221818 - Outbox / Send Later feature

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(Thunderbird :: Mail Window Front End, defect)

Description

[bart decrem, not checking bugmail]

An automated way that mail sits in an Outbox until I hit a Send All button, and
that prompts me to send unsent mail when I quit Thunderbird.  Better yet, I'd
love the opportunity to just set an automatic timer so all my messages sit in
the Outbox for, say, 1 hour.   The reason I want this is that I send hundreds of
mails every day and once or twice a week, I make some horrendous mistake that I
realize within seconds after hitting Send - so I need a place where stuff sits
for a while, just in case I made a mistake. 

Example of an implementation: Entourage has Send Now and Send Later buttons in
the toolbar and a Send/Receive button.  If you press Send Later, mail sits in
the Outbox until the Send/Receive button gets pressed.  I believe Outlook has a
similar feature. 

This is different from: 
- The current File>Send Later feature because (1) it's impractical to go to
File>Send Later each time and (2) it's also impractical to have to remember to
send those messages at some later time (by going to File>Send Unsent Messages); 
- The Offline extension which (1) again, requires some intervention on my end
(going offline, then going online periodically and (2) doesn't seem to work for
me right now (using TB0.2): messages sit in my Unsent folder forever if I go
back online by clicking on Get Mail, even tho the preference says to deliver
Unsent messages when going online (I have to go to File>Send Unsent Messages to
deliver them). 

I have pledged $100 on Sourcesupport to get this feature implemented:
http://www.sourcesupport.org/?project=45

And there's a discussion on Mozillazine about this 
http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?t=24415 (4 people supporting the idea).

Comment 1

[bart decrem, not checking bugmail]

*** Bug 221817 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

Comment 2

[David Gruner]

Also for me this is a blocking feature to switch from OE to TB.

I think it should work like this:

You should decide (in the prefs) if you want to send mails instantly oder later
per default. If you want to, you can overwrite the preselection by clicking the
corresponding command in the compose window (file -> send now/later). Clicking
the "Send"-Button should perform the preselected action. Perhaps a small
drop-down-button (like the one for attachments) can be useful too, so you dont
need to use the menu.

"Send Now" mails are sent instantly but "Send Later" mails are stored in the
unsent mails folder. They are sent, when the user hits a "Send unsent mails"
button, which is only visible or enabled, if there are such mails. If the user
quits the program he should be asked, if he wants to send the mails now.

"Send Later" mails should not be uploaded automatically. There should be always
a prompt, if the user agrees.

Comment 3

[bart decrem, not checking bugmail]

Attachment: outbox feature, simple implementation

Comment 4

[bart decrem, not checking bugmail]

I've hacked together a simple version of this feature on my own system.  See
screenshot.  Next, I'll try and release this as an extension, after I work the
bugs out of this.

Comment 5

[David Gruner]

added myself as CC

Comment 6

[bart decrem, not checking bugmail]

OK - my extension is working and posted at http://outbox.mozdev.org/, so we can
close this bug.

Comment 7

[Gregor Rosenauer]

Send later is implemented, but there was a nice idea which I also miss:
The "Send later"-button should have a drop down arrow (just like "Get Mail" and
"Print") sothat I do not have to use the menu for this action.
Could this bug be reopened to implement this feature, or is there a separate
bugreport on that one? (did not find any and did not want to open a new one)

Comment 8

[Mike Coppins]

I don't think this bug should be reopened, mainly because 'send later'
functionality is a standard feature in all email software I've seen (except
maybe some console ones) and is easy for the average user to use.

And also partly because while the outbox extension does work, it has very little
skin support and isn't as easy as it should be really to configure.  Also, the
extension is pre-0.9 (or whatever the TB version was that has a new extensions
setup) so it's not easy to uninstall.