[MlMt] Question on IMAP mailboxes and rules from a MailMate newbie

[Andrew Buc]

> On Mar 14, 2021, at 10:32 PM, Philip Paeps <philip at trouble.is> wrote:
> 
> While your approach of using MailMate rules to file mail will certainly work, you may want to look into using FastMail's sieve features to file the mail on the server when it arrives.  They're under 'customise -> filters and rules' in the FastMail settings.
> 
> If you use client-side rules with multiple clients, things can get a little bit confusing depending on which client sees the message first.  It might be in INBOX on your phone until MailMate files it away under Friends and then it'll seem to disappear on your phone next time you synchronise.

You’re making me think about how I use email!

I should probably explain how I use email. Until now I’ve used the FastMail account pretty much for accessing email away from my desktop Mac at home. My domain registrar forwards anything addressed to abuc at andrewbuc.com both to the FastMail account and to my POP account. At least 90% of my emailing is done from the desktop Mac.

I’ve always accessed the FastMail account through a web browser—usually a Windows browser from my workplace or the public library (pre-COVID). I’ve also accessed it using my iPad, which I’ve had for 6.5 years. I’ve normally used the iPad at coffeehouses, my doctor’s waiting room, and so on. It never occurred to me to set up an IMAP mail client on the iPad. Given the amount I use the iPad for mail, I’m inclined to stick with a web browser. I have a dumb flip phone, and I’m not sure that getting a smartphone would be reason to switch to a mail client on the phone. So the scenario where I access the server with MailMate at home and another IMAP client on the go isn’t like to happen soon, if ever.

So, here’s my folder structure again, this time in distortion mode. Laboris = Friends, Culpa = Lists.





As I said originally, I have many more folders for friends and listservs than shown here. I may click on the down arrow to collapse the Friends folder when I’m concerned with the Lists folder, or vice versa. I definitely like having dedicated folders. For one thing, email that gets shunted into a folder by a rule is no longer in my inbox. That means fewer “miscellaneous” emails to scroll thru in my inbox, in Mail or on the web. I took a quick look at FastMail’s filters and rules, and I see how that could work, but I wonder if FastMail rules offer the power of MailMate rules.

I can think of some special purposes for which I might use smart mailboxes, but in general, folders and rules strike me as the way to go.

Any thoughts on all this? Thank you.



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