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Problem: managing mail. Emails can often be correlated with tasks. Some emails only require reading or a quick action; this is about making the rest easier to manage.

Possible solution: add a task board to the email client. Instead of (or in addition to) the list of folders, have a "task view" (a pane of icons). This would have some special "task" icons (inbox, trash, archive (optional), "new task" and "multiple tasks") as well as an icon for each current task. Clicking on a task icon would show messages associated with that task (or in the inbox, trash or archive folders) in the usual list of messages.

New mails would show up in the inbox unless they can be automatically associated with a task (e.g. in reply to a task message). Replies to mail associated with a task would show in the task.

Processing mail would involve reading it, then dragging the mail from the message list to one of the task icons: drag to trash, drag to a task, drag to one of the special task icons. Dragging over an existing task icon would show sub-divisions: action item, important, details; releasing here would move the mail from the inbox to the task and optionally set the "action item" or "important" flags. Dropping a message on "new task" would open a dialog asking for a task title and optionally extra details, due date, and maybe custom icon or colour. Dropping a message on "multiple tasks" would open a dialog asking which tasks to associate it with; as long as it was associated with at least one it would leave the inbox.

Task icons could be large, with numbers for unread and total mails and small marks showing whether any contained mail is set "actionable" or "important". Tasks with no actionable or important message would be considered complete and could be archived automatically (possibly ask the user when the last message's actionable/important flag is removed). Tasks could be represented simply as email folders, with a special "multiple-tasks" hidden folder and links of some kind (removing the multiple tasks feature, it could just be another front-end for folders). Possibly tasks could contain comments not originating as emails; these could simply be represented as a local email.

Main advantages of proposal: turning a list of emails into a set of small to medium sized tasks would be easier. The task list could perhaps also be used for tasks not originating as emails.

Main drawbacks: The organisation would be personal only (although this is also an advantage, in that no one else can manipulate your task list, and no one else has to change what they do). Some new features may be needed for storage of email and synchronisation with mobile devices; kmail/kontact may or may not be the place to implement new ways of handling email. The "important" flag may not be well used for the purposes described above (e.g. if wanted in archives); in this case another flag could be added: "waiting".

Summary of differences: new UI elements, possibly new features (linked mails, waiting flag).

Thoughts? Unfortunately this is more of an "I want" than "I will do" post, but I'd like to gauge interest in novel (or perhaps more gmail-like) ways of handling email.