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Major Usability Redesign of Folders & Threads
At the very least, if a local store isn't going away, there should be an unattended way of adding a cert such that all Thundebird users on a host use the cert.
== Major Usability Redesign of Folders & Threads (in 4 Steps) ==
=== Step 1: Combined Sender/Receiver Column ===
'''Problem:''' Currently, in each custom mail folder there is a column for the sender of the message. For outgoing messages this is always ''your'' name. But you can't see the receiver! (Sure you can display the column for the receiver, but the result are two redundant columns with only one information, since in one of the two is always your own name).
[[Image:CombinedToFromColumn.gif|Screenshot: Combined To/From-Column]]
'''Proposed Improvement:''' Combine the sender and receiver columns to one "who" column. This column would always show the other person's name, and never your own. To differentiate between incoming and outgoing messages, use emphasis (e.g. print outgoing messages in italics) and/or prefix outgoing messages with boldface/italics "To: " and/or use another (small) column showing an icon. Best solution, of course, would be to let the user select the way of emphasizing (italics, color, icon(s), etc.).
This was already filed as: [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=36489 Bug 36489] (for SeaMonkey), [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=274232 Bug 274232] (for Thunderbird), and [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=359270 Bug 359270] (for Penelope, the Mozilla follow-up to Eudora) and is related to [[#Folder_Personalization_and_Control|Folder Personalization and Control]] (second point).
This step is, by and large, resolved with the extension [http://www.ggbs.de/extensions/ShowInOut.html Show InOut]. So my suggestion is to include this extension's functionality into Thunderbird and set it as the default behavior.
=== Step 2: Combined "Unsent Messages", "Drafts" and "Sent" Folder ===
'''Problem:''' Currently, the folders "Unsent Messages" and "Drafts" are (almost) empty for (almost) all users (almost) all of the time. The purpose of having three different outgoing folders (Unsent Messages, Drafts, Sent) is only to differentiate between the status of the mail.
This has already been filed as [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=197228 Bug 197228]
and was suggested for Thunderbird 2.0: [http://wiki.mozilla.org/Talk:Thunderbird:2.0_Product_Planning#UI_Liftup_and_stuff UI Liftup and stuff] (point 5.)
[[Image:CombinedOutFolder.gif]]
'''Proposed Improvement:''' Combine these three folders to one "Out" folder. And show the status of the message by using emphasis (bold face for messages not yet sent) and/or a (small) column showing a status icon.
'''Rationale:''' From a logical point of view, an outgoing message not yet sent is equivalent to an incoming message not yet read. But only the latter are displayed in bold face in one combined "Inbox" folder (containing read messages as well as unread messages). So why not use the same simple system for outgoing as well?
'''Note:''' By using different status icons, you could easily differentiate between sent drafts, unsent-but-saved drafts, messages ready to be sent, messages whose sending failed, etc., as suggested for Thunderbird 2.0: [http://wiki.mozilla.org/Talk:Thunderbird:2.0_Product_Planning#Differentiate_between_sent_and_unsent-but-saved_drafts Differentiate between sent and unsent-but-saved drafts]
=== Step 3: Combined "In" and "Out" Folder ===
'''Problem:''' Currently, if a user sticks with the default folders "Inbox" and "Sent", incoming and outgoing messages are strictly separated. But if the user creates custom folders, they contain both incoming and outgoing messages. This is inconsistent.
'''Proposed Improvement:''' Combine the folders "Inbox" and "Out" (from Step 2) to one "Main" folder. The differentiation between incoming and outgoing messages is achieved through emhpasis (e.g. italics, see Step 1). And the differentiation between sent and unsent is achieved through bold face (or icon, see Step 2).
'''Rationale:''' Any custom folder is a combined incoming/outgoing folder. Why shouldn't this system work for the program's default folders too?
Related is [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=301084 Bug 301084] which requests the option to automatically store replies in the same folder in which the original message is stored in. I'm suggesting the same thing for the default In/Out folders too.
This step can be achieved by applying this setting:<br>
Tools > Account Settings > Copies & Folders > Place a copy in: > Other: > Local Folders > Inbox.
<br>So my suggestion is to set this as the default behavior (plus rename "Inbox" to "Main").
=== Step 4: Threading/Grouping of Messages ===
'''Rationale:''' Most email communication is threaded: I write a message, I receive a reply, I reply again, and so on. Single messages are the exception, not the rule.
'''Problem:''' Currently, threaded messages are treated as exceptions. The message grouping function is ridiculous & unusable.
'''Proposed Improvements:''' See these three suggestions for Thunderbird 2.0:
<br>[http://wiki.mozilla.org/Talk:Thunderbird:2.0_Product_Planning#Improved_sorting_and_grouping_of_messages Improved sorting and grouping of messages] (points 1. through 4.)
<br>[http://wiki.mozilla.org/Talk:Thunderbird:2.0_Product_Planning#sorting_messages_by_subject_.28as_thread.29 sorting messages by subject (as thread)] (points (1) through (3))
<br>[http://wiki.mozilla.org/Talk:Thunderbird:2.0_Product_Planning#UI_Liftup_and_stuff UI Liftup and stuff] (point 4.).
<br>Plus this one here:
<br>[[#Feature_Request:_Editing_SUBJECT_of_received_messages|Feature Request: Editing SUBJECT of received messages]]
'''In short:''' The entire system should work as the folder tree in Windows Explorer: Expand&collapse threads, drag&drop messages, rename subject, and so on.
I list this as Step 4 here because to me such a grouping/threading feature only makes sense if it encompasses incoming as well as outgoing messages. There's no point in having "parallel" threads in the folders "Inbox" and "Sent".
--[[User:ThomasLandauer|ThomasLandauer]] 07 July 2007
Hey Thomas -- have you put all this information about UI and usage overhaul together? This is not less than MIND-BOGGLING, and should get as much community attention as possible.
This is especially valid for the part:
'''The entire system should work as the folder tree in Windows Explorer: Expand&collapse threads, drag&drop messages, rename, and so on.'''
Your above steps 1 through 4 actually are a '''complete revolution''' and redefinition of what an e-mail client actually should do. I KNOW that one day every proper e-mail client will be acting '''exactly''' like this (because mine, and probably yours as well, does already; and since this is like "the invention of the wheel" to me ;).
Although your article possibly points a long way into the future of e-mail, I hope that it won't take like 5 to 10 years to accomplish these fantastic features...
May I finally add my screenshot visualizing ''some'' of your proposals already below? http://home.arcor.de/david-peters/TB.png
