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Email field markings e.g. horizontal lines, greyed out text, star prefix

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  • Last reply by Matt

Mr B
Mr B
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Hi

Is there a help article which details what all the different field markings mean for emails? I can't find one anywhere and I'm mystified. I'm using Thunderbird as a front end to Gmail IMAP BTW.

For example in the Drafts folder, if I compose an email and close it, it is listed in bold. Then if I modify it and save it, it changes to greyed out normal text with a horizontal line crossing through it. Another updated copy then appears with bold fields and with a star prefix in the Subject field. If I delete the old email, it remains in the Drafts list but the fields change to normal text and without the horizontal line. If I delete it again, the horizontal line reappears and the fields are greyed out again. If I delete that email yet again, it goes back to normal text and removes the horizontal line again. The star prefix has disappeared by now.

Can anyone explain what all these field markings mean?

Hi Is there a help article which details what all the different field markings mean for emails? I can't find one anywhere and I'm mystified. I'm using Thunderbird as a front end to Gmail IMAP BTW. For example in the Drafts folder, if I compose an email and close it, it is listed in bold. Then if I modify it and save it, it changes to greyed out normal text with a horizontal line crossing through it. Another updated copy then appears with bold fields and with a star prefix in the Subject field. If I delete the old email, it remains in the Drafts list but the fields change to normal text and without the horizontal line. If I delete it again, the horizontal line reappears and the fields are greyed out again. If I delete that email yet again, it goes back to normal text and removes the horizontal line again. The star prefix has disappeared by now. Can anyone explain what all these field markings mean?

All Replies (1)

Matt
Matt
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You are asking about gmail. Little do most folk understand it is special, and not in a good way. Their recommended setting from their web site only make things more confusing for folk that really have never heard of the concept of marking something deleted and not removing it. Mail with a s̵t̵r̵i̵k̵e̵t̵h̵r̵o̵u̵g̵h̵ like you mention in your drafts is "marked as deleted" a truly confusing idea from the unix world. Fundamentally I think you will find the mail actually disappears on it's own in a short time. When googles servers catch up I am guessing, or the next sync of the folder occurs, or when you log out and the IMAP Expunge command is issued to the google server.

When you edit a draft the original is deleted and a new one created, the original is never "updated". The star you mention is an asterix and it signifies the mail is "new" to the folder since the last viewing. It is a visual prop mt to direct your vision to the "new" content, rather than all of the unread content. Somewhat overkill for folders with one or two mails in them, but it is all or nothing.