My Ideal Email Client

[markfilipak]

Wayne Mery recommended I post here. It's my first post, and I appologize for not lurking for a decent amount of time before posting but due to the imminent release of Supernova, I'm posting in haste.

What follows is my ideal email client. It is not a tweak. It is an entirely new architecture -- well, actually, it's somewhat like the original Eudora, but would be totally new to TBird.

Suppose I send a 1st message to a new friend: Larry (larryfine@stooges.com).

IdealEmailClient would automatically create a larryfine@stooges.com mailbox and put the message there.

Later, IdealEmailClient puts Larry's response in the larryfine@stooges.com mailbox.

Yes, in the same mailbox, so they thread together 'message'-'reply'-'message'-'reply'...

Suppose Larry's buddy, Curly (curlyhoward@stooges.com), sends me a 1st message.

IdealEmailClient would automatically create a curlyhoward@stooges.com mailbox and put the message there.

When I respond, IdealEmailClient puts my response in the curlyhoward@stooges.com mailbox.

No accounts. No identities. Simple.

In addition, the mailboxes would each have their own "Reply-To:" header (needed because my SMTP is outgoing only).

And, IdealEmailClient would let me change SMTP for the rare occasion that I need a differring SMTP.

Bonus Feature: If I could link Larry's and Curly's mailboxes (or just put them in proximity), that would be welcome.

Regards,

Mark Filipak.

PS: I know that accounts (SMTP & POP) are needed. But please, don't build architecture around them. Just use them as pipes and build the GUI around mailboxes. Thanks -- M.

[MattAuSupport]

While I agree, the approach has some merit.  It is far from ideal for most uses I can think of.  I can see plenty of use for a folder "view" that draws on the address book for inspiration when it comes to a saved search folder.  But as a be all and end all,  I would not even install it. 

My work and play is defined by the account the email comes from.  Even if it comes from the same person.  A personal email gets a different and less professional response than one to my work account which will be more formal.  The account used is also important to me in the priority I give to reading new mail and replying to emails.

[markfilipak]

Thanks for your thoughts, Matt.
Regarding "some merit", what merit do you see? I don't ask rhetorically; I ask because I've found folks are so 'married' to the TBird_account==POP_account architecture that it rules their interpretation of what I write. I recall that ancient email programs worked as I described but then MS Outlook came out with account architecture and it captured people's expectations, so the ancient email programs changed or died.
Regarding "folder 'view'", keep it! In fact, use it to aggregate mailboxes, even various mailboxes that have differing POP accounts. So, for example, I would aggregate the 'larryfine@stooges.com'  and 'curlyhoward@stooges.com' mailboxes in a folder named 'stooges', and then maybe put 'stooges' in a 'comedy' folder. If I got an email message from Curly, the 'comedy' folder would light up, and when I clicked it, a drop-down would show 'stooges' lit up, and when I clicked it, 'larryfine@stooges.com'  & 'curlyhoward@stooges.com' would fly out and 'curlyhoward@stooges.com' would be lit up. It would be sort of like a file manager. Suppose that in addition to writing to me via 'mark@gmail.com', Curly also writes to me via 'bozo@mark.com'. I would put them together in 'curlyhoward@stooges.com' and I would expect the email program to be smart enough to take the hint. That is not possible with TBird_account==POP_account without filters to do the routing. Filters have to be manually created, and as TBird is now, once the filter has done the routing and Curly's message is buried down below  the bottom of the folder pane, it's easy to miss the 'new mail' tag without scrolling.

[markfilipak]

Howdy Matt. I'm attempting to reply but connect.mozilla.org doesn't like my reply.

[Jon]

Thanks for submitting an idea to the Mozilla Connect community! Your idea is now open to votes (aka kudos) and discussion.