Proposed email features: snooze, re-ping, auto-expire
messymatters.com
messymatters.com
I'd change the first action (delete) have archive as the action name, and remove delete altogether.
I'd change the Inbox Zero link to _Inbox Zero_ [Video] (or otherwise do something to distinguish that they're two different links.)
The article itself is an kind of weird mix between rather specific details ("For any message, type sN..."), and the broader concepts. As it is, your point comes across fine, without needing to define N in sN allows for fractional days.
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Auto-expire's an interesting idea.
First off, it doesn't actually 'process' an email - after setting an auto expire, I'm still going to see it in my inbox, just now, I can willfully ignore it. It would be interesting to hook it up to a calendar and allow things to auto-expire after events or activities (w/ confirmation in case the activity did not occur as scheduled).
Allowing the user to set auto-expire 999 for 'really important stuff' sounds like in that case, the user should file it away as 'important' (or star it).
Specific responses:
* Man, it never occurred to me that the straw poll looks like an ad but you're totally right. Not sure how to fix that.
* I agree about Delete vs Archive but that's not actually my list.
* Good point about the split Inbox Zero link, though it's really just a compromise: I think Jeremy Zawodny's succinct post is better but Merlin Mann's site is more official (and Inbox Zero is Merlin Mann's idea so I can't not link to him).
* Point taken about the weird mix of generality and specifics. I did want to give a full spec for the UI and tried to isolate that in the Nitty Gritty section (and the appendix).
* I guess the "auto-expire 999" thing was like if you wanted to get yourself in the habit of picking an auto-expiration window for every single email. You're right though. I'll either make that point better or drop it. [done; better?]
* You're right, it's not your list, but it's a change you can make. Merlin Mann first raised the notion 4 years ago; Gmail's 'don't delete, archive!' has become ingrained since he published the original article. The added footnote is good though.
* How about _Inbox Zero_ [footnote-linking-to-the-'offical'-site-and-a-mention-that-its-merlin-manns-idea]?
* I was idly thinking about a UI over breakfast (as well as integrating an 'check-email-X-times-a-day'). When you go to check your email, instead of an inbox that shows old and new mail, there's just a button for 'process new mail'. Click that, and it'd show you one-by-one, new email and at the bottom, show 4 buttons with the choices, and force you to select one before moving to the next new email. (This actually looks feasible as web app for Gmail...)
* I think I'd just drop '999', but mention that it could be a good habit to always pick an auto-expiration date. (3 months of auto-expire 999, and we're almost right back where we started.) (I'd definitely like auto-expire as a feature, but thats because I also use my email inbox as a calendary reminder service as well.)
(Excuse #4 reads as a degenerate case of Excuse #1, with more procrastination and is the only excuse that applies to a 'slog' of messages) (email me if you want to keep iterating)
Every time kmail gets started it rotates those folders, so the delayed emails get closer and closer, and then come back into the inbox.
In this way I achieve everything you mention, unless I've missed something. The things you suggest are really, really useful, but I achieve them using technology I already have.
There are extras I won't go into here. Maybe I should blog about them.
If I had a blog.
I think your "delay for n days" feature is indeed what I (and http://HitMeLater.com, it turns out) call Email Snooze. I don't think you've got the other two proposed features though, based on what you've described so far. Maybe those wouldn't be so useful for you -- sounds like you have a great system.
Your other feature is "archive after X days." I'm trying to work out if I'd want it, but I don't think I do. But the fact that I've hacked the other two features into my existing workflow certainly shows that they are potentially interesting/useful. Hope that's interesting.
Having said that, I will go and have a look at them again later this week. Feel free to email me again to remind me and ask me how it's going. No guarantees, though ...
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I think these could all be implemented quite easily with folders and some smart filters.
For example, snooze, just create a snooze folder and set a filter on it to move any messages in there older than <x> hours back to your inbox. Similar procedure for others.
That's a good idea for implementing snooze! The only thing missing is that you can't easily choose the amount of time to snooze.
I don't know how you could approximate the other two (re-ping and auto-expire) with just folders and filters. Eager to hear more ideas...