Previously on this blog, Joshua Baer asked our Gmail Organizer users for their feedback. Organized messages are currently labeled with just one OtherInbox label. Josh suggested an alternative: multiple OIB labels like those in our Yahoo! Mail Organizer product. We wanted to know which you thought was better.
Based on your feedback from the blog, on our support site, and via emails from our users, the answer was clear. We will be introducing multiple OIB labels for Gmail Organizer on Monday, May 17. We think our Gmail Organizer users will enjoy having their messages categorized with these new labels as much as our Yahoo! Mail Organizer users do.
Too many labels? You can hide them!
With the new OIB labels, the list of labels in Gmail may become a bit lengthy. You can control this by going to Settings, then Labels, to choose which labels you want to see when Gmail loads. Clicking hide next to any label will hide it from the default view. This is a great way to highlight your most important labels so they stand out when you open Gmail.
Nested labels
You may have noticed a different naming scheme for OIB labels. Instead of OIB Shopping, like one of the folders in Yahoo! Mail Organizer, the Gmail version has a slash — OIB/Shopping. Why did we do this? So OIB labels will nest over IMAP.
If you read your Gmail messages over IMAP, OIB labels will group together under a parent folder named OIB. Depending on your email client, you may be able to collapse and expand this folder. This helps keep the folder list in your client organized and tidy.
Don't use IMAP? There is a Gmail Labs feature to show nested folders in the web version of Gmail as well! Just follow these instructions to turn it on:
- In Gmail, go to Settings, then Labs (or click the green flask icon next to Settings)
- Find the lab Nested Labels and click Enable
- Scroll to the top or bottom of the list and click Save Changes
- Go to Settings, then Labels
- Find the blank for creating a new label and create one called OIB
The result is nested labels that can be collapsed and expanded right inside of Gmail!
We really hope our Gmail Organizer users love using these new labels as much as our Yahoo! Mail Organizer users do. Combining OIB labels with some of the advanced features in Gmail make for a great way to keep your Inbox organized, automatically! To connect OtherInbox to your Gmail account, sign up with your Gmail account today!
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interesting stuff. im quite interested to see how this works with imap but how are you selecting the categories? can we create our own groups at OIB.com that would given us control on sorting individual mailboxes?
@pendolino – For senders that OIB recognizes, the categories are set by us. We try to pick the ones that make the most sense. However, these categories can be changed by the user, and custom categories can be created later as well.
For senders that OIB does not recognize (and were created by the user), initially they will be set to an “uncategorized” label. Again, the user can change the category for these senders as they wish.
I’m really happy that you are adding this feature. I CANNOT wait! This will make it so much easier!!
Okay, so what about a similar feature for those of us using the OIB website? (I’ve never been a big fan if the UI there, but maybe you could give it some attention and the features that would make it easier to use…?)
Will this update be automatic when it is released or will we have to somehow choose to use the new functionality?
@Heather Floyd – We have some plans for addressing the requests for additional features on the OIB site you are referring to. We hope to get to them soon. Thanks for letting us know you would like to see some improvements to the UI there.
@Derek Newman – We will send another email and post here on the blog when we have an exact date for this change. It will be automatic for all users, so there will not be a need to change any settings.
I don’t want this.
I only want a single Otherinbox lable which I had previously.
On its own,it got to make other OIB labels which I don’t require.
I also tried deleting them in order to remove, but they got created on its own again.
How do I get just one Otherinbox label?
Cause that suffices me. I’ve to now open each label in order to check 2 emails in social label, 1 mail in home label, 3 in shop…
Rather solving by archiving unimportant mails, it is now requiring more of attention by visiting each label to delete those emails.
Please help.
@Husain – Thank you very much for your feedback on the new OIB labels. We have heard from a few users like you who preferred the ability to see all of their organized emails under a single label.
Currently, the use of multiple OIB labels is set for all Gmail users connected to OIB. There is not a way to go back to the single OtherInbox label as before.
We are contemplating adding a label to all organized messages based on user feedback. Can you take a look at this blog post and let us know what you think?
http://blog.otherinbox.com/2010/05/gmail-organizer-update-are-two-labels-better-than-one.html
Can I add my own label or do I only get to use the pre-configured labels? For instance, I would like a “OIB/Graphic Design” and “OIB/Programming”
Is that available?
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