Database Users

Gmail confusing

I accept that I just don't get it but...
WTF is up with the Gmail app? No folders, only labels, is there a way to empty trash? Is there a way to take things out of the trash? I don't get the labels thing. I just want a normal email client interface for Gmail push mail.
These threaded 'conversations' are annoying as hell to sift thru.
Are the labels the 'new' folders? Am I supposed to create labels like I used to create folders? Is this only done thru the web desktop version of gmail?
I know, I know I'm the dumb*ss here... but WTF.
I guess this new Gmail thing is this great new revolutionary thing but I just don't get it and looking through emails in this new way that's unlike any email client I have ever worked with has never been more frustrating.
Pardon my rant... just frustrated that I am having such a difficult time understanding this and I feel like I'm the only one who doesn't get it. Please forgive.
BTW, I tried the Gmail help & faq but I still don't get it. Can anyone point me towards something that will help me become an expert in this new amazing label bullsh*t? Thanks!

I recently noticed that you cannot bring an item from the trash back to the inbox. I would consider that a bug. Fortunately you can fix it by logging in thru a web browser.
Deleted items are dumped automatically once they are 30 days old. You can empty trash if you go in via browser but there's really no point.
Yes, labels are "the new folders". They work the same way except an e-mail can only be in one folder but it can have any number of labels.
I would recommend that you start using the browser-based gmail on your PC for a little while. It's a little easier to undertsand that way and then it will make more sense on the phone.
ETA: Another thing people have trouble with is the "Archive" button which really means "Disappear from the Inbox." So if you want to "put a message into a folder" tag it with whatever labels you want and then archive it. Conveniently, if a new message appears in an archived conversation, it will automagically un-archive itself.

Thanks for your response... I'll take a look at the online desktop version of Gmail, try to familiarize myself with this new way of organizing email. Definitely not a fan so far...
on my G1 whenever I select a message and go to change the label my only option is Inbox (+ or -) whatever that means. And yeah I accidentally hit Archive on one message and accidentally reported another as spam... and there's no confirmation on anything so it does it all immediately, which is great if you know what the hell you're doing.
Push mail comes at a price I guess. Thinking my dumb*ass will stick with IMAP checking every 5 mins. Oh well.
F*cking lame system if you ask me.

yeah, i don't get it either. watched some coworkers use gmail and it didn't make any sense to me why they would change how email client works. but at least their calendar app behaves normally as far as i can tell.
i'll just stick to my pop3 email, although the pop email client on the g1 is total crap.

strangethingz said:
on my G1 whenever I select a message and go to change the label my only option is Inbox (+ or -) whatever that means.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you remove the Inbox label (it show + when it's removed) it's the same as archiving.
I think you can only add labels via the web interface, which is why you only see the inbox label.
F*cking lame system if you ask me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Once you start using it, the "old way" should start to drive you nuts.
@Ultraman: They changed it because that's pretty much what Google does for a living. They try to come up with a different (and hopefully better) way to do things.

Yeah the pop3/imap client isn't so great, but it looks a lot better than the Gmail interface in my opinion...
I notice a problem though with the pop3 client where it always displays messages as unread even if I've looked at them... for some reason I don't have this problem when I have the account setup as IMAP though.

I notice weird things happen... Where emails disappear from my inbox but I can see them when I view 'All Mail'. I check the label and it is set for Inbox and yet the message isn't listed on my G1 Inbox. I go online and sure enough it is listed in the Inbox online... so I have to view All Mail in the online version and select Move to Inbox (even though online it already appears to be in my Inbox) and then sometimes it shows back up on my G1 device.
Really loving that I have to continuously go online to reset emails... I love this new system... so much fun trying to hunt down emails. Wayyy better than folders. With folders everything was too predictable... drop an email in a folder and it stayed there... this new system is nice, keeps me on my toes

