Talk:Thunderbird:Message Reader

• What does the spec say about multi-selection? Where should buttons like "mark as junk" or "delete" appear when a whole thread, or all mails in a folder are selected? Thomasstache 16:51, 2 October 2008 (UTC)

Use of "You" ambiguous and potentially not appropriate in all locales

The new message reader layout proposes the use of "You" in the From/To/Cc headers if they refer to one of the own identities (introduced by bug 456818).

In bug 478466, a couple of issues - specifically with multiple identities, but also the use of the phrase "You" itself - have been pointed out. The reporter questions the use of "You" in general based on (0) below, and indeed, there doesn't appear to be any motivation given in either the bug which introduced it nor the main page here.

From bug 478466#c4:

(0) Why _ever_ employ the "You" string? What was the reason for implementing this substitution in the first place? So far I (bug opener) can see only drawbacks and no advantages.

From bug 478466#c3:

(1) If an account has multiple identities, or if the Global Inbox is used for more than one accounts, or any e-mail read in Local Folders, the "You" is highly ambiguous and should be avoided (note that the current design does not show the e-mail address if only "You" is visible). On top of that, problems similar to those reported in bug 457304 apply where the addressee may not match the address (this would allow "spoofing" of the recipient(s)="You" real address to a different name without noticing it when displayed, even if it's just for fun).

As part of bug 474721, the e-mail address is now shown with the "You", and the "You" can be overridden by an address-book entry, though this workaround is rather difficult to discover (bug 478466#c96). --Rsx11m 11:02, 11 December 2010 (PST)

(2) The other issue is the one of localization, as addressed in bug 456818#c12. Even in a region where a casual "You" would be considered appropriate, it may not hit the right tone, e.g., in a business environment (along with different levels of politeness). Is there any feedback yet from the localizers on this point?

This is still an open issue and remains unaddressed in that bug. However, bug 535349 may change "You" to "Me" for the header pane, thus mitigating the politeness issue. --Rsx11m 11:02, 11 December 2010 (PST)

For (1), I'd see a possible solution in using "You" only in a folder which is clearly associated with a single identity. For (2), this may be yet another preference setting per identity allowing/disallowing the "You" to be applied. The default may be localizable to reflect different expectations due to regionally different customs and etiquette. --Rsx11m 00:34, 17 February 2009 (UTC)

Additional information

The term "You" is not localizable in some languages for both "from" and "to" directions in the same way and need to be separated, see bug 481966. Fixed. --Rsx11m 11:02, 11 December 2010 (PST)

As a workaround, uncheck "Show only display name for people in my address book" to disable the short address display. --Rsx11m 02:08, 27 June 2009 (UTC)