New feature suggestion to Gmail - tags
If you are using Gmail you might have faced this problem -where you cannot find a particular email. Maybe you have forgotten to create a Label for it or maybe you didn’t create a Filter that auto-assigns the Label to the email. Whatever the reason maybe, if the email was not assigned Label to it and if it was an email that was received last year, your chances of finding that email will be really slim (unless you know the sender or the senders’ email).
For this reason I have contacted Gmail Team and suggested them a new feature - option to add custom tags to each email. This is how it could look (red text):
This would save time, and make searching and finding emails a lot easier and faster. For example if you receive one-time email from someone, you would just add a tag to that email instead of creating a Label exclusively for this one email.
Delicious.com uses tags to manage links - millions of them. I think it’s time for Gmail to introduce such a feature too. What do you think? I hope Google will consider this suggestion of mine.
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By Josh on Nov 21, 2006
So instead of creating a Label exclusively for that one email, you’re creating a tag for it instead? I don’t understand your reasons for wanting tags, since they serve the same function as Labels. I think you’re confusing Labels for something else because they replace the folders that other mail systems typically use.
Additionally, what if you forget to tag the email? Doesn’t that leave you in the same situation where you didn’t Label it?
By admin on Nov 21, 2006
Labels help a lot in organizing the emails and having one email in more than one Label. However tagging would give you even more freedom and flexibility in organizing your emails. One email could have as many tags as possible (this is true with Labels too but you need to create Labels and that creating more and more Labels is the problem), and you could add new tags instantly rather than creating new Labels everytime you need one.
“Additionally, what if you forget to tag the email? Doesn’t that leave you in the same situation where you didn’t Label it?” You are right, but I guess the ease of adding tags would encourage you to keep the emails organized.
By Rosie on Mar 4, 2007
I thank you for your comment.
By Jérôme Delacroix on Jan 18, 2008
Agree. I am looking forward to being able to tag my Gmail messages.
By Balthasar Glättli on Mar 19, 2008
Hi folks
Your wish can be fullfilled when you switch to the new gmail interface that provides a unique UID for every message in the URL. Mix this together with, say, del.icio.us and alas, here you are.
I made a screencast demo of my approach:
http://www.glaettli.ch/download/gmailtags_demo.htm
waiting for your comments!
Balthasar
By Ades on Mar 20, 2008
Balthasar, thanks, that’s a great workaround! But I wish gmail introduced tagging.
By Balthasar Glättli on Mar 20, 2008
You are absolutely right, Ades, it still remains one of my most favorite built-in features for gmail. Because mixing a filter for tags and searching full text through the remaining emails still is not possible with my workaround!
Balthasar
By kleppstuhl on Apr 21, 2008
I think labels are absolutly equivalent to tags, because you can asign as much labels as you want to an email.
By Nathan on Jun 23, 2008
Tags and labels are the same, but the workflow between gmail and delicious when it comes to adding tags is what’s different. I agree, the delicious worflow is much better.
By Charles Bronson on Jul 29, 2008
Anyone who still doesn’t get that a tagging is *fundamentally* different to labelling, please leave the discussion now.
Tagging absolutely required for gmail, as for all other other email clients. I don’t know who came up with the idea of placing stuff in a folder hierarchy some 20 years ago, but this must have been a complete moron.
Also, your initial suggestion to place tagging option in a popup menu — NO GOOD! just a text box at the side of the mail text.
Cheers
Charles
By Ades on Jul 30, 2008
Charles, good point! Agree.
By Nathan on Jul 30, 2008
Charles… I think you’re confusing labels with folders, amongst other things.
By Charles Bronson on Jul 30, 2008
Nathan, I don’t mess up labels and folders. I was just complaining because I am disgusted every day when accessing my IMAP. folders folders everywhere. Every approach where you need to create something through multiple mouseclicks and keystrokes (folders, labels) and only then be able to use what u produced, is crap. Tags are keystrokes only, create and use is the same task. Just type and separate by comma (possibly supported by suggestesions). So my point was tags = cool, everything else (incl folders, labels, categories, etc.) = no good.
Cheers!
By brian on Jul 31, 2008
How about allowing unlimited free-form tagging using a text field…. Then just give us a setting page where we can specify that only certain tags to also be treated as labels (shown on the left-hand menu, etc.)
This way I could have 1000 tags, but specify that 10 of them are important enough to be treated as labels are today…