I am running out of patients telling you of bugs and serious shortcomings and you doing nothing about it. Look back at my posts and see for yourself. I will just mention two of several that you have done nothing about. 1) Repeatedly marking a specific email as unread jacks up the total number of unread messages indefinitely even though it is only one email one is talking about. 2) There is still no way, as far as I can tell, to download several attachments at a time to my computer. I can only do one attachment at a time. I’m not going to say any more, but if you do not indicate that you are going to address these issues and others I have mentioned, then I will do a screen recording of all these problems and stick it on youtube!
Hello @JohnTowler,
Thanks for the reminders.
The first item you mention has a Gitlab issue at https://github.com/runbox/runbox7/issues/448, and the second one at https://github.com/runbox/runbox7/issues/48.
We agree that the rate of bug fixing could be better and we will work to improve on that.
– Geir
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All due respect Geir, but “the rate of bug fixing could be better”!. Reality, as far as I can see, is that it could not be any worse. Non of the issues I have raised have been addressed at all, I notified you about them a long time ago. Here is what I would like to see the Rubox7 team do in order to return some confidence to users who may, like me, be very worried about the eventual outcome being a disaster. Sorry I am being honest here. What I suggest you do is post to at topic - say “bug fix and issues log” or some such thing, listing what bugs and other issues you have already addressed, and what bugs and issues you know about but have not yet addressed. And with at time line of when you propose to tackle the latter. That is the only way you will restore confidence to me. I will hold of posting a video to youtube but I would like to post the video to this site if possible - can that be done?
I can’t see how threatening Runbox with YouTube and basically issuing them with an ultimatum is going to quicken any bug fixing.
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I don’t know when the Runbox 7 project started, but the oldest related topic is from February 2018. Common, more then 2 years in beta version? Runbox 6 was fine, since the DAV swap from 6 to 7 I can’t sync contacts and calendar to apple devices, I had to move those to iCloud. Comical situation, initially I was looking for a provider to keep my private things out of Apple and other 3 letters companies reach! Tickets related to this are usually forgotten. Actually why did you started this??? Follow the money?
Actually, it’s not a threat and has produced amazing results in the past. But I would rather that the runbox team paid some attention, I would rather not post any video to you tube.
Hi Geir, I really do not want to make this video public, so please take note of my offer to post to the site (the video not a youtube link). Or I can send the video to an email address if you give me one - you can just create a temporary email address so that I can’t spam you in future. Also please comment on my suggestion about posting something on the internet to show your intentions regarding bug fixes and other issues?
Many of us have been Runbox customers for years. Progress is often slow, but the products, support and service are always outstanding. There has been huge progress since we entered the beta for R7! Post your video.
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No one cares about your video buddy. Post it, don’t post it… It won’t make a difference. Please stop being annoying.
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Hi smithmb001 and samons. Are either of you members of the Runbox 7 team? I don’t thinks so. In which case it is not up to you to suggest what I might do with the video. I also note from you posts that they are mostly about feature requests and other relatively minor matters at a stage when Runbox 7 has some serious flaws and needs feedback about them. My threat was to illicit some kind of reaction from the runbox team. But all I got was “thanks for the reminder” from Geir, even though one of the issues was on GitHub since over a year ago. Hasn’t he got a list of issues that need addressing. Why does he need a reminder of an old issue which need addressing. This is just down right complacence.
I would like Geir to come clean about what the problem is. He is managing director and project leader of Runbox. I have a feeling that he has his hand full maintaining the Runbox back end and day to day maintenance and is only running the Runbox 7 project as a side show. I suspect there has just not been sufficient time given to the project. Otherwise how can one explain how it has take so long.
I have not problem with the runbox back end. It is all fine for me. I have no problem with Runbox as a company. But I have a serious and well founded reason to think Runbox 7 will not turn out well. I tend to use a web based email client in of on my own laptop, because it is more convenient. That’s why I have been using Runbox 6, it may not be perfect but it is secure which is the most important thing to me.
I am and ex IT consultant, programmer and project leader. And I was a lecture in IT before I hung up my boots a few years ago. I know a project going bad when I see it.
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I’m not sure that the forum software we are using allows videos but I’ll look in to it. If your main concern is that we should see it then can I contact you on the email address on your forum account and arrange for you to send it to us? If it is suitable for posting here (somehow) I will do that, but I kind of feel it will be out of context because this thread is about whether we are taking notice of flaws rather than the flaws themselves.
We appreciate that you are passionate enough to make the video and bring any issues to our attention (and I mean that - I don’t say it just as a way of being polite). We are not going to tell you what you can or can’t say here on the forum as long as it is polite, constructive and on topic. Threats of any kind aren’t welcome no matter who they are directed at.
Runbox is a small independent company and we punch above our weight in general. We would like faster progress on many things, but it isn’t always possible. While Runbox 7 is our major project, there is a lot going on elsewhere, some of which is not obviously visible to customers but that is essential to the reliability of our service.
@Geir will no doubt be responding here also, but I just wanted to respond to your offer to receive the video from you and make some general points about the use of the forum.
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You may or may not like @JohnTowler’s methods, but he has some valid points. Registering issues on GitHub, only to not do anything about them, will only bloat the backlog making it less likely that the issue will be prioritized. So when an issue is registered, I expect there is at least a feasible idea of when it will be fixed/done. If not, just drop registering the issue or close it as a “won’t do”. As a wise alien said: “Do or do not, there is no try”.