strangethingz said:
I notice weird things happen... Where emails disappear from my inbox but I can see them when I view 'All Mail'. I check the label and it is set for Inbox and yet the message isn't listed on my G1 Inbox. I go online and sure enough it is listed in the Inbox online... so I have to view All Mail in the online version and select Move to Inbox (even though online it already appears to be in my Inbox) and then sometimes it shows back up on my G1 device.
Really loving that I have to continuously go online to reset emails... I love this new system... so much fun trying to hunt down emails. Wayyy better than folders. With folders everything was too predictable... drop an email in a folder and it stayed there... this new system is nice, keeps me on my toes
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make sure your client isn't set to automatically delete email off your server after its fetched

hmm..yeah there might be a bit of understanding curve if you are new..
i been using gmail since early beta days and now i just cannot go back to those rigid folders used by yahoo etc..
i have so many labels and they are all intertwined..just cannot imagine living with the "old folder"
good luck with getting thru gmail

I know the labels seems confusing, but as one poster put it before -- When you put something in a folder, it's just in that folder, and nowhere else. Labels gives you the option of having things organized a little better.
For example, an email from my Dad telling me his new address can have the lables "DAD", "FAMILY" and "ADDRESS".
The labels come into play really well on the web interface, you can go to your labels on the left, click the label and get everything that has that label.
With the folder system, you have to chose ONE place for it. With the labels system you can tag an email with as many labels as it needs so when you need to find it, it's easy.
The labels come in really handy for sorting incoming email, I have a bunch of filters that do all kinds of things, for example -
Facebook Filter - I set this up to tag those Facebook notifications with a "FACEBOOK" label and then to mark them as read. I can see that I got them, but I don't have to worry about getting a notification on my phone about silly facebook stuff.
Work Filter - Anyone emailing from my theatre company automatically gets the label, so I can see all of the correspondence about the company very easily.
I love the threaded emails, makes it so much easier to follow the conversation. Not everyone's email is set up to respond with the text from the previous email, so this helps keep it all intact. I think it helps organize and keep the inbox looking tidy.
I would definitely play around with the PC version. The android version is limited, even the android-browser version is limited (but does have more features than the app). Once you get a handle on the PC version, the G1 version will make more sense. I don't know if they've fixed anything, but years ago I tried the IMAP way of checking my gmail in Outlook -- totally sucked, would pull everything, even deleted emails through. I just tested, and apparently this has changed, but it used to be the case that "deleted" emails weren't truly "deleted" they actually went to some other archive and you could bring them back if you wanted. They put a little notice or something letting you know it had been deleted and "do you want to recover the email?" sorta messaging.
Anyway, a lot of people like gmail a lot, but not everyone is going to like everything. Especially when it involves a new way of thinking. If you have Outlook 2007, they've done something very similar with lables - so gmail is definitely influencing and changing the way people think about email.

punkzanyj said:
If you have Outlook 2007, they've done something very similar with lables - so gmail is definitely influencing and changing the way people think about email.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So true! Actually Outlook has had categories/labels for a long time but they were never well-implemented/supported until 2007. I actually use conversation view, categories and search folders now to mimic gmail in Outlook as best I can!

He,y guys, thanks for your input. I guess I wasn't aware of that in Outlook 2007. I've been using outlook based purely on folders and mail rules. Good to know.
I've been forcing myself to get comfortable with the new system. I find the less I mess with things, the better it works for me. Specifically I find if I remove the Inbox label from an email then later add it back on it doesn't always show up again in the Inbox... but it's probably something I'm doing wrong.
Aside from that one thing, the labels are working pretty well for me now. Like you mentioned I setup work, family, ecommerce, etc labels and I do like the way these labels show next to the message on the g1.
Slowly but surely becoming a believer... Thanks for helping me understand.

Question...
How do I delete an individual email message from a conversation? I tried to go into the conversation via the Gmail app, selected the message that i wanted to delete and deleted it, but it killed the whole conversation instead of the one individual email. What am I doing wrong? Thanks!

I don't think it can be done in the phone interface though you might be able to do it in the web interface.

