2047408 - Improve "Catch all" user experience, about:config should not be required, ideally also no inside knowledge

Status: ASSIGNED

(Thunderbird :: Account Manager, enhancement)

Description

[Max Emig [:maxe]]

Well, I really like that the catch-all feature exists at all since bug 1518025, but even for me its UI/UX is downright esoteric:

• The required checkbox does not even mention catch-all although its internal key is called identity.catchAll. "Reply from this identity when delivery headers match:" is not clear enough imo.
• It only starts doing something once you put *@example.com into the field next to it. This is not documented outside of Bugzilla and the original feature request, neither of which is meant to permanently preserve non-developer documentation.
• The default header order in mail.compose.catchAllHeaders (delivered-to, envelope-to, x-original-to, to, cc) breaks for me with Mailcow, which rewrites Delivered-To: to the target mailbox.

Fixing those will require some consideration and discussion, but keep in mind quite a few mail hosters offer catch-all options accessible to non-techy consumers and in certain enterprise/university scenarios non-techy staff would want to configure catch-all themselves.

Comment 1

[Magnus Melin [:mkmelin]]

Re point 2, that is fairly clearly showing as an example in the placeholder for that field.

Comment 2

[Max Emig [:maxe]]

Re point 2, that is fairly clearly showing as an example in the placeholder for that field.

Fair point, but this is a far cry from being user friendly.

Comment 3

[Max Emig [:maxe]]

I intend to re-design the UI/UX or at least make the label clearer and figure out a way to make it work with Mailcow without needing to go dive in about:config or breaking anyone else's setup.