Run filters at startup

[Steve]

Anyone know how to make filters run when Thunderbird starts?

[WaltS]

On 09/01/2012 09:59 AM, Steve wrote:
> Anyone know how to make filters run when Thunderbird starts?

Don't they do that by design if they are configured properly?

What do you want to filter?


--
Fedora 17 (64-bit)
Gnome or KDE Desktop
Thunderbird Beta

[WaltS]

On 09/01/2012 09:59 AM, Steve wrote:

> Anyone know how to make filters run when Thunderbird starts?

This may help.

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Filters_%28Thunderbird%29

[Steve]

Messages (i.e., Tools --> Message Filters).

[Steve]

That page does not address my issue.

[Al Lawrence]

Steve said the following on 9/1/2012 9:59 AM:

> Anyone know how to make filters run when Thunderbird starts?
>

They run by default. You create the filter and it starts doing it's thing at that time and each time
TB is run/started

What makes you believe that the filters do NOT run when TB starts?
Do your filters run at any time thereafter or just never?
At the top of the filter screen there is a drop down "Filters for", did you create the filters for
the correct account(s)?

[Steve]

What makes me think that they don't run at startup is my experience,
confirmed daily over the last two weeks and as confirmed by being open
bug ( https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=577083 ). Mail sits
in the inbox and is not moved to its desired folder until I either move
the message or run the filter manually.

See also http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=1939697

and
https://getsatisfaction.com/mozilla_messaging/topics/can_you_run_filters_on_schedule_or_at_startup

[WaltS]

On 09/01/2012 11:19 AM, Steve wrote:
> What makes me think that they don't run at startup is my experience,
> confirmed daily over the last two weeks and as confirmed by being open
> bug ( https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=577083 ). Mail sits
> in the inbox and is not moved to its desired folder until I either move
> the message or run the filter manually.

Old bug. Maybe it is on this list.

https://wiki.mozilla.org/Thunderbird/Papercuts

Seems that only happens if you check webmail first. Tip: Don't

>
> See also http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=1939697
>

Old post from 2010.

> and
> https://getsatisfaction.com/mozilla_messaging/topics/can_you_run_filters_on_schedule_or_at_startup
>

Another old post from May 13, 2010.

From my experience all my filters run at startup, but I don't check
webmail first.

ymmv

[Al Lawrence]

Sorry to have intruded into your little world...

Read the 'bug' (sounds more like an 'enhancement') and it has no relevance to me as TB does exactly
what I want it to... ALWAYS filters new mail

Guess when things are explained fully here one would get a more focused response

Steve said the following on 9/1/2012 11:19 AM:

> _______________________________________________
>

[Steve]

I don't check webmail first, though my phone does IDLE the account. Not
sure why that should make a different. Running the filters manually
works whether or not the message state is read.

[Steve]

That's OK, Al, feel free. I don't know what to explain other than my
problem, which is that message filters don't run at startup and I
haven't seen anything on the interweb to indicate otherwise, and the bug
is still marked as open.

Extrapolating from what Walt mentioned, I can turn off my smartphone and
test again, but what I was really hoping for is mention of a config or
other setting to look at (havn't find one).

[Al Lawrence]

Steve said the following on 9/1/2012 11:49 AM:

> That's OK, Al, feel free. I don't know what to explain other than my
> problem, which is that message filters don't run at startup and I
> haven't seen anything on the interweb to indicate otherwise, and the bug
> is still marked as open.

It has ALWAYS worked as advertised... ALL my incoming mail is filtered correctly!

>
> Extrapolating from what Walt mentioned, I can turn off my smartphone and
> test again, but what I was really hoping for is mention of a config or
> other setting to look at (havn't find one).

If there was a 'setting' and it did not work, it would be classified as a 'bug'... in my world it is
thus classified as an 'enhancement'...
Guess you will have to adjust accordingly while awaiting an enhancement...

