Is Gmail ever coming out of Beta?

I don't understand it. Labels are folders, BUT BETTER! If you can manage your mail with folders, you can do it with Gmail. Your mail might technically be "all lumped together", but you'll never see it like that unless you want to.
 
Hofy said:
Gmail sucks. I hate the idea of just lumping all the mail together and letting tags and search sort it all out when you need to find something. If the emails are in the correct folder to start with I never have a problem finding what I am looking for.
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That's just ignorant. You had to take time to create those folders in the first place to get your whatever email client to sort the email when it came in. You'd be doing the same damned thing with Gmail since Labels = Folders.

Your email client didn't just freakin' automagically do all that groundwork for you, and neither does Gmail but it does make it easier.

I haven't used POP mail for almost 9 years now and I never will again. See if I get a virus because some idiot with POP mail got one and it just whaled on his address book and everyone on the list... yeah, right, I don't think so.
 
bbz_Ghost said:
.

I haven't used POP mail for almost 9 years now and I never will again. See if I get a virus because some idiot with POP mail got one and it just whaled on his address book and everyone on the list... yeah, right, I don't think so.
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To be fair, that's more of a problem with the email client (ahem, Outlook), than the POP.
 
Yah, that is correct, but since I didn't feel like rattling off the many many POP mail clients available, it was easier to just generalize them into "POP mail." :)
 
Even webmail can leave you vulnerable to malware. They still give you the option to downlaod attachments. The last few worms I've paid attention to didn't use address books to spread themselves, they used IP sniffing to find open ports on other computers. (ahem Blaster)
 
Labels to me are like playlists in iTunes. You cant do anything with your mail/music unless you are always screwing around with labels/playlists.

Long story short, why take something so easy and make it so complicated?
 
I can't figure out what's so complicated about labels. They're just like folders with the exception that a single note can be marked with more than one label.
 
To go into detail, I will use email from eBay and Newegg. The way I have yahoo (Who is pissing me off with their squiggly crapta thing) is that a email from eBay or newegg comes in, it goes into the correct folder. With Gmail that email come into the inbox and stays there. I sort them out using labels. So when I do go into the inbox to pull up a message I still have mail in there that should be in its own folder. This is what I mean by the big mess.
 
Hofy said:
Labels to me are like playlists in iTunes. You cant do anything with your mail/music unless you are always screwing around with labels/playlists.

Long story short, why take something so easy and make it so complicated?
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I have no idea what your'e talking about. I don't always use labels or playlists and I handle my mail and my music just fine.
 
Hofy said:
To go into detail, I will use email from eBay and Newegg. The way I have yahoo (Who is pissing me off with their squiggly crapta thing) is that a email from eBay or newegg comes in, it goes into the correct folder. With Gmail that email come into the inbox and stays there. I sort them out using labels. So when I do go into the inbox to pull up a message I still have mail in there that should be in its own folder. This is what I mean by the big mess.
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Sounds like you're forgetting to "archive" the messages you don't want to see in your inbox listing.
 
Hofy said:
To go into detail, I will use email from eBay and Newegg. The way I have yahoo (Who is pissing me off with their squiggly crapta thing) is that a email from eBay or newegg comes in, it goes into the correct folder. With Gmail that email come into the inbox and stays there. I sort them out using labels. So when I do go into the inbox to pull up a message I still have mail in there that should be in its own folder. This is what I mean by the big mess.
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http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=6579&topic=1540

And I quote:

"Gmail's filters allow you to manage the flow of incoming messages. Using filters, you can automatically label, archive, delete, star, or forward your mail, based on any combination of keywords, sender, recipients, and more."

The least you could do was RTFM before saying it's tough or Gmail can't do what you're doing with Yahoo. Gmail does everything all the others do and more - why do you think all the other webmail services are now playing catchup to Gmail?

