Managing Email with IMAP
In the process of migrating my girlfriend’s email to a new account, I ended up downloading several messages more than once. Fortunately cleaning the mess up took only moments with the Remove Duplicate Messages Thunderbird Extension. It’s an excellent tool.
I migrated her email to mailsnare. I’ve been using their service for several years now with no trouble at all and have set up accounts for a number of friends all of whom are equally satisfied.
They offer IMAP which lets you file your messages in folders and have exactly the same folder structure and messages available whatever machine or client you use to view them. I don’t know how anyone manages email without this - in fact, given most people’s overflowing inboxes, I’m not sure they manage at all. You don’t need to be a “Getting Things Done” fanatic to appreciate the value of keeping your inbox clear of clutter and your old mail filed and accessible wherever you are.
IMAP also allows server-side filtering of email into folders which is a huge bonus if, like me, you sometimes check your email over a slow, costly connection such as a mobile phone and don’t want to waste time and bandwidth on email newletters you can read at home. Filter them off with a rule and just get the important messages in your inbox when on the road.
Again, having the rules on the server means that you don’t need to waste time and risk errors duplicating your mail filtering rules on each machine and client you use.
Changing email addresses is a painful business. Mailsnare makes it easy by letting you integrate other email accounts into your new one seamlessly, using fetchmail to suck in mail from other POP3 and IMAP accounts. I kept my old address running for two years after making the switch and had mailsnare check it for me and filter the mail into an “old account” folder until I was finally sure I’d re-educated even the slowest of my contacts to note my change of address.
Mailsnare’s spam filtering is also excellent and highly configurable, with a whole range of options including black-, white- and graylisting available. Other goodies include two different web-based interfaces to your mail, wap access, the ability to use SSL and the option to use your own domain name.
Have you guessed that I really love this service? I’ve tried several email providers - including hotmail, yahoo, various isp offerings, the defunct geekmail, fusemail, gmail and fastmail - and in my opinion mailsnare is the best. If you’re looking for an easier way to manage your email, I’d recommend you give them a try.
(Disclosure: I am a mailsnare affiliate which provides a minor compensation for the unpaid work of setting up accounts for friends.)