Messages in Sent Items Folder Strangely Unique...

[JGN]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard)
Processor: Intel

I need to keep copies of various emails I send to others for legal records, etc. However, when I MOVE Sent messages FROM the Sent Items folder TO any other user-created folder, the following things happen and I am wondering if there are any solutions, having tried almost everything...(Sent messages appear to have very unique properties that are un-alterable in any way.)

1) Once moved, all Sent messages change from saying who they were sent "To" to who they were sent "From" (ie, myself) making them very difficult to distinguish in the new folder using the middle pane folder list view.

2) Sent messages moved to any other user-created folder do not sort normally/correctly when mixed together with other (eg, received) messages in that same folder. Assuming they are ALL the same type (ie, either all Sent or all Received) they do to some degree, but if not, along with no.1 above, it is very confusing. Obviously this is also affected by the Sort selections one uses for that folder, but Sent messages don't behave like others when mixed together.

3) Sent messages often "disappear" when placed in other folders...however, this appears to be a function of getting LOST solely due to no.1 & 2 above. I can now find all of them, though not without great effort at times!!, knowing what happens to them once moved FROM the Send Items folder. Note...if Sent items are accidentally Deleted, they move to the Deleted folder and change according to no.1 & 2 above, often making them very difficult to find, hence they seem to "disappear".

4) Note that all of this reverts back to normal when any Sent message is returned to the Sent Items folder. Is there a way of creating another folder with the SAME (and apparently invisible) properties unique to the Sent Items folder?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated as I believe I have discovered an un-alterable situation...Thank you!

 

[Ed Kimball]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard)
Processor: Intel

I need to keep copies of various emails I send to others for legal records,
etc. However, when I MOVE Sent messages FROM the Sent Items folder TO any
other user-created folder, the following things happen and I am wondering if
there are any solutions, having tried almost everything...(Sent messages
appear to have very unique properties that are un-alterable in any way.)

1) Once moved, all Sent messages change from saying who they were sent "To" to
who they were sent "From" (ie, myself) making them very difficult to
distinguish in the new folder using the middle pane folder list view.

2) Sent messages moved to any other user-created folder do not sort
normally/correctly when mixed together with other (eg, received) messages in
that same folder. Assuming they are ALL the same type (ie, either all Sent or
all Received) they do to some degree, but if not, along with no.1 above, it is
very confusing. Obviously this is also affected by the Sort selections one
uses for that folder, but Sent messages don't behave like others when mixed
together.

3) Sent messages often "disappear" when placed in other folders...however,
this appears to be a function of getting LOST solely due to no.1 & 2 above. I
can now find all of them, though not without great effort at times!!, knowing
what happens to them once moved FROM the Send Items folder. Note...if Sent
items are accidentally Deleted, they move to the Deleted folder and change
according to no.1 & 2 above, often making them very difficult to find, hence
they seem to "disappear".

4) Note that all of this reverts back to normal when any Sent message is
returned to the Sent Items folder. Is there a way of creating another folder
with the SAME (and apparently invisible) properties unique to the Sent Items
folder?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated as I believe I have discovered an
un-alterable situation...Thank you!

You need to make two changes to your views to get (roughly) what you want:
1. With the destination folder selected, choose View>Preview Pane>Below
List. That will put the list pane on the right top and the preview below it,
as you might expect.
2. Now you can choose View>Columns>To to add the "To" field to the summary
list so you can see both the sender AND the addressee.

Hope this helps.

 

[JGN]

Thanks for the suggestions Ed - much appreciated. While it doesn't address the unique nature of Sent messages, it does provide a practical work-around that helps.

However, I think I just realized why Sent messages appear to sort separately...it was because the default Sort/Arranged By is always the Received date...which Sent messages DO NOT HAVE! When I sort everything by the Sent date it works (ie, Sent and Received messages sort along-side each other)! I also just realized that unlike a Sent message, a Received message has BOTH sets of information (ie, a Received AND Sent date/time stamp).

1) What exactly is the difference between the two (because some are minutes apart while others are hours apart)?
2) Is one the ACTUAL send time-stamp (as it leaves the Senders computer) and the other is when Entourage actually receives it (ie, it can be affected by whether or not the Mac is sleeping, off, etc, which appears to explain it)?

I have never used the Sent column in my Inbox (it didn't make intuitive sense to me) until just now and it appears it may be the actual time the message was sent (or date-time stamped at some point before it reached me)...

Thank you!
JGN

 

[Ed Kimball]

Thanks for the suggestions Ed - much appreciated. While it doesn't address the
unique nature of Sent messages, it does provide a practical work-around that
helps.

However, I think I just realized why Sent messages appear to sort
separately...it was because the default Sort/Arranged By is always the
Received date...which Sent messages DO NOT HAVE! When I sort everything by the
Sent date it works (ie, Sent and Received messages sort along-side each
other)! I also just realized that unlike a Sent message, a Received message
has BOTH sets of information (ie, a Received AND Sent date/time stamp).

I hadn't thought about it before either, but it makes a lot of sense,
doesn't it.

1) What exactly is the difference between the two (because some are minutes
apart while others are hours apart)?
2) Is one the ACTUAL send time-stamp (as it leaves the Senders computer) and
the other is when Entourage actually receives it (ie, it can be affected by
whether or not the Mac is sleeping, off, etc, which appears to explain it)?

Yes, that's the difference between SENT and RECEIVED.

I have never used the Sent column in my Inbox (it didn't make intuitive sense
to me) until just now and it appears it may be the actual time the message was
sent (or date-time stamped at some point before it reached me)...

Because of the reasons you cited in the previous paragraph, I normally sort
on SENT rather than RECEIVED.

Thank you!
JGN

Glad we could help.

 

[JGN]

This has been very helpful Ed. Many thanks!
JGN