[Lotus Notes Sucks: Example 50]
Moving Mail from the Send Folder
Problem
You cannot directly move mail messages from the Sent folder to another folder. Perry Smith Enterprises tells us how. I've quoted the question and answer in case the link disappears:
Question: I am trying to move "Sent" memos into various folders. I have tried the "drag & drop" function as well as using the icon on the toolbar to Move to Folder. Both of these functions copy the memo into the folder. I therefore have duplicates. When I try and delete the memo from the Sent mail section, the memo in the folder also deletes. Is there a way to avoid this? As I need to keep copies of incoming mail as well as my response.
Answer: The Sent view is a system view where all saved sent mail is stored by the workstation mailer. Because it is a view, the Move To Folder button will not function here. If you want to clear out the Sent view, the user should forward the email to themselves and execute the Move To Folder button from the Inbox. It is important to note, however, that this step will cause additional message traffic.
Analysis
In other words, if you want to move a mail message from this one particular folder, you must email the message to yourself. Performing this simple task (that any other email program can do easily) involves stressing the mail servers even more. Pathetic.
It is interesting to see that this question is dated 07-Apr-99. The follow up to the question includes the following:
"An enhancement request for implementing the Sent view more as a Sent 'folder', so that mail can be removed from it when moving it to another folder, has been submitted to Lotus Quality Engineering; there are no plans to implement this suggestion, since doing so could have an impact on backward compatibility with other Notes releases."
Essentially, instead of fixing the problem, Lotus Notes "quality" engineers continue to believe that backward compatibility is more important than usability. This is like avoiding using tables in web pages because some user might still be using Netscape 2.0. This is akin to avoiding the use of computers because there might be a blackout. It's a stupid decision made by stupid people.
User Interface Guideline Violations
- Interface does not do as the user expects.
- User interface behaves inconsistently.
- Interface does not follow established conventions, such as treating the Sent folder as folder, not some goofy "View."
- Forcing the user to do more work than necessary.
- Forcing the user to deal with stupidity.
Comments from a User
This page contradicts Deleting an Email Message.
The dialog box appears when you try to delete from the sent view to STOP users experiencing the problems of deleting mail from the sent view and never being able to find it again. It also allows you to move a sent message to a folder and remove it from the SENT view without messing up your mail file.
My response: What the hell is Sent View? What I really mean is Why the hell does Lotus Notes feature something called Sent View? I want to manage my mail using an inbasket/folder metaphor. That is the easiest way to handle mail. That's how the dozen or so other email applications I have used handle mail. If I move it from one folder to another, then I want it moved. I don't want to be asked alot of questions about it. If I can't find a mail message, well, that's what a search function is for!
Conclusion
Lotus Notes sucks.