Could we mark MeFi Mail as unread?

July 29, 2016 11:52 AM

Would it be possible to be able to mark MeFi Mail messages as unread? I tend to manage my email by marking messages I haven't yet responded to as "unread," and it would be helpful to me -- and maybe other people? -- to be able to do that with MeFi Mail, especially as there's not an indication that I've sent a reply.

I have no idea if it's technically difficult, or if other people would also find it useful, and I understand the feasibility will likely depend on some calculation of both of those things.

posted by lazuli to Feature Requests at 11:52 AM (19 comments total)

I'd chalk this up as likely technically pretty doable but also pretty far down the list of rainy day projects if we do get to it. Before even getting going on considering implementation I'd want to sort out thoroughly the implications to make sure there's not any thorny twists we'd have to account for.

So: suggestion noted, not something that's gonna happen right now, but we can chew on it as a possibility down the road.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:54 AM on July 29, 2016 [1 favorite]

Do you get email notifications, lazuli? My imperfect but adequate workaround is to read the message content in the notification, and then to avoid opening the actual MeFi Mail unless either a) I'm about to respond, or b) it's an IRL announcement or something to which I'm not going to respond.
posted by tangerine at 12:18 PM on July 29, 2016 [11 favorites]

So: suggestion noted, not something that's gonna happen right now, but we can chew on it as a possibility down the road.

Kind of what I figured, but I'm glad to have added it to the Maybe pile.

Do you get email notifications, lazuli?

I don't, but I could definitely see how that might help my own organizational process, such as it is.
posted by lazuli at 1:38 PM on July 29, 2016

What I want for Christmas is to be able to tell if my sent MeMail has been read by the other party.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 3:20 PM on July 29, 2016

I'm not sure if you're serious, CP, but that's a firm not-gonna-happen.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 3:38 PM on July 29, 2016 [6 favorites]

Like, "another mod gratuitously chiming in just to say ditto" level of not-gonna-happen.
posted by cortex (staff) at 4:34 PM on July 29, 2016 [6 favorites]

I would like to preview mail sent via the contact form!
posted by Room 641-A at 6:56 PM on July 29, 2016 [1 favorite]

To paraphrase Zawinsky's Law of Software Development: every program attempts to expand until it includes an email client.
posted by killdevil at 12:57 AM on July 30, 2016 [1 favorite]

There was a feature I was going to request but I can't remember what it is right now. If anyone else knows, please MeMail me.
posted by Joe in Australia at 3:38 AM on July 30, 2016 [2 favorites]

*weeps inconsolably*
posted by infini at 9:56 PM on July 30, 2016

What I want for Christmas is to be able to tell if my sent MeMail has been read by the other party.

StalkMe.
posted by dersins at 11:10 PM on July 30, 2016 [2 favorites]

I just wish I would get memail. Boo hoo hoo.
posted by Literaryhero at 6:12 PM on July 31, 2016

Yeah really, who are all of you highfalutin VIP celebrities who are in dire need of some way to corral and organize your constant onslaught of memail?

*shares crying couch with infini & literaryhero*
posted by bologna on wry at 12:57 PM on August 1, 2016 [1 favorite]

I'm clear on the 'down on the priority list' part but I will second this pony as this is how I manage mail too and I've considered starting this Metatalk thread, but have never started a Metatalk thread and I just assume that when you start a Metatalk thread the night weasels come and you're never seen again.

Prove me wrong, children.

But: yes on this request--for those of us who manage email this way it would really be helpful; on the occasions where I've not responded promptly I've felt quite bad about it. Metafilter is a voluntary site, unlike Facebook. Facebook is compulsory*, but I don't have to be here and no one else does either, so I feel a greater responsibility to members of an online community that I have chosen to be a part of than people on Facebook, which is the the social media equivalent of filling out taxes.

*it is in my industry and realize this isn't universally true.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 4:03 PM on August 2, 2016

Yeah really, who are all of you highfalutin VIP celebrities who are in dire need of some way to corral and organize your constant onslaught of memail?

Ha! It's actually more because it's rare that it's easy to overlook and feel badly about if you forget.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 4:04 PM on August 2, 2016 [1 favorite]

Oh, I remembered. Three things.

First, that sidebar has been getting pretty good. It's like a selected collation of things that have already being selected, a "meta" filter if you will. Is there a way to link to part of it directly?

Secondly, could the "last read" pointer be updated when a user opens a thread at a particular comment? It's a bit weird to have opened the thread at comment 199 and later get a message that your last read message was #20.

Finally, I have noticed that people's comments often refer to the thread in which they are commenting. I'm especially interested in the threads where nobody does this. Could you post a list of all the threads that do not refer to themselves?
posted by Joe in Australia at 5:52 PM on August 2, 2016 [2 favorites]

I just assume that when you start a Metatalk thread the night weasels come and you're never seen again.

Prove me wrong, children.

Sorry, can't help, got carried off by night weasels.

Also, yes, it's because I don't get much MeMail that I don't look at it often and so don't keep a mental tally of what I've answered.
posted by lazuli at 6:13 PM on August 2, 2016

First, that sidebar has been getting pretty good. It's like a selected collation of things that have already being selected, a "meta" filter if you will. Is there a way to link to part of it directly?

There's no good way to link into the sidebar of the front page itself, no; it's an ephemeral link roll there by design, so even if we built out an easy-to-use reference link for entries they'd go stale within a month or two as that entry rolled off the page.

But the content is (approximately) duplicated over on Best Of, so you could find the corresponding entry there and link to that.

Secondly, could the "last read" pointer be updated when a user opens a thread at a particular comment? It's a bit weird to have opened the thread at comment 199 and later get a message that your last read message was #20.

Much requested feature, also non-trivial to implement which is why it remains in requested land. We may at some point revisit this, but not right now for sure.

Finally, I have noticed that people's comments often refer to the thread in which they are commenting. I'm especially interested in the threads where nobody does this. Could you post a list of all the threads that do not refer to themselves?

This (a) needs some clearer specification and (b) would be a bear to calculate. On the first point, do you mean just "does not contain any comments with hyperlinks to other comments or to the post itself", or do you mean the more general case of not containing any comments that quote or more indirectly reference the content or text of the post, or of other comments? The former would be at least fairly straightforward to test for, if still a big search task; the latter is getting into far mushier territory that'd require human eyeballs to be done throughly.
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:30 AM on August 3, 2016

I believe Joe in Australia is deliberately referencing Russell's Paradox there, cortex, rather than making a meaningful feature request. :D
posted by adrienneleigh at 9:45 PM on August 6, 2016