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uv23 · Dec 4, 2003, 09:07 PM

Having just switched from PC to Mac, I find myself really missing the manner in which Outlook Express displayed a new mail icon in the taskbar when it receivd new mail. It was very noticable and helpful. I am on a 12" PB so I keep the dock hidden to preserve screen space, so when the tiny little star shows up on the Mail icon in the dock, I don't see it. And I rarely notice the new mail sound. So is there any way of getting a more obvious notice when mail arrives? Cheers.

midwinter · Dec 4, 2003, 09:09 PM

Originally posted by uv23:
Having just switched from PC to Mac, I find myself really missing the manner in which Outlook Express displayed a new mail icon in the taskbar when it receivd new mail. It was very noticable and helpful. I am on a 12" PB so I keep the dock hidden to preserve screen space, so when the tiny little star shows up on the Mail icon in the dock, I don't see it. And I rarely notice the new mail sound. So is there any way of getting a more obvious notice when mail arrives? Cheers.

try these.

Cheers
Scott

kaboom · Dec 4, 2003, 11:02 PM

Set up a rule that runs an applescript when you get new mail. Go to "Preferences" and click "Rules". Then set a rule that "Every Message" runs an applescript.
Copy and paste this into Script Editor (/Applications/Apple Script) and save as an application:

Code:
display dialog "You have new mail!"

Point the rule to this applescript and you're ready!

uv23 · Dec 5, 2003, 01:18 AM

Originally posted by kaboom:
Set up a rule that runs an applescript when you get new mail. Go to "Preferences" and click "Rules". Then set a rule that "Every Message" runs an applescript.
Copy and paste this into Script Editor (/Applications/Apple Script) and save as an application:

Code:
display dialog "You have new mail!"

Point the rule to this applescript and you're ready!

Thanks, that's helpful. But I'd rather just have an icon show up in the top apple bar than have a dialog pop up. But I'll try it out for fun!

madmacgames · Dec 5, 2003, 03:39 AM

Originally posted by uv23:
I am on a 12" PB so I keep the dock hidden to preserve screen space, so when the tiny little star shows up on the Mail icon in the dock, I don't see it.

part of the problem may be it's not a star

it's a red circle that displays the number of new messages.

I'm on a 12" PB and don't have a problem with keeping the dock up or seeing things clearly. If the 12" screen is that hard for you to see, maybe you should exchange it for the 15" or 17" model

wy4tt · Dec 5, 2003, 04:04 AM

Originally posted by uv23:
Having just switched from PC to Mac, I find myself really missing the manner in which Outlook Express displayed a new mail icon in the taskbar when it receivd new mail. It was very noticable and helpful. I am on a 12" PB so I keep the dock hidden to preserve screen space, so when the tiny little star shows up on the Mail icon in the dock, I don't see it. And I rarely notice the new mail sound. So is there any way of getting a more obvious notice when mail arrives? Cheers.

uv23, gotta say i think we are in the same boat. many of your posts are helpful to me as well, as i just switched too. anyway, keep asking questions, and good luck.

moonmonkey · Dec 5, 2003, 06:52 AM

Originally posted by madmacgames:
part of the problem may be it's not a star

it's a red circle that displays the number of new messages.

Um, maybe its a star on everyone else's computer apart from yours.

LightWaver-67 · Dec 5, 2003, 07:42 AM

Originally posted by madmacgames:
part of the problem may be it's not a star

it's a red circle that displays the number of new messages.

Indeed it IS a star... but in your defense, it's hard to tell. It's a multipoint star, similar to a sprocket or gear, so at small sizes, it looks like a circle.

JKT · Dec 5, 2003, 08:48 AM

This won't be limited to receiving new mail, but will occur whenever you have any alert sound go off as well:

Go to System Preferences>Universal Access>Hearing and select the "Flash the screen when an alert sound occurs" option. That way, when you get a new message in Mail, it will flash the screen along with the new message alert.

ddiokno · Dec 5, 2003, 08:57 AM

I think what you want to do is set up a new rule (I called mine bounce in dock) that bounces the mail icon in dock (which is much more noticeable than just the red number). The dock will actually be visible, even if you have it set to be hidden.

Set up your rule as follows:
If "any" of the following conditions are met:
Account (select your mail accounts that you want notification for)
Perform the following actions:
Bounce Icon in Dock
(this is not necessary, but I have this selected as well) Play Sound

I think this is what you were looking for!

