680174 - Thunderbird should automatically subscribe to all folders in my mail.mozilla.com / Zimbra account

Status: NEW

(Thunderbird :: Folder and Message Lists, defect)

Description

[Benoit Jacob [:bjacob] (mostly away)]

I use Thunderbird with IMAP on my mail.mozilla.com account, which is a Zimbra thing.

I have sub-folders in my INBOX folder, with filters automatically putting email into them.

When I first configured Thunderbird, it didn't show my sub-folders at all.

The nice thing is, all I had to do was click File->Subscribe... and it showed all my sub-folders in a nice tree-view with checkboxes, and ticking them did exactly what I want!

So my suggestion is, why not subscribe to all folders by default?

Comment 1

[Mark Banner (:standard8)]

iirc bienvenu said that this is a server choice, and the zimbra server doesn't subscribe you to those folders automatically.

Comment 2

[Benoit Jacob [:bjacob] (mostly away)]

Then the Zimbra client is not honoring this server choice.

Comment 3

[David :Bienvenu]

If you don't want Thunderbird to use imap subscription, feel free to tell it so - account settings, server settings line, advanced button, uncheck "show only subscribed folders"

Comment 4

[Benoit Jacob [:bjacob] (mostly away)]

Sound like what I want indeed.

Comment 5

[Ludovic Hirlimann [:Usul]]

(In reply to David :Bienvenu from comment #3)
> If you don't want Thunderbird to use imap subscription, feel free to tell it
> so - account settings, server settings line, advanced button, uncheck "show
> only subscribed folders"

Shouldn't we change this default then ?

Comment 6

[David :Bienvenu]

(In reply to Ludovic Hirlimann [:Usul] from comment #5)
> (In reply to David :Bienvenu from comment #3)
> > If you don't want Thunderbird to use imap subscription, feel free to tell it
> > so - account settings, server settings line, advanced button, uncheck "show
> > only subscribed folders"
> 
> Shouldn't we change this default then ?

You mean for auto-config with mozilla.com? I'm not sure we have that setting in the autconfig schema.

Comment 7

[Vincent (caméléon)]

I am confronted to this problem now that Free.fr (famous French ISP) switch to Zimbra.

What could be the reason for Zimbra's choice to hide the "specials" folder for mail client users (although Evolution seems to show all folder by default on the contrary of Thunderbird)? Any idea?

It quite difficult to explain to a new user that he need to change an "Advanced" setting in order to simply see its folders...

Comment 8

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

(In reply to Vincent (caméléon) from comment #7)
> I am confronted to this problem now that Free.fr (famous French ISP) switch
> to Zimbra.

apparently still true https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=https://zimbra.free.fr/&prev=search


> What could be the reason for Zimbra's choice to hide the "specials" folder
> for mail client users (although Evolution seems to show all folder by
> default on the contrary of Thunderbird)? Any idea?

Eckard, do you have any insight into this question?
 
> It quite difficult to explain to a new user that he need to change an
> "Advanced" setting in order to simply see its folders...

Comment 9

[Eckard Berberich]

> Eckard, do you have any insight into this question?
>  
I'm still using the Horde server of my ISP for all my accounts. 
For testing purpose I'll migrate an IMAP account to Zimbra.

Comment 10

[Bernard]

I am reviving this old bug thread.

(In reply to David :Bienvenu from comment #3)

If you don't want Thunderbird to use imap subscription, feel free to tell it
so - account settings, server settings line, advanced button, uncheck "show
only subscribed folders"

Shouldn't we change this default then ?

I agree on this view and this problem is still there.
Can the default setting in the user interface be deactivated by default, on any account creation, at least for services not providing auto configuration?

One use case is when you use filters (for instance Sieve) server-side to organize you email, preventing to rely on any client to do so (and problems that arise when accessing the same inbox from multiple devices).

On directory creation by the filter, which won't be subscribed by any client, you end up with a 'rogue' directory with emails piling without the user(s) noticing it.
To this day, the only solutions are:

• To modify each & every client's account configuration to deactivate this advanced setting
• To manually subscribe each & every client's account to the new folder

Comment 11

[Number 6]

I would like to add my voice to this too.

It's particularly an issue with lots of people now using 'plus addressing' on systems running cPanel.

I think the default should be that if a new folder appears on the server it should be subscribed to, unless the user chooses not to. This feels more intuitive.

It's been 15 years since this was first raised, and it's clearly not important to anybody who cares but it's just one of those little things that hold Thunderbird back for non-technical users.

Comment 12

[Number 6]

Apologies, I said 15 years, I meant 13 years. Even so…

Comment 13

[obsazeny.cz]

I would second this bug. Since we are using Clio which creates tons of subfolders when handling e-mails, these do not get subscribed automatically. At least if there would be an option to subscribe folder with all subfolders.