I'd like to sort the From column by email address as opposed to the current sort by full address text. For example, users now have multiple devices (computer, tablet, phone & possibly work versions) from which they access their email. Often, these systems are not identically configured: john@doe.com "John" <john@doe.com> "John Doe" <john@doe.com> "John Doe (at work)" <john@doe.com> "John Doe (mobile office)" <john@doe.com> [This is a worst case -- work emails are usually different; but I use my own main email this way -- I have too many email addresses as it is. :] The end result is that sorting will result in all the messages being sorted like this (simulated using emacs' sort-lines): "John Doe (at work)" <john@doe.com> "John Doe (mobile office)" <john@doe.com> "John Doe" <john@doe.com> "John" <john@doe.com> john@doe.com This causes sort being "randomized" based on device used, not on order received within the From list. This makes it difficult to follow a non-threaded thread -- say a discussion from John Doe about Widget's processes through various steps. The only constant in From is the actual routable address, which is why this should be the sort key in today's environment.
Clarification: email addresses consist of, at minimum, a "formal" delivery address, and are often "decorated" with more meaningful strings which can cause sorting to be mangled. What I'm looking for is to sort on only the formal part of the email address. When viewing only one example as in initial request, it's easy to miss what really happens to the sort when 1000s of messages are sorted. The "decorations" can cause messages from john@doe.com to be interspersed with messages from other people... Ouch... just realized another "decoration" that I use extensively can also affect the proposed sort: john+task@doe.com However, that's a problem for people I send to, not me... :) Yet. HTH
set the hidden pref summary_from_show=1 and then you see the email address only and sort on the email address
Resolved by setting summary_from_show=1 in clawsrc