Setting up a button to mark a message as unread.

[Davidf]

Hi, I downloaded PocoMail yesterday after decade using Eudora (which t is no longer being updated). So far, after trying out a dozen different e-mail programs, I am very impressed with PocoMail.

But I am not sophisticated with programming or scripting, and there are a few things that I am sure that are obvious to others that have me stumped.

Can anyone give me simple steps, the 1, 2, 3, so that there is a button on the toolbar that marks a message as unread. From there I can figure out how to also mark a message as read or as junk.

Thank you,

David

[Tomas]

Hi David,

first create a new script, Tools > Scripts, Edit Script, it shall have following two lines:

Code: Select all

DeleteHeader "X-Poco-Status:" %message
AddHeader %message "X-Poco-Status:" "U"


Save it as MarkUnread (for example).

Click Buttons tab in Scripts window, and assign MarkUnread script to any of the buttons.
Once done, use menu Tools > Customize, to add User Action X button (X corresponding to the button number) to the Current toolbar buttons list.

MarkAsRead script will be similar:

Code: Select all

DeleteHeader X-Poco-Status %message
AddHeader %message X-Poco-Status R


Mark as Junk, I'd recommend to use the tiny button above the message preview pane (in the top right part of it). It's not easily replicable by a script.

[Davidf]

I'm afraid I spoke too soon. I understand that you are saying it is difficult to create a user button that marks an e-mail as junk and move it to the junk mail box. This morning I had 226 junk mails in my inbox and 4 legitimate messages.

I haven't figured out yet how to turn on the junk filter (a separate question is coming on that), so these all came into my in-box. So I select them in batches, but then I lose the selections when I go down to the button at top of the message preview pane.

So it becomes necessary to handle all 226 one at a time to use that button. Can you give me the 1,2,3 for setting up a User Action Button that marks in-box items as junk and moves them to the junk folder?

Thank you!

David

EARLIER:

I deeply appreciate your having taken the time to walk me through this, Tomas. I never could have figured it out, but it worked like a charm on the first try by following your instructions.

Mark as read, mark as unread, and mark as junk/move would be good pre-assigned buttons in a future version if you talk with the developers.

Thank you,

David

[MarkB]

A couple of supplements to the discussion:

When dealing with selected, as opposed to incoming, messages, the X-Poco-Status header may contain information in addition to R (read) and U (unread). An example is RW, signifying read and replied to. And, theoretically, even more uses for this header could accrue in the future. Therefore, best practice is probably to preserve existing data while swapping R and U.

The 2-line, DeleteHeader-AddHeader method appears to work -- with only the minor problem that the read-unread tally in the folder pane does not update immediately. This is strange. Recommended practice traditionally, when dealing with selected messages, has been to do a SaveMessage, DeleteMessage after modifying headers. See, for example, PocoScript Help | DeleteHeader.

Here's a slightly expanded version of Tomas's script.

Code: Select all

{ Toggle Read/Unread
{ Assumes: Poco v3 or later;  U = unread; R = read; character position is significant;
{ header data is all uppercase.
{ MarkB, 2010-02. Refs: scripts re. status by Ron Bos and Michael Motek.

ReadHeader $status "X-Poco-Status:" %message

; Change R to U, if present
StringPos #pos "R" $status
If #pos = 0 Then ChangeU
SubStrings $status "R"
InsertString $status #pos "U"
Goto ModifyHeader

; Change U to R, if present
:ChangeU
StringPos #pos "U" $status
If #pos = 0 Then NoReadUnread
SubStrings $status "U"
InsertString $status #pos "R"
Goto ModifyHeader

:NoReadUnread
Exit

:ModifyHeader
DeleteHeader "X-Poco-Status:" %message
AddHeader %message "X-Poco-Status:" $status


[Davidf]

Thank you Mark, even better, actually much better!

I just posted the question, but I'd love a script for "Mark as Junk and Send to Junk Folder."

[MarkB]

Thank you Mark, even better, actually much better!

To clarify for the record: Tomas knows 10 times as much as I do about Poco and 1,000 times as much about Barca, as well as being a pro and a gentleman. On this one occasion I had his back.

I just posted the question, but I'd love a script for "Mark as Junk and Send to Junk Folder."

It's better to do this via the menu, in my opinion -- so as to train the Bayesian filter. There's a keyboard shortcut.

[Tomas]

Thank you Mark, very neat script, glad to have our resident Pocoscript expert step-in.
(I wish I would upgrade my pocoscript skills one day....)

David, having the Mark as Junk on the toolbar is on the wishlist already but I can't comment about probability of this being implemented anytime soon I'm sorry.

How I'd go about this, the most feasible way with current functionality to me seems to use a third software like AutoIt or some makro software, create a script in it that would either emulate selecting Pocomail menu or the keyboard shortcut.
Then make Pocomail script that will run that (autoit or any other) script and assign it to the toolbar.

Or just use the Shift+Ctrl+- shortcut....

Maybe after some spam training you'll not need to process junk mail batches anymore, but individual messages only, and for that the tiny button above the message preview pane might also suffice despite only processing one message at a time (the one you are currently reading).

(Writing pocoscript to achieve all this would be very cumbersome if at all possible, as there is no interface to Pocomail's junk mail filtering in the pocoscript.)

