Filed under: Software, Productivity, Internet Tools
MailTags 2.0 public beta - Mail.app organization redefined
It is with immense pleasure ladies and gentlemen that I am able to announce the public beta of MailTags 2.0 - an update (I can't say enough great things about) to Scott Morrison's indispensable message tagging plugin for Mail.app which we've mentioned plenty of times already. This update takes tagging messages to entirely new levels with a host of new abilities, such as:
- IMAP syncing of tags (so all your other machines can keep tags in sync (and not just over .Mac)
- Spotlight and Mail.app searching based on MailTags metadata (project, tag/keywords, notes, etc.)
- Sending tags with outgoing messages (so other MailTags-using friends and coworkers can stay right in tune with your tags)
- Displaying keywords, projects and due dates in the message list view
- Assigning colors to projects, due dates and priorities - great, for example, if a message becomes overdue (marked in red) or for marking all messages of a particular project as green
- Display custom notes in place of a message's actual subject in the list view
I was able to participate in the beta process for this plugin and I must to say: Scott had to threaten me to keep this from being posted on TUAW sooner (kidding). Honestly though: I think this is the best organizing aid for email I've ever seen, and I highly recommend it (in case you can't tell) for anyone who's been looking for a better way to wrangle their inbox. No, Scott isn't paying me to say this (we don't roll like that), and yes: I'm purchasing a license just like everyone else.
Speaking of licenses: MailTags 2.0 ushers in the shareware era for MailTags (the previous 1.2 version is still available, however, as donationware). It comes as a fully functioning 30 day demo (Tiger required, Universal Binary), while a full licenses costs $30 (easily a steal). During this beta period, however, a license can be purchased for a discounted price of $25, and I can honestly say that you should run, not walk, to grab a copy of such a productivity improving masterpiece as MailTags 2.0.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
fitzage said 7:13PM on 8-18-2006
I've tried so hard to like this app, but I every time I try it out I use it for about half a day and promptly forget about it or get frustrated with it.
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Allan Leedy said 7:25PM on 8-18-2006
The program's name makes it sound as if you have to do some work (i.e., creating tags for messages). How could that possibly be helpful?
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David Chartier said 7:43PM on 8-18-2006
#2: Well, apply the same tagging paradigms that sites like Flickr use to tagging your email messages for organizing.
Say you tag a number of messages as 'todo.' Now, you can search by that tag (keyword) of 'todo,' as a new search item is added to the search bar specifically for tags. You could also create a Smart Folder that only collects messages with the keyword 'todo.'
Take that a step further: you could tag a message as both 'todo' and 'work.' Create a second Smart Folder just for 'work' messages, and you can now see that message in *both* folders.
You can tag messages on the fly, you don't have to create a pre-built list of them like you have to pre-create your keywords in iPhoto. So you can both tag and search on the fly. Toss in the ability to create full-fledged iCal todos from messages, as well as enter notes and replace message titles with those notes (for example, if a message's subject isn't relevant to what *you* need to remember it for) and this becomes a really, really powerful organizational tool.
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Ryan Scott said 9:27PM on 8-18-2006
Ergh, I'll wait for Tiger...
http://www.apple.com/macosx/leopard/mail.html
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Eystein said 9:10AM on 8-19-2006
I used this a while back, but found that it secretly caused the Mail.app to sort of freeze. The Mail.app would seemingly be running, but no email would make it through until I did a relaunch.
Anyone else had this problem?
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Steven Fisher said 10:44AM on 8-19-2006
$30 would be a steal on a mail client.
But this isn't a mail client, and I can not justify paying $30 for a hack that Apple could break at any time. And even if I knew Apple would never break it, it is still too high a price for a hack.
No cookie.
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pixelbasket said 8:57PM on 8-19-2006
Does Thunderbird incorporate this feature? That said, how does Thunderbird compare to Mail?? (I've considered switching, but can't import my Apple proprietary address book!! argh!)
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David Chartier said 9:48PM on 8-19-2006
#6: The current version of Thunderbird doesn't do tagging, but an upcoming 2.0 version will. Many early reviews, however, have found the feature very lacking though, and even worse when compared to MailTags.
Also: as far as I know, Apple's Address Book uses 100% standard formats for storage and exporting. If Thunderbird isn't able to import it, then (again, as far as I know) it's a flaw in the email client, not Address Book.
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