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Most wanted Gmail features

... as voted by actual Gmail users!

What is the purpose of this site?

Remains to be seen. After using Gmail for a while, I decided that something like this might be useful, or at the very least rather interesting. Of course, if the Gmail team were to glance in this direction before deciding what features to implement next, that would be cool, too :) I see recurring hits from corporate Google machines, so they may actually be watching.

Latest news

2007-Oct-24 11:00: Big day for some of you! I've updated the following:

  • Removed "IMAP access", which is currently being made available. By far the most popular feature on this site!
  • Removed "More than 20 filters" as the docs now confirm that there is no limit on (non-forwarding) filters.
  • Removed "Keyboard shortcut for deleting messages", which is also available now.

Current standings

These are the 10 most wanted Gmail features right now.

Since day one

Search attachments (PDF, Office docs etc.)
2301 pts, 830 vts, 2.8 avg, added Jul 7 2004
Force different subjects into single conversation
2285 pts, 762 vts, 3.0 avg, added Jul 6 2004
Create email aliases
2048 pts, 655 vts, 3.1 avg, added Jul 7 2004
GPG/PGP support
1534 pts, 446 vts, 3.4 avg, added Jan 6 2005
Delete attachments only
1426 pts, 490 vts, 2.9 avg, added Jul 14 2004
Manually break up conversations
1312 pts, 480 vts, 2.7 avg, added Jul 14 2004
Associate contact with label
979 pts, 382 vts, 2.6 avg, added Jul 14 2004
More filter actions
910 pts, 355 vts, 2.6 avg, added Aug 11 2004
Search/filter on arbitrary headers
736 pts, 265 vts, 2.8 avg, added Jul 3 2004
Virtual search folders/labels
716 pts, 282 vts, 2.5 avg, added Aug 11 2004

Normalised results (votes per day votable)

Search attachments (PDF, Office docs etc.)
1.1 pts per day, 0.4 vts per day, 2.8 avg, added Jul 7 2004
Force different subjects into single conversation
1.1 pts per day, 0.4 vts per day, 3.0 avg, added Jul 6 2004
Create email aliases
1.0 pts per day, 0.3 vts per day, 3.1 avg, added Jul 7 2004
GPG/PGP support
0.8 pts per day, 0.2 vts per day, 3.4 avg, added Jan 6 2005
Delete attachments only
0.7 pts per day, 0.2 vts per day, 2.9 avg, added Jul 14 2004
Manually break up conversations
0.6 pts per day, 0.2 vts per day, 2.7 avg, added Jul 14 2004
Associate contact with label
0.5 pts per day, 0.2 vts per day, 2.6 avg, added Jul 14 2004
More filter actions
0.4 pts per day, 0.2 vts per day, 2.6 avg, added Aug 11 2004
Search/filter on arbitrary headers
0.4 pts per day, 0.1 vts per day, 2.8 avg, added Jul 3 2004
Virtual search folders/labels
0.4 pts per day, 0.1 vts per day, 2.5 avg, added Aug 11 2004

complete standings ||| features explained

How do I vote?

Request a voting link, wait for the email, click the link, and then cast your votes.

The actual voting works like this: you select the five features that are most important to you, in order of importance. The most important gets five point, least important gets one point. Pretty simple, eh?

To avoid cheating and ensure the results are as relevant as possible, only people with an actual Gmail account are eligible to vote. The system works by sending a link to your Gmail account. When you click the link you are taken to the voting page. When you are done voting, the link is useless—to vote again you will have to request a new voting link. However, if you decide not to vote after clicking the link, you may click it at a later time without asking for a new link.

Hopefully, these measures will make cheating and abuse rather difficult, while at the same time allowing people to vote several times if they change their mind or some important feature has been added.

Where are the features I consider important?

I've added the most obvious features (including most of the features that the Gmail team are already working on), and some not-so-obvious but presumably useful. If you feel that I've omitted an important new feature, please feel free to use the feedback form, or read what others have to say.

If a feature has been implemented, obsoleted, or made redundant, I will remove it from the lists on this site. Please tell me if you find a feature that shouldn't be here.