--On 24 January 2010 03:03:00 -0800 Neil <[email protected]> wrote:
Well...this is a power user client... What's wrong with just giving the option? I don't see this as causing a huge amount of bloat. We implement JWZ-style threading, and then in Preferences: " Show threads: ( ) Tree ( ) Flat [ ] Also use Subject-line based threading "
Lets not lose sight of the fact that IMAP servers supports two styles of threading "Subject" or "References". These determine the order in which messages are sorted, but not the manner in which they're displayed.
Sometimes, you might find a server that supports one threading mechanism, but not the other. If that happens, default to the supported mechanism - on the grounds that the user may be seeing this sorting mechanism in other clients.
Gmail IMAP supports neither. So, if you're seeing threading in an IMAP client, I guess that's performed in the client and not on the server. In any case, Gmail users probably expect subject threading, since that's what Gmail does in the web client.
Servers that support both mechanisms: I don't much care what the default is. More important is to leave the user in control. Ideally, it would be easy to change the sorting criteria within ANY message list without going to a preferences panel. I guess we're going to be able to sort and reverse sort by clicking on a column header? Well, perhaps the subject column header should give a drop down to select one of several styles of sorting? Or perhaps it could contain icons for flat/nested (Mulberry does this for mailbox lists). But, remember we have at least three possible view: subject threading, flat reference threading and nested reference threading; each of which could be displayed recent messages first or last.
I have a question: is it possible to supplement JWZ threading with Subject threading, or are they strict alternatives?
-- Ian Eiloart IT Services, University of Sussex 01273-873148 x3148 For new support requests, see http://www.sussex.ac.uk/its/help/ _______________________________________________ [email protected] mailing list List help: http://lists.ranchero.com/listinfo.cgi/email-init-ranchero.com
