Hi, Wifey gets into an awful mess with pmail because she does very little 'housekeeping'.

Her pmail is set up for selective download because that allows anything suspicious to be deleted off the host server. However all her mail ends up in a single new mail mailbox.

I have setup identities for a)Personal mail and b) Business mail of higher importance. The problem at the moment is her new mail box is full of personal mail and she can't take in the important mail.

I'd like to filter on alias identity so downloaded mail goes into new folders called either e.g Personal or Business. From there she can move messages somewhere else or delete them.

I've played with filtering, but haven't got anything to work yet. maybe it's because we're using selective download? But mail still ends up in the New mail folder. I don't mind if it gets moved after pmail shuts down or when it's opened, as long as mail isn't appended into the New mail box.

pmail can work out what's spam and magically put it in the spam folder where you don't often look! I just want to direct wanted mail based on incoming email identity into new folders.

Is there a way I can do this? Thanks

Here is an example of rules I use
The rules that apply when messages are downloaded.
Have some that delete messages from idiots, but most move messages to specific folders.

cat WINRULES.PMC
NoDisplay:New mail filtering rules
If header "FCT" contains "sixpack13@online.de" Delete ""
If header "F" contains "jimd@GARLIC.COM" Delete ""
If header "FCT" contains "linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org" Move "C1UU809Q:5FC2:kernel"
If header "S" contains "[syslinux]" Move "BP4JRIND:32D5:syslinux"
If header "CTRE" contains "busybox@busybox.net" Move "DIIIDMTU:0AFD:g4l"
If header "FCT" contains "fedora" Move "0948B824:3D1B:fedora"
If header "T" contains "@listserv.UA.EDU" Move "019AFDF7:669CMAIL"
If header "F" contains "redhat.com" Move "2BB74576:0A72:redhat"
If header "FCT" contains "Tigervnc-users" Move "0D5DFB57:1E25:tightvnc"
If header "FCTRE" contains "vnc-tight-list" Move "0D5DFB57:1E25:tightvnc"
If header "S" contains "[squid-users]" Move "2UE9GFDF:75EF:squid"
If header "F" contains "Zhaopei" Move "25CC2EA6:27EF:zhaopei"
If header "S" contains "[LINUX5250]" Move "15B7FCBB:6666:ibm"
If header "S" contains "[linux-lvm]" Move "2BB74576:0A72:redhat"
If header "F" contains "donotreply@wordpress.com" Move "3B8BA31E:0943:spam"
If header "F" contains "USPSInformeddelivery@email.informeddelivery.usps.com" Move "FDI909TU:4AC0:USPS"
If header "F" contains "auto-reply@usps.com" Move "FDI909TU:4AC0:USPS"
If header "S" contains "[libreoffice-" Move "UDCKE6GE:7DD0:libre"
If header "F" contains "ladysherriff@cs.com" Move "12DDFE72:66AE:mom"
If header "F" contains "R-MDS-GG changeme@changeme.com" Delete ""
If header "FCT" contains "bug-ncurses@gnu.org" Move "DIIIDMTU:0AFD:g4l"

Also, to point out there is no new mail folder. The messages that show up as being in new mail folder are actually all the separate email messages with the *.CNM extentions. At a point, this really slows down Pegasus since it has to open each file individually.

I've always applied rules on open new mail folder, and then check the important folders first.
But sure each individual has there own method of doing things.

You are right about New Mail. I can find over a hundred messages in there (with attachments!) and it's slow. I'll try to understand your filtering and see if it fits:

I go to selective download and mail moves from my host server into what pmail calls New mail which is a big bin where it comes in?

I setup a filtering rule, but what happens? Does selective mail download bring it into my desktop then it immediately whistles out to a folder of my choice? Or do I have to open the message first and then it goes either on open or after closing? To make this idiot proof I would rather it went into a defined folder ASAP without intervention (from her) or accepting instructions or confirmation from pop up screens.

OK I just tried it out: Edit new mail filtering rules/Rules applied when folder opened.

I sectively downloaded the test message, pmail went to the new mail bin where I couldn't see it because it was in the new folder I told it to go to. I've always run pmail to color unread messages in red, so my new receiving folder was marked red until I opened the test message.

Well done and thanks for the solution.

I've always used the new mail rules on open.

So, it it downloads 100 new messages, it then goes thru the rules from first to last, and moves, copies, deletes or other options based on each rule.
So, after the download, it might move 80 of the messages to folders that match the criteria. The left over messages are the ones that didn't match any of the rules.

Defining the rules thru Pegasus gives you lots of options to select from, I uploaded the final result file of the rules as an example. Need to look at you messages, and see what rules would meet your needs. Many of mine are set for the list servers list names, but some are by email or subject.

Can get complex, and order makes a difference, since if an earlier rule moves message, the later one will not even see the message.

