Is there an online email service like Outlook or Thunderbird?
May 16, 2011 8:29 AM Subscribe
I'm looking for an online email service that will allow me to access 5 different addresses on one screen. An online version of Outlook or Thunderbird per say.
I use GMail for all of my email needs and try and use the Documents section, RSS feeds, Calendar, etc...I am a google person and happy with it so far.
I do not like having to switch accounts every time I want to check a different email address. I know that you can open up several different tabs and have each separate address open in each one, but I'd like to have everything on one screen. Is that possible with gmail? or an online service where I can have all 5 built into one?
I also use Google Chrome, which I like a lot more than Firefox. From what I read, Chrome & Mozilla Thunderbird don't get along....
I use GMail for all of my email needs and try and use the Documents section, RSS feeds, Calendar, etc...I am a google person and happy with it so far.
I do not like having to switch accounts every time I want to check a different email address. I know that you can open up several different tabs and have each separate address open in each one, but I'd like to have everything on one screen. Is that possible with gmail? or an online service where I can have all 5 built into one?
I also use Google Chrome, which I like a lot more than Firefox. From what I read, Chrome & Mozilla Thunderbird don't get along....
Is there any reason you don't want GMail to check all of the e-mail inboxes and combine them into one? You can even have them labeled differently as they arrive to keep them semi-separate. Go to Settings > Accounts and Import and Add POP3 Accounts the same way you would in Thunderbird or Outlook. When it comes it, have it labeled with something so you can see where it came from. That work?
posted by deezil at 8:38 AM on May 16, 2011
posted by deezil at 8:38 AM on May 16, 2011
I do what radioamy suggests -- I have several email addresses that via POP access I can access through the one. I label with different colors so I easily know where they came to.
posted by brainmouse at 8:39 AM on May 16, 2011
posted by brainmouse at 8:39 AM on May 16, 2011
In addition to what deezil says, Google Labs, which is the little beaker icon at the top right of the screen, contains an item called "Multiple Inboxes".
Set up your email per deezil's post. Then, set up a separate label for each of your incoming non-gmail accounts. Once that's done, enable Multiple Inboxes in Labs, have it display each label you just set up, and you should be good to go. Here's some info.
posted by pdb at 8:42 AM on May 16, 2011 [1 favorite]
Set up your email per deezil's post. Then, set up a separate label for each of your incoming non-gmail accounts. Once that's done, enable Multiple Inboxes in Labs, have it display each label you just set up, and you should be good to go. Here's some info.
posted by pdb at 8:42 AM on May 16, 2011 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: I gave these a shot, but not really what I am looking for.
I also gave 'Sparrow' a shot, but that is a program for the computer as well, and not accessbile strictly online...
As for the above, now i can't get gmail to stop importing emails from my other account, even though i turned off multiple inboxes and sharing of the two....it's gonna d/l all 8000 emails....help!
posted by TwilightKid at 9:00 AM on May 16, 2011
I also gave 'Sparrow' a shot, but that is a program for the computer as well, and not accessbile strictly online...
As for the above, now i can't get gmail to stop importing emails from my other account, even though i turned off multiple inboxes and sharing of the two....it's gonna d/l all 8000 emails....help!
posted by TwilightKid at 9:00 AM on May 16, 2011
You should be able to go back in remove the account. Will it not let you do that while it's receiving? Go back to the same settings screen.
posted by deezil at 9:11 AM on May 16, 2011
posted by deezil at 9:11 AM on May 16, 2011
Response by poster: I have went into both accounts, and disabled anything I have done today...I cannot see thru the settings how the accounts are linked together anymore....
yet, my main account is still importing everything from the 2nd account....sigh
posted by TwilightKid at 9:13 AM on May 16, 2011
yet, my main account is still importing everything from the 2nd account....sigh
posted by TwilightKid at 9:13 AM on May 16, 2011
Just out of curiosity, and for some clarity - what exactly are you looking for? From your description:
I do not like having to switch accounts every time I want to check a different email address....I'd like to have everything on one screen.
The process that has been described in this thread will give you that, will it not? What part of it isn't what you wanted? I'm not asking these questions in order to pick a fight - I just want to be as helpful as possible and without more details I'm not sure how much more help we can provide.
posted by pdb at 9:18 AM on May 16, 2011
I do not like having to switch accounts every time I want to check a different email address....I'd like to have everything on one screen.
