IMAP subfolder creation and viewing between TB, Outlook & Zimbra webmail

[gettyless]

I've been testing out how what works and doesn't work when it comes to subfolders. My findings are below -- can others confirm the same phenomenon and or let me know if there's as way to make it more seemless?

So, here's a table and reads like this -- if I create a subfolder in Zimbra webmail, it won't show up in Thunderbird IMAP connection nor an Outlook IMAP:

created in 	 Thunderbird IMAP 	 Outlook IMAP 	 Outlook ZCS Connector 	 Zimbra webmail
Thunderbird IMAP       xxxxx                   Yes                Yes                 Yes
Outlook IMAP 	        No                     Yes                Yes                 Yes
Outlook ZCS Connector 	No                     Yes               xxxxx                Yes
Zimbra webmail 	        No                     No                 Yes                xxxxx

This might point out a known issue (or issues), but I'm not sure exactly what to search for in bugzilla.

[soxfan]

You are going through the process of subscribing to these folders within TB and Outlook, right?

[phoenix]

Originally Posted by gettyless

So, here's a table and reads like this -- if I create a subfolder in Zimbra webmail, it won't show up in Thunderbird IMAP connection nor an Outlook IMAP:

It won't show up until you subscribe to the folder.

[gettyless]

ah - thanks. Outlook seems to auto-subscribe you to new IMAP folders, like in this scenario:

1) create new subfolder in TB
2) close/reopen outlook and you see it

whereas:

1) create new subfolder in Outlook
2) close/reopen TB
3) select parent folder and subscribe to the newly created folder


Is there a way to autosubscribe in TB?

Personally, I get/understand this -- just I need to convey this to my users.

I think something like this is non-obvious, and noteworthy enough (usability-wise) to be on the wiki.

[soxfan]

In testing I've done with Outlook I've never seen it "auto-subscribe" to IMAP folders. Not saying it didn't happen for you, or that it can't be configured; I've just not found it to be the case.

As far as putting it into the Wiki, subscribing to folders is a fundamental step of using just about any e-mail client with any IMAP server; nothing really Zimbra-specific about it. At least that's my opinion.

[gettyless]

I tried it again, thinking maybe I jumped to conclusions or was being careless and/or hasty before...but I can reproduce it, at least with my setup:

- zcs 4.5.4
- outlook 2003
- thunderbird 2.0
- winXP SP2 fully patched

I also remote desktop to a test machine to test with creating a subfolder in TB 1.5, and same thing - if I restart outlook it will "auto-subscribe" to the new subfolder.

Also, I don't know if a distinction between "folders" and "subfolders" matter, but my definition of "subfolders" in TB is the 3rd one from the root node (being the account name).

Can you verify or contradict this if/when you have time?

[soxfan]

Well, I stand corrected. I just tested your scenario. Created a folder in TB, started Outlook and it automatically showed up. Created a folder in Zimbra Web Client, restarted Outlook and it did not show up. My past testing was done under Outlook 2000, as opposed to 2003, so maybe that has something to do with it.

Not sure what the difference is between creating folders in TB/Outlook and the ZWC. I guess it could be a bug. I've always thought that you had to subscribe to new folders, so I'm not sure which is the "correct" way.

[gettyless]

soxfan, thanks for testing it out. If I read it right, the RFC (section 6.3.6 in http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc3501.html), says nothing about how clients should handle this case. So maybe it's just up to the programmer to decide what to do -- maybe the Mozilla people decided one way, and MS decided another way.

Oh well it's not a mainstream case -- where someone uses both TB and Outlook and starts creating subfolders in both, but worthwhile to note and know beforehand. Also, while it's not a usual case, it could matter even more depending on who the user is.

[thesubmitter]

This is an issue in Outlook 2007 for me- Its quite annoying - I don't think it happens in Outlook 2003 though.

With Cyrus I never had this issue.

Any developments on this front?

Thanks,
Amir

[bdial]

in outlook there is an option when you click on IMAP Folders that says something like "Display only subscribed folders". this option is on by default. if you uncheck it, it will display every folder not just the subscribed ones.