Please, pretty please take part in this discussion!
One conclusion I made from the "RMW in the browser" discussion is that the recent messages listing seem to be a vital part of how PowerMail users interact with their email messages. At least for users being on this list. It's also true for me. Without it, I may have never have chosen PowerMail. Another main reason for me is because I think PowerMail don't get into the way of my interaction with my email much. Behind that feat is that PowerMail has a simple yet powerful way to handle large amount of messages and that the interface generally is quite intuitive to move about in the email browser space. It's not without glitches and contradictions, however. I have been a vocal supporter in the past (already in 2003) of "smart" folders in the fashion to fuse saveable search criteria and the recent mail window. RECENT MAIL WINDOW My reasons, some of which was repeated in the "RMW in browser" discussion, is that the RMW is a useful feature of PowerMail and vital in daily message interaction, but that it does have some problems: 1. It's cumbersome or even impossible to affect exactly what ends up there as the settings are hardwired. The wishes of the user of what to put or not to put there may also be different from day to day. 2. Message listings are not retained between restarts.** 3. User must chose between, not removing messages, removing all read or removing all. 4. The Message listing is not scriptable. 5. ______ <your input> **Back in 2003 Jérôme suggested that searching could replace the functionality of unretained messages between restarts. While this is true for simple setups, the search result for "date received" would also show all the messages that didn't end up in the RMW because the user set his filters to not include them, for whatever reason. I have several filters set that way because I only want the really important things in the RMW. It's not possible to repeat that effect with searches today. It's important to note that the RMW is different in concept and characteristics than the browser. · It's "virtual" in the sense that the messages are actually stored (from the user standpoint at least) in "concrete" folders, often in a well- known folder structure created by the user him/herself. · The recent mail window, to my knowledge, doesn't rely on Foxtrot(TM) technology, but filters affect what doesn't end up there. SEARCH RESULTS WINDOWS The Search Results Windows are also "virtual", but · they are based on Foxtrot(TM) technology and therefore... · rely on the search index. So results are typically somewhat different. The main problems of searches are: 1. They are limited on what is actually stored in the search index, i.e. "words" and not complete strings or parts of strings, sometimes making it hard to or even impossible to be sure you have found all the messages you want. Typically this means search results are broader than intended. This is not always a big problem, but it can be. 2. The Search dialog doesn't completely reflect the nature of the indexed searches, sometimes leading the user to expect results that are not possible to achieve. 3. The searches are not saveable, making it cumbersome to repeat a set of searches on a daily basis. 4. ______<your input> 2 MORE TECHNOLOGIES We also have 2 more technologies at our disposal: · The "view all", "view unread" or "view drafts" setting, which most often does exactly what is says. Sometime the current setting is not reflected so well in the interface. · The "Show only" filter in the browser, which work also on parts of a word or string, but only in the folder where the filtering string of characters was entered. As of today there are few bugs at play too, but that's beyond the scope here. MAIL FILTERS Filters are different because they typically at least · on concrete messages, ie on the messages themselves, rather than on a virtual representation (The exception being affecting what is not in the RMW) The main email filter problems are: 1. The list can over time become quite unwieldy to manage. 2. It's hard to always remember exactly what a filter does and why, 3, It's even more hard to know what to expect how it will work on actual messages (that may or may not contain what you expect). So setting up effective filters is not always a piece of cake. 4. You have to look at and analyze headers in order to get full effectiveness. Something not all know enough of to do easily. 5. _______<your input> DOES SMART FOLDERS SOLVE THESE PROBLEMS? So, if the above mentioned problems are indeed problems to deal with, do 'smart' folders solve them? Well, if we're talking about 'virtual' smart folders that seek to fuse RMW with searches I think that 2 and 3 of Recent Mail Window problems may be fully solved. 1 and 4 could be solved, but needs more than just 'smart' folders. The Searches problems 2 and 3 may be fully solved, given the interface of setting up and saing searches is also improved to give realistic user expectations. 1 is not solved unless something else than Foxtrot(TM) is also used. Something I wouldn't expect to happen. Of the Mail Filter problems, only 1 would be affected provided the user more or less gives up moving the messages to concrete folders and use 'smart' folders instead to view and interact messages. Typically though, I think users would keep the filtersa and folder structure and use 'smart' folders in addition. So 1 wouldn't be solved satisfactorily and none of the other mentioned problems. Please add your thoughts and especially if I left out some problems in the areas covered. Please don't ignore the discussion. Your views on these matters are much needed! I intend to address placement of the recent mail window and other saveable searches in part 2 and also to reflect on work or interaction flow we have currently and how 'smart' folders could affect this. My apologies that this became lengthier than intended too. Mikael PM 5.2.3 Swedish | OS X 10.3.9 | Powerbook G4/400Mhz | 1GB RAM | 30GB HD