I said it before and I'll say it again: Yahoo did not do all that stuff for you automagically, you had to set it all up so things worked the way you wanted them to work. Same goes for Gmail, if you'd have RTFM, so to speak.
 
Filters? Gee why didn't I think of that? Oh wait I DID! And yes I did read everything I could find on setting this up first.
I set up filters just like in yahoo. But why are the messages still in my regular inbox? Why should I have to piss around with archiving (another extra step) when they should be going into the correct folder/label to begin with?
 
You don't have to "piss around" with it; you're always free to use a different email client or email provider.
 
Hofy said:
Filters? Gee why didn't I think of that? Oh wait I DID! And yes I did read everything I could find on setting this up first.
I set up filters just like in yahoo. But why are the messages still in my regular inbox? Why should I have to piss around with archiving (another extra step) when they should be going into the correct folder/label to begin with?
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All you have to do is set up ONE EXTRA RULE in your filter. Set it to skip the inbox and archive the mail you only want in "folders."
 
bbz_Ghost said:
Rename the .exe to .old or whatever, stays secure and keeps things nice and neat. Just remember to tell the recipient to rename it. :)
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Ahh I don't know why I didn't think of that. Thanks! :D
 
no, it will never come out of beta. Did you guys not know? Beta is the new Release.

mikeblas said:
I can't figure out what's so complicated about labels. They're just like folders with the exception that a single note can be marked with more than one label.
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Does Gmail allow nested labels? For example: Can I have a label "newegg" and then a sub-label "deals".
 
matt fury said:
All you have to do is set up ONE EXTRA RULE in your filter. Set it to skip the inbox and archive the mail you only want in "folders."
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Yes, with a filter you can apply a label to and archive incoming messages in one shot.

But, when you apply a label to a message/discussion manually, is there an option to automatically archive it or do you have to archive it manually after you apply the label?

If I apply a label to a message that already has a label, does the new label overwrite the old so the message only shows in the list for the new label?

When I use imap with thunderbird or squirrelmail, messages show up in my inbox and after reading them, I move them to other folders for storage. I have 14 imap folders at the moment. (If I just used Opera's M2 to access the account, I could keep all the messages in the inbox and just use its filter system, but I user other clients which are folder-based and it doesn't sync well.)

Anyway, I can simulate folders with Gmail's labels.
I can simulate moving a message from one folder to another by applying a label and archiving, or by removing a current label and applying another one ( and also archiving if it's still in the inbox).

So, technically, I can still get the job done, but it's not the same.

To make it the same, I for one want to be able to hide the "All mail" label and the "starred" label just like unsubscribing from a folder. I want to make it so a message can only have one label. Then, when I apply a new label, it overwrites the current one and then the message would only show in the list for the new label (to simulate moving from one folder to another).

Basically, the label and filter concept is not the problem with Gmail. The problem is the manipulation of messages is not automated enough like it is with a folder based solution.

These are usability issues that can be fixed with just some extra options for those that require it.
 
I can't find any reason to stop using Gmail. It has everything I want & need. Spam protection is amazing.

Sorry - I don't see myself using anything else.
 
Shadow2531 said:
But, when you apply a label to a message/discussion manually, is there an option to automatically archive it or do you have to archive it manually after you apply the label?
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Picture is worth a thousand words.

gmailxh1.jpg


And, you just place checkmarks next to shit in your inbox and click "archive".

You can set up filters to automatically label emails and archive them if you want, like the pic shows. You can also set up a label, and do a search for existing emails and apply the label to all of them, like the pic shows.

You can also apply a label to a ton of emails, search for them, select "Select All" and click archive.
 
Carloswill said:
I can't find any reason to stop using Gmail. It has everything I want & need. Spam protection is amazing.

Sorry - I don't see myself using anything else.
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I agree. I even linked my Gmail to my Windows Live Account for the purpose of using my Gmail address for MSN'ing purposes.

