
A Request for a Startup: Gmail 'Waiting For Reply' Tab - cjbarber
https://gist.github.com/cjbarber/9297034
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Rygu
Couldn't you just give those conversations an Unreplied label? It will show up
on the left.

Gmail's labeling system is probably the most useful but overlooked feature
they have.

~~~
cjbarber
Sure.

But that doesn't take care of the issue of automatically labeling messages as
such.

~~~
hayksaakian
so you have a filter that automatically adds a label

you could also use the gmail gem to remove that label from received messages
which are replies

I don't think there's any startup potential in something it would take a
mediocre engineer to write in an hour

(unless there's some dire need at a big corp for auto labelling)

~~~
cjbarber
Second highest comment on Dropbox's original HN posting:

> I have a few qualms with this app:

> 1\. For a Linux user, you can already build such a system yourself quite
> trivially by getting an FTP account, mounting it locally with curlftpfs, and
> then using SVN or CVS on the mounted filesystem. From Windows or Mac, this
> FTP account could be accessed through built-in software.

------
yeukhon
You can just build an extension or addon. I don't see revenue for that kind of
model (the only possibility is that someone makes a dashboard aggregates data
from multiple accounts, multiple providers). You can try to achieve this with
the help from reusing
[https://github.com/KartikTalwar/gmail.js](https://github.com/KartikTalwar/gmail.js)
or similar attempt.

~~~
kartikt
Adding UI heavy features with that library is going to be painful (especially
a whole new tab interface). It's designed for a rather 'active' interaction
with emails (I made it). Most of the auto reply algorithmic stuff can be
accomplished through context.io

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nilved
Building a platform on top of a Google product, specifically Gmail, is a
recipe for disaster. I sincerely hope that nobody who cares about their money
or sanity does so.

~~~
tekacs
Rapportive is an example of a company which seems to rely fairly heavily on
heavy integration into Gmail.

(Todoist is another example of something that integrates heavily that comes to
mind)

~~~
nilved
There are enough horror stories regarding businesses built on Twitter &c to
serve as cautionary tales, but Google and Gmail in particular are notoriously
anti-developer. It is a nightmare to work with Gmail because, and I'm not even
exaggerating, they actively prevent you from integrating with Gmail. Moreover,
Google provides zero support and quite honestly hates you and everything about
you.

No person considering a startup today should consider building it atop
somebody else's platform. Even forgetting Google, it just doesn't make sense.
You do not want to be beholden to a company that could not give less of a shit
about you, and in all likelihood has never even heard about you.

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MasterScrat
I want the opposite.

When I receive a mail, I want to set a timer saying: "this needs to be
answered before noon", or "today" or "by the end of the week". Then get
relevant reminders.

That way I can go back to whatever I was doing and have it out of my mind. For
now I just star messages that need to be replied to, but that's too coarse-
grained.

~~~
chenglou
Try Mailbox: [http://www.mailboxapp.com](http://www.mailboxapp.com)

~~~
cjbarber
I agree. Use mailbox, it's extremely useful.

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SeanKilleen
Check out ActiveInbox: [http://activeinboxhq.com](http://activeinboxhq.com).
Been one of their happy customers for a long time now. When reviewing an
email, I hit 'waiting' on their action bar, and then they show up as a radar
list (their take on multiple inboxes). Loved it so much I paid for it.

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Scene_Cast2
In my email, I have "Waiting for reply" and "To reply" labels (besides a few
others). An algorithmic solution to auto-apply the labels would be nice
(currently all new outgoing emails are labelled as "Waiting for reply").

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alooPotato
Co-founder of Streak here: we're happy to add this if there is enough demand.
Just email us at waitingforreply@streak.com. If we get enough interest we'll
add it tonight. You'll be able to use it for free.

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DenisM
I have written a "snooze this email for X days" extension for gmail. After X
days the email is marked undead and moved to my inbox.

The extension is server-side, so you're not tied to your desktop browser.

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cjbarber
Anyone want to take my money? :) I'll front a payment for the first month
right now! (Serious)

~~~
colinloretz
Here is a code snippet that does the opposite of what you want. To achieve
what you are looking for, just change the conditions around to mark the email
messages as you desire.*

This one will mark any received emails that you have not responded with an
"AwaitingReply" label.

As I mention in my Gist comment, I used this a lot to make sure we didn't have
any emails slipping through the cracks.

[https://gist.github.com/colinloretz/9299685](https://gist.github.com/colinloretz/9299685)

* I know you're volunteering first month "payment" but since I came across this somewhere on the web and can't find the original source (I'll keep looking), here it is. Hopefully it will help you or someone else.

~~~
cjbarber
Thank you! Just updated my gist to credit that.

I just made a chrome extension to solve my problem

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nsmnsf
If I didn't reply, it's because I don't want to talk to you. _Please go away_.

