IMAP-related question

[MotionMan]

My office IT guy finally got IMAP to work, which is great! However, when I access my e-mail on the web or through my iPhone, I see a bunch of folders that do not SEEM to be doing anything (I have unsubscribed from those folders so I do not see them when I use Thunderbird). It is mostly a pain on my iPhone because you cannot unsubscribe or collapse folders and many of these folders show up at the top of the list.

The offending folders are:

cppop (and its subfolder cache and ITS subfolder msgs)
INBOX_Drafts
INBOX_Sent
INBOX_Trash
mailboxlist
sent-mail (lowercase s with a normal looking folder)
trash (lower-case t with a little trashcan icon on the folder)


The other folders that I have, which are the ones that seem to actually be used (and seen in TB) are:

Inbox
Drafts
Sent (uppercase S with a little envelope icon on the folder)
spam
Trash (uppercase T with a normal looking folder)


Do the offending folders do anything or can they safely be deleted (leftovers from the stone age of POP?)? If I delete them, will they simply come back?

MotionMan

 

[Fritzo]

The IPhone (and even Mac Mail) has trouble with IMAP mail servers from certain vendors. We went through this same issue with Modus Mail. One thing you could do is set up a GMail account to mirror your email. The IPhone mail works well with Gmail in IMAP.

 

[MotionMan]

Originally posted by: Fritzo
The IPhone (and even Mac Mail) has trouble with IMAP mail servers from certain vendors. We went through this same issue with Modus Mail. One thing you could do is set up a GMail account to mirror your email. The IPhone mail works well with Gmail in IMAP.

Thanks, but this is work e-mail that I cannot send off-site to GMail.

MotionMan

 

[hiromizu]

iPhone supports Exchange pretty well now. Use that instead of IMAP unless you're running something else.

 

[MotionMan]

Originally posted by: hiromizu
iPhone supports Exchange pretty well now. Use that instead of IMAP unless you're running something else.

I do not have any control over that.

MotionMan

 

[hiromizu]

Did you call helpdesk and aks?

 

[MotionMan]

Originally posted by: hiromizu
Did you call helpdesk and aks?

We do not have a helpdesk. We have a respond-when-he-feels-like-it IT guy who stops by only when the controller (who writes his checks) calls.

No one else at my office uses IMAP, so there is little groundswell for this issue to be addressed by the IT guy (heck, it took me FOUR YEARS of bugging him to get IMAP in the first place).

So, in effect, AT is my helpdesk on this issue.

Though I do not work in IT (I am a lawyer, BTW), I am pretty handy around computers - I build all my own computers plus those for my family (the man with one eye is king in the land of the blind) and I use to be a hardware reviewer for Sudhian/SFFTech. Unfortunately, my knowledge of how IMAP works, and the inner workings of e-mail in general, is very limited.

Also, though I do appreciate the suggestions given so far, I am not looking for a work-around. I am wondering if I can delete these folders. I just do not want to delete something that I should not.

MotionMan

 

[Fritzo]

Originally posted by: MotionMan

Originally posted by: hiromizu
Did you call helpdesk and aks?

We do not have a helpdesk. We have a respond-when-he-feels-like-it IT guy who stops by only when the controller (who writes his checks) calls.

No one else at my office uses IMAP, so there is little groundswell for this issue to be addressed by the IT guy (heck, it took me FOUR YEARS of bugging him to get IMAP in the first place).

So, in effect, AT is my helpdesk on this issue.

Though I do not work in IT (I am a lawyer, BTW), I am pretty handy around computers - I build all my own computers plus those for my family (the man with one eye is king in the land of the blind) and I use to be a hardware reviewer for Sudhian/SFFTech. Unfortunately, my knowledge of how IMAP works, and the inner workings of e-mail in general, is very limited.

Also, though I do appreciate the suggestions given so far, I am not looking for a work-around. I am wondering if I can delete these folders. I just do not want to delete something that I should not.

MotionMan

IMAP is going to mirror what's on the mail server. Do you have a webmail interface you can log into? You might be able to delete extra folders from there.

 

[MotionMan]

Originally posted by: Fritzo

Originally posted by: MotionMan

Originally posted by: hiromizu
Did you call helpdesk and aks?

We do not have a helpdesk. We have a respond-when-he-feels-like-it IT guy who stops by only when the controller (who writes his checks) calls.

No one else at my office uses IMAP, so there is little groundswell for this issue to be addressed by the IT guy (heck, it took me FOUR YEARS of bugging him to get IMAP in the first place).

So, in effect, AT is my helpdesk on this issue.

Though I do not work in IT (I am a lawyer, BTW), I am pretty handy around computers - I build all my own computers plus those for my family (the man with one eye is king in the land of the blind) and I use to be a hardware reviewer for Sudhian/SFFTech. Unfortunately, my knowledge of how IMAP works, and the inner workings of e-mail in general, is very limited.

Also, though I do appreciate the suggestions given so far, I am not looking for a work-around. I am wondering if I can delete these folders. I just do not want to delete something that I should not.

MotionMan

IMAP is going to mirror what's on the mail server. Do you have a webmail interface you can log into? You might be able to delete extra folders from there.

LOL. I stated in my OP, "when I access my e-mail on the web or through my iPhone".

I know I can actually delete the folders, the question is whether I should (i.e. will deleting the folder(s) cause a problem).

MotionMan

 

[sehlaw]

Good question. I, too, would like to know if deleting the offending folders would cause any problems. I also wonder what is the purpose of the offending folders.

 

[MotionMan]

Nothing, huh?

MotionMan

 

[Skeeedunt]

Sorry dude, no clue. Any idea what you're running for a mail server? Exchange or something else? Googling a few of those folder names brought up a bit of info, you might get further if you really want to get into it. If you're feeling bold, you can always try renaming them one at a time and seeing if you break anything.

 

[MotionMan]

Bump.

MotionMan

 

[MotionMan]

Originally posted by: MotionMan
Nothing, huh?

MotionMan

 

[hiromizu]

Originally posted by: MotionMan

Originally posted by: MotionMan
Nothing, huh?

MotionMan

I'd be a little testy (on IT's backup and retention policy) and delete everything and see what happens and ask them to restore your mailbox.

 

[MotionMan]

Originally posted by: hiromizu

Originally posted by: MotionMan

Originally posted by: MotionMan
Nothing, huh?

MotionMan

I'd be a little testy (on IT's backup and retention policy) and delete everything and see what happens and ask them to restore your mailbox.

I fear that there is no backup, but I see what you are saying.

What I have been thinking of doing is to move the offending folders into another folder and see what happens. That should not be too hard to fix from the web interface if it screws things up.

MotionMan

 

[hiromizu]

Originally posted by: MotionMan

Originally posted by: hiromizu

Originally posted by: MotionMan

Originally posted by: MotionMan
Nothing, huh?

MotionMan

I'd be a little testy (on IT's backup and retention policy) and delete everything and see what happens and ask them to restore your mailbox.

I fear that there is no backup, but I see what you are saying.

What I have been thinking of doing is to move the offending folders into another folder and see what happens. That should not be too hard to fix from the web interface if it screws things up.

MotionMan

It's not your concern unless it's actually your job that we're trying to get answers for. Do it and see what happens. They'll just Blame it on your iPhone if anything.