jnovek/ginbox.md

## ginbox.md

      
    Raw
  

              ginbox.md
            
          
    Make GMail Great Again!

This document isn't very long.  Please read it from start to finish before you try this so you don't break yer shit. Thaaaannnnnk Youuuuuu.
Prerequisites

This all assumes you're Chrome [1]. I'm using Brave Browser [2], a privacy-focused Chrome fork, and it works well.  I wouldn't be surprised if other Chrome forks work as well.
Theme

Setup "Inbox Theme for Gmail" to restore the Inbox look an feel.
Set Inbox View to Default


Click the settings gear and pick "Settings".
Navigate to the "Inbox" tab.
Set "Inbox Type" to "Default" and save settings.

Install the Theme

The "Inbox Theme For GMail" looks fantastic and should be familiar to hardcore fans of Inbox.  You can find it on the Chrome themes/extensions web shop or follow the link in the references below. [3]
Organize by Date

Inbox groups by history -- emails today, yesterday this week etc.  To get this behavior, use the "multiple inboxes" feature of GMail (this idea is shamelessly stolen from HowToGeek [4])
Enable Multiple Inboxes


In GMail settings, navigate to the "Advanced" tab.
Enable "Multiple Inboxes" and save.
Wait for GMail to restart.

Create Date Range Inboxen

Navigate to settings again, there should be a new tab titled "Multiple Inboxes".  It uses GMail search keywords to filter the inboxes, much like labels.  Below is how I set mine up.
Setting                                   Title
-------                                   -----
newer_than:1d in:inbox                    Today
older_than:1d newer_than:2d in:inbox      Yesterday
older_than:2d newer_than:7d in:inbox      Past Week
older_than:7d newer_than:30d in:inbox     Past Month
older_than:30d in:inbox                   Older Than a Month

In the HowToGeek the author didn't include in:inbox on these.  I archive (rather than delete) E-Mails when I'm done with them, so if I don't include in:inbox they never disappear from my daily view. :-(
Also, it's a matter of pesonal prefernce but I chose to have my date range boxes appear above the inbox.  If you do this, to stem any confusion the config gear stays with the actual "inbox" section which will now be at the bottom.  So scroll way down to make changes.
Other Tweaks


If you want to limit the number of emails shown in your default inbox, it's in General --> Maximum Per Page.
I find the "category" tabs (Social, Promotions, etc) in GMail distracting.  You can disable them in Inbox --> Categories.
In fact, I pretty much disabled everything in the Categories section.  I don't want suggestions of any kind from Google.
I also disabled Chat which has a tab all of it's own.  It's just more visual noise.
If, like me, you've been using GMail since 2004, now is a great time to clean up your labels and filters!
It also doesn't hurt to double-check that you don't have E-Mail forwarding turned on from some ancient configuration you made.

Etc

Be aware that on many of GMail's settings pages, you have to click "save" to apply changes and the "save" button may be a long scroll from the top.
I wish there was an extension that moved the settomgs gear to the top.
If I find other things that make GMail less horrible for Inbox fans, I'll add them.
Finally, while I was writing this guide, someone tried to h@xx0Rz my Mojang account. GET YER OWN MINECRAFT
Delightful Sauces

This is where these things were at the time of writing.

[1] https://www.google.com/chrome/
[2] https://brave.com/
[3] http://flowapps.co/inboxtheme/
[4] https://www.howtogeek.com/366260/group-your-gmail-inbox-by-date-like-google-inbox-did-and-outlook-does/