GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 565403
Do not bold folder when subfolder with unread messages is already expanded
Last modified: 2021-05-19 11:08:24 UTC
I use a deep hierarchy of mail folders for storing mail (e.g. 7 folders deep is quite common), and I usually have the tree expanded, and I usually have unread mail in a few of these deep folders, which means that all of the parent folders in the tree hierarchy become bolded in Evolution. This makes it hard to see which folders actually contain unread email. Ideally only the folders with unread mail would be bolded if the tree is expanded. One possible suggestion: Only bold the folder in the tree view if either: A) it contains unread mail itself (i.e. does not include subfolders), or: B) if a child/grandchild/great-grandchild/etc folder is not visible / expanded, and it has unread mail. This should only propagate up the tree whilst the tree is not visible, and should stop when the tree becomes visible. Result: This way, if people collapse their trees, then they can still see where the unread mail is hiding (as per current), but if people expand their trees, then it gives a very easy way to see where the unread mail is (which is not the case currently, because of the way the bolding applies to parent/grandparent/great-grandparent folders as well, which clutters up the tree view). See also: sort of related to this is bug 214238, which wants italics (or underlining) for parent folders that have children with unread mail. That's similar, and would probably be an improvement (since "contains unread mail" and "has a descendant that contains unread mail" are differentiated), but this suggestion goes even further, as it only applies when the tree is collapsed, which is when it's needed. Basically, if I can see the child folder, then I can already tell that it has unread mail, so there's no point in telling me all the parent folders contain a subfolder with unread mail in that case. Better to make it easier to see just those folders with unread mail.
bug 214238 fix will be available in 2.28.0. Pattern can be seen here http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=214238#c12 May be worth trying again when evolution 2.28.0 comes out.
I'm against this, personally. I try to keep my folders all read, and because it isn't as that small then I use to see whether any folder left to read by simply looking at the top. It's just that my mail-flow is different from that yours. I would say: if at all, then with an option.
Re comment #2: Understood, it's different usage patterns: I keep my folders expanded, and some of those folders contain items that I need to come back to later, or am waiting on other people for (so I usually keep them unread in the interim) and then this unread state propagates up the tree, cluttering it up. But I agree it's just a different workflow, and an option would be ideal if the current behavior is beneficial to some users.
Thunderbird, I think, has hit on a good idea with its unread folders view. Might be worth adapting that to Evolution in some form. The other folder views I'm not so sure of.
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