Re: Simplification of preferences

["M. Thielker" <balsa t-data com>]

Hello,

I very strongly disagree. I would have to stop upgrading and participating 
here and keep the current version if you made those changes. Details are 
below:

On 2002.11.13 22:48 Toralf wrote:
> Mail Options
>   Incoming
>     Check IMAP/Check INBOX only
>       Never liked these. I'd prefer being able to choose between e.g.
>       1. Check all folders
>       2. Check open folders
>       3. Check current (viewed) folder
>       But perhaps we could remove the setting and agree on one mode, like
>       2. above.

Definitely needed. There must be a way to disable checking of IMAP servers 
for people like me who use IMAP for shared storage, but never receive mail 
there. I don't really like having new messages shown when I only move 
messages to IMAP, but that is exactly what would happen. I then would have 
to open each folder in turn to make the new message indication go away 
again. With folders of 8000+ messages, it would be extremely 
time-consuming. Without the ability to inhibit IMAP checks, it would be 
unworkable.

>     Display message if mail has arrived in an open mailbox
>       Do we really need this?

I need it, at least. My mailer is always open. When I'm away and I return 
to my PC, I need to see that there's new mail immediately. A sound is no 
use, sonce I'm away at the time the message arrives, I won't hear it. 
Always opening the mailer window (which is normally shaded) is too 
cumbersome and I would forget it. So unread important business mail would 
sit there unnoticed until the next batch of emails comes in, while I'm 
there to hear the sound. I need that persistent new mail indicator. If that 
goes away, I would have to look for another mail program.

>     Do background check quietly (no messages in status bar)
>       And this?

Definitely needed, without that option checked, Balsa will freeze on the 
background check when it's been open for a few days. Again, if that feature 
is removed, I'd have to switch.

>     Quoted text regular expression
>       Find a reasonable default and remove setting.
> 
>  Outgoing
>     Send message as 'text/plain;format=flowed'
>       Maybe this could always be on, but with some way of disabling
>       it for individual messages via Compose window.
>     Edit headers in external editor
>       Does anyone ever do that?
>     Don't include HTML parts as text when replying or forwarding mail
>       Not necessary with proper multipart/alternative handling
>       (introduced a after this setting) and *basic* HTML support
>       (I've submitted patches for that.)

I, personally, don't want even rudimentary html support for outgoing email. 
I don't want to send HTML mail. I don't really want to see HTML mail. I 
would like to abolish HTML mail altogether, but it seems to be here to 
stay. I am strongly considering working up a private patch to suppress HTML 
if text/plain is present in multipart/alternative. It's been discussed here 
before, but it seems our RFC gurus set standards conformance before 
usability and, even though such a pref would not change the way Balsa 
behaves on the net, but only what the user sees, they don't want it. I 
would like to have it, though, especially since the mouse wheel doesn't 
work in HTML view and I have to use the scrollbar to scroll down to the 
icons and select text/plain. It's a pain.

>     Forward a mail as attachment instead of quoting it
>       Always do that; remove setting (but perhaps keep
>       special menu selection for "forward inline".)

I, personally, always forward inline. I often need to delete things like 
confidential mail addresses, pricing, etc, from mail that I forward. Having 
that as the default is handy for me because it means I can use a keyboard 
shortcut rather than a menu. However, if that one went away, I could live 
with it if the menu selection remains.

>     Copy outgoing message to sentbox
>       Belongs in Identities in the sense that it complements Bcc: setting.
> 
> 
> Display
>   Display
>     Main Window
>       Maybe a slightly less configurable layout would be OK.
>     Display Progress Dialog
>       Hard-code a suitable setting and remove from preferences.

There is no suitable setting, IMHO. I, for example, want that turned off 
always. It steals the focus from my foreground application, I can't have 
that. So the only option for me would be to permanently remove it. I don't 
think others see it quite like that, so a pref is needed.

> 
>   Status messages
>       Shouldn't be configurable, at least not via a dialog accessible
>       to normal users.
> 
>   Threading
>       Remove. Hardcode default e.g. to JZW, but store View menu settings
>       on an individual mailbox basis, instead.
> 
> 
> Misc
>   Debug
>       Not for regular users and thus has no place in Preferences.
>       Use command line, environment or hidden dialog instead.
>   Automatically close mailbox...
>       Do we really need that? How lazy are we?
>   Drag and drop moves messages by default
>       Remove. Us modifiers (the usual desktop way) to distinguish between
>       move and copy.

That was put in on request from several users. I need it, too. Gnome 
default behaviour would be to copy. That is not proper. When I sort mail, I 
use drag and drop. I don't want to do any CTRL-Key acrobatics for every 
message I move. Way too much work. Also, other mailers also move by 
default. The only acceptable option, for me, would be to hardcode that pref 
as "on". On the rare occasions I _do_ want to make a copy, I use modifiers.

> 
> 
> Startup
>   Open Inbox upon startup
>       Maybe we should always do that? Or use (existing) command line
>       option only to control behaviour.

Unless we have an Evo-like startup page, that could go away. It makes no 
sense to _not_ open the inbox on startup. For those rare exceptions, a 
command line option would be fine, I guess.

>   Check mail upon startup
>       Remove preference; decide on sensible behaviour common to all.

That's no good for dialup users who may not be connected and may not want 
to dial when opening the program. There seems to be no reliable method to 
detect a dialup settting, so it needs to remain a pref.

>   Remember open mailbox between sessions
>       Possibly useful, but is it worth the effort?

Has proven useless to me, the wild jumping around while mailboxes are 
opened is annoying and the last mailbox to open is not always the inbox, as 
would be proper.

>   IMAP Folder Scanning
>       Move settings to Mail Options/Incoming.
> 

I believe that removing any but the debugging prefs would make Balsa 
poorer. With a logical layout. all the existing prefs could be well placed 
and new ones added in a consistent fashion. I like software that is highly 
customizable, a program like a mail cilent, that is a major part of my 
daily productive work, needs to be able to adapt to the way I work as much 
as possible. If a software cramps my style, I have to look for another that 
doesn't. Software shouldn't force people to do things in certain ways, it 
should adapt to all the various way peoples minds are organized. There can 
never be enough prefs. Some can be moved to "Advanced..." sub-dialogs, but 
removing prefs is, IMHO, always a bad choice.
Also, I think that on none of these options you are considering to remove, 
all people on this list could agree to a hardcoded setting. There are so 
many differences in the way even the few people on this list work that I 
don't think that a sensible setting for each can be found, that all can 
agree to. Just reorganize, but don't remove, is my opinion on this.

Regards,

Melanie