A contact list?

#1

This isnt really a support thing but a suggestion (after the mac/win versions come out, priorities :slight_smile: ), its not obvious to me how to bring up contacts that are saved in say gmail or posteo etc; as I mentioned in another post I’d really love to set up mp for my folks but I know that contact lists are a big thing for them, and i assume some others out there?

#2

Yes, some people really like contact lists? I’m probably not the person to design one, since I’ve never used one or understood why people do. I just rely on the auto-complete in the To: box… or reply to an old message (I’ve noticed a lot of people do this).

If someone could explain what they’re useful for, that might actually help here. What are common work-flows?

(meta: moved this from Support to Development, since this is a discussion about future developments, not a tech support request.)

#3

I also rely on autocomplete but in my folks case if they want to say email a series of people and say just select persons #s 1, 9, 25, 32 etc (in the list) and say “compose” and have it go to all those people. Or in the case of people whose memory isnt what it used to be remembering that “Kelly’s” email is cutegirl38475930@gmail.com (even typing “c” might not get Kelly as the difference of K" vs “C”).

As for the interface, can’t help you there, I am miserably bad at explaining computer things to friends & family :frowning:

anyway, i think win/mac releases are much more important

#4

FWIW, the Mailpile autocomplete will not just search the e-mail address, it also searches the names as displayed on the e-mails. So the scenario you described will work, as long as Kelly’s e-mails have her name on them.

The thing I struggle with here, is I suspect the auto-complete is a strictly better user interface than going through a list and ticking boxes. But because that’s how user interfaces used to be designed, some people expect them and are comfortable with them. Catering to their desires isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I’m conflicted because I don’t particularly want to implement what is (IMO) a crappy user interface just because it’s “expected.”

Anyway, let’s leave this thread open and see if people come up with other suggestions or use-cases!

#5

From my perspective, I don’t need Mailpile to handle the contact list, but I would like it to integrate with CardDav for external contacts. That should exempt you from writing much of UI, right? :slight_smile:

To expand on that - I use Nextcloud to handle my synchronisation of contacts, calendars, files, etc between my devices, and it would be lovely if I could use that contact list in Mailpile the same way I used to be able to in Thunderbird.

#6

It would indeed be useful (and not complicated code) if the contact search used by the composer could query a CardDAV backend. I assume CardDAV supports some form of search?

#7

Dear BjarniRunar,
I am student . I don’t earn now. I came to mailpile to thank you for the wonderful contribution of yours. I can’t support you financially right now. But I have a very great respect for you and your work. You are a great inspiration for me. I am a enthusiast for the internet privacy too. Hope your service continues and be blessed.
THANK YOU!:heartbeat::heartbeat:

#8

Old thread, new member, just weighing in.

^ This. I also maintain a central Contacts list (coincidentally, also shared around via my Nextcloud). Not just emails, but phone #s, physical addresses, b-days, etc.