Mar 31, 2008

A Couple of Ways to Make Mail Better

Mail.app is wonderful; a simple user interface with many ways to organize your inbox and messages, however, there are plenty of ways to make it better. I wanted to share a couple of ways I make mail work better for me.

WideMail

The first plugin I would like to share is called WideMail. Since beginning to use WideMail, it is hard to even look at a mail.app inbox that does not have it installed. WideMail’s job is very simple, it takes your message viewing area (your inbox and message display) and changes things to a vertical view.

widemail

The current version (0.5.1) requires Mac OS X Leopard and can be downloaded here.

Mail.appetizer

The second plugin I use in Mail is called Mail.appetizer. This program might not be too significant if you are already a Growl user but for me, as many times as I have tried Growl, I can’t get in to it. That is why Mail.appetizer is so handy for me. Upon receiving new mail, Mail.appetizer pops up for a preset amount of time and gives you a full overview of the message that just arrived in your inbox. This way you don’t have to stop your entire workflow to see that you have just received an email of “12 dogs with Christmas Hats - Will Make You LOL”

mailappetizer

Mail.appetizer will work with Mac OS X Leopard, Tiger, and Panther however, there is a disclaimer warning against use with Mac OS X Tiger. Download Mail.appetizer here.

3 Comments, Comment or Ping

  1. Chris

    I might give WideMail a trial run. However, I’ve been using what might be called the traditional view for over a decade so whether I’ll like what looks like a neater, more logical layout only time will tell.

    Keep trying with GROWL. I use it to announce messages from Twitter, Gmail, Facebook, rule based Mail, Cyberduck (FTP) and so on…

    Apr 1st, 2008

  2. Clay Carson

    Let me know how you like WideMail, Chris! It makes more sense in my head to look at it displayed this way maybe you will see it the same.

    I will give Growl ONE more chance. I think the thing is, I don’t want Twitter, Gmail, and Facebook popping up every few minutes telling me something new. I like to check those things when I get a chance. We’ll see!

    Apr 1st, 2008

  3. aaron

    Clay, I love growl, but that’s because the way I work it just makes sense. I have so much stuff open when i’m working that I have 4 spaces full of stuff and one is dedicated to aim. I am on aim all day communicating with my boss and coworkers so I love it that when someone sends me a new message growl pops up telling me what it says as opposed to me having to stop what i’m doing and switch to that space and read it. Anyhow, I think growl rocks :)

    May 1st, 2008

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