our list of core features. Beyond that, we also discussed some further ideas for improving the prioritization of email @@ -89,13 +89,20 @@ the learning-based approaches). It also does a few things I hadn't specified, such as displaying email in a full-thread nested view, (rather than one message at a time), with quoted elements and signatures folded out of view until the user -asks to see them. +asks to see them. Another nice touch is that the single-line +presentation of a thread includes the first names of participants in +the thread, (with bold names to indicate unread messages). This +provides some of the essential information needed for applying Joey +Hess's [thread +patterns](http://joey.kitenet.net/blog/entry/thread_patterns/), but +without the tree view at this point. [Note: I have been told that several of the above features are also implemented in gmail. I've never tried gmail myself, since it fails to -provide some even more fundamental features: 1. offline usage, -2. personal ownership of email storage, 3. free-software -implementation for customization. +provide some even more fundamental features: 1. offline +usage, (thanks to both Mark and Greg for pointing out that gmail +has offline support in beta via gears) 2. personal ownership of email +storage, 3. free-software implementation for customization.] In the few days I've been using sup, it's definitely transformed the way I process mail. Keeping my inbox empty is simple now, and I now