Good luck and welcome to the Mac!
David

KeyLimePi · 09:46 AM

And if that isn't enough, there's always Konfabulator. It has a bunch of widgets that will passively check you e-mail and put an indicator on your desktop:

I would love to have a screensaver that was e-mail aware. I'd like to be able to see if I have e-mail at a glance, without having to walk over to the computer and bump the mouse to turn off the screensaver and look for the red badge in the dock. Anyone ever heard of anything like that?

uv23 · Dec 5, 2003, 09:42 AM

Originally posted by ddiokno:
I think what you want to do is set up a new rule (I called mine bounce in dock) that bounces the mail icon in dock (which is much more noticeable than just the red number). The dock will actually be visible, even if you have it set to be hidden.

Set up your rule as follows:
If "any" of the following conditions are met:
Account (select your mail accounts that you want notification for)
Perform the following actions:
Bounce Icon in Dock
(this is not necessary, but I have this selected as well) Play Sound

I think this is what you were looking for!

Good luck and welcome to the Mac!
David

This is perfect, thanks! It's something I'm used to because messenger bounces in the dock when I get a new message. It's so useful in fact that you'd think it would be a standard Mail option. Woop!

entrox · Dec 5, 2003, 11:27 AM

Originally posted by uv23:
It's so useful in fact that you'd think it would be a standard Mail option. Woop!

Well it is. You didn't need to write a script or download a 3rd-party module, did you?

uv23 · Dec 5, 2003, 11:29 AM

Originally posted by entrox:
Well it is. You didn't need to write a script or download a 3rd-party module, did you?

Indeed, but it seems to me like the kind of thing that should be on by default. Regardless, I have it running now and I'm a happy lad.

Gankdawg · Dec 5, 2003, 11:31 AM

Originally posted by KeyLimePi:

I would love to have a screensaver that was e-mail aware. I'd like to be able to see if I have e-mail at a glance, without having to walk over to the computer and bump the mouse to turn off the screensaver and look for the red badge in the dock. Anyone ever heard of anything like that?

I would love this one too. I do the exact same thing. Would be nice just to glance at the screen from a distance and know whether or not I have email. I'm using Entourage not Mail though.

madmacgames · Dec 5, 2003, 12:25 PM

Originally posted by LightWaver-67:
Indeed it IS a star... but in your defense, it's hard to tell. It's a multipoint star, similar to a sprocket or gear, so at small sizes, it looks like a circle.

multipoint star? A star has 5 points (or 6 if the star of david).... the mail thing is a circle/sprocket type thing... nothing even close to a star.

If sprockets are now stars, then I'm going to start calling squares circles

uv23 · Dec 5, 2003, 12:29 PM

Originally posted by madmacgames:
multipoint star? A star has 5 points (or 6 if the star of david).... the mail thing is a circle/sprocket type thing... nothing even close to a star.

If sprockets are now stars, then I'm going to start calling squares circles

Yep at first I thought it was a star. On closer examination, it is in fact a circle with a 1 in it (just received an email, viewing on an external LCD). Who knows, maybe Panther determines what kind of icon to use depending on how much real estate (and thus legibility of small things) you have.

Dr_Doom · Dec 5, 2003, 12:37 PM

Riddle me this:

Since I get a good deal of email, I have set up many rules which funnel the mail to appropriate folders. There is one major downside to this:

Mail will only modify the Dock icon with an unread count if the unread messages are in one of your inboxes.

Is there anyway to show a total unread count for the whole app in the mail dock icon?

Cheers,

Dr_Doom

madmacgames · Dec 5, 2003, 08:45 PM

Originally posted by Dr_Doom:
Riddle me this:

Since I get a good deal of email, I have set up many rules which funnel the mail to appropriate folders. There is one major downside to this:

Mail will only modify the Dock icon with an unread count if the unread messages are in one of your inboxes.

Is there anyway to show a total unread count for the whole app in the mail dock icon?

Now this is something I also would like to know. I as well have many different filters (rules as mail.app calls them) and folders. Each filter has the option to bounce the icon, etc but not to add to the new mail count.

3R1C · Dec 6, 2003, 04:14 AM

Originally posted by Dr_Doom:
Is there anyway to show a total unread count for the whole app in the mail dock icon?