There is also options for Spamhalter, that is suppose to help identify spam, but I've never had much luck with it, so don't use it, but know many seem to have good results from it.

Perhaps someone that uses it can post info on how they do it.

I don't want to go off topic but I've hit another brick wall. Now I can get wifeys incoming mail posting in specific folders according to alias, I want new folders or filing trays I've created at the top of the hierarchical listing which is mostly where she looks first!

It seems I can just create new then move the folder where I want, but it stays stuck in what seems like an alphabetical hierarchy. I've even tried adding new with the name AAAAA which should be at the top of the list, but no, it's always half way down. I'm sure on earlier releases I could move folders with a mouse, but this didn't work.

So what's up? Does pmail only sort itself after exit and reboot, or is there a switch forcing alphabetical hierarchy? I had a look at HIERARCH.PM. Changing the order of entries changed nothing and I've not figured out how the sequence order for displayed folders is derived.

It should resort as soon as you change a folder name. I use a number as a prefix to control the folders I want at the top of the list. Be aware that the folders New mail, Copies to self, Deleted messages, and Recent search results will always be topmost.

So, my folder list looks like this:
New mail
Copies to self
Deleted Messages
Recent search results
01_Folder priority 1
02_Folder priority 2
03_Folder priority 3
Alvin Chipmunk
Arnold Palmer
Billy the Kid
Charlie Chan
.
.
.

Regarding multiple identities and trying to sort messages as Personal or Business as they arrive, how does she know whether a message is Personal or Business?

Not sure I understand. As far as I can recall. Pegasus always has shown folders in alphabetic order.
The exceptions are the non-folder New Mail Folder is always first, and contains all the CNM messages.
Then CopytoSelf
Then Deleted
Then search folders
Followed by the alphabetic list of folders.
So unless you have alot of search folders it should be alphabetic.

So putting a letter(s) before should work.
A-whatever
B-whatever
C-....

Is how my first folders are listed.

Thanks. My folders aren't like that. My structure has been built on since 2005 and pmail has been through many changes, could that be a reason?

I have New Mail at the top, then 2 folders, 1 filing tray, 8 folders, 1 filing tray then COPIES TO SELF. All these are in alphabetical order and I don't see deleted messages (maybe switch is off, to save deleted?)

With your folder structure if you added a new message folder e.g AAAA I would expect it to be created before your Account, mine creates it further down after my search results filing tray?

I'm wondering if I should start with a fresh install, but there's a risk I might screw everything up.

I have never seen anything like this. Does the sorting look as expected from the "AAAA" folder to the end?
What happens if you rename "Car" to "Car_renamed"; does it then sort below "AAAA"?

A fresh install won't fix this. Rebuilding HIERARCH.PM might fix it but you would lose all of your tray structure. Doing that is a last resort, planned ahead to make it easy to rebuild the trays.

As for deleted messages, if you don't save them between sessions then the "Deleted messages" folder does not exist until a message is deleted during the current session.

Another thought: Is it possible that there is a hidden or special character at the beginning of the folder names of all those above "COPIES TO SELF"? I don't see a leading space but it would certainly cause those folders to sort to the top although they still shouldn't be above a "Recent search results" folder in any case that I can think of.

Agree with Brian that is strange.
Would have to see what it actually has listed for the Long name?
Then New Mail and Copies Self along with Deleted and Search are only ones I know of that sort before alphabetic. Don't know if having a blank or special character in long name would do it.

Noticed that your image is with the List view versus the Preview mode.
If you switch to preview does the order stay the same? On mine both list and preview have the same order?

2nd thing I would do is right-click on Auction in folder and get the folder information.
Note what it shows for file name.
Example for me is ACCOUNT.PMM (But I rename all folders, so is usually FOLxxxxx.PMM)
Would then close Pegasus and go to you Mail Directory and look at the file with a Hexeditor.
With my ACCOUNT.PMM the first line shows:
00000000 41 63 63 6F 75 6E 74 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 Account.................
So first Character is 41 (Capitol A). followed by rest of characters in long name followed by a string of NULL characters. The first 128 bytes also contains the folders long name.
16D6FBC5:663A:ACCOUNT in my case, but Default is :FOLxxxxx
Would be interesting if you have a space or other character in the long name.
Do notice the copy self HIERARCH line has a 0,20 at end that others don't?
The deleted folder starts with 0,256 instead of 0,0 and ends with 0,20
While search line starts with 1,1 and ends with 1,20.

Would be interesting to see what your HIERARCH.PM file shows.
Beginning of mine looks like this: Seems it might also show if there is a space or some other character in the Folders Long Name?

