82996 - when sending fails, offer to send later (save message in unsent)

Status: NEW

(MailNews Core :: Composition, enhancement)

Description

[Gareth King]

Steps to reproduce:

Disconnect from Network but remain 'online' for Mozilla.
Write new mail message.
Attempt to 'Send'
Get error that somethings wrong (no network / settings).

Expect to have option to save in unsent and send later (perhaps Mozilla could go
'offline' if this occurs).

Comment 1

[David :Bienvenu]

Since you haven't told mozilla you're offline, this isn't an Offline bug.
Reassigning to JF. But I don't think offering to go offline here is a general
purpose solution. There are lots of possible reasons for failing to send, only
one of which is that you're offline - I get this error dozens of times a day
because occasionally network connections fail, even though I'm online.

Comment 2

[Alex Bishop]

I agree that Mozilla shouldn't offer to go into offline mode. I'm not even sure
if it's possible to detect if the network connection has been lost while in
online mode. Also (on some setups at least), when you try to send the message in
online mode, your OS will offer to dial in if you're not already connected.

The other part of the bug (saving the message in Unsent Messages) would be
solved if bug 82998 (which Gareth also filed) was fixed.

Changing severity to enhancement and Platform and OS to All, but leaving
UNCONFIRMED. I recommend WONTFIX for this one.

Comment 3

[Keyser Sose]

Marking NEW...I think its a pretty good idea...anyway let the people who do the
coding figure it out.

Comment 4

[Vaclav Dvorak]

I think that there should be a "save in unsent messages (i.e., send later)"
button in the "sending failed" error dialog, because that's what users probably
do manually when they get the error - at least, it's what I often do.

"save in unsent and go offline" might be another button _iff_ Mozilla got
"network unreachable" as the error... Just a thought, though. It's probably not
a reliable indicator of the user being offline. So I wouldn't bother with that.

Comment 5

[Vaclav Dvorak]

Adjusting summary. Original: "save message when try to send 'online' with no
network connection"

Comment 6

[OstGote!]

*** Bug 254178 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

Comment 7

[Mike Cowperthwaite]

*** Bug 291379 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

Comment 8

[John David Galt]

Bug 291379 is not a duplicate but an alternative solution to this problem.

After all the efforts the Mozilla developers have made to rid the user of unwanted pop-ups from web sites, it amazes me that they are so willing to impose their own.  In my view it is an important core requirement for any mail and news client that the user should be able to start it and forget it.  Interruptions by pop-ups such as the subject of this bug are unacceptable, and adding a shortcut button to the unwanted dialog box is not good enough.  We must be allowed to turn the dialog box OFF.  This goes for pretty much every dialog box in the entire application.

Comment 9

[Mitra Ardron]

What do you think the solution should be ... (i.e. to allow a user to forget it - I see this problem all the time, I definately want to know the message didn't get sent - otherwise, I'll assume the recipient had a chance to read it. I think an option to Send Later should be given in the case of failure as suggested by this bug. 

See also bug 89222 which asks for a "Send Later" option on Send. (maybe a down arrow, like on the right of "Get Mail").

Comment 10

[Boris 'pi' Piwinger]

Actually, I haven't seen any mailreader which requires the user to personally set the online status (though in most cases you have the ability to do so). All programs I have seen are able to handle offline status. And this typically means to save for later sending, at least on user request.

So the solution is easy: Give the warning that sending failed. In the dialog add the button "save for sending when connection becomes available" (better wording for sure, but you get the idea).

pi