Can I use the windows explorer rearrange the folders for mailboxes?

I would like to modify the folder structure that Pandora creates when it imports the messages from Eudora.
It is tedious to drag and drop the folders, so that I can get them arranged in the directory structure that I want.

The process to move a mailbox with a lot of sub mailboxes, can take several minutes for one mail box, during the mean time I see no indication to indicate Pandora is working in the background the moving is in process.
I have also found that occasionally Pandora makes a copy of the folder instead of moving it.
I have not yet been able to determine what I have done to cause the mailbox to be copied.

The Witcher creates a folder called import and the subfolder called local mailboxes- Eudora
My path looks like this:
T:\dropbox\pandora Rick email\Import.mf\Local Mailboxes - Eudora.mf\Hardin possible tenants 8-2015.mf
Can I close Pandora, then manually move the files and folders so they are located like this:
T:\dropbox\pandora Rick email\Hardin possible tenants 8-2015.mf?
I am worried the filters and the email search utility will be broken when I change the path for the mail boxes.


Thanks

Rick

rick wrote:I would like to modify the folder structure that Pandora creates when it imports the messages from Eudora.
It is tedious  to drag and drop the folders, so that I can get them arranged in the directory structure that I want.

The process to move a mailbox with a lot of sub mailboxes, can take several minutes for one mail box, during the mean time  I see no indication  to indicate Pandora is working in the background  the moving is in process.
I have also found that occasionally Pandora makes a copy of the folder instead of moving it.
I have not yet been able to determine what I have done to cause the mailbox to be copied.

The Witcher creates a folder called import and the subfolder called local mailboxes- Eudora
My path looks like this:
T:\dropbox\pandora Rick email\Import.mf\Local Mailboxes - Eudora.mf\Hardin possible tenants 8-2015.mf
Can I close Pandora, then manually move the files and folders so they are located like this:
T:\dropbox\pandora Rick email\Hardin possible tenants 8-2015.mf?
I am worried the filters  and the email search utility will be broken when I change the path for the mail boxes.


Thanks

Rick

RIck,

I would not use the Windows Explorer to rearrange the Pandora mailbox structure. But if you are determined to try, then make a small simple change on something that is not important.

Be sure to have backup copies of whatever you change and be prepared to recover from losing ALL of the mailbox structure.

Butch

Hello Butch,

Thanks for the advice.
I will make the backups and move the mail boxes with the windows explorer, and I will see what happens.

Rick

Rick, what was the result of your tests? (It would be useful for others of us if you record it in this forum.)

Years ago, before I started using Dropbox, I had moved all of my Eudora e-mail so that they were in the folder “all email”, to make it easier for me to transfer my e-mail from one computer to another.
When Pandora imported my emails, the directory structure was intact and all my emails were still located in the folder “all email”.

This is the process that I used to move the mail; boxes.
I closed Pandora, and I killed the service “mailbox cat Pandora mail service”.
With my limited experience, this was the only program that I could determine that was being used by Pandora, when the program was closed.

The directory structure before I started to move my emails:
\Dropbox \pandora Rick email\Import.mf\Local Mailboxes - Eudora.mf\All email.mf\ and then all of my emails

The directory structure after I moved my emails:
\Dropbox\pandora Rick email\All email.mf\and then all of my emails

After my emails were moved, I deleted the folder \Dropbox \pandora Rick email\Import.mf\

Now my Pandora e-mail has all of my emails in the directory structure that I want.

When I started up Pandora, the mailbox structure was displayed properly, and there were no error messages in Pandora. It seems to me that Pandora was able to recognize the change in the folders and adjusted itself accordingly.

After I made the changes it occured to me to double check the setting for compactiong mailboxes. I was hoping that this would help fix any indexing problems with the mail boxes after I moved them.
Under settings> general> background tasks> near the bottom,
when exiting:
I made sure the box to compact mailboxes was checked.


I have not really used Pandora much since I made these changes. I had to go out of town twice, and when I'm on the road I tend to use my phone and Webmail if I don’t have access to my computer
However I Have used Pandora for a week or two and I have not seen any problems.

I will update this if I run into any problems.

Rick

Thanks, Rick. Today I had the time to do some simple testing to address directly the original question: Can I use the windows explorer rearrange the folders for mailboxes?





Screenshot A is a Windows File Explorer view. Is indicates (in red) a main folder and two subfolders that were created from within Pandora itself. It also shows (in green) a main folder and a subfolder that were created from within Windows File Explorer, with Pandora closed. In File Explorer you merely  append the file extension .mf when creating a folder, the effect of which is that when Pandora is restarted these folders behave exactly as if they had been created from within Pandora.

Screenshot B shows how these folders appear in the Mailboxes panel when Pandora is restarted.

As long as Pandora is not running you can operate on these folders and subfolders in the normal Windows File Explorer fashion, and the folders will all appear in the same relative hierarchy when you restart Pandora.

However if you use File Explore (to create, move, delete folders) while Pandora is running, the folder hierarchy will not change until you restart Pandora..

I'm unsure what effect doing all the above with folders has on the Pandora file indexer, perhaps Brana could enlighten us on this.