[Feature Request]: Folder tree panel and improved Archive page layout for email-client-like navigation

[Setya17]

Feature Description

Feature Description

I would like to propose redesigning the Archive page layout to include a folder tree panel, making Mail-Archiver more intuitive for average users who are familiar with email clients like Outlook or Thunderbird.

Background / Use Cases

I see Mail-Archiver as valuable in two main scenarios:

1. Private users: Managing mailbox size limits (the recently implemented "delete after archive" feature addresses this perfectly - thank you!)

2. Small businesses / Micro-enterprises: Knowledge retention when employees leave. In many small companies, a significant portion of institutional knowledge exists only in employees' mailboxes. When someone leaves, their entire email history often disappears, causing serious problems. Mail-Archiver can solve this, but only if employees actually use it.

The challenge: To encourage adoption, Mail-Archiver needs to provide a familiar "email client experience". Average users don't understand IMAP protocols - they just "use email". If the interface feels foreign to them, they won't use it.

Proposed Implementation

Changes to the Archive page only (Dashboard remains unchanged):

1. Account selector panel (top area)

• Add a panel above or below the search panel
• Contains a list of available accounts (respecting existing user permissions)
• Selecting an account filters emails to show only that account's emails
• This alone provides significant filtering compared to current "all accounts" view

2. Collapsible search panel

• Make the current search panel collapsible/expandable
• Users who need advanced search can expand it
• Users who prefer folder navigation can collapse it to save space

3. Folder tree panel (left side, ~25% width)

• Add a collapsible folder tree panel on the left side of the email list
• Layout ratio: approximately 25% folder tree / 75% email list
• Display folders in a hierarchical tree structure
• Show email counts next to folder names: Inbox (1523/123) format (total/unread)
• Collapsible/expandable subfolders for nested structures
• Clicking a folder filters the email list to show only emails from that folder

4. Configurable list size

• Currently the email list is fixed at 20 items per page
• Add an option to configure the number of visible items (e.g., 20/50/100)

Visual concept - Current vs. Proposed layout:

CURRENT LAYOUT:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ [Search Panel - always visible]                 │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ [Email List - 100% width, fixed 20 items]       │
│                                                 │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

PROPOSED LAYOUT:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ [Account Selector: account1@ | account2@ | ...] │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ [▼ Search Panel - collapsible]                  │
├────────────┬────────────────────────────────────┤
│ [Folder    │ [Email List - 75% width]           │
│  Tree      │                                    │
│  25%]      │ [Configurable: 20/50/100 items]    │
│            │                                    │
│ ▼ Inbox    │                                    │
│   ▶ Work   │                                    │
│   ▶ Personal                                    │
│ ▶ Sent     │                                    │
│ ▶ Archive  │                                    │
└────────────┴────────────────────────────────────┘

Folder tree details:

• Hierarchical display with expand/collapse arrows
• Email count format: FolderName (total/unread)
• Example: Inbox (1523/123) means 1523 total, 123 unread
• Subfolders indented and collapsible
  • Example: INBOX > Projects > 2024 > Client ABC

Benefits

• Familiar UX: Users can navigate archives the same way they navigate their email client
• Easier adoption: Lower barrier for non-technical users
• Progressive filtering: Account → Folder → Search (if needed)
• Better performance: Showing one account's folders at a time reduces data load
• Flexible viewing: Configurable list size accommodates different screen sizes and preferences

Additional Context

I'm a contributor to this project (Hungarian translation, previous feature request for delete-after-archive) and would be happy to help test this feature or contribute in any way I can.

Thank you for considering this feature!

Proposed Solution

No response

[burghy86]

This would be a fantastic feature.

[vsa-d]

Yes! Would be great!

[s1t5]

Hi everyone!
Thanks for this suggestion! I've just now published version 2603.3 including a folder display panel in the archive page:

[mmcgn]

Maybe, it could be switched on/off in settings, as not everybody wants or needs it, and turning it off leaves more space.

[MartinEngelbrecht]

@s1t5 Your app is amazing. Well done on this one. And thank you for the resizable Folder window. Love it. But if you can please relook at the folder structure. In Gmail I have a fairly simple structure which goes about 4 level deep. Once sync'ed to your app it takes each folder as a line and not a folder tree. See the screenshot. It makes navigation a little more compicated than it needs to be.

Gmail:

Mail-Archiver:

Would be awesome if it could represent the folders in a proper folder structure.
Again, thanks for your hard work and great app.

[s1t5]

I'll try to recreate this soon with my Gmail account. The handling of labels there is unfortunately always a bit special.

[MartinEngelbrecht]

I'll try to recreate this soon with my Gmail account. The handling of labels there is unfortunately always a bit special.

Thank you Sir. Much appreciated. You app is brilliant and the retention features is very unique and exactly what I was looking for in an archiver.

[sirdud]

When synchronizing an IMAP account it seems that the folder tree ist only showing 2 levels of subfolders. The > is shown to signalize, that a folder has another subfolder. But when opening that subfolder the tree ist going back to the inbox view with only one level of subfolders. But als this is marked as work in progress I guess there will be improvements in that area.

Thank you for this brilliant app!

[polskikrol]

Yeah, would be great to be able to just select a gmail folder/label in mail archiver and trash it. I also noticed that label nesting doesnt work very well, and that the arrows dont collapse anything, keeping everything expanded.