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Thread: What I don't like about Gmail, and why I still use other webmails <Rant>

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    What I don't like about Gmail, and why I still use other webmails <Rant>

    Before I start, I'll first mention that I've used Gmail for quite a while, and will carry on using it because it is still a good service and provides one important feature I've not seen others provide: full SSL (and not just for log-in). In the age of growing public Wi-Fi it is an important feature to me.

    Frankly speaking there is really not much wrong with it. The only reason I am making this post now, is because I am in the process of closing shifting all my mail from my ISP email account (as it will be closed soon) to one of my webmail, so I am tidying up my mailboxes now and get to feel the flaws.

    So, what's bugging me? Them bloody labels! What normally happens when I (this is important because just like I do not want Apple to tell me hold a phone, I do not want Google to tell me to change manage my email account) normally use other webmail, is that I'll pick the mails that I may need to keep (e.g. confirmation email from online purchases), then shift them into their corresponding folders, a three clicks process. This clear up my inbox for the messages that I may have read but would like to be reminded of.

    In order to do something similar in Gmail, there is one extra step required, because labelled mail stays in the Inbox: Mute (two extra clicks).

    And just as I occasionally add new folders in other webmail, I sometime find myself needing to create a new label. The process after having created the folder usually go like this: Search Mail (Ebay) -> Select all -> Move to Ebay folder. The process under Gmail after creating the label goes like this: Search Mail (Ebay) -> Select all -> Apply Ebay label -> Apply Mute -> Click older -> Select all -> Apply Ebay label -> Apply Mute -> Click older -> Select all -> Apply Ebay label -> Apply Mute

    Why did I just repeat two steps? Well, because Google in their infinite wisdom decides that 20 search results per page is adequate. Maybe on a phone it is, there is no reason not to have the *option* of having at least 50 if not more per page. Though I just noticed that Gmail 'remembers' the 'ticks' from the previous page, so it isn't really necessary to apply the label/mute more than once. Doesn't change my opinion that 20 search results per page is kinda limited though!

    Reminds me of the defunct Lycos mail uk who decided that 20 mails/page was adequate for the inbox. Might be for those who delete their mails frequently, but if you are going to give people the storage for several lifetimes worth of mails, you may as well let them view more than 20 at a time!

    ---------------------------------------

    tl;dr: I don't like Gmail labels. Possibility of multiple labels < not having to mute everything I label. More results per page result please. YMMV.

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    Re: What I don't like about Gmail, and why I still use other webmails <Rant>

    AFAIK the "select all", really does select *all* the emails and lets you apply it to everything in one go.

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    Re: What I don't like about Gmail, and why I still use other webmails <Rant>

    I hate the fact that some hacker from China has accessed my account (according to google) and I now have to change my password and go through all my emails to make sure there is nothing sensitive in there. grrrrr

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    Re: What I don't like about Gmail, and why I still use other webmails <Rant>

    I don't get why people use the labels.

    Surely it's just as convenient to type ebay into the searchbox, or ebay@ebay.co.uk if you want to be more specific? That's what I do in Outlook at least.

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    Re: What I don't like about Gmail, and why I still use other webmails <Rant>

    I've found another 'down side' to it: the way it handles mail redirected to it. As mentioned earlier, I am sifting through my ISP mailbox and moving mail I want to keep into my webmail accounts. Instead of forwarding everything, I have the option to redirect all mail (including older ones), which is rather neat as it keep the sender and original date stamp. But noooo, keeping the original date stamp would be cheating, and we should only be something we joke about.

    Now I am not sure if it is immediately obvious why I rather keep the original date stamp, it's got to do with how I like to organise my mail. I am too sleepy to expand on it (besides, I don't think anyone really care), but Googling, it seems that I am not the only one who prefer the way it that way.

    Quote Originally Posted by Lucio View Post
    AFAIK the "select all", really does select *all* the emails and lets you apply it to everything in one go.
    Fraid not, or at least not for search result.

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    Re: What I don't like about Gmail, and why I still use other webmails <Rant>

    When I migrated my email from a locally hosted mailserver to Gmail I used the GMail Uploader. Original timestamps were preserved (I just double checked - all my backup report emails are time and date stamped when the original backup completed, one for each day), so I'm not sure how you're doing what you're doing or why it's not working. If you're forwarding the mail onto the GMail account then it will obviously gain a new timestamp as it's timestamped at receipt by their MTA.

    As for your other problem... That's what the Filters do, surely? I just created a new filter and applied it to 800 conversations with no problems at all.
    Last edited by Splash; 07-07-2010 at 09:08 AM.

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    Re: What I don't like about Gmail, and why I still use other webmails <Rant>

    I run my own IMAP server with a Squirrelmail frontend, plus I have an SSL cert for it.

