A Request for a Startup: Gmail 'Waiting For Reply' Tab | Hacker News Reader

A Request for a Startup: Gmail 'Waiting For Reply' Tab

gist.github.com

18 pointscjbarber27 comments

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Couldn't you just give those conversations an Unreplied label? It will show up on the left.

Gmail's labeling system is probably the most useful but overlooked feature they have.

Sure.

But that doesn't take care of the issue of automatically labeling messages as such.

so you have a filter that automatically adds a label

you could also use the gmail gem to remove that label from received messages which are replies

I don't think there's any startup potential in something it would take a mediocre engineer to write in an hour

(unless there's some dire need at a big corp for auto labelling)

Second highest comment on Dropbox's original HN posting:

> I have a few qualms with this app:

> 1. For a Linux user, you can already build such a system yourself quite trivially by getting an FTP account, mounting it locally with curlftpfs, and then using SVN or CVS on the mounted filesystem. From Windows or Mac, this FTP account could be accessed through built-in software.

Okay, done, here it is:

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/gmail-waiting-for-...

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7327409

Src added to gist

https://gist.github.com/cjbarber/9297034

Thanks to:

https://gist.github.com/colinloretz/9299685 and https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7326950

You can just build an extension or addon. I don't see revenue for that kind of model (the only possibility is that someone makes a dashboard aggregates data from multiple accounts, multiple providers). You can try to achieve this with the help from reusing https://github.com/KartikTalwar/gmail.js or similar attempt.

Adding UI heavy features with that library is going to be painful (especially a whole new tab interface). It's designed for a rather 'active' interaction with emails (I made it). Most of the auto reply algorithmic stuff can be accomplished through context.io

Building a platform on top of a Google product, specifically Gmail, is a recipe for disaster. I sincerely hope that nobody who cares about their money or sanity does so.

http://www.boomeranggmail.com/ seems to be doing pretty well.

Rapportive is an example of a company which seems to rely fairly heavily on heavy integration into Gmail.

(Todoist is another example of something that integrates heavily that comes to mind)

There are enough horror stories regarding businesses built on Twitter &c to serve as cautionary tales, but Google and Gmail in particular are notoriously anti-developer. It is a nightmare to work with Gmail because, and I'm not even exaggerating, they actively prevent you from integrating with Gmail. Moreover, Google provides zero support and quite honestly hates you and everything about you.

No person considering a startup today should consider building it atop somebody else's platform. Even forgetting Google, it just doesn't make sense. You do not want to be beholden to a company that could not give less of a shit about you, and in all likelihood has never even heard about you.

I want the opposite.

When I receive a mail, I want to set a timer saying: "this needs to be answered before noon", or "today" or "by the end of the week". Then get relevant reminders.

That way I can go back to whatever I was doing and have it out of my mind. For now I just star messages that need to be replied to, but that's too coarse-grained.

check out http://www.boomeranggmail.com/ it lets you do that. you set a time when sending the email, e.g. 3pm Friday and can check a box so if they don't respond by this date, it will bump it to the top of your inbox.

Try Mailbox: http://www.mailboxapp.com

I agree. Use mailbox, it's extremely useful.

Hit reply, save as draft. Go back to what you were doing. Your drafts then become your email to-do list and you never forget anything. Starring is a bit worse because you may also star stuff that's important or that you want to keep around later.

It's still coarse, but for me at least it's been very effective.

Check out ActiveInbox: http://activeinboxhq.com. Been one of their happy customers for a long time now. When reviewing an email, I hit 'waiting' on their action bar, and then they show up as a radar list (their take on multiple inboxes). Loved it so much I paid for it.

In my email, I have "Waiting for reply" and "To reply" labels (besides a few others). An algorithmic solution to auto-apply the labels would be nice (currently all new outgoing emails are labelled as "Waiting for reply").

Co-founder of Streak here: we're happy to add this if there is enough demand. Just email us at waitingforreply@streak.com. If we get enough interest we'll add it tonight. You'll be able to use it for free.

I have written a "snooze this email for X days" extension for gmail. After X days the email is marked undead and moved to my inbox.

The extension is server-side, so you're not tied to your desktop browser.

Anyone want to take my money? :) I'll front a payment for the first month right now! (Serious)

Here is a code snippet that does the opposite of what you want. To achieve what you are looking for, just change the conditions around to mark the email messages as you desire.*

This one will mark any received emails that you have not responded with an "AwaitingReply" label.

As I mention in my Gist comment, I used this a lot to make sure we didn't have any emails slipping through the cracks.

https://gist.github.com/colinloretz/9299685

* I know you're volunteering first month "payment" but since I came across this somewhere on the web and can't find the original source (I'll keep looking), here it is. Hopefully it will help you or someone else.

Thank you! Just updated my gist to credit that.

I just made a chrome extension to solve my problem

I'm interested. What's your e-mail address?

chris.barber@alumni.stanford.edu

Go to http://activeinboxhq.com and give it a try. They let you set "Waiting On", Actions (with due dates), and are generally really well supported. $25/yr for the pro account and it works on two addresses (work and personal).

They'll take your money.

If I didn't reply, it's because I don't want to talk to you. Please go away.

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