Not a fan of the conversation threading for this very reason. Sometimes I get an important email with a few not so important replies... and I have to look through conversation thread to locate the important info when 90% is trash...
I wish i could have push Gmail with the old so-called *inferior* folder method that never had these silly issues. If you're going to re-invent the wheel, seems it would make sense to add functionality without taking away from the basics.
I'm going to re-invent a wheel that requires physical carrying until I can figure out how to get it to roll properly.. but it's gonna be way better than the old way because these new wheels have lights! ooh! Sorry for the sarcasm
Thanks for the reply!

In the web interface click the 'down arrow' next to "reply" on an individual email in the thread. Choose 'Delete this message'.
You can only delete a single mail from the thread in the web app - not the Android app it seems.
I've been using Gmail since the invite Betas too, and so the Android App is more of a supplement for me...

Okay, well it's good to know there is a way to do it. Thanks for the instructions on how to delete a specific message in a conversation! Much appreciated!

Deleting Google Mail email from Trash

Hi,
How can I delete an Google Mail email from the "Trash" label? I can put them in "Trash" using a long press however there is no option to delete when doing a long press on the mail once in "Trash".
The only way I can delete this is to log onto googlemail web interface and delete the mail from the "Bin" (I'm a UK user).
Cheers.

Anybody???

LavaChild0809 said:
Anybody???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From the webpage go to your settings and then to "LAB"... try using this "Advanced IMAP Controls".
--M

Thanks for the reply but no joy
Still, on the G1 I can long press in most labels and press delete which sends to Trash however long pressing on an item in the trash does not give any option to delete.
This behaviour is the same with and without that LAB package enabled.
Is there any other solution?
Cheers.

Anybody know if this is possible? It's a real pain having to delete emails from the Trash via the web interface, which is what I'm doing at the moment.
I'm considering that it might be as my GoogleMail account is a UK one and hence the folder is named "Bin" on the web interface. Is this confusion of names what is causing the G1 to not give me the option to delete emails from "Trash"? (Doubt this though, as it *does* put items into "Trash" when I delete on the phone and these can be seen in the "Bin" folder on the web interface).
Has anybody successfully deleted a GoogleMail email from the Trash/Bin using GMail app? If so, how?
Thanks.

Doesn't give me the option to delete things in the trash either.
I guess the only way to do it is from the web interface.

I'm pretty sure it cannot be done through the phone UI.
What is your goal?
I've been using gmail for a number of years now and I've never had a need to manually delete anything from the trash...

jzerocsk said:
I'm pretty sure it cannot be done through the phone UI.
What is your goal?
I've been using gmail for a number of years now and I've never had a need to manually delete anything from the trash...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Minor OCD I think - When I delete something I want it *gone*... Not a biggie I guess.

2 outstanding tweaks i cant get on my hd2 (contacts/email pics)

Hi,
i love my hd2 and have worked thought the camera and generic tweaks here. So glad to be away from my omnia and back with a htc and the knowledge here.
I have 2 remaining outstanding tweaks that i havent been able to find decent solutions to by searching here. The first is setting the emails to always show web pictures, i find it frustrating to have to select web pictures eachtime i view an email and as i am on an unlimited data tarriff i dont mind the data. How do i get this to work?
The second is sorting all my contacts by first name then second name. I am not sure if using googlemail as my exchange server, the HTC software or the microsoft sync is changing this but i am pretty tired of going through every day sorting my contacts correctly. Is there a setting somewhere once and for all to force contacts first name and then second name?
As an aside i never sync my phone via usb as i dont use outlook/windows and linux is happy enough pulling everything from googlemail.
Thanks;
Andy

I'll only answer for what I Know.
QUOTE: I am pretty tired of going through every day sorting my contacts correctly. Is there a setting somewhere once and for all to force contacts first name and then second name?
ANSWER: You will enjoy this tiny freeware software that does just that: almost instantly order your contacts by first name (or middle name or last name). Look here for Contact Changer. You run it once and 1 second after, all your contacts are sorted. The downside is that it doesn't change standard setting of the program, which means that the default order will still be LAST NAME first. But since the application is free and quick...

