[Users] Issue in need of ideas: Too many folders

[Pierre Fortin]

Hi Tom,

Thanks for the feedback... 

On Sun, 4 Mar 2012 13:44:03 -0800 Thomas Taylor wrote:

>On Sun, 4 Mar 2012 12:27:31 -0500
>Pierre Fortin <pf at pfortin.com> wrote:

>> My idea is to use a cascading menu toggle (like "Edit->Auto-wrapping")

aka:  boolean

>> where the menu head is each folder's expansion triangle. Each folder

Just a suggestion...  will probably need another icon to serve as menu
head.

LOL...  almost suggested a checkbox on each folder to hide it; but where
would it show on hidden folders...  DOH!

>> would have a show/hide toggle -- this would allow only the most
>> active/chosen folders to appear in the folder view without having to
>> show all the other less active folders which waste display space,
>> resulting in wasted time finding a particular one.  
>>
>
>Cascading already exists in CM

Cascading folders, yes.  Cascading folders with per-folder Show/Hide, not
unless I've missed it after all these years...  and no, I still haven't
found all of CM's features...  :)

>> Rarely used folders would auto-display when a new messages arrive in
>> them.
>> 
>> May need a "[ ] Never hide folders with unread messages" option too. :)
>> I can't think of a reason for hiding all folders, other than not using
>> "Default To:" and "Save to..." folder options to compose. 
>> 
>> Organized folders only get me so far when opening a branch in the
>> current tree which shows lots of less active folders along with the
>> desired one(s)...
>> 
>
>not sure what you mean here.

Which part?  The additional suggestion re new/unread messages, or the
background info about how the current tree display shows less-oft used
directories (the ones I'd like to hide)?

>Hi Pierre;
>Maybe start with cascading sub-folders that are normally closed?  For
>instance, I have a folder under MH called User_Groups.  Under that I
>have a sub-folder for each user group which in turn contain other
>sub-folders for various uses. I normally leave the top folder closed so
>it doesn't take up so much space, only opening it when needed.  I use
>color coding actions for the top folder to indicate new messages in the
>sub-folders.

Been doing that for years...  including down to years and months/quarters
like this:
  level1/level2/2004/{Q{1.2.3.4},Jan,...,Dec}

The problem is that there is no one-size-fits-all solution which is why
I'm suggesting this feature to hide many of the less used folders.  If I
had this, my nearly 7 screens of 40+ folders could be more manageable on
a single screen of 30-40 folders without having to display all the
sub-folders just because they're present.  

Even color-coding folders has reached diminishing manageability for my
355 folders (and counting)...  :)

>To create a structure that would reduce the number of pages would
>probably require some innovative menus as to what sub-folders would go
>under what top level folders.  I know I've rearranged my folder
>structure several times over the years.

Not looking for innovative menus...  just a simple boolean attached to
each folder indicating Show/Hide.  The code that displays each folder in
the tree already decides to color and/or bold the folder name, display
counts, etc.  A 'hide' boolean would preclude these decisions...  a bonus
would be making CM *much* faster by not having to process hidden folders
-- unless unhidden by user or incoming mail.  :)

>Tom

Hope that's clearer...   haven't coded in C since the mid-80s when C was
WAY simpler, otherwise I'd prefer to submit a patch...

Cheers,
Pierre