The process that has been described in this thread will give you that, will it not? What part of it isn't what you wanted? I'm not asking these questions in order to pick a fight - I just want to be as helpful as possible and without more details I'm not sure how much more help we can provide.
posted by pdb at 9:18 AM on May 16, 2011
Multiple In Boxes is not really what you want, I suspect.
Go to https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#settings/accounts - which is Mail Settings -> Accounts and Import.
Add other accounts in the
Send mail as:
and
Check mail using POP3:
Sections. When you set it up, you'll be prompted to auto-label them too.
posted by idb at 9:24 AM on May 16, 2011
Go to https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#settings/accounts - which is Mail Settings -> Accounts and Import.
Add other accounts in the
Send mail as:
and
Check mail using POP3:
Sections. When you set it up, you'll be prompted to auto-label them too.
posted by idb at 9:24 AM on May 16, 2011
idb (oh boy, this will get confusing) that's what we had him set up first, because that's gotta be done before using Multiple Inboxes.
I'm with pdb on this, what were you expecting it to be like, TwilightKid? Just trying to figure out why this isn't working out for you like you want.
posted by deezil at 9:27 AM on May 16, 2011
I'm with pdb on this, what were you expecting it to be like, TwilightKid? Just trying to figure out why this isn't working out for you like you want.
posted by deezil at 9:27 AM on May 16, 2011
Response by poster: @pdb,
no worries. looking back, I may not have been as clear in explaining as it is in my mind.
Right now, in google chrome, I have a tab open for Email A, and a second one for Email B, and a third for Email C. (google only lets you have 3 accounts open at once.)...
Then i have cnn.com open, or espn.com, or a messgae board, or facebook...In a nuthshell I always seem to have 8-12 tabs open....not the biggest deal in the world....
i'm just trying to consolidate somewhat.
I'd like to have one gmail screen open, and be able to access all 3 different gmail accounts from one page......but i do not want the emails all sorted into one box (i understand about color coding from different accounts). I want to keep them separate...
Thats why i was aksing if there was an online accessible version of thunderbird, or outlook, or even Sparrow....One screen. I can access all of my accounts separately...separate address books, etc....
hope that clairifies somewhat.
posted by TwilightKid at 9:31 AM on May 16, 2011
no worries. looking back, I may not have been as clear in explaining as it is in my mind.
Right now, in google chrome, I have a tab open for Email A, and a second one for Email B, and a third for Email C. (google only lets you have 3 accounts open at once.)...
Then i have cnn.com open, or espn.com, or a messgae board, or facebook...In a nuthshell I always seem to have 8-12 tabs open....not the biggest deal in the world....
i'm just trying to consolidate somewhat.
I'd like to have one gmail screen open, and be able to access all 3 different gmail accounts from one page......but i do not want the emails all sorted into one box (i understand about color coding from different accounts). I want to keep them separate...
Thats why i was aksing if there was an online accessible version of thunderbird, or outlook, or even Sparrow....One screen. I can access all of my accounts separately...separate address books, etc....
hope that clairifies somewhat.
posted by TwilightKid at 9:31 AM on May 16, 2011
Response by poster: and in addition, i simply cannot figure out how to get Email A to stop importing everything from email B....
posted by TwilightKid at 9:37 AM on May 16, 2011
posted by TwilightKid at 9:37 AM on May 16, 2011
Ah, yes, that does make it clearer. More clarity, if you would be so kind: is there a reason you need to keep your email accounts separate? The reason I ask is that Outlook/Thunderbird (I've never used Sparrow) function in more or less the same way as the method we outlined, they will each take all your emails from multiple accounts and sort them into one box.
This is also why you can't get email A to stop importing from email B - gmail (and outlook/thunderbird) wants to be your only email client, no matter what email address email B is, so when you tell it "I have email B, C, and D from other email accounts", gmail will say "awesome, bring 'em over and we'll all be one big happy family". That's what you're seeing happen right now.
I'm not sure there's a way to get around that, to be honest; the point of having all your email accounts flowing in to one place, after all, is to have one source for sending/receiving, one source for contacts, etc.
I know it's not exactly what you wanted to have happen, but maybe let the integration happen and live with it for a couple weeks, and see if it's something that you could work with? If all else fails, after a couple weeks, you can turn off POP3 sharing in the gmail account and go back to the way it was before you started, even if it means having multiple tabs open.
posted by pdb at 9:43 AM on May 16, 2011
This is also why you can't get email A to stop importing from email B - gmail (and outlook/thunderbird) wants to be your only email client, no matter what email address email B is, so when you tell it "I have email B, C, and D from other email accounts", gmail will say "awesome, bring 'em over and we'll all be one big happy family". That's what you're seeing happen right now.
