Currently there a a few options which folders should be monitored. It would be nice to have an (advanced) option to add custom folders for when some mail rules already sort messages into folders.
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We are going to add an option to only monitor the DeltaChat folder for new messages; then you can have a mail rule that sorts chat messages there.
Will this solve your usecase?
No, I think of another feature.
I am asking for monitoring (a list of) custom folders, in which mails are already stored (e.g. by sieve rules that sort them into the folder based on sender) and should be shown by Delta Chat.
It would be similar to monitoring the inbox, but using a custom list of folders instead of just the inbox.
Example:
Use-Case 1: Just DeltaChat
Monitor the DeltaChat folder. Possibly optimize messages for Deltachat, e.g., by stripping unnecessary headers and/or adding useful headers for sync between different DeltaChat clients.
Use-Case 2: Inbox + DeltaChat
Monitor Inbox, DeltaChat, possibly move messages from the inbox to DeltaChat.
When moving (i.e. having a “Chat Mode”), the mails can be changed, for example, to minimize overhead by stripping unnecessary headers, but it should be optional because one may want to retain the mails as they are so they can be treated like any other mail when using a mail program that is not DeltaChat.
Use-Case 3: Custom List (“Inbox”, “DeltaChat”, “Work”, “Family”) [don’t move, don’t change]
Monitor the folders “Inbox”, “DeltaChat”, “Work” and “Family” and show the conversations in DeltaChat. Don’t move the sorted mails but keep them in the corresponding folders as they are.
Maybe this should be done via IMAP “subscriptions” feature. IMAP servers can store a list of subscribed folders, the meaning is not well defined but Delta Chat could use it do decide which folders to monitor and allow user to change the list of subscriptions.
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That sounds like a good idea. It’s probably needed for imap idle anyway?
I’ll add a bit more explanation of the use-case, so it is better to understand what feature I am looking for and what’s needed for it.
I’ve been “chatting” with some people over mail for longer than Delta chat exists and would like to use Deltachat (in “all mails” mode) for it, if possible.
For chatting over mail with usual mail clients, I’m using a server-side Sieve filter to sort incoming mails into folders and configure the mail clients such that they store replies inside the same folder (and for some mail clients, I copy them from the sent folder into the correct folder from time to time).
Now I would like to use Delta chat in mail client mode, but only monitor, for example, the folders “chats/myfriend” and “chats/myotherfriend”. Delta chat should see sent and received emails and display them as conversations, and other mail clients should see them as usual as received/sent emails in the correct folders. My friends should still not need to change anything if they don’t want to.
This is what I’ve tried to define as “Use-Case 3” above. I would only monitor these folders and use Delta chat as a mail client for these folders and nothing else. It should not move messages and never delete messages. It may modify them a bit like other mail clients do, e.g., adding “read” and “answered” marks.
I confirm that Delta Chat listens to all folders.
A setup is that to a few filter rules to file automated messages. We don’t want Delta Chat to show requests / messages from that folder as it does now.
For this, Use-Case 2 of @allo would be perfect.
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even if not needing it myself at the moment (I don’t have any filter rules server side) I find unpleasant that Delta Chat monitors all folders and that quickly turns into issues for “email-geeks”, for most people that don’t touch email rules the default is fine, but would be nice at some point to have more control over what folders are watched in the advanced settings, for example, offering a list of the scanned/detected folders and a checkbox to mark/unmark
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Hi, I found this thread in a search engine because I am fighting with a problem with the same needs. I used to use an free (as in no cash) email provider and have a contract with a more professional paid one now. Mail forwarding is not possible as my old provider would close the account after no mail retrieval for a (too short) while. That would mean that I would lose the email address that I used for so many years and many people know. Therefore, my new provider collects mail using POP3 from that old provider and puts it into a folder in which I can find it via IMAP.
It would be so great if I could configure DeltaChat to monitor this folder for chats and E-Mails from acceptet contacts as it does with the “real” inbox.
Thanks in advance
Jens
I your case I would just move all emails with a Chat-Version header to the DeltaChat folder on IMAP
Thanks for your reply Simon! Unfortunately, that’s not possible. On server side I can configure filters depending on various headers, but unfortunately I cannot configure custom headers. Furthermore I would like to see normal mails from my contacts too if they send to “the wrong address” again.
At the moment I realise that by manually moving those mails via thunderbird on my desktop computer from the collector inbox to the “real” inbox after which Delta Chat notifies me about it. This works, but it needs me to interfere manually and takes much time until I am at my desktop computer again. That’s why I would really appreciate such a custumizable monitor in Delta Chat 
The problems/challenges with such an advanced setting are:
A. the maintenance burden (testing and making sure this features stays reliable in future versions)
B. users will break their setups randomly switching settings.
C. listening on additional IMAP folders increases the number of open connections to the server (providers might have a limit on concurrent connections)