MailTags 1.2: The best plugin gets better
There’s only one story in town for Mail.app users today.
MailTags 1.2 has been released.
It brings integration with iCal To Dos, compatibility with Intel Macs and greater stability. It also addresses a number of small bugs like occasional crashes when applying rules and the “dreaded flickering project popup”.
The integration with iCal is what users will notice most. It’s great. You will find screenshots and the full review after the jump.
MailTags’ panel has been redesigned to accommodate the new features.
The keywords pop-up window has been replaced with a token field that allows for easier keyword management, auto completion, and the ability to modify keyword preferences from tokens.
It also gives the plug-in greater visual integration with Mail.app’s address fields, which is nice.
The panel itself has been reorganised to allow for the major new feature: iCal To Do Links. You can now create To Do items in iCal from a Mail.app message. Links are maintained between iCal and MailTags to ensure that changes in one are refreshed appropriately in the other.
Behind the scenes, Scott has also added smart mailbox criteria related to the iCal links (Message has To Do, Message has no To Do, To Do is Completed, To Do is Not Completed).
He has also added “Mark as unflagged” and “Mark as unread” rule actions which were inadvertently omitted from Version 1.1.
Smart mailboxes and the Spotlight Importer plugin also work more efficiently and consistently now.
You get the best sense of how the links between MailTags and iCal work by a screenshot of the two together (Boris Anthony is much better in PhotoShop than I am, his screenshot 
has arrows and stuff):
As you can see, when you create an iCal To Do from MailTags, it is added to a calendar matching your selected project name. The due date and priority are transferred across and notes in the MailTags panel are transferred to the Notes field in iCal.
In addition — and I use this little feature a lot — clicking on the “URL” tab in the iCal To Do opens the original messages in Mail.app. Even if you move the message, MailTags remembers to tell iCal where it went. Nifty!
Of course, marking the To Do as done in iCal is transferred back to MailTags so that they stay in sync.
You can specify how often iCal and MailTags should check with other in MailTag’s new iCal Preferences screen:
I’ve said it before, but I’m happy to say it again. MailTags is the most ambitious and excellent plugin around for Mail.app. And now it is even excellenter.
Check it out – or grab the update – from Scott’s web site . MailTags is donationware. I’ve never spent a better USD 20 since I started using Macs.
Similar Posts:
- MailTags to get new features
- MailTags 1.2.2: Mouseless tagging and more
- MailTags 2.0 Public Beta is here!
- Screenshot of the new MailTags 1.2
- MailTags 2.0 Public Beta 4: Events, copy URL, faster
Tags: Apple Mail, iCal, mail.app, mailtags, ohhhhh most excellent!, plugins, universal
March 9th, 2006 at 11:44 am
The URL for MailTags is:
http://www.indev.ca/MailTags.html
March 9th, 2006 at 11:47 am
Quite so. Thanks, Dave.
March 9th, 2006 at 6:26 pm
[...] Back in August (2005) I wrote about MailTags, a great utility that extends the functionality of Apple’s Mail application. The new version (1.2) is out, and it has some great new features… like the ability to create iCal ToDo’s from within Mail’s interface. Check out this review over at Hawk Wings for a more in-depth look at what’s new. [...]
March 12th, 2006 at 12:19 pm
I’ve recently switched from Entourage to Mail.app and have had some issues adapting to this application. Thanks to your blog I downloaded MailTags – this is one of the best email apps I’ve ever worked with. In only a few days it has really changed the way I’m able to organize my project workflow. Thanks!
March 13th, 2006 at 8:53 pm
I agree with you 100%.
MailTags has completely revolutionised the way that I do my email-based work and has exploded my horizons about what Mail.app is capable of.
March 14th, 2006 at 11:30 am
I’m so hoping MailTags eventually has reliable support for IMAP accounts. I’m definitely tempted to migrate some infrequently accessed IMAP mailboxes to local mailboxes just to give MT a try. At least then I won’t later regret waiting too long like I did with Mail Act-On.
March 14th, 2006 at 11:36 am
Well, I could tell you something about MailTags 1.3 that will please you a lot, but then I would have to shoot myself ;-)
BTW, do you like the new live preview options?
March 14th, 2006 at 4:55 pm
Or shoot me. Or Scott Morrison shoots both of us? :-)
Btw, are you planning to do a Talking Mail.app interview with Scott?
I like, yes. I’ll just “thank you!” here now instead of in “The Switch” comments like I’d planned to do.
March 14th, 2006 at 5:48 pm
Scott Morrison’s Talking Mail.app interview was the first. A fitting kick-off to the series.
I like the option to turn it on too although I always forget to click it!
March 14th, 2006 at 6:50 pm
Ahh, I forgot to check page 2 of the tag cloud. And now I remember reading Scott’s interview.
I’m still getting used to enabling live preview for comments worthy of it and I do prefer having it off by default, a.k.a. the “John Gruber setting”. :-)
August 9th, 2006 at 9:07 am
[...] To-dos (not system-wide) — MailTags Templates (not HTML) — Mail Templates, Roll your own Notes — Note to Self RSS feeds () — FeedMailer, rmail [...]
August 15th, 2006 at 10:58 pm
[...] David Emory provides a rave review of how Spotlight and MailTags, the prince of plugins, help him to be more productive at the office. [...]
October 5th, 2006 at 1:12 am
[...] Brian Fling has written up a terrific post on using MailTags and Mail Act-on to stay on top of your email. [...]
October 31st, 2006 at 10:06 pm
[...] She’s decided to try stemming the flow with Mail.app and MailTags and Mail Act-on , two of the very best plugins for Apple Mail. [...]