Hi Dave, thanks for the response. First of all I would like to reiterate that I have no problems with runbox 6, it’s has flaws but I can live with them. As for Runbox support, I hardly have need for it, so cannot give it marks out of 10, but I have had good response the few times I have used it. My worry is and lets face it disappointment, is the Runbox 7 project. And I am sure threats are not welcome by anyone and I use them very very rarely, but unfortunately this can sometimes be the only way to get a response.
And I understand you may think that my video is not useful, but I think you will change your mind when you see it. The only way to see how a feature interacts with another feature is by a screen recording. I won’t say anymore, because once you see the video you will understand the problems.
And you can indeed contact me on my email account associated with the community site.
Thanks again for getting back to me.
On the contrary, we’ve had a few screen recordings from customers about features in Runbox 6 and 7 over the years and they have been very informative. Occasionally (and more so with Runbox 7) we’ve found that the problem seems to be customer/browser specific as the browser has more involvement in how a feature works and then the problem for us is identifying what went wrong and fixing that so it works for more people.
It could be your video shows more generic things that are seen by everyone of course. I will contact you later today with a method of receiving the video from you and will then update this thread once it is received.
@JohnTowler We appreciate your enthusiasm and your extensive comments here in our forum.
Our mission is to build fast, secure, and above all sustainable services for advanced users like yourself who value a feature rich and professional webmail interface – but also for the everyday email user who is looking for a user-friendly and intuitive service that helps them organize their email and digital life more efficiently.
We have always strived to be innovative and not simply accept the status quo without first exploring premises, preconceptions, and existing solutions with an open and objective mind. Now we are doing it again, in a more ambitious way than ever before, while preparing for a future where services will need to handle an order of magnitude more information while integrating several types of data in the same interface. The technology powering the Runbox 7 Webmail forms this foundation and is explained in the Medium article “Indexing and searching of email inside the web browser”.
As you can tell from the Runbox 7 Roadmap, the project involves upgrading the entire Runbox web interface and not just the Runbox Webmail. Our team is hard at work migrating functionality to a new REST API that is powering the Runbox 7 app, and is currently focusing on Webmail Identities and Account Security.
Runbox 7 is front and center in our development efforts and we depend to a greater extent than in the past on feedback made by users, such as in this forum, via our support services, and on Github. Most of our users are very happy with Runbox 7, as demonstrated by their overall feedback and our growing customer base.
As the project manager and designer of every version of Runbox since the very beginning in 1999 I am more confident about Runbox 7 than any previous iteration. While we recognize that there are still many issues that need to be resolved in order to remove obstacles and streamline the interface, we are very excited about the potential inherent in the platform we are building and we are happy invite everyone to be part of that journey.
I have reviewed your previous forum posts again, and we appear to have addressed them all either with a reply, a Github issue, or both:
- https://github.com/runbox/runbox7/issues/48
- https://github.com/runbox/runbox7/issues/448
- https://github.com/runbox/runbox7/issues/503
- https://github.com/runbox/runbox7/issues/512
Some of these issues require modifications to the system’s backend for which we have a separate an internal issue tracker, and where work is continuously ongoing but not always immediately visible.
It is also useful to keep in mind that not all issues raised are bugs or flaws, but feature requests or suggestions. On some issues our opinions may simply differ, but we can assure you that our views are always anchored in strategic decisions or a long-term big-picture perspective.
We appreciate that when there are differences of opinion, or when we respond more slowly than desired, frustrations may arise. We will do our best to improve our response times, while emphasizing that constructive comments are generally more likely to produce positive responses and results.
Runbox 7 includes a changelog that can be viewed in the app by using the link at the bottom of the folder pane, or this direct link. As you can tell our team is continuously deploying new features and bug fixes, in an order of priority where we balance our strategic plans with user requests while coordinating with partners and affiliates.
In order to facilitate a smooth and constructive dialog we have established a set of guidelines and a FAQ for our community that we encourage everyone to review and respect.
These are difficult times for many companies, but thus far Runbox is weathering the storm and we are fortunate not to be impacted directly by the global health situation. We are currently adding more front-end resources despite the market being challenging, as we would like nothing more than to see every single outstanding Runbox 7 issue resolved.
As important as the web interface is, it only represents the literal front-end of a large software stack that comprises the engine of the Runbox email system. This system consists of a number of services that need constant maintenance and improvement in order to deliver on our commitment to sustainability, reliability, security, and privacy.
As the Managing Director of Runbox my main responsibility to our customers is to ensure that this commitment is honored regardless of how they choose to connect to our services.
– Geir
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@Geir, Thank you very much for this extensive reply. I know you are a busy man and I think your reply puts a lot of things into prospective with regards indexing and the new API for Runbox 7. In fact you are confirming what I already aluded to, ie that you were probably very busy dealing with the the Runbox 7 backend. It is good that you have made this statement all in one posting on the community website so that we can all better understand how the project is developing.
However as regards issues that I raised, don’t you mean you are addressing them, not they have been addressed, because most of these are still evident in the client browser application. Or do you mean they have been addressed only in the API. I am somewhat confused.
But I do understand more clearly now that some of these may require work to the backend, but unless you figure out a way to relate this to the community website you are just going to get these issues raised time and again and the community website will just become a load of white noise.
Also there was one other issue I raised, which was an issue with the runbox.com cookie and settings not being saved. As far as I can tell this was never acted on. I have searched github and the only reference to cookies I can find was a piece of code. But it may be I just can find the reference.
Anyway I have fixed my cookie problem and am going to post a workround on the community site. I will probably start a new topic "Runbo 7 cookie issues.
Thanks again for your post, very very much appreciated.