The Idea Place Projects QuickMail 0.8.67: sounds, and I'd like to know what you think of them

[Kelly Ford]

Hello everyone,

QuickMail 0.8.67 can play sounds. There are sounds for message sent, send failed, new mail, a conversation you're watching, connection lost and restored, calendar reminders, a message deleted, archived or moved, and trash emptied. They're off until you turn them on, at Settings > Sounds > Play sounds for mail events. There are three styles to choose from, Glass, Soft bell and Wood, and you can use your own WAV or MP3 file for any event. A client-side rule can now play a sound too, so you can give someone their own sound or hear when something has been filed. Mute All Sounds on the Tools menu silences everything.

This is a first version, and I'd like your feedback. Are these the right events? Which are missing, and which would you never use? What do you think of the sounds, and how do they work alongside your screen reader's speech? You can reply here or on the feedback issue at https://github.com/kellylford/QuickMail/issues/920, or use Help > Report a Bug in QuickMail or email support at theideaplace.net. The current audio is just a first attempt, so if you're interested in creating sounds for QuickMail, please get in touch at support at theideaplace.net or submit a pull request on GitHub.

This release also fixes two problems with Empty Trash. With the network down, it could say the trash was emptied while the mail was still on the server. And on a server with no Trash folder but a Junk or Spam folder, it permanently deleted everything in Junk. If your mail server has no Trash folder, that second one is worth knowing about.

If you already have QuickMail installed, it updates itself the next time it starts. To get it for the first time, or to read these notes online:

https://github.com/kellylford/QuickMail/releases/tag/v0.8.67

The user guide is at https://kellylford.github.io/QuickMail/ and in the app under Help > Open User Guide (F1). The Sounds section is at https://kellylford.github.io/QuickMail/sounds.html

The full release notes follow.

QuickMail 0.8.67
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Added
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Sounds

QuickMail can now play sounds. They are off until you turn them on, in Settings > Sounds > Play sounds for mail events, and they add to QuickMail's announcements and status text rather than replacing them.

This is a first version, and we want your feedback. We have made our best guess at which events should have a sound and what those sounds should be. Please tell us:

- Are these the right events? Which are missing, and which would you never use?

- What do you think of the sounds? Which style do you prefer, and are any two sounds too alike, harsh, or easy to confuse with your screen reader's own sounds?

- How do the sounds work alongside your screen reader's speech?

Reply on the sounds feedback issue, https://github.com/kellylford/QuickMail/issues/920, or if you would rather not use GitHub, Report a Bug on the Help menu or email to support at theideaplace.net both reach us.

Development of the sounds QuickMail uses will continue, and the current audio is just a first attempt. Contributions of audio files are welcome if you are interested in creating sounds for QuickMail. Please reach out to support at theideaplace.net or submit a pull request on GitHub, https://github.com/kellylford/QuickMail.

- Sounds for mail events: message sent, message queued to send later, send failed, new mail, mail in a conversation you are watching, a delete, move, archive or empty trash that failed, connection lost and restored, calendar reminders, a message deleted, archived or moved, and trash emptied. If you delete or file a lot of mail in a row, you may prefer to set those three message sounds to None.

- Three styles: Glass, Soft bell and Wood. Each has the same sounds with the same melodies, and the tone changes, though Wood is also a little quieter. Preview plays the style showing, so you can compare them before saving.

- Your own sounds: use a WAV or MP3 file of up to 5 MB and 30 seconds for any event. QuickMail keeps its own copy, and your sounds travel with your settings when you move them to another computer: https://kellylford.github.io/QuickMail/moving-your-settings-to-another-computer.html

- A sound for a rule: a client-side rule can now Play a sound, so you can tell mail from a particular sender by ear, or hear when something has been filed. Use a From addresses or Sender contains condition with your own sound file to give someone their own sound. A rule's sound plays even with event sounds off, as adding it to a rule already asks for it.

- Mute All Sounds: on the Tools menu and in the Command Palette, with no keyboard shortcut until you give it one. It silences everything, including whatever is playing, except Preview, which you have asked to hear.

Good to know:

- While Play sounds for mail events or Mute all sounds is on, notifications leave out the Windows notification sound, so you hear QuickMail's sound and not both. A notification for mail a rule has just played a sound for leaves it out as well.

- Windows Do Not Disturb does not silence QuickMail's sounds, because Windows gives apps no way to tell when it is on. Use Mute All Sounds for that. Sounds for things that happen on their own do stay quiet during a presentation or while an app is running full screen.

- New mail and rule sounds stay silent for mail that came in while QuickMail was closed. New mail also stays silent when more than five messages arrive at once, such as when your computer wakes up, and a rule when more than five messages match it at once.

- The new-mail sound is for the Inbox, and the calendar reminder sound needs calendar reminders turned on.

Sounds in the User Guide: https://kellylford.github.io/QuickMail/sounds.html

Fixed
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- Empty Trash reports what really happened. With the network down it could say the trash was emptied while the mail was still on the server. Each account is now tried and reported on its own, so one that can't be reached doesn't stop the others, and you're told which worked and which didn't. On a POP3 account set to remove mail from the server, messages now stay in Trash if the server can't be reached, so you can empty it again later.

- Empty Trash no longer touches Junk. On a server with no Trash folder but a Junk or Spam folder, Empty Trash permanently deleted everything in the Junk folder. It now says no trash folder was found.

Questions and feedback
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To talk about this release, reply to this message or write to projects at theideaplace.net. Either way it goes to everyone on the list. Bug reports still do the most good as issues on GitHub, at https://github.com/kellylford/QuickMail/issues, or through Help > Report a Bug inside QuickMail, but if you're not sure whether something is a bug, asking on the list first is fine.

All my projects are listed at https://theideaplace.net/projects

Kelly