Adding a junk button to MUAs: Difference between revisions

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==Via the arrival path==
==Via the arrival path==
For IMAP clients, it would be straightforward to add a Junk flag IMAP that the MUA can set.
''Pro:'' Easy to implement with IMAP. Self-configuring with IMAP, MUA can tell if the


==Via a separate path==
==Via a separate path==

Revision as of 18:57, 13 February 2010

Most web mail systems have a button a user can push to mark a message as junk, and report it back to their mail host. How would one add a similar button to a regular MUA? For the purposes of this discussion, the goal is to report the message back to the user's own mail system. They might further report it to the place the message came from, but that's a separate discussion.

Two somewhat separate issues are:

  • How a message that is reported in the MUA is sent back to the mail system
  • How a MUA knows when reporting is available

Sending back reported messages

The two general approaches seem to be to send it back via the path it arrived, typically POP or IMAP, or to use a separate path, such as SMTP or SUBMIT.

Via the arrival path

For IMAP clients, it would be straightforward to add a Junk flag IMAP that the MUA can set.

Pro: Easy to implement with IMAP. Self-configuring with IMAP, MUA can tell if the


Via a separate path

Configuring the MUA junk button

Per message approaches

Per server approaches