[Dovecot] IMAP Folders Don't Make Sense

[Brian Hayden]

On Feb 25, 2010, at 3:35 PM, Carlos Williams wrote:

> I logged into my webmail and in the main mailbox view all my IMAP
> folders except for Inbox and the default ones were missing. I then
> opened up the folders settings option and 'subscribed' to all the
> folders I didn't see in my main mailbox view. Once I enabled
> 'subscription' via webmail, I could then see all my folders again. Is
> this wrong? You stated the opposite should be done.

How you handle your client for day-to-day viewing is up to you. I  
outlined what you need to do to control outside variables if your goal  
is to evaluate the fitness of a server configuration.

> I just can't see how to get any IMAP client to read IMAP folders w/o
> that 'subscriptions' file. It appears that it looks for it or is in
> some way dependent on this file. Am I wrong?

All clients except some versions of Outlook Express/Vista "Mail" have  
a configuration option for "Show only subscribed folders". In  
Thunderbird it's on by default.

-Brian