Inbox categories

With Collab, an inbox can be split into tabs, like Gmail’s: Primary for mail from people, and categories such as Updates, Newsletters and Promotions for the rest. New mail is sorted as it arrives. Local categories only change where mail shows in opendesk. For Google accounts, you can also choose Sync with Gmail to keep category changes in both places. Changing a category preserves inbox membership, unread state and labels.

The tabs sit above the inbox while an account in view is split. In All inboxes, the tabs of every split account are joined, each with its unread count.

Who decides

Admins set categories once for everyone, so nobody has to set up each person’s inbox. An account follows the first of these that applies to it:

1. Its own choice. Whoever manages an account can choose its own categories, or turn them off, in the account’s settings, unless admins turned off Members choose their own.
2. Its owner’s team. A team can have its own categories. Someone in several teams gets the first team’s, in the order admins set.
3. The workspace default.
4. Nothing. The inbox is one list, and the mail page offers whoever manages the account a short guided set-up.

A new member’s accounts follow the workspace or their team from their first sync.

Set up categories for everyone

1. Open Inbox categories

   Open Settings, Inbox categories (under Channels, next to Mail accounts) and choose Turn on categories. You start from suggested local tabs: Primary, Updates, Newsletters and Promotions.

2. Make them yours

   Rename, recolour, reorder or remove categories, add one of your own, or choose Suggest with Ollie and say in a few words what the inboxes are for. Primary always comes first and may be renamed, for example to Important. A set has 2 to 8 categories.

   Give each category a short description of what belongs in it. Ollie sorts by these descriptions.

3. Decide whether members choose their own

   With Members choose their own on, anyone can pick their own categories, or none, for the accounts they manage. With it off, everyone follows the workspace or their team.

4. Save

   Inboxes of the last 30 days are sorted again, except conversations someone moved by hand.

To give a team its own categories, choose Add a team under Teams. Drag teams to change their order. Follow the workspace removes a team’s own set.

Choose your own for an account

Open Settings, Mail accounts, the account, then Inbox categories:

• Follow the team’s or the workspace’s categories.
• Sync with Gmail for a Google account.
• Choose my own for this account.
• Don’t split this inbox.

If your admins set the categories for everyone, these are locked, and you can still turn Ollie’s sorting on or off for the account.

Sync Gmail categories

Choose Sync with Gmail in an account’s category settings or inbox setup. This uses Gmail’s five categories: Primary, Social, Promotions, Updates and Forums. Moving a conversation here changes its category in Gmail. Changes made in Gmail appear here after sync.

Ollie and sender rules do not sort this account while Gmail sync is on. Existing local categories and rules are kept for when you switch back. Newsletters is a local category and is not part of Gmail sync.

When you turn sync on, opendesk refreshes all mail already stored here, including old imports. Large inboxes can take several sync passes. A failed category move returns to Gmail’s observed category. If the connection needs attention, reconnect the account.

Gmail labels individual messages. For a conversation with different categories, opendesk uses the newest non-draft inbox message. Moving a conversation updates its existing non-draft messages, including those that have not been imported. Future messages keep the category Gmail assigns them.

Gmail’s API does not expose which tabs you have enabled in Gmail. opendesk shows all five categories and leaves Gmail’s inbox layout as you set it.

How local mail is sorted

New mail in an inbox is sorted in this order:

1. Sender rules. Mail from an address, or from a whole domain written as @example.com, always goes to the category you chose. Add rules under Sender rules in the account’s settings, or choose Always for this sender when you move a conversation.
2. People you write to stay in Primary.
3. Gmail’s own tabs, for Gmail accounts. Mail Gmail puts in Promotions, Social, Updates or Forums goes to the category of that name when the inbox has it (Forums to Social), and Gmail’s Primary to Primary when every category is a built-in one. Newsletters Gmail files under Updates or Promotions are left to the next steps while the inbox has a Newsletters category.
4. Ollie, when AI is on for the workspace and Let Ollie sort new mail is on for the account.
5. Mail headers. Mailing lists, bulk mail and automatic mail go to the built-in Newsletters, Promotions and Updates. Everything else stays in Primary.

Mail Ollie is unsure of stays in Primary. A conversation you answer moves to Primary, and one you move by hand stays where you put it. Sorting never archives, reads or moves mail at your provider.

Privacy

Admins choose the categories but never see anyone’s mail or how it was sorted. A category and a sender rule are seen only by whoever sees the account.

To sort a message, Ollie reads its sender, subject and first lines, nothing more, and keeps nothing but the category it chose. Anyone can turn off Let Ollie sort new mail for an account they manage, whatever admins set. Sender rules and mail headers still sort it.

Good to know

Sorting with Ollie uses a small amount of AI per batch of up to 10 conversations. A workspace that brings its own OpenRouter or TypeSafe key in Settings, AI sorts on that key, at no charge on opendesk. See Your own provider key.