Hi all,

I have the following situation in Kmail:

Account 1: Private IMAP account
Account 2: Same private account but now as POP account, using the local folders to store the mail messages
Account 3: Company IMAP account

I can't get the POP account to use own folders, Kmail wants me to use the Local folders for this account. Why?

When I sent an e-mail using the company IMAP account which is connected to its own Identity, I see it go through the Local folders Outbox, after which it ends up in the Sent items of the local folders. As said, these folders are used (have to be used) for my private mail address. Now colleagues (and others) who receive mail from me know my private address. I don't want that, private is private.

What do I need to do to fix my problems:
POP has no own folders
Company IMAP send through Local folders.

I use KDE 5.8.2 and Kmail 5.2.3

Please help. Thank you.

You can configure which folders to use (minus inbox) in the Identity configuration. This should at least mitigate your problem. I'm not sure how it works for POP3, though.

einar wrote:You can configure which folders to use (minus inbox) in the Identity configuration. This should at least mitigate your problem. I'm not sure how it works for POP3, though.

It doesn't.
Using a POP account you have to use the local folders. Why? I have no idea.
There is more to Kmail I don't understand. Why does it use a complicated system like Akonadi, why isn't it using a simple database system like Thunderbird does? Easy to backup, easy to setup and maintain.
I have asked this question before and nobody could answer me: what do I need to backup when I want to backup my mails, accounts, addressbook, calendar and all other parts of Kmail? Nobody knows. One answer was: backup your entire home folder.
Forgive me for saying this but then the system is wrong. It is just too complicated.

The term "Local Folders" means exactly what it says, that is to say folders held on the local machine. This is the essential difference between POP and IMAP services. POP messages are passed to your machine for local management and storage. Your POP provider does not give you storage space as part of that service. IMAP providers, on the other hand, expect you to keep and manage your emails on their servers.

Thus your POP mails must be kept on your local folders (on your machine). How you organise Local Folders is, of course, your own decision. They are visible only to you - at least, we hope so! Remember that POP stands for Post Office Protocol. Your friendly postman does not store your letters.

The inbox and storage folders you see for your IMAP mails are on the (remote) server. If you go off-line you should be unable to access them. The exception is the existence of your sent mail until you have actually sent it.

Using both protocols to access the one private account could be considered a little perverse. You run the risk of synchronisation problems.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Bob

owdbob wrote:The term "Local Folders" means exactly what it says, that is to say folders held on the local machine. This is the essential difference between POP and IMAP services. POP messages are passed to your machine for local management and storage. Your POP provider does not give you storage space as part of that service. IMAP providers, on the other hand, expect you to keep and manage your emails on their servers.

I do know the differences between POP and IMAP, I'm not a beginner here. Returning to Thunderbird: it also has local folders but when I add a POP account there, it creates a whole new system of folders just for that one account. With a second POP account, you get a second set of new folders especially meant for that account. How does Kmail do this when I add a second POP account? Will the mail messages be mixed?

Thus your POP mails must be kept on your local folders (on your machine). How you organise Local Folders is, of course, your own decision. They are visible only to you - at least, we hope so! Remember that POP stands for Post Office Protocol. Your friendly postman does not store your letters.

The inbox and storage folders you see for your IMAP mails are on the (remote) server. If you go off-line you should be unable to access them. The exception is the existence of your sent mail until you have actually sent it.

Using both protocols to access the one private account could be considered a little perverse. You run the risk of synchronisation problems.

I still do that because I don't want to take a risk of having problems with the POP account. Synchronisation problems are irrelevant, as long as I have all my important mail somewhere. If I loose them in the POP account I still have the IMAP account.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Bob

To create a folder in Local Folders: right click on Local Folders and choose "Add Folder". Carry on in that fashion until you have the folder layout which will satisfy you. (You can always go back and change it later.)

To direct a mail account to that folder: open Settings > Configure KMail. Select "Accounts". Select the Account concerned, click on "Modify...", select the "Advanced" tab and browse to the new folder.

I guess the lesson here is that Thunderbird creates folders willy nilly. Kontact/KMail lets you choose your own layout. My wife uses T/Bird and I do not - both of us make our choice for exactly that same reason!

As for relying on POP mail storage - well yes, backups are your own responsibility. Having said that, I have several K of old mails (since the year 2000). They are well backed up, and are probably more private than the IMAP version would be - especially if you use a US or UK service provider!

Regards

Bob

DeMus wrote:Using a POP account you have to use the local folders. Why? I have no idea.

What happens if you have multiple local folders set up (you can do that)? Unfortunately I've given up on POP3 many years ago, and I'm no longer familiar on how it works in KDE PIM.

There is more to Kmail I don't understand. Why does it use a complicated system like Akonadi, why isn't it using a simple database system like Thunderbird does? Easy to backup, easy to setup and maintain.

It's been explained a lot of times: KMail is not the only application accessing the mail. The storage of mail, downloading, etc. is decoupled from the actual mail application, which means other bits can access it and use it without KMail being present and running. The upcoming Kube Mail from Kolab Systems uses a similar approach (with a slightly different architecture called Sink).

I have asked this question before and nobody could answer me: what do I need to backup when I want to backup my mails, accounts, addressbook, calendar and all other parts of Kmail? Nobody knows. One answer was: backup your entire home folder.

Does the mail exporter function (in the settings menu) do what you want?

Besides, you *can* use different folders per POP3 account:

1. Create a new Local folders resource in KMail plus any possible subfolders;
2. Create a POP3 account in KMail;
3. Switch to the Advanced tab;
4. Select the resource / folder where the mail will end up.

einar wrote:Besides, you *can* use different folders per POP3 account:

1. Create a new Local folders resource in KMail plus any possible subfolders;
2. Create a POP3 account in KMail;
3. Switch to the Advanced tab;
4. Select the resource / folder where the mail will end up.

Will try in the weekend. Thanks for your answers.