Yes.

http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/21431

orry_main · Dec 6, 2003, 02:17 PM

Any chance of getting the mail icon to bounce only once instead of being spastic? And, also, does anyone else have a problem with Mail not playing any event sounds?

madmacgames · Dec 6, 2003, 04:07 PM

Originally posted by orry_main:
Any chance of getting the mail icon to bounce only once instead of being spastic? And, also, does anyone else have a problem with Mail not playing any event sounds?

it plays the sounds for me, but the default "new mail" sound is very very low amplitude. Seems to be about 1/2 - 1/3 the amplitude of the other sounds, making it very difficult to hear unless you are listening for it.

Toyin · Dec 6, 2003, 04:20 PM

I use Menumail on my 12" PB. It draws an envelope on your menubar and indicates how many messages are waiting for you. I think it only works with IMAP accounts and you can tell it which folders to indicate new messages for. It's kind of rough, but it does the job

Dale Sorel · Dec 6, 2003, 04:54 PM

Originally posted by uv23:
Having just switched from PC to Mac, I find myself really missing the manner in which Outlook Express displayed a new mail icon in the taskbar when it receivd new mail.

Maybe when can get a talking paperclip to tell you your mail status

uv23 · Dec 6, 2003, 05:17 PM

Originally posted by Dale Sorel:
Maybe when can get a talking paperclip to tell you your mail status

Oiy yoy yoy, no thanks.

As it is, I couldn't believe it when I saw an animated Mac the first time I used help in Word on my PC!

orry_main · Dec 6, 2003, 09:22 PM

Originally posted by madmacgames:
it plays the sounds for me, but the default "new mail" sound is very very low amplitude. Seems to be about 1/2 - 1/3 the amplitude of the other sounds, making it very difficult to hear unless you are listening for it.

I don't have it set to the default sound (because I agree that it's a very quiet sound) but it doesn't play my sound...or any other sounds, such as the whooshing sound when you send mail that everyone's talking about.

Mac Guru · Dec 7, 2003, 01:37 AM

Yep at first I thought it was a star. On closer examination, it is in fact a circle

I dunno what kinda stuff you guys are smoking but this is not a circle...

(dragged right out of Mail.app's pkg contents...

Oh and in the graphics world, a star does have anywhere from 5 points and up... a star by graphical definition isn't restricted to just 5/6 points... it can have a lot.

Mac Guru

madmacgames · Dec 7, 2003, 03:53 AM

Originally posted by Mac Guru:
I dunno what kinda stuff you guys are smoking but this is not a circle...

...

Oh and in the graphics world, a star does have anywhere from 5 points and up... a star by graphical definition isn't restricted to just 5/6 points... it can have a lot.

Like I said that qualifies as a "star" just about as much as a square qualifies as a "circle"...

oh and I dunno what you're smoking, but whatever that shape is, it's more circle than star.

and actually I believe the desired effect is a circle with perforated edges, like the perforated edges of a stamp (coincidentally the mail.app icon). Don't tell me you think a stamp is also a star?

Mac Guru · Dec 7, 2003, 10:58 AM

Ok, so if that 'perforated circle' isn't a star, then how come I can make such a shape using the star tool in just about any Illustration / photo editing application out there?

Adobe Illustrator -

Adobe Photoshop -

Lemme guess, now we're gonna find out that a circle isn't an oval, or a square doesn't qualify as a rectangle.

I'm out, if that doesn't prove my case, I want a refund on my education from all the professors that taught me geometry and any of my art foundation courses.

Mac Guru

Mac Guru · Dec 7, 2003, 11:05 AM

Personally I'd have to say the two tips that seem the best solutions would have to be the AppleScript and the 'Bounce Icon' both give ample feedback.

I personally keep my Dock visible but I like the ideas.

Mac Guru

andretan · Dec 7, 2003, 02:41 PM

The AppleScript idea is neat, I agree... but it would be even neater if someone could do it like how the app switcher/display brightness or volume controls (via keyboard) looks like: translucent and always on top or something.

Would be nice, me thinks.

Mac Guru · Dec 7, 2003, 04:21 PM

Only way I know of to do that would be to write an app, or Konfabulator.

Mac Guru

Brass · Dec 7, 2003, 07:15 PM

Well, what shape is it when there's 12,000 messages waiting. That's neither a star, nor a circle. It's like a long-oblong spiky-thingy with a number in it!

CharlesS · Dec 7, 2003, 07:48 PM

A friend of mine made an app called MailTicker some time ago that does sort of what the topic starter was originally asking for - it puts your mail status in the menu bar.