448220 - View -> Threads -> ALL doesn't view killed threads

Status: NEW

(SeaMonkey :: MailNews: Message Display, defect)

Description

[Nelson Bolyard (seldom reads bugmail)]

I'm reporting this against SeaMonkey trunk, but I suspect it is common to 
Thunderbird trunk, too.

View -> Threads -> ALL should view *ALL* threads, not just some threads.

In order to view all threads, it's not enough to visit the series of menus
for view -> Threads and select ALL.  One must ALSO ADDITIONALLY visit those
menus again, a second time, and select Ignored Threads.  ONLY THEN is one 
actually seeing ALL threads.

The act of selecting any other settings, such as View->Threads->Unread or
View->Threads->Threads With Unread cancels the Ignored Threads setting, so 
to go back to viewing *ALL* threads again, it is necessary to traverse the 
sequence of menus View->Threads twice AGAIN.  

It is NOT POSSIBLE to really view ALL threads using the tool above the 
message list pane.  The choices there are ALL, Unread and Not Deleted
(which doesn't seem to correspond to ANYTHING in the View->Threads menu).

This is BAD UI.

Comment 1

[Karsten Düsterloh]

> This is BAD UI.

No doubt about that.

But isn't this just a dupe of bug 207862?
(Also: remotely related to bug 73562.)
 

Comment 2

[Nelson Bolyard (seldom reads bugmail)]

No, this isn't just a dupe of bug 207862, although they're all related to 
thread views, and it would be possible to fix both problems with a single
change, I think.

In essence, we really have (at least) 5 separate thread views today, which
are:
  ALL (including killed ones, this one is missing from the View->Threads menu)
  All except killed ones (called ALL in the list)
  Unread (which apparently means entirely unread, or maybe it means
          view only the unread messages in threads with unread, which is 
          a duplication of viewing only unread messages. :(
  Threads with unread (with SOME unread)
  Watched Threads with unread

Today, The menu for View->Threads only presents 4 of those 5 choices,
and the MailViews DropDown list presents even less.  

You can get the real true ALL view today by visiting the View->Threads 
menu several times, making various changes, checcking the "killed threads too" box, which is only meaningful when the "All except killed threads" view is
selected.   I'm proposing that the UI get rid of that "killed threads too"
box, and correct the list of thread views to match the list above.  

Actually, the MailViews DropDown list in the main mail window has one view
that's not obviously the same as any of the views in the View->Threads menu.
That's "Non-Deleted".    

I say, make one list of views that includes all the meaningful and non-duplicative combinations, and use that in both the View->Threads menu and
in the MailViews DropDown list in the main mail window.