[Gmail-Users] Re: Seperate Folder

Has anyone suggested to Google to add the function of searching for messages
without labels? I have wondered about this as well. Instead I have just
made sure to always give a label to all messages when archiving them. But
it would be nice to have the ability to search/sort mail with no labels
attached.

-----Original Message-----
From: Gmail-Users@googlegroups.com [mailto:Gmail-Users@googlegroups.com] On
Behalf Of Jim Barr
Sent: Monday, December 12, 2005 7:35 AM
To: Gmail-Users
Subject: [Gmail-Users] Re: Seperate Folder

To me, once you "get" the concept of Labels, folders just seem so
archaic. Label flexibility far exceeds Folder simplicity. For the
newbies here, just don't get hung up on the new concept. The best way
to view Labels is to think of a physical desktop metaphore:

You sit at your desk and you have a stack of paper that needs to be
organized so that you can quickly and easily find specific pages. One
method is to group like papers into specific file folders. It's simple
and effective. But what happens when a paper could be categorized in
multiple folders? Take for example, an invoice: You need to file it in
a supplier folder, a numeric folder, and a job folder. Short of copying
the paper, you have to file the paper in a single folder. When you want
to find a specific piece of paper, you simply look in its category
folder, but you may also have to look through multiple folders if the
paper could be multiply categorized.

Alternately, you could create organizing labels to affix to each paper.
If the paper falls in multiple catagories, you just stick on multiple
labels. But finding the paper is where the physical desktop metaphore
breaks down: EVERY time you want to find a specific paper, you would
have to go through EVERY paper and select those that have the affixed
labels you want. While it's flexible because you have absolute control
over how papers are categorized, it's a horribly time-consuming
process. Gmail simply automates the process. Labels are really nothing
more thatn categorized searchs yielding instant results.

Yes, it does take some getting used to, but once you do, you will
wonder why people still get stuck on folders.

There is a caveat: Gmail's Label function has a horrible breakdown in
function with its inability to search for UNLABELED messages.
Sometimes, messages don't get Labeled, and if you have thousands of
messages, it can be very, VERY tedious trying to find unlabeled
messages to later Label them. While there is a workaround, it's kludgy
at best.

-Jim
http://GmailTips.com