Search  Rules  Login
TheBat English » The Bat! - Configuring the E-mail Client
Pages: 1
RSS
The Bat - a possible solution to my email needs, Pre-use questions by hopeful Bat-adopter
 
#1
0  
Hi,
As the topic title says, I'm a would-be possible Bat adopter. What I've seen is a good email client, very configurable, lacking somewhat in in-depth documentation and some plug-ins -- which is fine, but it means I can't work out if The Bat will do what I need in one or two ways. If it can, I'd use it :)

So this post is to ask if TB can be configured to do what I need, and if so how. I'll go and check the answers do in fact work and solve the problem, and then hopefully once I am confident it's okay - one more Bat Adopter! :)


Mailbox and mail management:

My email is pretty standard sole use (no other shared users) with POP3/SMTP. I have maybe 12 - 15 email accounts I use (by the time you add up multiple work, social, hobbies, and all those old email accounts that linger but aren't used so often over the years, and niche accounts created to ensure my main ones wouldn't get spammed, it adds up...)

  • Since over the years I haven't kept them cleanly separated, effectively I view the ideal setup as one "user" (no need to switch users to check different email accounts) who owns several email accounts, all of which are delivered into one (secure/backed up) inbox, and then analysed for viruses & spam, sorted, and filtered according to subject/sender/contents based rules which I define. Likewise sent mail I'd like placed in one central outbox/sent box when it's sent.

    So the first requirement is multiple email accounts owned by one user, without needing to "switch profile or user", and all initially collected into one central mailbox's inbox, with sent mail also posted to one specified mailbox's outbox/sent box. (As opposed to having to operate 12 inboxes and 12 outboxes, for example).

  • However, once they're sorted and filtered, I do then want to move them into more specific inboxes or folders, split between 2 or 3 different physical mailboxes in different locations on the HD. The rationale is that I don't for instance want my social emails in the same physical folder as my work ones, I don't even want them in a different folder in the same mailbox as the work ones. For example, emails that are determined (manually or rules based) to be "work related" might be in one set of mailbox folders, in a work-related root folder, with a daily backup routine... whilst social mailing list emails might be held under my social folder and not subject to the same backup requirement, and a few emails might in future be routed to a 3rd mailbox on an encrypted drive (which I don't want to fill with anything other than sensitive data), as they contain sensitive information sent to me.

    So the second requirement is to be able to physically transfer emails out of the one standard inbox upon delivery, into folders within 2 or 3 different mailboxes on the hard drive.

  • Last, I want to be able to choose which account a reply or email is sent through. For example, I might get an email via one account and send a reply saying "please use this account instead" or decide after writing or when it's about to be sent, which email a/c to send it from. So the ability to "send from account X" is useful. Am I right in thinking that "Options -> Active Account" does this?


Plug-ins:

I use kaspersky Personal Pro 5 (there's a slight "freezing and stability" issue with KAV6 that I haven't managed to resolve and until it is, I can't migrate upwards). There's a BAV for Kaspersky 6; has anyone managed to get The Bat working with KAV5? If not, does anyone know if KAV 5's (scan mail received via POP3) (scan mail sent via SMTP) and (generic pop/smtp port setting), effectively scan email anyway? Or if it's not an issue since malware emails won't be a problem until opened outside TB? What's the position?


Doing it:

I've checked and gladly note that The Bat can handle multiple mailbox folders, this is a Good Thing. My understanding is that I would set up 12 accounts, one per email account I'm using, and tell each to deliver emails into one central inbox. I gather this might be possible using common or virtual folders, but here the documentation falls down, and I get to a point where having read the existing docs, I don't know what it is exactly (in TB terms) I'm trying to do.


And last...:

Can TB handle RSS subscriptions or feeds?


Hopefully this isn't too complex... it just needs someone to say "oh yeah, I see what you're after, it can be done, and this is how to do it." And to field the follow-up questions if it doesn't work first time.

Thanks in advance!

A hopeful TB adopter :) :)
 
 
 
#2
0  
TB can handle multiple accounts, that requirement is met, as you found.
However, TB needs an inbox, outbox, etc for every account. You don't have to use them, but you will have them.

You can setup filters that filter all outgoing mail to a central folder, might be a common folder or account based, doesn't matter. Though I'd prefer a sorting of my outbound mail akin to my inbound sorting, that's how I've setup my stuff.

Basically your filtering structure could be address book based. Sort your contacts in address book groups and use those groups as conditions for your filters. Apart from moving the messages, you can also have them sending automatic replies like 'wrong address, my friend'
Moving between folders and or accounts is no problem at all, neither manually nor automatically.

