[Users] How to colour incoming messages?

[J.D. Ackle]

On Sat, 6 Jul 2013 23:39:28 +1000
Adam Nielsen <a.nielsen at shikadi.net> wrote:

> > > I can't use filters for this as I have had to disable automatic
> > > filtering.  (I instead run the filters manually on selected messages
> > > to file them into folders after I have actioned them.)
> > 
> > Why do you have to disable filtering ? You selectively
> > activate/disable any rule in the filtering list...
> 
> The rules move mail I have *read* into specific archive folders.  So I
> want all the rules enabled, but I don't want them to run until after I
> have read the message and I want it moved out of my inbox.
> 
> Is there another way to achieve this without using filters?
> 
As far as I'm aware, yes and no.
You can get that behaviour fully automated, yes.
But not as soon as you've read the message (which I believe is what you actually wanted...?), no.

You can use "Processing rules" instead of filtering. They pretty much have the exact same power as Filtering rules, and almost exactly the same interface for setting up, but their action is triggered differently.
Breaking it down:
Filtering:
* You can trigger Filtering rules when Receiving new mail or Manually;
* Filtering can be applied to all accounts or only one. You can however manually apply Filtering from accounts other than the one you are processing.
Processing:
* You can trigger Processing rules upon Claws-Mail startup or when Opening the folder they correspond to;
* Processing is applied on a per-folder basis (in your case, that would be your Inbox ), rather than on an per-account(s) basis;
* You can also trigger Processing rules to be run either Before (preprocessing) or After (postprocessing) the Filtering rules that affect that folder.

In your case, I believe Pre/Post Processing is rather irrelevant as it would happen anywaym, alongside your Filtering. In a way though I bleieve you could achieve the same as one of the results I'll propose to you below, and might actually fit your needs best.

HOW TO:
1. Setup your Processing rules for the concerning folder(s): Right-click the folder and then "Processing". You can simply copy your filters to the corresponding fields - the only one that'll be missing is the "Account" one, all the rest will be the same;
2. Setup When to run the Processing automatically: Right-click the same folder and now choose "Properties". On the General tab, you'll find two checkboxes:
* "Run processing rules at start-up": Choosing this one will let you read your new mails and have them kept on your Inbox for the current session. Next time you run Claws again, the processing will be applied and your read messages moved according to the rules your defined.
* "Run processing rules when opening": If you look at another folder after reading some message(s) and then get back to your Inbox, the read messages in there will then be processed.

Final note: I think you could use Preprocessing (look for it in the "Configurations" menu) to do an equivalent to "Run processing rules at start-up". You might even get it to be done for all your accounts' inboxes, with just one rule (as opposed to doing the same rule for each Inbox), but I never did get to toy around with that.

Hope that helps and my apologies for the wall of text.
Cheers!
Jean Ackle