627333 - New mail alert notification for all new messages, not just the first new mail

Status: RESOLVED WORKSFORME

(Thunderbird :: Preferences, defect)

Description

[Orlando Dures]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/4.0; SLCC2; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.5.30729; .NET CLR 3.0.30729; Media Center PC 6.0; .NET4.0C; .NET4.0E)
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; en-GB; rv:1.9.2.13) Gecko/20101207 Thunderbird/3.1.7

I am using Thunderbird 3.1.7 on 64-bit Windows 7 as an IMAP client. I am using the Idle feature to simulate "push email". I have configured my options so that TB3 sounds an alert and shows a popup message for new mail. Sadly, this works only for the first new message in the Inbox. By design, Thunderbird shows a popup and emits a sound alert only for the first new message in the Inbox. Other messages arriving after that will NOT create an alert unless one clicks on the Inbox or, if the Inbox is already the selected folder, on one of the messages in the Inbox. I can also summarize this in a more visual manner: if new messages arrive the Inbox folder name becomes highlighted in blue. As long the Inbox folder name remains highlighted in blue new incoming messages will generate NO sound and  NO popup. I can understand that some people may like this "feature" (for me it's a bug) but I definitely do not like this behavior. I get a daily mixture of "fun" messages and "serious" messages. When the first "fun" message arrives I may get a notification and see it is a fun message but I usually don't hurry to go and read it if I am busy. When a "serious" message arrives after that like someone announcing the passing away of a dear friend or a customer asking important questions I no longer get any notification and I see those messages only if I explicitly go to look at the content of the Inbox. My preferred behavior, by far, would be to have the option to get a notification for EVERY single arriving message. I understand that this should be an option and perhaps not even the default behavior but in my opinion this is definitely a very important option (and probably an easy one to implement)

There is a workaround using an addon (mailbox alert 0.14.2 on http://tjeb.nl) but it isn't as nice as a built-in capability and may not get updated for future versions of TB. The addon on Mozilla.org is currently not the latest. I really think this option should be available in Thunderbird as a standard built-in configuration option. Please give us the possibility to have a popup and a sound alert for EVERY incoming message and let the user decide if he wants an alert sound for every message or not. To make it really shine it would be nice to have the ability to mute the sound at night. Thanks for listening.

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1.Click on Inbox and leave the Inbox highlighted
2.Type Ctrl-N and create a mail to yourself. Send it with Ctrl-Enter
3.The new mail alert sound is played and the popup shows.
4.Leave the Inbox highlighted but do NOT read the new mail
5.Type Ctrl-N and create a mail to yourself. Send it with Ctrl-Enter
6.The new mail alert sound is NOT played and the popup DOES NOT show.

Actual Results:  
The new mail alert sound is NOT played and the popup DOES NOT show.

Expected Results:  
I expect to be able to have an alert for every incoming message if I so decide.

Comment 2

[Orlando Dures]

Hello. Why was this marked as resolved and duplicate? It is an enhancement request and does not look like bug 375717 at all. It is also not resolved in TB 3.1.7. Please look at it more closely. Thanks and regards.

Comment 3

[Nikolay Shopik]

My bad Orlando, your bug somewhat morph of bug 375717.
I sure this was worked just fine pre-3.0 but showing old items on top as per bug 375717 thus been useless most time, Ludo, Wayne?
And I have same behaviour as Orlando describing on trunk
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:2.0b10pre) Gecko/20110117 Thunderbird/3.3a3pre

Comment 4

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

Sarry, I am a horrible person to ask about new mail/notification issues :)
I'm here only out of passive interest.

Comment 5

[franck poupart]

Hello,
Are you sure to have a notification each time your inbox folder has no unread messages? 
I ask you this question because I was able to reproduce this bug today but after a few tests I had no email alert anymore! Inbox highlighted or not, unread messages or not. 
duplicate bug or not , there is a  new email notification bug with Imap account since thunderbird 3 was released. I have posted tones of comment about that  here: <a href="show_bug.cgi?id=531002" title="NEW - New Message Notification pop-up window inconsistent behavior">bug 531002</a>
Months have past and thunderbird 3.1.7 has still this RANDOM behavior with new email alerts with imap account...
It is a major bug and a very few here seems to pay attention to it.
This is bad Nikolay.

