Email Sorting

DEVONthink Tips
1

I’m already really enjoying the additional benefits from upgrading my Pro Office databases to v2, but there’s one area which I’m not sure if I’m using correctly.

I archive all my emails from Apple Mail into a DT database and have come to find this among the most valuable features of the application. But I still can’t find a way to be able to sort emails by sender, and I’m not sure if this is because I’m missing the correct way to do it or if this isn’t possible yet.

I’d be very grateful for any assistance… :slight_smile:

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(I don’t import my email, and I’m not affiliated with DEVONtechnologies in any way, shape, or form.)

This might be one reason that DEVONtechnologies is working on adding a customizable metadata system to DT. Having those fields would be very useful for certain formats, like email…

Just a side comment. Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful.

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Thanks for your comment kalis… the greater the ability to play with metadata the better, so i hope you’re right. :slight_smile:

My main reason for posting was just to check whether I was missing anything with regard to managing email archives, so I’d appreciate any feedback from anyone with experience in doing so as it seems a basic requirement to view the sender of an email.

4

I think the point of the reply was that there is currently no way to add a “column” to DT. Maybe I am wrong, but the closest you can get is sorting by the URL column which will sort by the email address of the sender.

I agree that there is a need for both a customizable meta data process or columns that recognize that different data formats (such as email)

5

Thanks for the feedback. That fits in with my experience with trying to get the email archive view to work like I want it to. Sorting via the URL column does pretty much achieve what I want though.

The opportunities for customizable metadata are certainly there in v2… I look forward to seeing where DT goes next, because it’s laid all the right foundations. The ability to keep most documents in their original formats is just great, and I’m eagerly anticipating the full implementation of tags and the global inbox.

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I also wish to be able to view archived emails by sender — but there is a way to add columns to a DTP database, at least in the 2.0 beta:

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I’m also surprised that with so much effort to add email archiving functionality, there’s apparently no option to browse the email archive by sender.

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I believe the original comment on adding a column was referring to creating a new column, rather than showing/hiding the predefined columns.

Email archiving has been a part of DTP Office 1.5x and continues to be a part of DTP Office 2 with tools to work with, edit, sort on, and search within email files. Email archiving support in DTP 2 is limited in that DTP can display any file that has a Quick Look viewer. Beyond that, DTP 2 (non-office) cannot browse for an email’s sender nor can it display the email sender in a column. DTP 2 is really no different from the Finder in that respect.