    I might not have the same searching powers as Google, but as least I'm in total control.
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    Re: What I don't like about Gmail, and why I still use other webmails <Rant>

    Quote Originally Posted by Splash View Post
    When I migrated my email from a locally hosted mailserver to Gmail I used the GMail Uploader. Original timestamps were preserved (I just double checked - all my backup report emails are time and date stamped when the original backup completed, one for each day), so I'm not sure how you're doing what you're doing or why it's not working. If you're forwarding the mail onto the GMail account then it will obviously gain a new timestamp as it's timestamped at receipt by their MTA.
    I am doing is called a 'Redirect'. It differs from a 'Forward' in that the sender is kept as the original sender, even though I may have manually selected to redirect the mail. In other webmails I've tried, it also keeps the timestamp of when it was first sent (or perhaps initially received), and that's all I want.

    Technically, Google doesn't throw this information away. However, it sees it fit to add it's own time stamp on receipt which is what you end up seeing in the Inbox (something other webmail do not do - they'll just keep it in the original). I am not sure if they see it as a feature, but I see it as a curse, because it means that I need to open the mail to see the 'real' date of when it was first sent.

    Basically, it behaves half-way between a 'forward' (it displays the name) and a 'redirect', and I'll end up seeing rows like this: http://prntscr.com/jy9y *Tries Gmail Uploader*

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    Re: What I don't like about Gmail, and why I still use other webmails <Rant>

    Of course, the original timestamp will be in the headers. I'm not sure how this "redirect" works differently to a forward, but as I said if you have the data locally then the GMail uploader should do what you're after.

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    Re: What I don't like about Gmail, and why I still use other webmails <Rant>

    Urgh, I don't really have any more time as I have a train to catch soon. Is it reasonable to assume that once I have downloaded all my mail into a mbox file, that I will be able to upload everything into Gmail at my leisure later on and can safely close the ISP email account (if I must)? I've never used the Google Mail Uploader and I am getting this message right now (http://prntscr.com/jyk4), but I am assuming that I am just being silly and it'll make complete sense after I get a bit of sleep.

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    Re: What I don't like about Gmail, and why I still use other webmails <Rant>

    Quote Originally Posted by Steve View Post
    I run my own IMAP server with a Squirrelmail frontend, plus I have an SSL cert for it.

    I might not have the same searching powers as Google, but as least I'm in total control.
    I don't do it quite that formally, but that's my view too. Two reasons ... I don't want a company like Google holding or analysing/data-mining my mail, period. And while I don't know if they do or not, I don't trust them not to.

    Secondly, as you say, local and total control. I'll run my own filters, thank you, not accept the filtering a mail company thinks is right and does.

    Third, I'll then allocate, file and store mail locally, where I know I can get it, and preserve it, in a way I find suitable.

    Gmail? No thanks. Not for me.

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    Re: What I don't like about Gmail, and why I still use other webmails <Rant>

    Hotmail is teh win!
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    for all intents it seems to be the same card minus some gays name on it and a shielded cover ? with OEM added to it - GoNz0.

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    Re: What I don't like about Gmail, and why I still use other webmails <Rant>

    Is yours a GMail account, or Google Apps for Domains? Mine is the latter, and I had to enable the upload functionality in the domain control panel. I uploaded from within Outlook and it certainly works fine with a pst file, but I see no reason it wouldn't work with Thunderbird (which I'm guessing you're using as you mentioned an mbox, though obviously other clients can use those.)

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    Re: What I don't like about Gmail, and why I still use other webmails <Rant>

    Err just a Gmail account. Incidentally, I installed Thunderbird a few hours ago only (because I've never used Outlook enough to be comfortable with it - should work on it really - and didn't want to accidentally start merging mailbox if that's even possible). The reason for that is because the webmail provided by my ISP only allows me to 'redirect' mail one by one, manually, and it would be tedious to do so. I figured that a proper email client would enable me to do the same thing in batches. And it does, sort of, except that it craps out about 10 mails presumably due to the following restrictions:

    Our outbound email service has the following limitations in place:
    1. Two concurrent TCP connections
    2. 10 messages per TCP session
    3. 150 recipients per message
    4. Maximum message size 32Mb
    5. 500 recipients per hour.
    However, they were thoughtful enough to provide a way to download entire folders (http://prntscr.com/jyts), and that's actually how I encountered the Mbox file.

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    Re: What I don't like about Gmail, and why I still use other webmails <Rant>

    Well I use GMail its convenient for me and is integrated with my phone for on the move email should I need it.

    Respect to those with in house mail servers. Utmost Geeks.

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    Re: What I don't like about Gmail, and why I still use other webmails <Rant>

    Gmail is a godsend to me, especially with the integration into my Android phone and all the other Google services (Google Calenders, Contacts, etc). The only issue I have with it are failed attachment uploads all the bloody time

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