As written elsewhere: you will not see this features in version 7 nor in any other update this year.
Trust me this company won’t include any deal-breakers the next version as they weren’t the last few years. OK conversation view is the one and only, I have to admit, but that’s it!
FWIW, using smart folders with the unread search folder is also not very helpful when you are using loacal folders and move your unread messages inside.
Smart folders don’t show unread items when they are moved to local (sub-)folders. This is very very annoying and half-baken!
I investigated this a bit further, and I now understand better what emClient is saying in terms of their current limitations. I also understand better how emClient can solve this - and it’s not too difficult.
I can explain what I learned, for anyone who cares…
For starters, this entire thread is based on the need to filter emails on the server, and not on the email client. The former is more consistent with IMAP, where the server is the central “repository” of emails, and all clients are just “viewing” what is on the server.
With IMAP specifically, there are 2 ways to check for new email…
The client can “poll” (ask) the server periodically.
The server can send “push” notifications to the email client only when new email arrives.
As you might imagine, method #1 above is less efficient (generates more traffic) than method #2.
To use method #2, IMAP servers support a function called “IDLE” which allows a client (like emClient) to request notification of activity in a particular folder. The “IDLE” command can be activated on any folder (key point there). So, when a client sends an “IDLE” command, the server knows to send notification of actions (like new email) in the specific folder selected.
Paul@emClient points out that emClient does not notify of new emails in subfolders because the server only notifies emClient of new emails in the main INBOX. This is true, but there is a bit more to it. Actually, this is not a limitation of the server. The server can notify of activity on any folder. emClient (or any client) just has to request it. It simply means emClient has to use separate threads (TCP connections) for each folder which needs to be “watched”, because it’s a 1-to-1 relationship… i.e., a client can be in “IDLE” mode once per connection.
So, the ideal solution (in my view) is as follows:
Modify emClient such that it can open multiple connections to an IMAP server (clearly it can already open multiple connections, since multiple email accounts are supported, so I doubt this would be a problem).
Add an option to emClient allowing the user to select which folders to “watch” for activity. I’m not sure if the default should be “off” or “on”. I would choose “on”. Then emClient just opens a connection to each selected folder and uses “IDLE” mode on each connection to monitor for activity in the folder.
you are right about the “push” vs. “pull” but unfortunately em client does not support push. If it would new emails on the server would be arrive instantly (as soon as the server announces it) and there would be no intervals in checking the mail folders.
Also (as you wrote) the push protokoll needs permanent open connections for each account/folder so this really should be an optional feature and not mandantory.
But, actually I was referring to “push” in the context of IMAP IDLE, which emClient does support, which uses a persistent connection. (But emClient only supports it for the INBOX).
This does allow asynchronous and immediate notification to emClient the moment new email arrives on the server, without periodic polling (“pulling”) by emClient. You can verify this with Wireshark, as I have. The first thing that happens when a new email arrives at the server is a response packet from the email server to emClient.
So, again, what I am suggesting here is the same as what already exists for the INBOX, only expanding to use one connection per folder needing to be monitored.
I am curious as to whether you had any thoughts about my last comment from some months back?
As I have tried to explain in my previous comment, emClient already supports the IMAP IDLE mechanism necessary to achieve the notification on any folder. As I have written in my previous comment, all this feature requires is for emClient to make additional connections for any folder needing notification. I think most users would totally thrilled with something as simple as a “right-click” context menu “new mail notify” on/off option on folders. It could default to “off” for all folders, except INBOX which would of course be “on” as it is now.
What are yours or emClient’s thoughts on this?
Would it be helpful to open a new thread that more specifically defines this exact requirement? I realize there is much back and forth in this thread, and thus it may not seem immediately clear what is being asked for.
Hello Rally,
this is not a problem but the way the product is designed to work. Notifications only appear for Inbox.
Sorry if that is an inconvenience for you.
Thank you for reply. I think it is clear that only Inbox notifications are supported in version 6 or 7.
However, I was curious if you had some thoughts on the recent suggestions in this thread regarding support for new-mail notification on any user-selected folder?
I’m not certain about other email users, but many of my email providers allow server-side filtering into subfolders (Google Mail, to name one).
That being said, I would seem important to receive notification of new email in folders other than Inbox. Would you agree?
So then, do you suppose eMClient might consider supporting this?
As explained in previous posts, from a technical perspective this should not be difficult to accomplish, since it can use the exact same mechanism that is being used for Inbox notification.
I agree with Matthew here. This is a design flaw in eMClient. When eMClient syncs with the mail server, it should (at least have the option to) sync with all folders, not just inbox.
I think it’s important to note that the developers have done nicely on eMClient, and so thinking graciously, perhaps we can just consider it as a simple oversight rather than outright design flaw, since afterall the IMAP IDLE mechanism is there and working very well to receive server notifications of new mail for ‘Inbox’. So it should be quite a simple task to enable that same mechanism on any IMAP subfolder (see my earlier detailed technical comments).
Also it is notable to consider that notifications on any IMAP folder is fairly standard behavior for other email clients, so if eMClient does decide to support this, it will be consistent with how other clients behave. Which I think is a plus for eMClient!
Hello Matthew,
this thread is marked as an Idea one and still under consideration - so that means our developers may still change their mind.
Thank you for all your feedback and suggestions.
Hello,
yes, our developers go through our internal Feature request list and the Idea threads here on the forum when considering new features for eM Client.
This is totally doable, if you can show three dots, you can also show a notification. Doesn’t need to be a preview of a mail, just notify me something has arrived.
Can’t show a notification if it has not received the messages. All the three dots is, is a notification from the server to say that the folder has changed. It does not include any message data.
The solution is to allow eM Client to move messages to sub-folders by Rules rather than have it done server-side. That way you get notifications for all messages, or you can disable notifications per Rule as you require.