It sounds like your sync source is taking precedence over the phone. If you edit something on the phone and it gets replaced by the backup then that's wrong.
You need to check your server, not the phone.

I have the exact same problem. I don't use data connection (too expensive). There MUST be a way to sort contacts by there first name.... please
Helle

Hi HelleM,
If you go to the contact you want to change, select edit contact. scroll down to the bottom and select more and you can change it with the file as field.
If you can't download the program then you will have to do this with all of your contacts.

Or you could go to marketplace and download Contact Changer by Øystein Kalvø Stephansen. This app allows you to change the sorting in all the contacts. It's very cheap also.

I got it and it works fine. Don't get why HTC did not put that as a choise?

HelleM said:
I got it and it works fine. Don't get why HTC did not put that as a choise?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aaahhh so many basic things that HTC should heve put as a choise...

So has anyone worked out how i can get outlook email to auto download the pictures for me in emails? It seems a pointless click each time i open an email!

d'oh wrong thread

yeah the email pics issue drives me nuts. it should be a choice in settings somewhere not ask every time. never seen a solution anywhere either. surprising for something that everybody seems to hate and its such a simple little thing, you wold think it'd of been fixed long ago right?

Change Contact List To [First Name-Second Name] ??

Is there anyway to change the view, when in all contacts so that peoples first names and listed first?
thanks
and a happy new year!

You will enjoy this tiny freeware software that does just that: almost instantly order your contacts by first name (or middle name or last name). Look here for Contact Changer. You run it once and 1 second after, all your contacts are sorted. The downside is that it doesn't change standard setting of the program, which means that the default order will still be LAST NAME first. But since the application is free and quick... You could run it everyday.
Happy new year mate

rzasharp said:
You will enjoy this tiny freeware software that does just that: almost instantly order your contacts by first name (or middle name or last name). Look here for Contact Changer. You run it once and 1 second after, all your contacts are sorted. The downside is that it doesn't change standard setting of the program, which means that the default order will still be LAST NAME first. But since the application is free and quick... You could run it everyday.
Happy new year mate
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks man, it works a treat
Happy new year

[★] said:
Is there anyway to change the view, when in all contacts so that peoples first names and listed first?
thanks
and a happy new year!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it's a built-in function. But you have to go right to the bottom of the edit screen for the entry and select it from 'others'.
S

Just installed the Contact_changer_v1.3.cab. via file explorer on my HD2, but no joy. Restarted it and checked my contacts, still showing as Last, First.
Am I missing something?
Cheers

Ibb1982 said:
Just installed the Contact_changer_v1.3.cab. via file explorer on my HD2, but no joy. Restarted it and checked my contacts, still showing as Last, First.
Am I missing something?
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think restarting resets it

[★] said:
Is there anyway to change the view, when in all contacts so that peoples first names and listed first?
thanks
and a happy new year!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ye if you select a contact, then go to edit. Scroll to the bottom and select "more". This brings up the standard WM contact editor. Then in the box "File As" Select the "First, Last" option. This is long winded but it survives soft reset.

optiknerv said:
Ye if you select a contact, then go to edit. Scroll to the bottom and select "more". This brings up the standard WM contact editor. Then in the box "File As" Select the "First, Last" option. This is long winded but it survives soft reset.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cool thanks ill do that on a rainy day

You can do that within Outlook, that's probably more convenient than on the phone.

freyberry said:
You can do that within Outlook, that's probably more convenient than on the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats true. I dont use outlook anymore now that there is "my phone" might look if there is the same option on the web site.

Contact_changer_v1.3.cab did the trick for me, thanks guys.
I used the app, I then set the contacts in my outlook to be First:Last and now each time I sync the names are they way they should be as opposed to Last:First. So no need to use the contact changer app on the HD2 anymore, but I'll keep it on there just incase it reverts back to Last:First.
Thanks again

I tried going to edit contact -> More but when I scroll down I don't see "More", just the entries like birthday, spouse etc. Am I in the wrong place?

ftr2k8 said:
I tried going to edit contact -> More but when I scroll down I don't see "More", just the entries like birthday, spouse etc. Am I in the wrong place?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The bottom 3 data fields are Birthday, Anniversary & Link (for facebook). There's a "More" button below that.

