[LUNI] Using IMAP from different clients

[Stephen Boulet]

Chad Perrin wrote:

> Stephen Boulet wrote:
>
>> I read my mail from an IMAP server at home using Thunderbird. If  I 
>> make a
>> folder on the server in Thunderbird, shouldn't I be able to see it 
>> when I
>> check mail via a web access like openwebmail?
>>
>> Thunderbird places suspected junk messages in a folder called 'Junk', 
>> but I'm
>> not sure that it creates an actual folder by that name on the server 
>> since I
>> can't see it via the web interface.
>
>
> In point of fact, no, Thunderbird doesn't create an actual directory. 
> This is the legacy of Windows in confusion over filesystem 
> organization.  In Windows, the terms "folder" and "directory" are used 
> interchangeably because the Windows Explorer graphical filebrowser 
> refers to directories as "folders".  Thus, when another application 
> uses "folder" representations to display a hierarchical organization 
> of data, people tend to confuse that with actual filesystem 
> directories -- even people like me, who should know better.  It took 
> an attempt to back up Thunderbird's data "by hand" for me to realize 
> that Thunderbird's "folders" are not directories in the filesystem.  
> It's actually basically just a very simple hierarchical database, and 
> those "folders" are just notations within it.
>
> So . . . to answer your implied question: The reason you don't see the 
> Junk folder when you open the web interface is that "Junk" isn't a 
> directory.  This is really the only complaint I have with Thunderbird 
> -- that it doesn't export easily.
>
To make an answer to an old thread, it looks like it was the web 
interface that wasn't showing IMAP directories well. Directories made on 
the server in thunderbird were visible with evolution but not with the 
web tool.

Stephen