GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 765202
Reply to List for MIME digest sub-messages
Last modified: 2016-04-18 16:54:45 UTC
When using the selection box of an attached mail of a MIME digest, there's no option to reply to the mailing list. The attached mails don't provide a List-Id, but the header of the MIME digest does, so it should be possible to care about both headers, the attached mail's header and the digest's header, to provide this feature. Patrick O'Callaghan noticed this for Evolution 3.18.5.2 (seemingly Linux) and I noticed this using Evolution 3.20.1 (Linux). Note, I'm not using digest myself, it was noticed when receiving temporarily digest for testing purpose, during a discussion about switching from plain text to MIME, as the default mode for digest. https://mail.gnome.org/archives/evolution-list/2016-April/msg00117.html
Thanks for the bug report. This is not that easy (adding list headers to the internal multipart/digest messages is easy, but it doesn't feel correct), because there are multiple places for the reply/forward options. Namely: a) main menu Message->Reply... b) toolbar Reply... c) context menu of the viewed message d) context menu of the message list e) short-cuts f) popup menu on the attachment button, shown when the arrow-down is clicked The a) to e) all operate with the main message, not with the internal sub-messages, no matter where the context menu for c) had been invoked (above which part of the message preview). The f) is the only option which is related to the attachment itself, thus the sub-message of the message digest. The MIME message digest I have here (pretty old) contains these headers in the sub-message: From: <some user address> Precedence: list MIME-Version: 1.0 To: <message list address> Date: Wed, 9 Mar 2011 22:58:18 +0000 Reply-To: <message list address> Message-ID: <xxx> Content-Type: xxx Subject: xxx Message: 1 Maybe it's an option of the mailing list, but I believe the Reply-To: header is added by the list just for the reason that it doesn't add the List-Post address to the sub-message. It makes the Reply to Sender/Reply to All work properly, that is, the message is addressed to the message list too, with the address taken from this Reply-To header of the sub-message. One might not even make the menus overcrowded, which the evolution is claimed for since GNOME 3 (too many options/menu items for the users in the UI, while the GNOME 3 aims for a simplistic/minimalistic UI). I do not know what to do with this due to the above observations. I could add the Reply to List into the attachment button menu (the e) case above), but the code doesn't know anything about the parent message, it operates strictly on the attachment.
While the attached mails don't contain "List-Id", I right now noticed that the attached mails contain "List-Post: <mailto:evolution-list@gnome.org>". Reply-To isn't included. Mailing lists could apply, even override a Reply-To header, this has got pros and cons, depending on the used MUA's reply behaviour, depend on whether it's an open mailing list or if subscription to the mailing list is required, so that Cc'ing might be wanted if a user's Reply-To is available, when replying to a list. We shouldn't discuss the pros and cons, so I won't explain it more detailed. IMO it's best practise to make as less changes to a mailing list as possible, since users get used to a list behaviour and dislike changes. However, since I have not noticed "List-Post" before, it now anyway doesn't matter if you like or dislike the idea of caring for the parent headers in combination with the headers of an attached mail, because you could care simply for the "List-Post" header of the attached mails by the drop down menu, sure, not by the right click menu.
Regarding objections about overcrowded menus, you could replace the "Reply to All" of the attachment button menu, by "Group Reply", so the user could chose what should happen by the composer preferences "Group Reply goes only to mailing list, if possible".
Aha, I see, my digest message might be really old, or the server configured differently. Depending on the List-Post provided by the server on the sub-messages makes things much easier, thus I made the fix and pushed it to sources. As there was no real UI change, neither new translatable strings added, then I added the change to the stable branch as well. Created commit 29f67b6 in evo master (3.21.1+) Created commit 9d30267 in evo gnome-3-20 (3.20.2+)
(In reply to Ralf Mardorf from comment #3) > Regarding objections about overcrowded menus... That's okay, I meant it more for the context menu on the message, than this popup menu of the attachment button.