Ah, thats in "people", not "contacts". "More" takes you to the edit menu for contacts - I see the option now.
If you go to contacts, just go edit and it's a few lines down

my god, what a long winded way of doing this !!!!!
I've emailed HTC through their support page, to see if they can release a hotfix or advise a registry tweak, to enable you to select the default contacts display option, without having to edit each and every contact !!!
I imported my contacts from my SIM card.... due to limitations on SIM memory, the names were merged into the Lastname field only, which was fine... in AllPeople they appeared listed correctly
But when I spent 3 hours manually editing every contact in my phone using the inbuilt MyPhone feature (I don't use Outlook on any of my home or work computers), and synched the phone, they all appeared lastname, firstname.... VERY frustrating
And there was NO field or setting within the MyPhone service website (that I could find anyway) that allowed me to set the correct default name-display.
VERY f**ing annoying, as now I have to go through the phone manually and adjust every single contact again !!!!
Come on HTC..... the phones advertised/marketed as being user-friendly.... more-so than other phones.... how about fixing the little name-display issue
Other than that, I don't want to use the cab file listed above, as I really dont want to keep adding new programs to duplicate existing ones that don't quite work the way they should...... and I don't want to have to keep running it every day...... does anyone know if there is a simple quick registry tweak/setting, whereby I can permanently set the default display as First Last ? I'm NEVER going to want my contacts displayed any other way than this.....

This is extremely annoying when you use Google Sync. In order for it to work, you need to edit 1 contact, switch to ActiveSync, press Sync, then go back and edit another.
If you edit more than 1 contact at a time between syncing, it reverts everything back except the last change.

poedgirl said:
This is extremely annoying when you use Google Sync. In order for it to work, you need to edit 1 contact, switch to ActiveSync, press Sync, then go back and edit another.
If you edit more than 1 contact at a time between syncing, it reverts everything back except the last change.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just came across this while browsing and remembered you had said something about googlemail
http://www.freewarepocketpc.net/ppc-download-smssyncup.html
Havent checked it out but maybe its of some use to you

installed contact manager (for .99$) all problems sorted out, after retart also remains the same.. thx for the info..

anyone has the old .cab that is free??? would it be possible to upload here?
thanks in advance,

This seems to be another thing that I used to have on the Hong Kong rom (which was on the phone when I got it second hand) and has now disapeared once I have flashed the O2 uk Rom onto the phone.
So so far by putting the o2 UK ROM on the phone my contacts wont sync with FB, no contact images are being imported against the names. The sync all contacts with FB function has gone, so I have to do each one individually, and now I realise the first name second name thing.
Going to try and find the Hong Kong rom off the net and load it on again to see if all this comes back again. Still has the English keyboard so isn't really any different.

how to delete all emails at once?

is there a way to delete all mails out of the trash dir without to click each?
thx

I have not found a way, and this has been a scourge upon my back since I had the Pre this summer. On the Pre, you could only delete emails (in any reasonable way) by swiping them off the screen one by one. It was laggy and took forever. On the Nexus, it's faster with the check marks, but having no ability to empty the trash, or delete all emails in a folder, is beyond ridiculous.
One of the best things about my BB Curve was the ability to click a date heading, and delete all previous emails to that point. I don't know why they can't implement the ability to select a date range and delete, or delete everything.

log into your gmail online and do it that way... *shrugs*

this thing is now the secound i cant do without loggin into gmail...
i hope they will change it, i would like to be able to mange anything right from my nexus and not empting only online...
if you add a contac ur a unable to add a group on the device to the contact only in gmail its horrible...

KrazyBlonde said:
log into your gmail online and do it that way... *shrugs*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
I think its strange the mobile version of gmail (through the web browser) is better then the app on the N1.