Unified inbox isn't actually unified. [Linux.]

[samtuke]

Hey, I need unified inbox like in mobile mail apps (eg K9 on Android). I enabled it in Thunderbird but it's not actually unified - it just lists the inboxes for the different accounts in a list, but mail from multiple different accounts still isn't mixed into a single list. Is a truly unified mailbox view actually supported by Tbird? Thanks!

[tanstaafl]

When I select unified view for each of the special folders it lists one folder that consolidates the same folder from each account, followed by that folder for each account. i.e. one unified inbox followed by a inbox for each account. So I assume you're complaining about the clutter.

If you want a single unified inbox you can configure POP accounts to use a global inbox. That hides the POP account(s) in the folder pane and has them use the "Local Folders" special account.

IMAP accounts allow you to unsubscribe folders to hide them. However, when I unsubscribe a inbox (and configure Thunderbird to show only subscribed folders) it still lists the accounts inbox. That seems like a bug to me.

If you prefer IMAP accounts you could create a saved search folder (a virtual folder) that acts like it contains the mail from the select folders/accounts. That would give you the truly unified mailbox you want but it would have to exist in another account.

You could create a message filter in each account that automatically copies or moves the new mail to the inbox in the "Local Folders" special account. That might be the closest to what you are asking for.

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Global_Inbox
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Saved_Search
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Message_Filters

[samtuke]

@tanstaafl Thanks for the hints! (I'm not getting email notifications for some reason so just saw your reply).

Below is how my inboxes appear when unified view is enabled - is this how it's supposed to be? Just to check we're talking about the same thing.

[grumbledook2]

Below is how my inboxes appear when unified view is enabled - is this how it's supposed to be?

That is indeed how my folder tree appears. And then, as long as the Inbox is selected, the pane on the right does list all emails from all the accounts together, in one list, sorted by whatever column I want.

Is there really anything more that you're looking for?

[tanstaafl]

I normally don't get a down arrow next to the number in parentheses unless there is new mail in both that folder and some of its child folders. However the numbers don't seem right. 20682 != 27908 + 417 + 3970 + 258 + 14933 + 129 + 3. I also only get numbers that tell me how many new messages I have, not how many messages I have all together.

I also don't see any color for the inbox folders like you normally do when viewing all folders. Perhaps you just have color choices that are hard to see.

[samtuke]

Aha OK I didn't realise that it is necessary to select "Inbox" instead of the name of the specific inbox beneath it. Thanks for the tip! Unfortunately clicking on that immediately froze tbird -- apparently there are too many messages for my 5ghz, 16gb RAM machine to handle. So the conclusion is: the feature exists, but isn't usable in my use case. Darn.