Move to Archive not Available for Gmail Accounts

DoctorG

GMail has not really a working IMAP interface and uses strange filters and labels, the crazy GMail "webmail" wannebee interface does not let me create IMAP folders.
I am not willing to debug why Google behaves different.

Hadden89

@DoctorG has right. G-IMAP is very strange and non standard.
@ningshi What I did in my gmail account:

Keep note of the non working folders and unsubcribe from them (archive included);
Create a folder in the webmail to use in place of the no working archive one (probably you can do this is vivaldi too);
Move the mails to such folders as it were a real archive (my own is called archived)

This should also solve most to occasional issues gmail throws

ningshi

@Hadden89 @DoctorG Thanks for the reply. I agree that Gmail doesn't have a properly implemented IMAP interface. I am by no means a Gmail advocate. Mostly using it because of work and other inevitable reasons.

However, I am a bit disappointed that as one of the key providers supported by Vivaldi according to the product homepage, it is lacking some feature support and attention from the development team. Seems like the only thing it saved me was filling in the IMAP and SMTP server names during set up, but otherwise no additional support to make Gmail experience the same as other standard IMAP providers.

WildEnte

@ningshi said in Move to Archive not Available for Gmail Accounts:

, I am a bit disappointed that as one of the key providers supported by Vivaldi according to the product homepage

Understandable from your perspective, and you are right, so don't take the text below as an excuse or as brushing away your point, but as an explanation giving context as to where things are and how they got there.

The intention of the mail client is foremost to provide a powerful (=database and filter focused) integrated mail client for multiple accounts from different providers under one hood.

The intention is not to optimize specifically for Gmail and its sometimes unique workflows, but to be compatible with Gmail like all other imap services else to send and receive mail and be organized within the Vivaldi interface.

If you look at the product homepage https://vivaldi.com/features/mail/, yes it lists Gmail prominently, but it is listed along other services that are very much not like Gmail. Gmail is listed there because it is used by so many people, hence the client is better able to send and receive mails via its imap access.

That being said, there are compatibility issues that need to be resolved simply because there are so many Gmail users which obviously want to have a good experience using Vivaldi. So it's great that you take the time to bring these issues up here in the community. We are needed by the team for testing the mail client, and we have simply not noticed the Gmail archiving ncompatibility for a long time... many of us use Vivaldi because we avoid Google. You may be the person we needed

The good thing is that the devs take feedback here in the forum seriously, and use the input in their work on the client. The mail development team is small (2 people?) with a long list of issues and wishes to work with. So it often does take a long time but it's certainly coming along.

B-iggy

What is the status on this here?

@DoctorG said in Move to Archive not Available for Gmail Accounts:

GMail has not really a working IMAP interface and uses strange filters and labels, the crazy GMail "webmail" wannebee interface does not let me create IMAP folders.
I am not willing to debug why Google behaves different

While I understand your standpoint as developer myself, I find it ignorant if other mail clients such as "Mailbird" were able to implement it.
As soon as I see others could do it, I would not ignore it and blame Google for stuff.

So is there anything that users can help here to get this fixed?

Edit: ok, apparently there is a new setting that might fixed it for me / there is a google setting for IMAP control. ‍️

WildEnte

@B-iggy It's just a bug. See my post above, where I posted the bug number (VB-89103: Vivaldi Archive function incompatible with GMail) and linked to threads there discussing said bug. What the devs prioritize is up to them, not sure how much influence moderators like @DoctorG have.

Doesn't help that you can have Vivaldi automatically add the archive to GMail, because (drumroll) GMail doesn't recognize the archive folder Vivaldi creates (using IMAP standards, which all other IMAP implementations understand).

Why can mailbird implement the Google Specific stuff? It's not like Vivaldi can't, it's just that they haven't fixed that bug yet. Why is Mailbird faster? Because if you want to use Mailbird, you'll have to pay north of $25 per year, and they target business users. Bigger team dedicated to mail only - different business model.

B-iggy

@WildEnte Absolutely understand
I was just confused to get redirected back and forth via Google and this forum to find information about the current state. Nobody mentioned this setting "Add Archive Folder if Missing" I think.

As you say, it's not really a fix but for our GMail bot apparently good enough.

Also the Gmail setting as others suggested might help:

Either way, totally understand the resources behind Vivaldi.

@WildEnte said in Move to Archive not Available for Gmail Accounts:

Why is Mailbird faster?

That's your assumption. Vivaldi Mail is actually pretty fast (my only concern is, that it's slowing down the whole browser experience but I accept that for the convenience gain I get).
Funny enough I switched from Mailbird and Chrome today only, because Mailbird has a major Calendar bug.

I love Vivaldi and want to make it better

WildEnte

@B-iggy I meant that mailbird was faster in developing a fully Google compatible version. Browsing in Vivaldi is not slowed down by mail at all.

DoctorG

@WildEnte said in Move to Archive not Available for Gmail Accounts:

not sure how much influence moderators like @DoctorG have.

Me is not a Moderator, only a internal helper and tester.

I can try to check the issue with my GMail account.
VB-89103: "Vivaldi Archive function incompatible with GMail" - Confirmed.

Google Mail was always a troublemaker with its special "Imap" server using labels to fake IMAP folders.
But as Vivaldi Mail is a real mail client, it should work with GMail.

WildEnte

Half a year later, the archiving issue still exists but has changed slightly.

In case anyone else stumbles over GMail Archiving issues, please continue the discussion here -> https://forum.vivaldi.net/topic/74974/archived-still-showing-even-though-archive-button-not-selected?_=1691152199317

I'll ask a moderator to archive (the irony!) this thread such that we don't spread the discussion across too many threads.