For example, to automatically route messages to specific mailboxes. MailTags creates its own smart folders by default but I have a couple of my own, for example, messages marked with the tag are all emails where I have sent or received code snippets. Where you can search, you can create smart folders. I’ve already glossed over the most useful: search. Tags can be used in a number of other ways in mail. For both Reminder tasks and calendar entries, links to the original mail message are automatically embedded. Email tasks can be checked off from the MailTags sidebar or entry panel and they are marked as complete in Reminders.app.Ĭalendar reminders are set in a similar way. Both can be set with reminders andĪ task is entered into the default Reminders category defined in the MailTags preferences. Rarely an email will make it to that level.įrom the input panel in MailTags, I simply add a new calendar or task event. If something goes on my calendar I am committing to a very specific obligation of time at the sacrifice of other things. My calendar is like a reservation system for my time. While tickle dates are not added to the calendar (I wouldn’t want them in there) there is another option to escalate an email to the level where it does become a calendar item.Īn aside about calendars and tasks: Very few tasks make it onto my calendar. There is good calendar integration with MailTags. That means I can file a message away where it needs to go, but still jump right to it when it is time to deal with it again. Tickler dates are watched, regardless of the mailbox or folder the message is in. MailTags tracks the tickler dates and provides a few sidebar smart lists for easy access. MailTags will keep track of the date for me. Rather than creating a task in OmniFocus, I can set a tickler date with MailTags and move the message out of my inbox. Most of the time, I just don’t feel like doing something with an email until later. I’m not a big fan of putting emails into OmniFocus unless there is action to take. The sidebar displays the tags but is also a quick entry panel for updating or removing the information. For example, I can easily find all messages from the CriticMarkup project (project:CriticMarkup) that had something to do with code of this meta data also helps to identify messages while browsing. I typically stick to my preferred keywords as discussed above.īy applying a tag and a project label to email I can quickly filter and find related messages. It does not need to be in the preferred list. 4 This list is used for the autocompletion of tags but MailTags also allows spontaneous entry of a new tag at any time. MailTags provides a user configurable tag list (separate from OmniFocus contexts). 3 Additionally, only preferred MailTags projects show up in the Mail.app sidebar. For high priority projects, I will add a MailTags project with an identical name to the OmniFocus project just so I can apply a highlight color when tagged. With MailTags, emails will automatically receive a highlight color when set to a project. The only drawback to the OmniFocus projects is that they are not color coded in the MailTags and Mail.app interface. It means I have a single nomenclature for my projects and it also means that I’ve probably already created the project OmniFocus anyway. There are a few new tricks in MailTags 3 that go far beyond a simple tag it and forget it. One of the easiest ways to consolidate is to assign items to a context tag and a project tag. I try to consolidate where it makes sense. Wherever I use tags, I periodically prune back the overgrowth. With the right combination of a few tags I can narrow a search from thousands to tens of messages in seconds. I prefer large buckets over teaspoons of information. Type ahead completion makes it easy to apply consistent tags.Īn aside about tags: I use them sparingly. Emails are tagged with projects and keywords by tabbing through each field. This is where the magic fibers are spun between messages. MailTags is activated by a click or keyboard shortcut to reveal an input panel. Basic searching in Mail.app is very good, but with a decade worth of emails and several mail accounts it can be daunting to find a single message. MailTags connects my email to projects, dates and contexts. MailTags, by Indev Software, provides the connective tissue that binds mail to the real world for me. It lacks gusto.įortunately, with a few third party plugins, Mail.app can be a serious email cruncher and make it a 99% tool. But the pure Mail.app experience lacks automated filing, tagging and grouping of related messages. Occasionally I can even find old mail when I need it. Mail.app works: mail comes in and mail goes out. The Apple Mail application on the Mac is a fine specimen of a tool made for the 95% and loathsomely inadequate for the remaining 5%.
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