[MlMt] Feature request: "Reset/Delete 'High Priority' Flag"

[TJ Luoma]

We all know these folks… they may be friends, loved one, or even
co-workers… but there are just some people who seem unable to send out
an email without labelling it as HIGH PRIORITY.

Of course, that almost instantly makes their messages seem _not_ high
priority, because if everything is an emergency, then nothing really
is.

I would love it if MailMate could allow me to turn off the HIGH
PRIORITY flag in emails that I receive which I deem to be not HIGH
PRIORITY.

I don't want to turn off the entire column because I do sometimes use
regular flags to highlight messages.

Thanks for your consideration,

TjL


--
TJ Luoma
TJ @ MacStories
Personal Website: luo.ma (aka RhymesWithDiploma.com)
Twitter: @tjluoma

[Bill Cole]

Post by TJ Luoma
We all know these folks… they may be friends, loved one, or even
co-workers… but there are just some people who seem unable to send out
an email without labelling it as HIGH PRIORITY.
Of course, that almost instantly makes their messages seem _not_ high
priority, because if everything is an emergency, then nothing really
is.
I would love it if MailMate could allow me to turn off the HIGH
PRIORITY flag in emails that I receive which I deem to be not HIGH
PRIORITY.
I don't want to turn off the entire column because I do sometimes use
regular flags to highlight messages.

I agree completely, and I hope Benny comes up with an implementation.

However, there is a quirk with this misfeature of email which explains
why changing the "Priority" isn't universally implemented: it is not an
IMAP keyword (which would be a local receiver-set value.) Instead, it is
set by the sender adding one or more non-standard headers: X-Priority,
Priority, X-Importance, Importance, or X-MSMail-Priority. I don't know
which of these MailMate specifically honors but they all share the same
problem: as headers they are an internal part of the delivered message,
which an IMAP server must never modify.

So, unsetting the 'Priority' requires the IMAP client (MailMate) to
reconstruct the message without whichever header(s) it is honoring and
store it and then to delete the original. This means the client has to
do more housekeeping on the state of a message and it means that other
clients could catch the server in a state where both messages exist.

[Eric Sharakan]

Isn't the solution for TJ as simple as having a dedicated header column
for priority, separate from "flag"? So you don't "turn off" the
priority setting, you just choose not to display it.

-Eric

Post by Bill Cole

Post by TJ Luoma
We all know these folks… they may be friends, loved one, or even
co-workers… but there are just some people who seem unable to send out
an email without labelling it as HIGH PRIORITY.
Of course, that almost instantly makes their messages seem _not_ high
priority, because if everything is an emergency, then nothing really
is.
I would love it if MailMate could allow me to turn off the HIGH
PRIORITY flag in emails that I receive which I deem to be not HIGH
PRIORITY.
I don't want to turn off the entire column because I do sometimes use
regular flags to highlight messages.

I agree completely, and I hope Benny comes up with an implementation.
However, there is a quirk with this misfeature of email which explains
why changing the "Priority" isn't universally implemented: it is not
an IMAP keyword (which would be a local receiver-set value.) Instead,
X-Priority, Priority, X-Importance, Importance, or X-MSMail-Priority.
I don't know which of these MailMate specifically honors but they all
share the same problem: as headers they are an internal part of the
delivered message, which an IMAP server must never modify.
So, unsetting the 'Priority' requires the IMAP client (MailMate) to
reconstruct the message without whichever header(s) it is honoring and
store it and then to delete the original. This means the client has to
do more housekeeping on the state of a message and it means that other
clients could catch the server in a state where both messages exist.
_______________________________________________
mailmate mailing list
https://lists.freron.com/listinfo/mailmate

[Bill Cole]

Post by Eric Sharakan
Isn't the solution for TJ as simple as having a dedicated header
column for priority, separate from "flag"? So you don't "turn off"
the priority setting, you just choose not to display it.

An excellent idea.

A little thought rapidly leads to the recognition that bundling priority
with intrinsically semantics-free mutually-exclusive mutable flags makes
no sense. If anyone actually pays attention to sender-defined priority,
surely it shouldn't be masked by using flags.

Post by Eric Sharakan
-Eric

Post by Bill Cole

Post by TJ Luoma
We all know these folks… they may be friends, loved one, or even
co-workers… but there are just some people who seem unable to send out
an email without labelling it as HIGH PRIORITY.
Of course, that almost instantly makes their messages seem _not_ high
priority, because if everything is an emergency, then nothing really
is.
I would love it if MailMate could allow me to turn off the HIGH
PRIORITY flag in emails that I receive which I deem to be not HIGH
PRIORITY.
I don't want to turn off the entire column because I do sometimes use
regular flags to highlight messages.

I agree completely, and I hope Benny comes up with an implementation.
However, there is a quirk with this misfeature of email which
it is not an IMAP keyword (which would be a local receiver-set
value.) Instead, it is set by the sender adding one or more
non-standard headers: X-Priority, Priority, X-Importance, Importance,
or X-MSMail-Priority. I don't know which of these MailMate
specifically honors but they all share the same problem: as headers
they are an internal part of the delivered message, which an IMAP
server must never modify.
So, unsetting the 'Priority' requires the IMAP client (MailMate) to
reconstruct the message without whichever header(s) it is honoring
and store it and then to delete the original. This means the client
has to do more housekeeping on the state of a message and it means
that other clients could catch the server in a state where both
messages exist.
_______________________________________________
mailmate mailing list
https://lists.freron.com/listinfo/mailmate

_______________________________________________
mailmate mailing list
https://lists.freron.com/listinfo/mailmate

[TJ Luoma]

Post by Eric Sharakan
Isn't the solution for TJ as simple as having a dedicated header column
for priority, separate from "flag"? So you don't "turn off" the
priority setting, you just choose not to display it.

Oh, that's a very good idea. If I never have to see the "High
Priority" flag, then I don't care how often it gets misused, but I
still want to be able to use IMAP flags (and MailMate flags, ideally.)
And it solves the problem that Bill identified about IMAP not changing
headers.

A separate column for it would be great, if Benny agrees.

TjL

--
TJ Luoma
TJ @ MacStories
Personal Website: luo.ma (aka RhymesWithDiploma.com)
Twitter: @tjluoma

[Benny Kjær Nielsen]

Post by TJ Luoma

Post by Eric Sharakan
Isn't the solution for TJ as simple as having a dedicated header column
for priority, separate from "flag"? So you don't "turn off" the
priority setting, you just choose not to display it.

Oh, that's a very good idea. If I never have to see the "High
Priority" flag, then I don't care how often it gets misused, but I
still want to be able to use IMAP flags (and MailMate flags, ideally.)
And it solves the problem that Bill identified about IMAP not changing
headers.
A separate column for it would be great, if Benny agrees.

I think I got the current behavior from Apple Mail (just like the unread
dot can hide reply/forward symbols). I know some users rely heavily on
the priority flag (usually because it has some kind of accepted meaning
within an organization). I'll note to look into separating them. If
anyone has any objections then this is the time to share them :)

And if anyone should think otherwise: I personally ignore
priority-flags.