Storing outgoing mail with IMAP

[Caio Chassot]

1) What if, like me, the user has been sorely abused by lesser IMAP clients and has FOUR candidates? Only one of the four is right.

Like I said, try to see if some are empty, discard those. Etc. Maybe offer to merge them all.

2) Creating one silently is an evil thing, I now believe. What if the user already has one and it is in their native language?

Would have to know how often this happens. I'd wager it's rare, but then again I avoid localized software like the plague for reasons like this. (Also, I like the original terminology from the developer. Assuming english of course.)

I want to punch Mail.app in the liver for that idiotic "Apple Mail To Do" that shows up in all my non-Apple mail clients.

This is definitely in my list of things that I wanted a physical, stabbable manifestation.

While trying to help the user do the right thing may make it less egregious, I believe that all server-side folder creation must be explicitly authorized by the user.

I agree in spirit, but what about the Vista effect?

If we try to act reasonably and respectfully, the user might be ok with leaving some decisions to us. Maybe just ask once and generically "Can we have at it, or do you want to fiddle with every little setting?"

[Mo McRoberts]

Post by Caio Chassot
If we try to act reasonably and respectfully, the user might be ok with
leaving some decisions to us. Maybe just ask once and generically "Can
we have at it, or do you want to fiddle with every little setting?"

IMHO that’s almost (though not quite) worse than the Vista effect: you
create uncertainty and worry for actions which the user would
*probably* be okay with, without them knowing when or what they are.

Pick sensible defaults and just go with it. If the user doesn’t have
anything we can identify as a “Sent mail” folder and they try to send a
mail, create one: by that point, most users who *care* would have
already picked their Sent/Trash/Outbox/Junk folders (or equivalents).
Thus, if the user just opens Letters and looks-but-doesn’t-touch, the
folders are left alone.

M.

[Olivier Scherler]

Post by Caio Chassot

1) What if, like me, the user has been sorely abused by lesser IMAP
clients and has FOUR candidates? Only one of the four is right.

Like I said, try to see if some are empty, discard those. Etc. Maybe
offer to merge them all.

2) Creating one silently is an evil thing, I now believe. What if
the user already has one and it is in their native language?

Would have to know how often this happens. I'd wager it's rare, but
then again I avoid localized software like the plague for reasons
like this. (Also, I like the original terminology from the
developer. Assuming english of course.)

A folder for sent messages is not needed until you send an e-mail.
Once the account creation is complete, the account settings are
displayed for review (not a summary but the actual account settings
window). I'd guess power users always review settings anyway. Now
either Letters found a good candidate with some smart code and it's
selected by default, or it didn't and the setting for storing sent
mail reads something like "Create a 'Sent' folder". At which point the
user can change it if wanted, and the folder has not been created yet,
meaning no harm.

Ö.

[Ian Eiloart]

Post by Caio Chassot

1) What if, like me, the user has been sorely abused by lesser IMAP
clients and has FOUR candidates? Only one of the four is right.

Like I said, try to see if some are empty, discard those. Etc. Maybe
offer to merge them all.

2) Creating one silently is an evil thing, I now believe. What if
the user already has one and it is in their native language?

Would have to know how often this happens. I'd wager it's rare, but
then again I avoid localized software like the plague for reasons
like this. (Also, I like the original terminology from the
developer. Assuming english of course.)

A folder for sent messages is not needed until you send an e-mail. Once
the account creation is complete, the account settings are displayed for
review (not a summary but the actual account settings window). I'd guess
power users always review settings anyway. Now either Letters found a
good candidate with some smart code and it's selected by default, or it
didn't and the setting for storing sent mail reads something like "Create
a 'Sent' folder". At which point the user can change it if wanted, and
the folder has not been created yet, meaning no harm.

If a Sent mailbox isn't defined, we should *Ask* the user which mailbox
they'd like to use, and whether they always want to be given the option. We
should also let them put replies into the mailbox of the replied to message
(this would probably mean defaulting to saving new messages in the INBOX).