Re: [Evolution] Initial run moved many emails from IMAP folders to Junk

[Pete Biggs <pete biggs org uk>]

> > > Once evolution started to sync my existing mail store to the local
> > > computer, I noticed a very troubling thing: many many emails were
> > > showing up in the Junk folder. In my existing thunderbird client
> > > configuration, I don't use the Junk folder at all. Mail deemed SPAM
> > > is moved directly to the Trash folder, which I review before
> > > emptying.
> >
> > How do you deem the mail to be SPAM?
>
> I saw the emails in the Junk folder, not in evolution, but in
> thunderbird running on a different machine.

What I meant was that you said "Mail deemed SPAM is moved" on another
client. What are you using on that other client to categorise the mail
as spam?

> All the messages in the Junk folder had the SPAM flag set.

Yes, that's probably why they are in the Junk folder.

And as I said before, marking the messages as "Not Junk" will make them
visible again in their original place and they won't be shown in the
Junk folder. (And will train your spam software at the same time.)

> There are other email clients running on the same IMAP account: K-9
> on android, thunderbird on an old machine (won't be replaced),
> thunderbird locally (hope to replace).
>
> When I first started and configured the IMAP account on evolution
> locally, it had quite a bit of downloading to do. It was during this
> initial IMAP download that certain mail was flagged as SPAM and
> appeared in the Junk folder of all the running clients.

Sorry to keep on at this, but are you sure that it was Evolution that
marked them as spam?  Or could they have had a spam marker on them from
somewhere else and Evolution was just displaying them in the Junk
folder?  You say they are archived/old mail, could it be some legacy
thing?

Generally though, if you aren't using a specific install of Evolution
for spam filtering, then just uninstall the external programs that
Evolution uses (i,e, SpamAssassin or Bogofilter), then it won't be able
to do anything.

> No other mail clients are configured to use the "Junk" folder at all.
> Only thunderbird on the old machine has SPAM detection enabled, and
> it moves any mail designated as SPAM to the Trash folder, not to
> Junk. This machine also does other mail filtering, such as putting
> this message in an "evolution" folder. I intend to eventually replace
> this with server side sieve and SPAM detection, but that is another
> project.

Seriously, I would bring forward that project.  Filtering, whether it
is for spam or filing, especially if you have multiple clients, is much
more logically done on the server - it is more efficient and more
consistent across IMAP clients.

> How will evolution interact with other clients on the same IMAP
> account? How will any other client recognize a "virtual" folder?

They don't, it's internal to Evolution.  As Angel said, they are
specialised search folders - the Trash virtual folder shows all the
messages in all the folders of an account that have the "Deleted" flag
set on the message.  The Junk contains those that have the Junk flag
set.

The important thing to understand is that the messages are not moved
into those folders, the messages are still where they were originally
and you can still see them by changing the view options. If you are
familiar with the Linux filesystems, think of the messages in the Trash
& Junk as being symbolic links to the original messages.

As a consequence of this, other clients don't see or have any knowledge
of the Evolution virtual folders - they just see the messages in their
original place.

> Is there some way to set these options on a newly configured
> evolution before it starts creating virtual copies of things?

It doesn't create any copies. The virtual folders don't change your
original folders, so their presence is inconsequential. 

> What are these "virtual copies"? When I search I see "saved search"
> "virtual folders" for thunderbird, and "shared virtual folders" for
> courier-imap (courier is the IMAP server here), and "virtual
> directories" for dovecot. Are any of these related to evolution's
> "virtual folders"?

No, these are specific to an individual install of Evolution.

> >
>
> All of the messages seen in Junk where pre-existing in filtered IMAP
> folders, not marked as SPAM.

It depends on how they were marked as SPAM in the past.  You need to
look at the message source to see what it actually contains.

> These weren't incoming messages, but messages filtered into folders
> long ago.

It doesn't matter, if they are marked as SPAM then they will be shown
in the Junk virtual folder.

> > > What should I do to prevent Evolution from trashing my mail archives?
> >
> > Edit -> Preferences -> Mail Preferences -> Junk
> >
> > Then untick the "Check incoming messages for junk" to turn off Spam
> > checking.
And I should add that turning off the Spam checking will effectively
disable the Junk virtual folder.

P.