Help me label my outgoing messages in Gmail. Please?
November 16, 2010 1:33 PM Subscribe
How do I label my outgoing messages in Gmail?
Is there an option/plug-in/extension that will allow me to individually assign a label to my outgoing email messages when I compose them in Gmail? Gmail's compose frame only includes "Send," "Save Now," and "Discard" on the top toolbar. Presumably for reasons of speed, it does not include the "Labels" button.
As a result, if I want to label my outgoing email, it requires going into Sent items or waiting for a reply and then labeling the thread. I know how to use filters/rules, so I'm looking for more fine-grained and message-specific options.
If it matters, I'm on a Mac using the fantastic Mailplane or accessing Gmail Apps via Firefox.
Is there an option/plug-in/extension that will allow me to individually assign a label to my outgoing email messages when I compose them in Gmail? Gmail's compose frame only includes "Send," "Save Now," and "Discard" on the top toolbar. Presumably for reasons of speed, it does not include the "Labels" button.
As a result, if I want to label my outgoing email, it requires going into Sent items or waiting for a reply and then labeling the thread. I know how to use filters/rules, so I'm looking for more fine-grained and message-specific options.
If it matters, I'm on a Mac using the fantastic Mailplane or accessing Gmail Apps via Firefox.
Why not create a filter that scans the "TO" field when sending a message, and applies a label then? I just did that with my own gmail address, sent myself a message, and the label appeared not only in my inbox but also in my outbox.
posted by patronuscharms at 1:42 PM on November 16, 2010
posted by patronuscharms at 1:42 PM on November 16, 2010
Response by poster: @TheRaven, when I try that it does not pull up my existing labels. Additionally, the following message "javascript error: no labels group found" results if I try to create a new one. This leads me to believe that Gmail has some sort of roadblock to accessing this data from the compose frame.
posted by ajr at 1:54 PM on November 16, 2010
posted by ajr at 1:54 PM on November 16, 2010
I've wanted this forever myself and have never found a good solution, or even reason for not being able to to it.
Surprisingly, there seems to be an actual formal location for Gmail feature requests. I've seen people mention adding it there several times and it's not there now, so I'm inclined to think Google's just not interested in doing it.
This thread at the StackExchange Web Apps site has a couple of suggestions that are still extra steps but might be slightly faster extra steps for you in the meantime.
posted by Su at 2:06 PM on November 16, 2010
Surprisingly, there seems to be an actual formal location for Gmail feature requests. I've seen people mention adding it there several times and it's not there now, so I'm inclined to think Google's just not interested in doing it.
This thread at the StackExchange Web Apps site has a couple of suggestions that are still extra steps but might be slightly faster extra steps for you in the meantime.
posted by Su at 2:06 PM on November 16, 2010
Not sure if this helps but you can do it in Drafts, and in the "compose view" of a message if you got there via Drafts.
posted by polexa at 2:08 PM on November 16, 2010
posted by polexa at 2:08 PM on November 16, 2010
Best answer: Oh, ActiveInbox will let you add labels on the compose screen, but there's all sorts of other stuff tagging along that you'll have to evaluate your interest in. I just want this one stupid feature, damnit.
posted by Su at 2:15 PM on November 16, 2010
posted by Su at 2:15 PM on November 16, 2010
Best answer: You could:
Set up a filter (In:Sent) that looks for specific text in the email. Add something at the end of the body of the text eg: {FILTER5}
Downside: you have to add something to the end of sent emails.
Upside: Your filter will auto-label stuff for you.
posted by blue_beetle at 2:46 PM on November 16, 2010
Set up a filter (In:Sent) that looks for specific text in the email. Add something at the end of the body of the text eg: {FILTER5}
Downside: you have to add something to the end of sent emails.
Upside: Your filter will auto-label stuff for you.
posted by blue_beetle at 2:46 PM on November 16, 2010
Create a filter.
Set the From address to whatever your email is (or whatever shows in the From field if it's not your Gmail address).
Set the filter to apply a label.
I just tried this and it seems to work.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:55 PM on November 16, 2010
Set the From address to whatever your email is (or whatever shows in the From field if it's not your Gmail address).
Set the filter to apply a label.
I just tried this and it seems to work.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:55 PM on November 16, 2010
Uh, I think I may have missed the point of your question. Apologies.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:56 PM on November 16, 2010
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:56 PM on November 16, 2010
This might be too many steps and a pain in the butt depending on how many emails we are talking about here.
How about using BCC and + in the address? You can add anything to your email address in Gmail using a + (e.g. ajr+project@gmail.com). Then create a filter on the full email address. You can create nicknames in Contacts for the various +names so it is just a keystrokes to create the full address in the BCC box.
posted by Razzle Bathbone at 3:57 PM on November 16, 2010 [2 favorites]
How about using BCC and + in the address? You can add anything to your email address in Gmail using a + (e.g. ajr+project@gmail.com). Then create a filter on the full email address. You can create nicknames in Contacts for the various +names so it is just a keystrokes to create the full address in the BCC box.
posted by Razzle Bathbone at 3:57 PM on November 16, 2010 [2 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by TheRaven at 1:41 PM on November 16, 2010