Conversation view is a Google Mail setting that allows you to set whether emails of the same subject are grouped together. It shows you how the conversation evolved, and you do not have to open several emails to follow the conversation or go searching for a message you may have already read and responded to.
Actually it does, depending on where you are looking. When you are looking at the list of conversations in any label, the conversation that has the newest message is always at the top. Once you open a conversation, the new messages go to the bottom.
-- Nick Chirchirillo nickchich.com
Allan Lobeck
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Aug 26, 2010, 12:30:33 AM8/26/10
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having ti go to the bottom wastes time...then you need to page down to get to it - it takes you time and uses GMAIL server power for no reason slowing down everyone - just leave it at the top
Nick Chirchirillo
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Aug 26, 2010, 6:06:19 AM8/26/10
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Uses server power? I've heard a lot of reasons for why the order of messages should be reversed, but this is the first time I've heard that one... I don't know much about servers, but I can assure you that it takes no more processing power to sort something in descending order rather than ascending.
Personally, I like the newer messages being on the bottom. I find it useful if more than one person replies to the conversation before I get a change to read any of it. This way, I'm able to read all of the replies and know what the last person is talking about.
While it's true that you may have to page down slightly, Gmail does hide all the messages in a conversation that have been read once it gets too long, thus minimizing how much scrolling you have to do.
-- Nick Chirchirillo nickchich.com
Zack (Doc)
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Aug 26, 2010, 6:02:07 AM8/26/10
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You paging down doesn't use the server power, as it's all running in your browser; and it shouldn't be that big of a deal to page down as any previously read messages will be collapsed, and only take about 1/4" of space.
Zack (Doc)
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Aug 26, 2010, 6:01:03 AM8/26/10
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That's exactly what I was thinking :) Though, some would argue, that it does go on top (since they're emulating a pile of papers, slightly fanned out to see the top of each one.
Andy
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Aug 26, 2010, 7:28:52 AM8/26/10
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Since I'm an English speaker, I read things from top to bottom, so my preference is to order things that way too.
For me that holds true both whether I am reading messages in a thread, or looking at a listing of messages/threads.
The latter is perhaps more out of habit than anything. To me, it's just logical that way, even though most everyone else seems to prefer the other way.
Scrolling to the bottom isn't so hard: one click on the End key. (Remember, we had keys before there were mice.)
It is funny how some things about human interface design are less than logical. On my TV remote, the "Up" key can either change to a higher channel, or scroll up one page which brings it to lower channel numbers. I guess it makes sense; but I find myself having to remember whether the "Up" key goes up or down, depending on which mode it's in.
Andy
AndyHancock
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Aug 26, 2010, 2:28:33 PM8/26/10
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Done. Thanks. If anyone interested can do the same, the more probably it will get implemented. You're welcome to use the text of my original message.
AndyHancock
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Aug 26, 2010, 2:34:40 PM8/26/10
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There might have been a miscommunication on my part here.
Here is what I typed: "Currently, my Inbox *threads* seem to be sorted
by the date of the first message in each thread".
Here is what I probably should have typed: "Currently, my Inbox seem
to be sorted by the date of the first message in each thread".
Within a specific conversation, the most recent messages do show up at the bottom, and I agree that makes sense.
When I'm looking at my Inbox, though, conversations with the most recent activity do no show up at the top. For all I know, numerous conversations in the next page of topics could have recent activity, but I'm staring at a list of topics that occupy page one simply because the *first* message in each is more recent that the first message in each of the topics on the next page.
Dr D Bharadwaj
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Aug 26, 2010, 1:14:53 PM8/26/10
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''I find it useful if more than one person replies to the conversation before I get a change to read any of it. This way, I'm able to read all of the replies and know what the last person is talking about.
While it's true that you may have to page down slightly, Gmail does hide all the messages in a conversation that have been read once it gets too long, thus minimizing how much scrolling you have to do.''
Very true.
If we are getting back to a thread after a gap.
it easier to browser in the present form.
Also we have the kb shortcuts to move quickly.
రమణుని ప్రేమనందిస్తూ
Dr. D. Bharadwaj dr.d.bh...@gmail.com
సర్వే భవంతు సుఖినః సర్వే సంతు నిరామయాః సర్వే భద్రాణి పశ్యంతు మా కశ్చిత్ దుఃఖభాగ్ భవేత్.
శ్రీరమణార్పణమస్తు
Andy
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Aug 27, 2010, 11:47:01 AM8/27/10
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On Thu, Aug 26, 2010 at 00:34, AndyHancock <andymh...@gmail.com> wrote: ...
