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= Goals =
Improve the Thunderbird search interface, make search a useful and integral part of thunderbird for finding mail, contacts, attachments, and events.
Improving the search is going to take a lot of improvements in a number of different areas; from the search entry to browsing, the results view, and processing / organizing.
''This page is for defining and aggregating search improvement efforts into a common vision, promoting and combining the collective efforts.''
== Make Search Entry More Prominent ==
Currently the search interface is small and aligned off to the right. We need to start trying ways to bring it out more.
* Some Possible Ideas
** Larger Entry Interface
** Centered Search Entry
** Bring the Search Entry into the Mail View
== Search Multiple Sources ==
With better search indexing we can begin to try searching multiple items from the same search interface with results appearing in the same results view.
* Possible Search Sources
** mail
*** subject
*** text
** attachments
*** file
*** type
** tags
** contacts
*** names
*** emails
*** phone numbers
** (calendar) events
* Possible Ideas
** additional meta search language ''from:person'' or ''in:folder''
== Auto-Complete Search Results ==
Think "Awesomebar" for Thunderbird. We can help people search their mail with a fast and slick layout for finding the correct message.
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| google [x] |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[r] _Google_ Contacts API [t] news _google_ [*]
_Google_ released a new contacts API... 1 day ago
[u] _Google_ Summer of Code Ideas [t] soc _google_ [*]
... Send me your _Google_ Soc ideas when... 3 weeks ago
[r] _Google_ Calendar Integration [t] soc _google_ [*]
... Thunderbird integrated with _Google_ Calendar... 1 month ago
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[a] GMail Screenshot.png [t] screenshot gmail _google_ [*]
... attached screenshot of _google_'s gmail ... 2 months ago
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[n] _Google_ Summer of Code Mailing List [t] soc _google_ [*]
_google_-soc-2008@_google_groups.com 22 Unread Messages
[c] Sergey Brin [t] _google_ [*]
sergey@_google_.com 1 Unread Message
[r] == read message icon
[u] == unread message icon
[n] == news group
[c] == contact / person
[a] == attachment
[t] == tag icon
[*] == (un)starred icon
== Better Indexing ==
Searching messages is currently slow and often inaccurate. We need to work on a system of indexing messages and contact information so they are easy to find again.
* Some Possible Ideas
** Index all new information as it arrives
** Only Index the new text in an email, ignore quoted text
** Index attachments for file name and file type
== Faceted Browsing ==
The [http://simile.mit.edu/seek/ SEEK] project is a Thunderbird extension that offers a fast method of searching through filtering. See their project page for installation, instructions, and code.
* Possible Ideas
** Include a faceted browsing interface with the search bar
** Use a faceted browsing interface to filter the results view
[[Category:Thunderbird]]
Improve the Thunderbird search interface, make search a useful and integral part of thunderbird for finding mail, contacts, attachments, and events.
Improving the search is going to take a lot of improvements in a number of different areas; from the search entry to browsing, the results view, and processing / organizing.
''This page is for defining and aggregating search improvement efforts into a common vision, promoting and combining the collective efforts.''
== Make Search Entry More Prominent ==
Currently the search interface is small and aligned off to the right. We need to start trying ways to bring it out more.
* Some Possible Ideas
** Larger Entry Interface
** Centered Search Entry
** Bring the Search Entry into the Mail View
== Search Multiple Sources ==
With better search indexing we can begin to try searching multiple items from the same search interface with results appearing in the same results view.
* Possible Search Sources
*** subject
*** text
** attachments
*** file
*** type
** tags
** contacts
*** names
*** emails
*** phone numbers
** (calendar) events
* Possible Ideas
** additional meta search language ''from:person'' or ''in:folder''
== Auto-Complete Search Results ==
Think "Awesomebar" for Thunderbird. We can help people search their mail with a fast and slick layout for finding the correct message.
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| google [x] |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[r] _Google_ Contacts API [t] news _google_ [*]
_Google_ released a new contacts API... 1 day ago
[u] _Google_ Summer of Code Ideas [t] soc _google_ [*]
... Send me your _Google_ Soc ideas when... 3 weeks ago
[r] _Google_ Calendar Integration [t] soc _google_ [*]
... Thunderbird integrated with _Google_ Calendar... 1 month ago
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[a] GMail Screenshot.png [t] screenshot gmail _google_ [*]
... attached screenshot of _google_'s gmail ... 2 months ago
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[n] _Google_ Summer of Code Mailing List [t] soc _google_ [*]
_google_-soc-2008@_google_groups.com 22 Unread Messages
[c] Sergey Brin [t] _google_ [*]
sergey@_google_.com 1 Unread Message
[r] == read message icon
[u] == unread message icon
[n] == news group
[c] == contact / person
[a] == attachment
[t] == tag icon
[*] == (un)starred icon
== Better Indexing ==
Searching messages is currently slow and often inaccurate. We need to work on a system of indexing messages and contact information so they are easy to find again.
* Some Possible Ideas
** Index all new information as it arrives
** Only Index the new text in an email, ignore quoted text
** Index attachments for file name and file type
== Faceted Browsing ==
The [http://simile.mit.edu/seek/ SEEK] project is a Thunderbird extension that offers a fast method of searching through filtering. See their project page for installation, instructions, and code.
* Possible Ideas
** Include a faceted browsing interface with the search bar
** Use a faceted browsing interface to filter the results view
[[Category:Thunderbird]]