It's even possible to define the account you're using based on the same address book groups I mentioned before. You can define templates for your contacts individually, for your contacts based on the groups they're in, based on the folder you've selected when you're creating the message and finally account based. The preference is that TB checks this list of templates and stops when it finds a match.
In your template you can define the preferred account with the %account=.... macro.

TB doesn't support RSS, though I've see a plug-in that supports RSS, dont have a URL available.

I don't use Kaspersky, so I can't hdlp you on that.
__________________________________
I'm just a user of The Bat! I don't work for Ritlabs.
 
 
 
#3
0  
Thanks

Quick add-on information:


Filtering rules

The sorting'll mostly be based on header information (sender, key words, regex, etc) rather than address books, as its common for email to arrive from people not in my address books or as "once off" dialog from unknowns. So the filtering's more likely to be based on key words or similar, for my uses.

Typical incoming mail rules will be: "if it matches these criteria or a spam filter, it's junk; if it matches certain regex, reply giving correct email to contact saving the reply in the generic out mail box; if it matches these criteria save it in the work location; otherwise anything else put it in the generic inbox for now".


Use of mailboxes and folders

Thanks for the comments. I would like to check my understanding, make sure it matches what you mean, no mistakes :) So this is what I think is meant, so far:

  • I set up my 12 accounts, with one email address and one inbox/sent/outbox, in each one. The email boxes aren't used but they will automatically exist. And then I set up, I think, 2 or 3 "common folders" in new and separate mailboxes for actual use, and all incoming email if its not junk, gets placed into those? Is that what you mean? Is a "common folder" the right type to use?

  • Presumably I then can also set up these 2 or 3 common folders in different physical locations and do everything then with a combination of common folders to hold my emails, and then virtual common folders to filter them eg for unread mail? (I'm happy if the actual folders which hold emails, are distinct from the email account folders.)

    Is that going to work? Will that work and do the job?? How would one configure such common folders (if that is the right way)?

  • On replying, when I reply to any email, if the "sender" of the reply differs from the account it was received into originally, I assume "Options >> Active Account" is the command to specify which email a/c the reply is sent from?

    And then I can use filters again to make the sent mail always go to a specified outbox (again in one of the 2 - 3 common folders above) and again to a specified "sent items" folder in that specific common folder, once sent. From there I can then filter them to a general sent folder or to where I want them. Is that about right?

The thing this solution leaves "ugly" is that my nice neat folders list on the left will include a list of some 12 account names that I won't ever actually use, that are just "place holders" for server info + rules and filters. How should I configure those? And is there a way to make TB hide them or make them less visible in the folders list?


RSS on TB

I did some search based on your helpful hint that an RSS plugin had been heard of even if it wasn't linked. I found this page: http://www.thebatworld.de/system/sections/index.php?secid=1 and it seems to contain a number of spam and AV plugins, and some macro plugins. There are what claim to be 2 or 3 RSS plugins listed under "other". (There's also apparently some kind of forum for new versions at http://www.thebatworld.de/system/article/topics.php?topic=7 .) Can you let me know if these work and look any good - I'm a bit reluctant to test an unknown rss plugin from an unknown writer on an equally unknown email client where I lack experience, I'd value it if you could maybe try them and let me know their impressions :)  But that seems to be the link you were thinking of (maybe), do they look good and bona fide to you?
 
 
 
#4
0  
What kind of filtering rules you use doesn't matter very much. I used the address book based filters as an example, because I like those very much myself and they tend to be overlooked by newbies.

Common folders.
Especially when you're using a lot of accounts, common folders are very suited for what you want. I don't use them at all, (though sometimes I create them for testing purposes) because I've got one primary account and two ISP based accounts that I dont use.
I can't say what's the best way to configure your common folders, as that feels somewhat unnaturally for me. (Due to a very different basic setup.)
You need to remember that common folders aren't associated with an account, that means that a reply you create won't necessarily be created with the same account that received the message. You can use folder templates to address that issue. Of course you can select the account manually too.

Account tree pane
You sort the account tree to whatever you like. I've got my primary account showing all folders, while my two ISP-based accounts (at the bottom of the tree) don't show any folders at all. With over a hundred folders and subfolders in my primary account that means that I only see the secondary accounts when I scroll down to the bottom of the account tree pane.
You can drag your common folders to the top and have your accounts at the bottom.

thebatworld.de is a respectable site. I can't help you with an RSS plug-in though, as I don't use (nor need) any of them.
__________________________________
I'm just a user of The Bat! I don't work for Ritlabs.
 
 
 
Pages: 1