Mail set-up is too restrictive (let us re-use existing mail addresses)

mossman

As mentioned in several earlier threads (e.g. here, here and here) Vivaldi simply does not let you use the same e-mail address to create a new account...

So my question is: why? I don't see a technical reason if the account is given its own ID (as evidenced in the file storage folders) and I don't think users would be confused unless they really had no clue what they were doing. But I can see valid reasons - e.g. you want to close off one account for archiving after several years and start with a clean account from the next year, or - in my case - I have a POP3 Hotmail account which is no longer allowed to connect without Oauth so I need to either switch to IMAP (not possible through the mail settings) or create a new IMAP account with the same mail address.

When I try to create a new IMAP account - even with the old POP3 one set to offline and the mail settings altered - the set-up dialogue simply refuses to allow it. The button to test server settings does not activate.

I stopped trying after a while (I will wait for a weekend when I have the time to spend a few hours on this) but in general I find the mail set-up to be too "protect the dumb user" and I've struggled in the past when it insists on checking with the server before proceeding and won't let me just fill in settings and save it.

Not sure if this should be called a feature request - I just wanted to rant a bit about this out-of-character blocking by Vivaldi, which usually lets users configure things any way they want... But now I am going to have to go out of my way to work around the way Vivaldi does things, like it's something from Microsoft or Google!

yojimbo274064400

Consider submitting a feature request if one does not already exist.

AFAICS, an account's email address generates the same data folder location regardless of the protocol used, i.e. IMAP or POP. This alone would be reason enough to justify not allowing an email address to exist for more than one protocol.

mossman

@yojimbo274064400 said in Mail set-up is too restrictive (let us re-use existing mail addresses):

Consider submitting a feature request if one does not already exist.

AFAICS, an account's email address generates the same data folder location regardless of the protocol used, i.e. IMAP or POP. This alone would be reason enough to justify not allowing an email address to exist for more than one protocol.

I see - well if that's the case then my strategy will probably be to try moving all the messages (through the UI) to a new offline account, delete the old account (and any leftover files) then create a new IMAP one. I always assumed the code-like name assigned to the data folder was random.

edwardp

@mossman

See this Vivaldi Help section regarding the deletion of accounts. Scroll down to Important, it states it will not be possible to register with the same username again, once an account is deleted.

Once a Gmail account is deleted, its username can no longer be used. The same policy applies at Yahoo/AOL. The prohibition on usernames being reused or recycled, seems to be the standard.

yojimbo274064400

@mossman said in Mail set-up is too restrictive (let us re-use existing mail addresses):

@yojimbo274064400 said in Mail set-up is too restrictive (let us re-use existing mail addresses):

Consider submitting a feature request if one does not already exist.

AFAICS, an account's email address generates the same data folder location regardless of the protocol used, i.e. IMAP or POP. This alone would be reason enough to justify not allowing an email address to exist for more than one protocol.

I see - well if that's the case then my strategy will probably be to try moving all the messages (through the UI) to a new offline account, delete the old account (and any leftover files) then create a new IMAP one. I always assumed the code-like name assigned to the data folder was random.

Initially I had thought the same.

Whichever migration strategy is used to go from POP to IMAP do remember to have an up to date backup of your emails.

Do consider raising a feature request for the ability to setup a new account using an existing email address already setup but with a different protocol here, Mail, Calendar & Feeds Feature Requests | Vivaldi Forum. For example:

mossman

@edwardp said in Mail set-up is too restrictive (let us re-use existing mail addresses):

@mossman

See this Vivaldi Help section regarding the deletion of accounts. Scroll down to Important, it states it will not be possible to register with the same username again, once an account is deleted.

Once a Gmail account is deleted, its username can no longer be used. The same policy applies at Yahoo/AOL. The prohibition on usernames being reused or recycled, seems to be the standard.

?!? I'm not talking about the mail service user account, I'm talking about retrieving messages in the browser... I need to remove the old POP account in the mailer to replace it with an IMAP account (connecting to the same mail service account).

Edit - Aha! I see this thread has been incorrectly moved to the "community & services" forum. @Zalex108 Can it be put back in the correct mail forum please?

edwardp

@mossman

The title of this thread currently contains: (let us re-use existing mail addresses)

I replied appropriately, indicating this is not possible.

If that is not the issue, then the title of the thread needs to he changed.

mossman

@yojimbo274064400 not one, but THREE new feature requests!

Allow set-up of new account to use existing mail address

Allow change of mail protocol for a mail account

Remove restrictive need for server authentication during mail set-up

mossman

@edwardp said in Mail set-up is too restrictive (let us re-use existing mail addresses):

@mossman

The title of this thread currently contains: (let us re-use existing mail addresses)

I replied appropriately, indicating this is not possible.

If that is not the issue, then the title of the thread needs to he changed.

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree! In the context of being IN THE MAIL, CALENDAR & FEEDS section of the forum, my discussion of mail accounts IN THE BROWSER was entirely correct.