(Mail) Swapping column of Mail List View

Hello, folks!

Is there some easy way to swap the order of the column of the Mail list view window?

In Opera default is "From", "Subject", "Labels", "Size", "Sent".

Now I want to switch from SeaMonkey to Opera, but I'm heavily used to another order where "Subject" comes before "From".

In nearly all popular email clients you simply can change this order via drag and drop, but in Opera you can't.

Anyone?

Easy? No, it involves editing your operaprefs.ini file by hand (with Opera closed of course, don't edit any of the config files while Opera is running). Someone asked a couple of years ago or thereabouts and I was able to provide an answer ... oh sorry, now that I run a search I first had the question in 2007 then it came up again two years ago. Someone needs to make a post in the Desktop wish-list asking for an easier way.

If you follow the links, note that what was opera6.ini is now operaprefs.ini, other than that everything should be the same. Though I'm not sure how the 2-line list in 11.60 would handle it, if you use that ...

Originally posted by sgunhouse:

Easy? No, it involves editing your operaprefs.ini file by hand (with Opera closed of course, don't edit any of the config files while Opera is running).

Not difficult at all when it is explained so clearly. I quote your post from that thread here for everyone's convenience.

Originally posted by sgunhouse:

Okay, after playing with my column widths and restarting Opera, I find the following data in my Preferences file:

[Columns]
Mail View=0, 25600, 1, 1, 44283, 1, 2, 63786, 1, 3, 31205, 1, 4, 14914, 1, 5, 51200, 1, 6, 22027, 1

Let me reformat that (but don't actually reformat yours):

Mail View=0, 25600, 1,
          1, 44283, 1,
          2, 63786, 1,
          3, 31205, 1,
          4, 14914, 1,
          5, 51200, 1,
          6, 22027, 1

I formatted it this way to make a point - each column is represented by 3 numbers in that line. The first number is which column it is (this is what you'd want to change), the second number is the width of the column (as a fraction of some pretty large number), and the third number is the state of the column - visible or hidden. Obviously your width and visibility may vary, but currently your numbers are in the same order mine are. Comparing this to the current order, we have the following list:

0 = Status (the column with the star in it)
1 = From
2 = Subject
3 = Sent
4 = Size
5 = Attachment (the paperclip icon)
6 = Label

Let's leave the Status and other columns you didn't mention as they are, so you only want to switch around the 1, 2, and 3 (by putting the 3 before the 1). Using my numbers, that would look like:

Mail View=0, 25600, 1,
          3, 31205, 1,
          1, 44283, 1,
          2, 63786, 1,
          4, 14914, 1,
          5, 51200, 1,
          6, 22027, 1

or (as a single line - like it really is)

Mail View=0, 25600, 1, 3, 31205, 1, 1, 44283, 1, 2, 63786, 1, 4, 14914, 1, 5, 51200, 1, 6, 22027, 1

I know, a lot of work to say you just need to cut the 3 and the next two numbers (with the three commas) and paste them as indicated, but I want to make sure that if someone else stumbles across this post they'll understand what to do.

Okay, standard caveat - never edit any of Opera's setup files while Opera is running. If you need to, print this thread out, but then close Opera before opening the file. (Opera saves changes on exit, if Opera is running then you'll lose your changes.) If you open your file and find there is no [Columns] section, then you could create one - just paste both lines above at the end of the file, then edit them. If you find a [Columns] section but no Mail View line, you can paste only that line. Otherwise, that should be it. Oh, if you don't know for certain where your "Preferences" file is, go to Help > About Opera - it is listed right there. (This location varies depending on what OS and version you run, what version of Opera, and how you installed it - that's why I didn't tell you where it would be on your machine, I don't have enough information to know that.)

Neat. Now I have the date column first, followed by Subject, From, and Label.

[Columns]
Mail View=0, 25600, 0, 7, 23360, 1, 2, 111520, 1, 1, 47840, 1, 3, 25600, 1, 4, 19360, 1, 5, 25600, 1, 6, 16904, 0

Originally posted by sgunhouse:

Someone needs to make a post in the Desktop wish-list asking for an easier way.

Someone just did.

Thank you very much, guys! I got it to work that way. Opera is a highly configurable and customizeable software package, so I really don't understand why such a simple and basic feature is missing here. I'll be writing a "feature"-request for that one.

Originally posted by michaelwob:

I'll be writing a "feature"-request for that one.

See my previous post.

What Pesala means is, don't clutter up the forum by posting the same request he just did, rather add your support to his request by commenting in the same thread.

Not only that, but one thread with 100 replies or votes is more likely to attract the attention of the developers than 10 threads with 10 replies/votes each. Also, any discussion about that suggested feature is concentrated in one thread, so that anyone can easily follow the discussion as an idea develops.

Of course. I already voted for "yes" in Pesala's thread. I also will be leaving a comment in his thread. I hope attention will be paid for that one, since it really is an absolute basic feature.