Comment 6

[franck poupart]

Hello,
Are you sure to have a notification each time your inbox folder has no unread messages? 
I ask you this question because I was able to reproduce this bug today but after a few tests I had no email alert anymore! Inbox highlighted or not, unread messages or not. 
duplicate bug or not , there is a  new email notification bug with Imap account since thunderbird 3 was released. I have posted tones of comment about that  here: <a href="show_bug.cgi?id=531002" title="NEW - New Message Notification pop-up window inconsistent behavior">bug 531002</a>
Months have past and thunderbird 3.1.7 has still this RANDOM behavior with new email alerts with imap account...
It is a major bug and a very few here seems to pay attention to it.
This is bad Nikolay.

Comment 8

[Mike Conley (:mconley) (:⚙️)]

This has been fixed in the Linux version via the patch for bug 555536.

Comment 9

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

Joe, do you use notification?

Comment 10

[Richard Marti (:Paenglab)]

Here on Win7 and Win8 only the first new mail shows the notification. All following new mails aren't shown until the mails are read.

Comment 11

[Joe Sabash [:JoeS1]]

(In reply to Wayne Mery (:wsmwk) from comment #9)
> Joe, do you use notification?

It's enabled, but duration and actions are minimized, so no.

Comment 12

[6e77a 70 6e 6e7a]

Getting a notification for the first unread mail in my inbox over and over again is useless. Please fix.

Comment 13

[Orlando Dures]

Hello,

I am the original poster for this bug. The bug existed in version 3 of Thunderbird for Windows. The bug is still present in version 38 of Thunderbird for Windows. 

Wow. Nobody seems to care.

I still only get a notification for the first message arriving in the inbox and absolutely zero notification for the subsequent new message arrivals. In other words, if I am not at my desk when the first message arrives (and I open the message) I never get notifications for later messages when I come back at my desk unless I manually go and check. This is not how a modern email client should behave.

The only solution I have found is to use an external program (Growl for Windows) to correct for this sad situation.

Regards.

Comment 14

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

To everyone who commented here and found this to "fail" on one windows computer, have you also also found it to work correctly on a *different* windows computer?

Comment 15

[Richard Marti (:Paenglab)]

(In reply to Wayne Mery (:wsmwk, use Needinfo for questions) from comment #14)
> To everyone who commented here and found this to "fail" on one windows
> computer, have you also also found it to work correctly on a *different*
> windows computer?

No

Comment 16

[Dobri]

The problem still exists - I only get a sound alert on the first unread messages. If other mail arrives - no sound notification at all.
Please FIX THIS, make it as an option.
I want to get a sound alert EVERY time there is new mail received (example: I receive 5 mails, I don't read them. Few minutes later - I receive few more emails - I want an alert.)

Comment 17

[Dobri]

It's been 3 years since I reported this and it's still not fixed... great job, mozilla devs.
This bug is CRITICAL - it makes the users miss new messages, especially if we receive a lot of them.

If the current implementation is an "enhancement", then please, make it configurable, so we can disable it.

Comment 18

[cfogri1]

I am using Beta 85.0b1V I am seeing the same behavior where you have to read any new message in order for the alerts to resume. You need to always have a sound notify you that a new message has arrived to your in box. Maybe the popups should only be active when the APP is minimized and ALL new messages should give notification there....whether they are read or not.

Current behavior:
#1 Get new messages -- alerts happen -- don't read it
#2 Get another message -- no alerts at all
#3 Read just one message
#4 Get another message -- alerts happen

Desired behavior
#1 Get new messages -- alerts happen -- don't read it -- (popup notification only when minimized option)
#2 Get another message -- alerts happen

Comment 19

[Dobri]

(In reply to cfogri1 from comment #18)

I am using Beta 85.0b1V I am seeing the same behavior where you have to read any new message in order for the alerts to resume. You need to always have a sound notify you that a new message has arrived to your in box. Maybe the popups should only be active when the APP is minimized and ALL new messages should give notification there....whether they are read or not.

Current behavior:
#1 Get new messages -- alerts happen -- don't read it
#2 Get another message -- no alerts at all
#3 Read just one message
#4 Get another message -- alerts happen

Desired behavior
#1 Get new messages -- alerts happen -- don't read it -- (popup notification only when minimized option)
#2 Get another message -- alerts happen

Desired behavior 2:

• Always have sound, I hate popup notifications

Comment 20

[Dobri]

Would someone please increase the priority on this one? I spoke with a few people (add-on developers), they doubt this will need more than a few lines of code...

Comment 21

[Thomas D. (:thomas8)]

From my understanding this should be fixed now by bug 210148 (and bug 375717), when those fixes will reach release channel.