Currently, you have to right click, go to the Mark submenu, and click the "Mark as read" entry (which is lost among dozens of other entries, so you have to look for it every time). The alternative, just clicking the mail to display it, so that it's marked as default, is too slow and inconvenient. It doesn't help with mailing lists where you might have a hundreds of messages you're not interested in.
use a hotkey.
>use a hotkey. The menu documents none. Also, it's hard to use a "hotkey" without actually selecting the mail. Unless you fix your network code, using the mouse context menu (the only way to manipulate a mail without loading it) is the only way to do this in any form.
(In reply to comment #2) > >use a hotkey. > > The menu documents none. See the FAQ, for instance, to learn about hotkeys. > Also, it's hard to use a "hotkey" without actually selecting the mail. > Unless you fix your network code, using the mouse context menu (the only way > to manipulate a mail without loading it) is the only way to do this in any > form. Not true. If you have 'Open message when selected' set to 'Never', you can then use the cursor keys, for example, to select messages, and a hotkey to mark as read.
>If you have 'Open message when selected' set to 'Never', you can then use the cursor keys, for example, to select messages, and a hotkey to mark as read. Can't find that option. Depending on how it works it might be too inconvenient though. I suggest having "mark as read" as entry in the main context menu, with an "accelerator" key set. (You know, that thing that makes a letter in the menu entry underlined, and if you press the key corresponding to that letter, the menu entry is executed.)
(In reply to comment #4) > I suggest having "mark as read" as entry in the main context menu, with an > "accelerator" key set. (You know, that thing that makes a letter in the menu > entry underlined, and if you press the key corresponding to that letter, the > menu entry is executed.) You can already do exactly that.
>You can already do exactly that. Well, I couldn't find out. Anyway, now I've assigned a key to mark messages unread. I tried to mark a thread as unread by using the cursor keys to move to every unread message, and pressing the hotkey to mark it as read. But - claws blocks the UI until it's "done" marking the message. Probably waits for the network. This makes marking many messages very slow and you have to _wait_ on it. Please, it's 2014. Humans shouldn't have to wait on computers. Should I file a separate bug report for this? (If I haven't already.)
Why not come and discuss things like this on the mailing list? Answers usually arrive pretty quickly. Does IceWM allow changes to accelerator keys if you hover over the menu entry and press the key combo you want. This is how GNOME does it...