Besides, don't you guys know that one day Google will take over the world? ;)
 
Fields you can create filters for. You can select what you want to do to the filtered emails, using the pic in my previous post.

gmail2sh5.jpg
 
mdameron said:
Picture is worth a thousand words.
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That only applies to incoming mail. The filter rules don't apply when *manually* applying a label from the "more actions" drop down.

You can also apply a label to a ton of emails, search for them, select "Select All" and click archive.
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Yes, but no option to archive automatically when applying a label to them. That's like choosing to copy a message to another folder and then deleting the original instead of just moving the message from one folder to another.

It's an extra step. That extra step is completely not difficult, but it's still an extra step that you don't have to do with a folder system. But, as said, that can be fixed with some options.
 
Shadow2531 said:
That only applies to incoming mail. The filter rules don't apply when *manually* applying a label from the "more actions" drop down.
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So you create a ton of folders to store one or two emails or what?

Shadow2531 said:
Yes, but no option to archive automatically when applying a label to them. That's like choosing to copy a message to another folder and then deleting the original instead of just moving the message from one folder to another.

It's an extra step. That extra step is completely not difficult, but it's still an extra step that you don't have to do with a folder system. But, as said, that can be fixed with some options.
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I guess it just depends on your needs then.

I use filters and then add labels in those filters.

Example, all of my family are in a filter that will star their emails. All of my professors are in a filter that will star the emails and apply the label "Important".

I archive things after I read them... or if it's bulk mail I'll just trash it. Spam filter has caught all spam so far. If it's a reminder for something, I'll just leave it in the inbox until the appointment has passed. Works for me, I keep the inbox as close to empty as possible, with just a few reminder emails in them.

You must be a power emailer or something.
 
mdameron said:
So you create a ton of folders to store one or two emails or what?
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The folder with the most has 1477 at the moment, but that's tiny compared to what many others would have.

I guess it just depends on your needs then.

I use filters and then add labels in those filters.

Example, all of my family are in a filter that will star their emails. All of my professors are in a filter that will star the emails and apply the label "Important".

I archive things after I read them... or if it's bulk mail I'll just trash it. Spam filter has caught all spam so far. If it's a reminder for something, I'll just leave it in the inbox until the appointment has passed. Works for me, I keep the inbox as close to empty as possible, with just a few reminder emails in them.
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Yeh, I understand. My only point was that filters/labels/views (whatever you want to call them) can indeed replace (and improve upon) folders, but most implementations are lacking in certain message manipulation areas.

Your suggestion would be to use a filter to automatically apply label X and then all I'd have to do is archive it to simulate moving it from the inbox to the X folder. However, not everyone wants to automatically apply a label ( besides the default label of INBOX) to every message that matches a certain criteria.

If you prefer to do all the managing of your messages yourself, filters and labels can get in the way and actually restrict a little, but with some extra options in Gmail, that can be fixed.

No filter can read my mind on what I want to do with a particular message.
 
I know I'm more than a little late to the table here, but I think we can summarize this conversation into three statements...

1 - Gmail is still in beta because Google is still adding/changing new features every day/week/month, and does not consider their "product" to be in the final stage of development. I would also imagine having a product in "beta" absolves the company of at least a couple responsibilities they'd have were their product in the release stage, although as somebody previously mentioned, "beta is the new release".

2 - Gmail isn't for everybody. If you receive hundreds of actual emails per day (e.g. not spam), Gmail probably isn't for you. It doesn't have a great backup system, it doesn't have classic folders, and there is a slight learning curve which, although easy, does take real time and some people just don't have the time. Especially if your emails don't easily fall into specific categories.

3 - Gmail, for the average user and the average nerd, is one of the best, if not the best, web-based email available. It's threading is exceptional (although not perfect), the labels allow you to put one email into many different searchable/re-arrangable categories, and the overal layout is really easy to use. It has some flaws (thus, beta), but it is pretty amazing considering how young it is (remember the original hotmail? or heck, even hotmail now? eww...)
 
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