[Tickets #11078] Re: Change the default value for 'mailbox_start' preference

[bugs at horde.org]

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Ticket URL: http://bugs.horde.org/ticket/11078
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  Ticket             | 11078
  Updated By         | Michael Slusarz <slusarz at horde.org>
  Summary            | Change the default value for 'mailbox_start' preference
  Queue              | IMP
  Version            | Git master
  Type               | Enhancement
  State              | Feedback
  Priority           | 1. Low
  Milestone          |
  Patch              | 1
  Owners             |
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Michael Slusarz <slusarz at horde.org> (2012-03-27 16:00) wrote:

>> What is the most important thing to a user in a mailbox?  Messages
>> that they have not yet seen.  This is way more useful than loading a
>> mailbox and then having to scroll through all sorts of pages to find
>> the first unseen message.
>>
>> And this sort is the only option that works as expected with both
>> sort directions.
>
> Except it isn't as my experience with users shows. We often get  
> calls with questions "How do I adjust the mailbox so it would show  
> me the newest messages on top, just like Gmail does?

I don't care what Gmail does.  Any argument that begins with "Gmail  
does it this way..." is instantly a loser in my book.  Gmail does ALL  
sorts of things ass-backward and stupid.  The important query is  
instead why one way of doing things is better than the other.

Same goes for the "you have to cater to what people are expecting/used  
to" argument.  That is complete BS.  If you are doing things properly,  
users will adapt (quickly).  Otherwise you are arguing that all design  
decisions will be made by Google, Apple, etc. since they are the most  
popular.  But most popular != best.

> Technically, ideally, the point of IMAP is to do message sorting server side.

This is an inaccurate statement.  By design, IMAP is designed NOT to  
sort messages by default (sorting was only added server-side after the  
fact).  The only built-in sorting mechanism in base IMAP is sorting by  
arrival *ascending*.

> Even if some mailboxes doesn't receive mail, using that kind of  
> sorting on Inbox gives far more advantages than does harm. IMHO  
> descending sorting is more...  natural way presenting information.

I'll just stop here and note that thread sorting is *completely*  
useless when it is done by descending sort.

The fact that we disagree so much indicates that one setting is not  
clearly preferable to the other setting.  Thus, there is no reason to  
change the default - all things being equal, we should keep the status  
quo to confuse users as least as possible.