From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: David Maus Subject: Re: [OT] Emacs for email? Date: Wed, 02 Dec 2009 21:30:12 +0100 Message-ID: <87k4x59l0r.wl%maus.david@gmail.com> References: <87aay17m3z.wl%ucecesf@ucl.ac.uk> <87iqcp3ai5.wl%jemarch@gnu.org> <878wdlh2sr.wl%ucecesf@ucl.ac.uk> <87skbtnxrq.wl%jemarch@gnu.org> Mime-Version: 1.0 (generated by SEMI 1.14.6 - "Maruoka") Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Return-path: Received: from mailman by lists.gnu.org with tmda-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1NFvqM-0005hb-Nw for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:30:34 -0500 Received: from exim by lists.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1NFvqH-0005d9-JJ for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:30:34 -0500 Received: from [199.232.76.173] (port=52313 helo=monty-python.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1NFvqH-0005cv-Ci for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:30:29 -0500 In-Reply-To: <87skbtnxrq.wl%jemarch@gnu.org> List-Id: "General discussions about Org-mode." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Sender: emacs-orgmode-bounces+geo-emacs-orgmode=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Errors-To: emacs-orgmode-bounces+geo-emacs-orgmode=m.gmane.org@gnu.org To: jemarch@gnu.org Cc: Keith Lancaster , Org Mode List At Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:31:05 +0100, jemarch@gnu.org wrote: > > > These and the others you will find allude to this approach fitting > in with the more general GTD view, which is why org-mode is > critical (for me) to get this working. > > I actually do something similar, but keeping the physical emails. I > maintain (in wanderlust) an Inbox folder and a General folder to hold > my emails. I process the Inbox in a GTD style. For each message: > > 1) If it is not interesting, delete. > 2) If it is useful for reference, archive it in the ref system and > move the email to General, without storing any link to it in my > reference system. > 3) If it is an email that I can answer quickly, do it and move the > email to General. > 4) If it is an email that I want to answer but that requires some > previous investigation/action, I move the email to General and, > using remember, create a new NEXT item in my todo.org. The NEXT > item has an hyperlink pointing to the email in the General mbox. > > Now, I wonder if is it possible to implement the previous system > without having to maintain the General mbox (that is huge). It is > clear that I could simply remove the emails in 2) after archiving its > contents in my reference system. But, what about the emails in 3) and > 4)? How do you store an email that you will eventually answer if not > in an mbox? I just started to stop maintaining my inbox at all appr. 3 weeks ago and up to now it's working fine. I am currently not getting that much email so I can't tell if it will work out but I seems to be a interesting way to go. So, what I do is this: - I do not use the regular orgmode link to wanderlust messages, because up to now the folder a message is in (or is refiled to) is part of the link; what means that if I move the message somewhere else I know for certain that the link in orgmode is broken. I want to store a link to a message regardless where the message resides, so I use a "Namazu search folder" (Manual 3.9). That is: I index my messages regularly (once per hour is enough for me) with Namazu (www.namazu.org) and use a special remember template for messages with a hand-crafted link to the search folder: ,---- | [[wl:%5B%:message-id%5D~/.elmo/namazu#%:message-id][%:message-id]] `---- Opening these links with Orgmode works fine: It fires up Wanderlust and opens the message with the particular message id. The only thing that bugs me is that I have to hand craft the search-folder-links manually and hence need a special remember template for messages. Luckily Orgmode is free software so I started to work on a patch that expands Orgmode's capabilities on storing links to wanderlust messages, including Namazu search folders[1]. - all new messages go in the inbox - I do not access the inbox directly but use a "Filter Folder" (Manual 3.11) that shows unread messages and messages flagged as "important" ($) .folders ,---- | /flag:digest/%INBOX "Inbox (Digest)" `---- - If new messages are in the inbox they are show in this folder; I read every message: - if the message is useful for reference, I use a remember template that stores a special hand-crafted link mentioned above - if the message requires an answer, I mark it "important" und file a remember template that references this message with the hand-crafted link - if I am not certain whether I should answer the message or not it is marked "important"; so they stay in sight. - in all other cases reading the message moves it out of the filter folder next time I open it - I archived received and sent messages of the previous year in january but playing with Wanderlust's build-in archive functions (Manual, Chp. 9: Automatic Expiration and Archiving of Messages) is on my list To sum it up: I solved the problem of "Zero Inbox" not by moving and/or deleting mails but by using Wanderlust's capabilities of showing messages based on different criterions. So maybe the question is not where to /store/ messages but how to access them. Regards, -- David PS: Hum. While writing this I notice that marking messages as important and filing a todo-item is redundant. So "mark important" should go for messages I am not certain about whether I should reply or not. [1] There will be a proposal soon. -- OpenPGP... 0x316F4BE4670716FD Jabber.... dmjena@jabber.org Email..... maus.david@gmail.com ICQ....... 241051416