Label management

WildEnte

There are lots of people that use elaborate folder structures. Folders are evil, but if we want to convince the folks that is the case then M3 will need to make labeling nice and attractive for them - I guess that folks that used to have hundreds of folders will want to start off using hundreds of labels.

I'm not sure if it is planned to give M3 capabilities to emulate hierarchical folder structures, in any case it needs to gracefully import hierarchical folder structures (If an email is in folder tree "college stuff" - "lectures" - "biology", the M3 would add the labels "college_stuff", "lectures" and "biology")

So while I personally don't need it, I believe those that are used to elaborate folder structures would like to have some label management to make the transition easier:

Assume you have lots and lots of labels and want to add one to an email. Then the Add Label button needs a search function with find as you type, and a list of 'recently used labels' that I can add/remove just clicking things. Generally when this is done, the number of emails that carry an existing label should be shown such that we don't add almost identical new labels
If someone uses many many labels, they may want to merge labels, i.e. you may want to have some mass-labeling functionality. I guess would be to select all emails in a list generated by an appropriate search, apply the new label, and remove specific other labels. In other words, we don't need a new UI, but the labeling UI that is worked on should consider this usecase such that this way becomes somewhat obvious or easy to explain.

janrifkinson

I have so many stupid/redundant labels that my list is a PITA to navigate/assign/un-assign, etc which means I agree wholeheartedly with your post/thoughts on labels.

At the very least user should be able to drag/drop or sort or any kind of management

Not to be snarky or ungrateful for what the talented Vivaldi team has already provided but, as they are, the labels just sit there like so many lumps.

High on my wish list.

WildEnte

@janrifkinson too many labels sounds like you are indeed trying to emulate folders I'm still for improvements here to help with the transition but have you tried to find emails just with a search without using labels yet? You'll be amazed how far you get and start using only the labels you actually need (I.e. Project name)

janrifkinson

@wildente said in Label management:

@janrifkinson too many labels sounds like you are trying to emulate folders I'm still for improvements here but have you tried to find emails just with a search without using any labels yet? You'll be amazed how far you get and start using only the labels you actually need (I.e. Project name)

@WildEnte Yes, I've been playing around w search capabilities & agree one can usually find searched item. At the same time I'm trying to pair down my label/folders & put them into some kind of order.

janrifkinson

@wildente said in Label management:

too many labels sounds like you are indeed trying to emulate folders

Yes, a good observation & you are right.

From using another program I am used to automated tagging which obviously creates many search words so I'm probably thinking along those lines. However, Vivaldi Search is excellent (and fast) which I'm trying to use more often in general & also to reduce label list. Old habits are sometimes hard to break.

Nevertheless, IMO, if user wants to use multiple labels for whatever reason, I think user should be able to make multiple selections in drop down list instead of the current implementation which is open > select > close > open > select > close > open > select > close, etc.

Denyerec

@janrifkinson On top of this, Thunderbird-like hotkeys of 1-9 for the common labels would be a real lifesaver. I hate the current mechanism, and as a result am still on Thunderpants for now.

ppw1104

Are labels synced with the IMAP server?

I haven't looked into it carefully, but I think they're not.
This means using labels causes a huge problem: If you switch to a different mail client, you lose all your labels.

Ayespy

@ppw1104 IMAP servers have no uniform way to recognize or sync labels.

WildEnte

@ppw1104 said in Label management:

If you switch to a different mail client, you lose all your labels.

Why would you

This is indeed a problem and (I think) why GMail chose to implement the functionality of labels using imap folders in the background.

Vivaldi's standard labels are compatible to Thunderbird

janrif

@WildEnte said in Label management:

Vivaldi's standard labels are compatible to Thunderbird

@WildEnte What is meant here? Can you point me to some discussion on the topic or do you advise d/l Thunderbird? TIA

WildEnte

@janrif this just means that Vivaldi Mail by default has the same standard labels that Thunderbird has (Important, Work, Personal, ToDo, Later), and Vivaldi also understands custom labels people may have set in Thunderbird. That's to make people switching from Thunderbird to Vivaldi Mail feel at home. However, while Thunderbird shows standard labels set in Vivaldi, it does not understand Vivaldi custom labels.

Here is a post from @gmg about labels from some time ago with some more details -> https://forum.vivaldi.net/topic/73130/are-labels-synced-with-mail-provider-in-some-sort-of-way/2?_=1716736655091

@janrif said in Label management:

do you advise d/l Thunderbird?

Thunderbird is certainly a decent email client, but not for me.