268734 - Suggestion: change the defaults for IMAP settings to something more user-friendly than network-friendly

Status: RESOLVED INCOMPLETE

(Thunderbird :: Mail Window Front End, enhancement)

Description

[Jason Haar]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.7.5) Gecko/20041103 Firefox/1.0RC2
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.7.5) Gecko/20041103 Firefox/1.0RC2

Hi there

I just started using Thunderbird some days ago, and I must say this is the first
time I've been attracted away from mutt in 8 years! Well done.

Anyway, I have some UI issues with IMAP that I'd like to expound - on the
off-chance you agree with me :-)

I think *most users* would prefer it that when they configure a new IMAP account
profile, that:

a> all folders be marked as subscribed by default
b> all folders be checked for new messages
c> timeouts/IMAP/network failures don't result in a formal 
   popup-and-block-until-you-click-to-clear-and-retry

I know a and b are heavier on the IMAP server, but this is a GUI for *users* -
not Network Managers (and I'm a network manager!). All I know is that the very
first thing I do when I enter a new IMAP client is go and configure the above,
and every time I'm near a normal user when they are configuring a IMAP profile,
I hear "hey - where are all my mail folders gone? IT'S DELETED THEM!?!?!?". I
just think the defaults should be more user friendly - someone concerned about
performance could always go in and change back to a less intensive mode.

I think Microsoft Outlook 2003 (in MAPI mode) has it right: the default is to
show all folders, monitor all for new messages, and synchronise mail in the
background, with any network glitches/etc being subtly reported to the user via
some tiny scrolling thingy. Outlook 2003 goes one step further and synchronizes
all folders to local disk - a step I'd be reluctant to say for Thunderbird given
the size of my mailbox ;-)

Anyway, just wanted to share 

Keep up the good work

Jason

Reproducible: Always
Steps to Reproduce:
1.
2.
3.

Comment 1

[Gervase Markham [:gerv]]

This is an automated message, with ID "auto-resolve01".

This bug has had no comments for a long time. Statistically, we have found that
bug reports that have not been confirmed by a second user after three months are
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Comment 2

[Randy Orrison]

(I'm not the person who originally reported the bug, but I am the one person
who's voted for it.)
I've just set up a new account, and it appears that all folders were
automatically subscribed, so that's point a, and the biggest point.  Point B is
still an issue, though less important than point a.  Point C is also still an
issue, very much so for me as I access my work email through a flaky VPN
connection; I'd really like background synchronization, non-intrusive error
messages, and automatic online/offline detection and mode switching.

Comment 3

[Nikolay Shopik]

This should be divide for three separate bugs which already exist in bugzilla