For decades, the default mode of organization for email inboxes has been chronological. Many have, in their own subtle way, rebelledby creating folders, starring email items, or using snazzy add-ons built for their preferred email provider. Gmail has attempted to take advantage of this desire for advanced organization by creating the “Priority Inbox,” which automatically attempts to learn which emails are important to you and then organize your inbox accordingly. Beyond the Priority Inbox option, Gmail is releasing three new inbox “styles” in the coming weeks.
The New Inbox Styles
The “classic” (i.e., chronological) and “priority” inbox types will remain options, but three additional options will now be accessible. They are:
- “Important first,” which uses the tabulations made for priority inbox and places only the important messages at the top. This differs from the Priority Inbox in that other factors, such as whether a message is read or not, don’t play into the message’s rank.
- “Unread first,” which makes all unread messages gravitate to the top of the inbox.
- “Starred first,” which (you guessed it) moves all starred messages to the top of the inbox.
Enabling a New Style
Once the new styles are rolled out, it will be easy to change your default approach: a new tab at the top of your inbox will let you quickly choose the option of your preference. Once you’ve been using a single view for your inbox for about a week, Gmail will “assume” you’ve settled comfortably into an option you like. However, you can still change the style for your inbox by visiting the Settings page or the newly launched drop-down button that’s located to the right of the “Inbox” option in the left navigation.
The launch for the new styles has already begun, but rollout will be gradual. Expect to see these new inbox organization options andUI elements within the next few weeks.
[Sources include: The Gmail Blog]
