Achievement Unlocked!

[andrewducker]

I use Gmail for the backing store for my email, but I mostly access it via IMAP, as I loathe Gmail's threaded conversation interface.

Sometimes, though, it'd be handy to read email over the web. So today I got around to setting up RoundCube on my domain, and now I can read my email online with a nice interface. Yay!

Comments

[momentsmusicaux.livejournal.com]

I *love* gmail's threading.

Out of curiosity -- how do you feel about mailing lists? I absolutely despise them, precisely because I can't follow things. (And a heap of other reasons.)

[andrewducker]

I use my inbox as a to-do list. There's no way with Gmail to leave a single email in my inbox - it has to be the whole thread. Similarly, if I have a long conversation with someone and then ask them for their home address to send them something, I can't save just that address in my "address" folder - I have to save the entire thread. This is not useful to me.

I'm only on one mailing list. Nowadays pretty much everything is forum based.

[momentsmusicaux.livejournal.com]

Ah, but if you star one email in a conversation, clicking on that conversation takes you straight to that specific email.

[andrewducker]

But I can't tag one email in a conversation one way, and another a different way. Nor can I tick off the different LJ-comments I want to reply to as I reply to them.

I think that comment threading is a great idea - but making it mandatory makes certain things impossible.

[meaningrequired.livejournal.com]

I also love the threading.

I'm on several mailing lists, and I find gmail's threading makes it bearable.

[mair_in_grenderich]

I like real threading better.

[sneakingyoda.livejournal.com]

Your the first person I've heard mention of not liking gmail's threading.

o.o

*points*

[andrewducker]

I guess most people don't user their inbox as a to-do list.

[broin.livejournal.com]

No. To-do lists are for to-do lists.

[andrewducker]

But then I'd have to have access to yet another resource which I have to either have online, or synchronise between PCs. And most of my to-dos _are_ emails to reply to.

[i-ate-my-crusts.livejournal.com]

The multiple star option in labs lets me do that, to a degree. I would love some labelling labs tweaks.

I use my gmail as a to-do list, too.

[andrewducker]

This is why I mostly use the IMAP interface. That way I can drop any email into any folder.

[luckylove.livejournal.com]

I'm the second.

[broin.livejournal.com]

Google's To-Do list is basic, but fine, and can tie to the Calendar. In work, I use Outlook and its categories, and very deliberately don't take those home. ;)

How do you handle tasks that aren't emails?

I know if my fruitbowl only has one clementine, I need to buy more clementines. But I don't know when, and that doesn't help me when I'm in M&S and aren't sure what to buy. In much the same way, emails left in my Inbox don't tell me what I need to say, or when, or who else needs to know, or what my next step is. So I'm still leaving things bouncing in mental RAM.

Instead, I leave very specific notes to myself, that I completely trust and never have to think about til they inform me.

[andrewducker]

Sadly Google's To-Do tasks don't sync to my phone, which makes them a bit useless for me. I really need something that's available on my phone wherever I am.

If I have a task that's not an email then I email it to myself :-> I then drop it into whatever folder suits it best. If I need to remember to buy clementines then I'll either leave it in the inbox (if I don't have massed of things to buy lined up) or into the "shopping" folder, if there are several things to remember. Then I just delete the emails as I buy things.

[broin.livejournal.com]

While I clearly can't call you a Luddite, you do things which are different, and which I hate and fear.

You can't get Google Tasks on your phone? It's built in to Gmail. Huh.

[andrewducker]

It's not built into the Google Mail for mobile app. GMail for mobile is vastly less featured than a proper email app (and also doesn't seem to do tasks, after a quick look).

[andrewducker]

Gah. Found it! And...it's...horribly...slow...

At least with email once I've downloaded an email it's right there. Switching pages is instant, not waiting for a web refresh over the air.