I'm not sure there's a way to get around that, to be honest; the point of having all your email accounts flowing in to one place, after all, is to have one source for sending/receiving, one source for contacts, etc.
I know it's not exactly what you wanted to have happen, but maybe let the integration happen and live with it for a couple weeks, and see if it's something that you could work with? If all else fails, after a couple weeks, you can turn off POP3 sharing in the gmail account and go back to the way it was before you started, even if it means having multiple tabs open.
posted by pdb at 9:43 AM on May 16, 2011
Response by poster: It's kind of an OCD thing...I can't have all the different emails flow into one box.
and it's kind of crappy, because of a little experimentation on my part to fix up my email, gmail decides to do this, and won't let me stop it....I have went into Email A & B, and went through each and every option. These two accounts should not be linked in any form anymore...
posted by TwilightKid at 9:50 AM on May 16, 2011
and it's kind of crappy, because of a little experimentation on my part to fix up my email, gmail decides to do this, and won't let me stop it....I have went into Email A & B, and went through each and every option. These two accounts should not be linked in any form anymore...
posted by TwilightKid at 9:50 AM on May 16, 2011
turn off POP3 in your primary gmail (email A) and they won't be. Unfortunately, you can't pull back what's already gone over, but nothing from this point forward will go to your primary gmail.
posted by pdb at 9:54 AM on May 16, 2011
posted by pdb at 9:54 AM on May 16, 2011
Response by poster: I turned it off abut 40 minutes ago, and it has been consistently still coming...Unless this is residual trickling through, it doesnt seem to be stopping at all....
posted by TwilightKid at 9:56 AM on May 16, 2011
posted by TwilightKid at 9:56 AM on May 16, 2011
You could rig up an html file with three iframes pointed at Gmail, open that up in a tab in Chrome and log in to your accounts.
Something like the following should work:
Might not be terribly pretty, but it'd let you see all three accounts at once.
posted by jack_mo at 10:33 AM on May 16, 2011
Something like the following should work:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<iframe src="https://mail.google.com" width="100%" height="30%" seamless>
<iframe src="https://mail.google.com" width="100%" height="30%" seamless>
<iframe src="https://mail.google.com" width="100%" height="30%" seamless>
</html>
Might not be terribly pretty, but it'd let you see all three accounts at once.
posted by jack_mo at 10:33 AM on May 16, 2011
I use Threadsy, although it does have some occasional issues. It's handling e-mail and twitter for me, no fb.
posted by cobaltnine at 10:56 AM on May 16, 2011
posted by cobaltnine at 10:56 AM on May 16, 2011
In that case, it sounds like Gmail with POP and multiple inboxes (where each inbox is set up to show only mail from 1 account) is more or less exactly what you want.
POP3 all your other inboxes into your "main" gmail account -- leave your main account in the regular inbox. All other accounts you should filter so that they skip the inbox, and you can either label them and set up the multiple inboxes by label, or you can skip the labeling part and just set up the multiple inboxes to sort by "to" address. (The advantage of labeling would be to see the unread count for each mailbox on the right pane)
This will get all of your emails in one account, and all of them in separate panes (multiple inboxes allows your regular inbox + 5 panes -- so enough to keep 6 accounts on one window but in separate boxes). You can set it so you will automatically reply from the email address that an email is sent to, though you will have to select the from address on new emails (although you would have to do this for any solution, I think). This seems to me to be exactly what you're describing, no?
posted by brainmouse at 11:23 AM on May 16, 2011
POP3 all your other inboxes into your "main" gmail account -- leave your main account in the regular inbox. All other accounts you should filter so that they skip the inbox, and you can either label them and set up the multiple inboxes by label, or you can skip the labeling part and just set up the multiple inboxes to sort by "to" address. (The advantage of labeling would be to see the unread count for each mailbox on the right pane)
This will get all of your emails in one account, and all of them in separate panes (multiple inboxes allows your regular inbox + 5 panes -- so enough to keep 6 accounts on one window but in separate boxes). You can set it so you will automatically reply from the email address that an email is sent to, though you will have to select the from address on new emails (although you would have to do this for any solution, I think). This seems to me to be exactly what you're describing, no?
posted by brainmouse at 11:23 AM on May 16, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by radioamy at 8:37 AM on May 16, 2011