[Davidf]

Thank you, Tomas. I will look forward to the button that is on your wishlist. Meanwhile, taking a cue from your suggestion on a post I found on the Forum, I have been looking at 3rd party Spam filters. CleanMail Home looks like the one I will try. I often get 400 spams a day, so it is not a casual interest in handling them efficiently. A month ago it was only about 70 a day so I obviously ordered something from the wrong party.

May I ask a non-Poco question? The e-address that has become widely available to spammers is central to my business. I can't just close it. I could send an autoreply with a new e-mail address.

The question that no one seems to be able to answer is whether the spambots would then get the new address from the autoreply. No sense in putting myself and my colleagues through the inconvenience if it isn't going to work. Do you (or anyone reading this) happen to know the answer?

Thanks,

David

[Tomas]

You are welcome David.

I could send an autoreply with a new e-mail address.

The question that no one seems to be able to answer is whether the spambots would then get the new address from the autoreply.

In my opinion it shall be presupposed that eventually some spammer will harvest such email address.

Collecting new fresh email addresses is the very basis of successful spamming practice, and collecting them from auto-replies is a no-brainer, run a script that takes few seconds that's it.

However the chances are not that big as they seem, because spammers use fake email addresses, or addresses of other innocent spam victims, thus like 99+% of your auto-replies will not end on spammer's server.

So again I'd be surprised if some spammer didn't use this method to collect fresh email addresses, but how big or small the chances are I don't know.

I didn't test antispam tools in years, but one I can recommend is SpamBayes. More people (incl. my experience) reported that after some training SpamBayes reports no false positives, which means you can empty Junk Mail folder without an eye blink = tremendous time saver.
So if you are looking for dedicated antispam software, I'd look for the one that has reputation for no false positives after some training. It's easier to spot and delete 5 spams from Inbox every day, than it is to go through 400+ spams every day just to spot that one occasional false positive.

[Davidf]

Again, Tomas, thank you so much for taking the time to provide this thoughtful reply and recommendation. I am becoming more and more fond of PocoMail and its way of doing business each day.

I sense that your team has their hands full with upgrades you are already trying to implement, but as one whose business (non-profit service organization specializing in alternative healing practices, particularly energy medicine and energy psychology) keeps me on e-mail much of the day, my e-mail program is to me like a horse was to a cowboy in the days of the U.S. Wild West. So I always have ideas for teaching the horse new tricks. Is there a best place within Poco Systems to send suggestions?

Thank you,

David

[Tomas]

You are welcome David, thank you.

I'm usually taking note of any suggestions discussed on the forum, the best way is submit a request through helpdesk, but it's your choice whichever you prefer.

Any suggestions are welcome. (Yet for a full picture it needs to be said that current list of suggestions goes to hundreds and usually only few stand a chance of getting implemented (for a number of reasons).)

PS. I'm big fan of work of David Feinstein and Donna Eden

[Davidf]

Well, Tomas, we read with great pleasure last night that we have a "fan" in someone who has been helping us so much in taming our new horses. Donna sends her warm greetings.

I will send suggestions your way. I'll start with three simple ones that could probably be implemented with a few lines of code each, probably in 15 - 30 minutes each. Each would perform a function that PocoMail already performs, and each is very minor, a tweak that would add elegance rather than real functionality. But each would save the user just a bit of TIME and thought, which is what the many of us who spend great amounts of time doing e-mail long for.

1. As the first user to test Mark's script for toggling messages between "read" and "unread," I can certify that it works perfectly and should be easy to set up as a pre-configured button. This has been a very handy tool.

2. When viewing a list of e-mails (In Box, Sent Box, etc.) and pressing a column title ("From," "Sent/Unsent," etc.), the highlighted message should be in the screen that appears, not the bottom of the list.

3. When composing mail, the box in the color toolbar should take on the last color used and be clickable to format highlighted text in that color.

On the longer-to-implement wish list:

1. When composing mail, a format painter would be very useful. Word has one and the one in Eudora had the identical symbol, so it is probably a routine that someone is licensing.

2. Similarly, Eudora had a formatting stripping tool for selected text only (you have one for the entire document) which was extremely useful for someone who does a lot of cut-and-paste in composing e-mails.

These five suggestions (plus what I've previously posted) are all I have after a few days of using the program, which I think you should consider a great compliment given how obsessive a guy I happen to be and how much of my life is spent doing e-mail.

Oh, for elegance, in Poco Forums, Search, "Search for All Terms" should be the default--it is the most common usage by far.

I do not expect you to respond to these individual suggestions and will discover them as a customer when the version that includes them is released.

I'm sure a few more will occur to me, but I've pretty much used every aspect of the program I am likely to use frequently. I do have a few questions I will post separately.

Many thanks,

David

Warm regards,

David

[Tomas]

Oh my... only now I realized who I'm talking to.

Back to the spam issue you mentioned, there are also two alternatives that only came to my mind now, you can auto-reply with a link to contact form instead of giving out your new email address.
Or you can give your email address in a form of jpg or gif picture attached to the auto-reply email.

Thank you for the suggestions, I took a note of all and forwarded to developers.

2. Similarly, Eudora had a formatting stripping tool for selected text only (you have one for the entire document) which was extremely useful for someone who does a lot of cut-and-paste in composing e-mails.

For related functionality:
- maybe you are aware of it, to paste text stripped of formatting you can use Edit > Paste Special > Paste Plain.

- if by any chance the cut-and-paste involves the email you are replying to, you can test Quote Bar which can be opened by dragging or clicking the gray bar with a tiny white arrow on each end that's displayed between message headers and email body in the compose window when replying to an email message