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Big Mac · Feb 9, 2011, 10:46 PM

I get way too much email, and it's not even a question of spam. I'm subscribed to too many things. Facebook nags me way too often with non-essential messages from people and groups I know or help administrate. I get way too much electronics sales messages. And a few times in the recent past I've missed some important correspondence as a result because it gets buried in my inbox. How do other 'NNers deal with this digital malady?

I'm thinking I need to fork my email by creating a high priority box, but I'm afraid the same problem will occur within a couple of years.

imitchellg5 · Feb 9, 2011, 11:01 PM

I find the unsubscribe button for almost everything. I also don't get any Facebook emails unless someone adds me as a friend.

Big Mac · Feb 9, 2011, 11:05 PM

I should have done what I've been meaning to do for a while - have one high priority address and one list mail address. But invariably when I've tried something like that in the past, the list mail address just stops getting checked. I do care about some of that list mail, and that's part of my problem.

reader50 · Feb 9, 2011, 11:07 PM

Kill a bunch of subs. Opt out of the marketing notifications. If you want to buy something, you can dig up the relevant info then.

besson3c · Feb 9, 2011, 11:37 PM

Server side mail rules.

Cold Warrior · Feb 9, 2011, 11:46 PM

Yep. Just a few rules send nearly all my subs to the Trash. I review it, sorted by subject or sender, about once a week. If there's nothing compelling, I empty it.

Laminar · Feb 10, 2011, 12:01 AM

Three addresses. One for important stuff (family, personal email), one for lists (forums, facebook, online ordering), and one for junk(sites that require an email address). The first two go to Mail.app and the third I check when I need it for something.

bstone · Feb 10, 2011, 12:47 AM

I under Thunderbird. I also have a LOT of folders under my inbox and tons of filters. I keep it organized, neat and perfectly manageable. I also click the unsubscribe button a lot.

besson3c · Feb 10, 2011, 12:53 AM

Originally Posted by bstone

I under Thunderbird. I also have a LOT of folders under my inbox and tons of filters. I keep it organized, neat and perfectly manageable. I also click the unsubscribe button a lot.

This is a great point! I use Postbox and make heavy use of the unsubscribe feature as well. Like I've been saying for years, Mail.app really needs this feature, it is literally a game changer.

turtle777 · Feb 10, 2011, 01:35 AM

Originally Posted by besson3c

Like I've been saying for years, Mail.app really needs this feature, it is literally a game changer.

Huh ?

Most commercial emails have an Unsubscribe URL.
Click it, Safari opens, click again. Done.

Works well for me *shrug*

I don't know how often you unsubscribe to stuff, but I find doing this maybe once a week.
It's not like I subscribe to all that much crap in the first place.

-t

besson3c · Feb 10, 2011, 01:42 AM

Originally Posted by turtle777

Huh ?

Most commercial emails have an Unsubscribe URL.
Click it, Safari opens, click again. Done.

Works well for me *shrug*

I don't know how often you unsubscribe to stuff, but I find doing this maybe once a week.
It's not like I subscribe to all that much drink in the first place.

-t

I was thinking he meant the mailbox/folder unsubscribe button, not the mailing list unsubscribe button.

turtle777 · Feb 10, 2011, 01:43 AM

Originally Posted by besson3c

I was thinking he meant the mailbox/folder unsubscribe button, not the mailing list unsubscribe button.

That doesn't make sense in the context of what bstone was posting.

Why would he OFTEN unsubscribe a mailbox ?

-t

besson3c · Feb 10, 2011, 01:47 AM

Originally Posted by turtle777

That doesn't make sense in the context of what bstone was posting.

Why would he OFTEN unsubscribe a mailbox ?

-t

Because he can? I do this all of the time... I check up on some lists I'm subscribed to periodically, and when I'm done unsubscribe so that I don't have to scroll through these mailboxes/folders.

The option to specify which folders should be checked for new messages is also very useful, particularly when using server side mail rules.

Paying for Postbox was some of my best money ever spent.

turtle777 · Feb 10, 2011, 01:50 AM

Good for you and the Postbox programmers.

-t

besson3c · Feb 10, 2011, 01:55 AM

Thanks!

Spheric Harlot · Feb 10, 2011, 04:24 AM

I have a separate mailbox in Mail.app for the mailing list I'm subscribed to (sorting rule dumps the emails in there).

Every once in a while, I'll head there to look something up. Other than that, it just sits down in its nested folder in the sidebar, and I neither need to scroll by it nor see it on a daily basis.

What advantage am I missing that would make it worth paying money for?

besson3c · Feb 10, 2011, 04:43 AM

Well, you don't have to pay money for Postbox, these features are available in Thunderbird too, but here is what you are missing:

- The ability to make server side rules work with receiving proper notification of messages delivered to a folder
- Better performance (because of Mail's insistence on rummaging through irrelevant folders on mail checks doing god-knows-what)
- The ability to hide certain shared folders on mailboxes where you can't manage the hierarchy as you've described

Big Mac · Feb 10, 2011, 04:46 AM

So you run your own mail server besson? I thought one could run into issues doing that.

besson3c · Feb 10, 2011, 05:33 AM

Originally Posted by Big Mac

So you run your own mail server besson? I thought one could run into issues doing that.

Yes, I do. One can run into some issues, one has to know what they're doing, but this just happens to be a comfortable area for me. In one of my past jobs I helped maintain IMAP, SMTP, spam filter, and web-based email servers for 150,000 some odd users.

Big Mac · Feb 10, 2011, 05:41 AM

Makes sense. I heard that there are some complicated issues regarding hosting your own server and domain names as far as spam filters are concerned, but I guess you have those kinds of issues handled. I really admire your technical expertise.

besson3c · Feb 10, 2011, 05:47 AM

Originally Posted by Big Mac

Makes sense. I heard that there are some complicated issues regarding hosting your own server and domain names as far as spam filters are concerned, but I guess you have those kinds of issues handled. I really admire your technical expertise.

You should see my ass if you admire my technical expertise! (thanks for the compliment)

There can be some complicated issues, there are all sorts of different spam techniques and different filters, both open and proprietary. It's a constant arms race with the botnets.

ghporter · Feb 10, 2011, 07:51 AM

I'll suggest a combination of the above recommendations. I have separate addresses for different things. One Gmail account for business, another for personal. An address through my ISP for certain things, a couple different web-based addresses for other things.

I use server side rules as much as possible for the addresses I have coming into my mail client-Google's are pretty darn good. And I filter incoming mail by sender or category so certain professional items go into a professional folder, tech items go into various tech folders, etc. For me, organization is key to being able to deal with everything coming in.