[Steve]

And my mail filters correctly as well. Unless it arrived at a time when
TB was not running.

[Al Lawrence]

Steve said the following on 9/1/2012 12:07 PM:

> And my mail filters correctly as well. Unless it arrived at a time when
> TB was not running.

Never had mail arrive when TB was not running... sounds like a good trick in my world.
>
>

[WaltS]

On 09/01/2012 12:07 PM, Steve wrote:
> And my mail filters correctly as well. Unless it arrived at a time when
> TB was not running.

How does an email arrive without your email application running?

When I open Thunderbird I have it configured to check for mail on
startup, so it checks my pop account, and if there is mail there, it
downloads it, and filters it to the corresponding folder I have filters
set for.

Don't use a cell phone for mail, so can't comment on any email actions
there.

[Al Lawrence]

WaltS said the following on 9/1/2012 12:17 PM:

> On 09/01/2012 12:07 PM, Steve wrote:
> > And my mail filters correctly as well. Unless it arrived at a time when
> > TB was not running.
>
> How does an email arrive without your email application running?
>
> When I open Thunderbird I have it configured to check for mail on
> startup, so it checks my pop account, and if there is mail there, it
> downloads it, and filters it to the corresponding folder I have filters
> set for.
>
> Don't use a cell phone for mail, so can't comment on any email actions
> there.
>

Sounds like my world... ;-)

[mpe...@gmail.com]

I have had the same issue over the years with TB with IMAP (Not sure about POP3) where filtering was not applied to newly received messages that were already read. The messages that are "new" but "already read" occur because I use IMAP on my cellphone as well as TB on my desktop.

Just now I used TB15 to create a filter to take messages from myself and place them in a folder.

- I wrote a message to myself.
- After hitting send I closed TB15.
- On my cell phone, I read the message.
- I then launched TB15

Sure enough the Filter did NOT apply to the new but previously read message. If I select the message in my Inbox (that wasn't filtered and moved) and do Tools/Run Filters on Message it is moved just fine.

If I do the same experiment but don't read the message on my cellphone (So it isn't marked as read) - when I launch TB15 it shows up as unread and it was properly filtered and placed in the appropriate folder.

My IMAP server is a standard Dovecot configuration running on a Debian squeeze System.

I have a suspicion it may be different behavior with POP3. I don't have POP3 set up for my account so I haven't tested it.

As for others who have posted in this thread, I believe Steve has a valid complaint that even I can reproduce (and have experienced over the years). Since new messages (that are previously read) *may* not be processed by a filter in real time, I think its reasonable for someone to suggest the Inbox be reprocessed at start up just in case. I think from the user perspective (Steve) this is a bug.

When Steve said he received email while TB was closed, I believe he meant that the email was sent, received by his server, but not processed by an email client (TB) on his desktop.

[Steve]

1. Turn Thunderbird off.
2. Go to someone's house and send yourself a message.
This is what I mean by messages "arriving" when Thunderbird is off.

I have the same issue as described by mpetch on 2012-09-01-1414,
although I haven't myself tested to see it applies to unread messages, I
definitely have the same experience with read messages.

[daemo...@gmail.com]

I hope I'm not intruding by adding my views here. I have a serious problem I've been trying to solve now for over a year. I can't get TB to archive messages without human interaction.

All I want is for TB to run the defined archive action (like pressing 'a') for every email in the IMAP mailbox that's older than a threshold.

I'm almost there. With a search folder I can see a subset of mail that requires the user to select-all, and press a. I was unable to automate these two keystrokes, I tried to write a plugin but failed.

I've now got filtaquilla so I've made a message filter that archives old messages.

However, the filter runs "when new mail arrives or when run manually".

I want it to run once a day, or when TB opens. Filters by design are mostly intended for new email arriving, and new mail isn't old!

Has anyone managed to get TB to manage email in a more automated way, or, at the risk of thread hijacking, "solve" the automatic archiving problem?

Thanks!