\> Here is what I probably should have typed: "Currently, my Inbox seem \> to be sorted by the date of the first \> message in each thread".
Hmm. In my Gmail account, conversations are sorted in the Inbox by the date of the LAST (most recent) message in each thread.
If yours really behaves differently, that is odd. I don't think we have a way to control that.
\> When I'm looking at my Inbox, though, conversations with the most \> recent activity do no show up at the top.
In absence of other information, this sounds to me like a bug. My inbox always has conversations with the most recent activity at the top.
This is assuming that messages have proper (correct) time stamps. If someone sends an email with a date in the past or the future, I suppose it might cause that conversation to appear in the "wrong" order. (But I don't know whether Gmail sorts using the time the email was sent, or the time it was received.)
If it is a bug, if I were you I'd document it and report it to Google.
Regards, Andy
AndyHancock
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Sep 1, 2010, 2:24:50 PM9/1/10
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Now that *is* odd, the fact that we do not see the same kind of sorting when looking at the list of conversations in our Inboxes. I only started to see my anomalous behaviour in the last few weeks, so perhaps Google was experimenting with new functional behaviour for their webmail interface. I shall keep an eye on it, and if the problem persists, I'll try to do some experiments with a 2nd gmail account in order to document the problem with screen captures.
On Aug 26, 9:47 pm, Andy <AI.eg...@gmail.com> wrote:
Kenneth Ayers
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Sep 11, 2010, 2:36:55 PM9/11/10
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The sort order of conversations in Priority Inbox is descending with the conversation taking the date of the FIRST message in the thread.
But the sort order of conversations in regular Inbox is descending with the conversation taking the date of the LAST message in the thread.
The latter is what we are used to so I was confused when looking at my Priority Inbox. I kept clicking back and forth between Priority and regular Inbox. Sure enough, I observed a conversation in regular Inbox that was dated Sep 8. The same conversation in Priority Inbox was dated Sep 4.
Weird. Is this an oversight, or does this make sense to someone's implementation of priority?
Kenneth
-- justk...@gmail.com
Sarah Hill
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Sep 11, 2010, 3:35:55 PM9/11/10
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That seems strange to me, and does not fit well with having to use conversations. If you have been corresponding on a conversation (thread) for a long time (lets say a year), then, the type of users - high mail volume - that are likely to use priority inbox, will find replies hidden pages away if they have long conversations. This seems to give weight to the argument for allowing conversation view to be turned on or off by the user, and allowing users more freedom to sort their mail according to their needs and preferences.
I am also curious as to how the people, like Andy, who report that their inbox behaves this way (sorted by date of first message) are accessing their gmail, and if it through another program, then is the behaviour the same in gmail's web interface?
Sarah
Francis Feingold
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Aug 8, 2013, 7:25:33 AM8/8/13
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Andy, I don't know if my version of the problem is exactly the same as yours, but here goes. I was using the "Starred First" view in the Inbox, and was noticing the same problem that you mentioned in the Starred section: brand-new, unread replies to older starred messages were showing up below other messages that I had already read.
After some head-scratching, and after visiting this thread, I figured out the problem: the Starred view sorts conversations based strictly on the date of the latest starred message in any given conversation. But unlike the Important mark, the star doesn't get automatically applied to subsequent replies in the conversation; and so the conversation gets "frozen" in place unless you deliberately go find the new message and star it yourself, in which case it'll bump back up to the top. As far as I can tell, the only way to fix this problem is to switch to Priority (or Important, or Unread) view.
How do I see most recent emails in Gmail?
In Gmail, you can use the “Date within” filter. Click on “Advanced search option”, select “1 day” and enter the date. Then click on “Search” and Gmail will show you all the emails you received that day. Similarly, you can use the search filters in Outlook and Yahoo Mail to locate messages received on a specific date.
Can I change the order of messages in Gmail?
Change the order of messages In Gmail: Set up your inbox to show messages or conversation threads in the order they arrive (Default). Or view starred, unread, or important messages first. You can also change the order from newest to oldest.
How does Gmail conversation view work?
When people reply to an email, Gmail groups responses together in conversations with the newest email on the bottom. A conversation breaks off into a new conversation if the subject line changes or the conversation gets to more than 100 emails.
Why is my Gmail not showing latest messages?
See all settings. At the top, click the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab. In the "Forwarding" section, check if you've selected Forward a copy of incoming mail. If you have, select Keep Gmail's copy in the Inbox or Mark Gmail's copy as read. At the bottom of the page, click Save Changes.