2,1,"024B349:My mailbox","Michael Setzer II","Michael Setzer II"
0,0,"16D6FBC5:663A:ACCOUNT","024B349:My mailbox","Account"
0,0,"5A1ACD52:097A:AFT","024B349:My mailbox","AFT"
0,0,"778BEE16:656D:ALUMNI","024B349:My mailbox","Alumni"
0,0,"3BF8FBD0:663B:AMAZON","024B349:My mailbox","AMAZON"
0,0,"O0DY2II5:023F:AMZOLD","024B349:My mailbox","AMZOLD"
0,0,"1C84FBD0:663C:ANALOGX","024B349:My mailbox","Analogx"
1,0,"4DB14767:G4LTRAY","024B349:My mailbox","G4LTRAY"
0,0,"67D0FBDF:663F:BACKUP","024B349:My mailbox","Backup"
0,0,"64D8FB72:662F:BILL521","024B349:My mailbox","Bill521"
0,0,"1B9DFC75:6659:BLOODBANK","024B349:My mailbox","Blood Bank"
0,0,"0QB2VFK2:7BE5:BOYCOTT","024B349:My mailbox","Boycott"
0,0,"01D5FBEC:6641:BRAIN","024B349:My mailbox","Brain Share"
0,0,"AFML8EUK:0F8A:C","024B349:My mailbox","C"
0,0,"069EAFD6:5A1A:COLLECTZ","024B349:My mailbox","CollectZ"
0,0,"5OUTNTZZ:5CC5:COPY1314","08FE2816:COPYTRAY","Copy1314"
0,0,"UAPFMJM3:7A58:COPY2000","08FE2816:COPYTRAY","Copy2000"
0,0,"NP13X71Y:6176:COPY2001","08FE2816:COPYTRAY","Copy2001"
0,0,"4EP2LN9Z:6177:COPY2002","08FE2816:COPYTRAY","Copy2002"
0,0,"CE0LCQIN:6178:COPY2003","08FE2816:COPYTRAY","Copy2003"
0,0,"RJGEYE3R:6179:COPY2004","08FE2816:COPYTRAY","Copy2004"
0,0,"ZJRXOHCF:617A:COPY2005","08FE2816:COPYTRAY","Copy2005"
0,0,"SBFWUL0V:7536:COPY2006","08FE2816:COPYTRAY","Copy2006"
0,0,"IWHKVB32:6174:COPY2007","08FE2816:COPYTRAY","Copy2007"
0,0,"AY8RGEMX:6175:COPY2008","08FE2816:COPYTRAY","Copy2008"
0,0,"C7X7CSP5:23BE:COPY2009","08FE2816:COPYTRAY","Copy2009"
0,0,"QOOZDVTD:5599:COPY2010","08FE2816:COPYTRAY","Copy2010"
0,0,"0O3QIVY7:559A:COPY2011","08FE2816:COPYTRAY","Copy2011"
0,0,"YMOG8BN4:46D0:COPY2012","08FE2816:COPYTRAY","Copy2012"
0,0,"5MDK54HK:72D0:COPY2015","08FE2816:COPYTRAY","Copy2015"
0,0,"YXBMYZ2F:72D1:COPY2016","08FE2816:COPYTRAY","Copy2016"
0,0,"DACD8HA4:72D2:COPY2017","08FE2816:COPYTRAY","Copy2017"
0,0,"J39XXZ1C:72D3:COPY2018","08FE2816:COPYTRAY","Copy2018"
0,0,"2CMM31CS:2128:COPY2019","08FE2816:COPYTRAY","COPY2019"
0,0,"M82PYM4C:2129:COPY2020","08FE2816:COPYTRAY","COPY2020"
0,0,"2R25QWAB:212A:COPY2021","08FE2816:COPYTRAY","COPY2021"
0,0,"N1UYU4DT:212B:COPY2022","08FE2816:COPYTRAY","COPY2022"
0,0,"2BD83F9D:0DF4:COPYSELF","024B349:My mailbox","CopySelf",0,20

Would be interesting to figure out what is happening?

If I rename message folder car to carAAA it stays put, if I rename car to AAcarAAA it moves up under New mail. If I rename AAcarAAA to car it ges back under Boat. If I rename filing tray Bank to AABank it moves under New mail.

So renaming EXISTING folders and files moves them whilst still keeping to strict alphabetical sequence, as are the pmail default message folders like COPIES TO SELF. However if I ADD a new folder or file tray, the new name isn't sequenced alphabetically but placed under SEARCH RESULTS. What happens if you add a new message or file folder called AATest, where does it go and if it isn't at the top can you move it, because I can't.

As I said in all my past applied updates except some early ones, pmail helpfully installs the update and leaves all my settings and mail intact with screens looking as they did before the updates.

I can always do a backup of my MAIL and Programs folders to revert back to and I'm confident about this backup method I've used for a long time since I discovered the switches -roam -A. Handy to make pmail portable and put it on a flash drive when I'm travelling. Although I once had to sort out a stuck frozen pmail on wifeys PC caused by a problem I know of - the last mail message contained large photo files attached. Having deleted this last saved message, pmail did come back but with no filing trays, just a huge list of all the message folders in alphabetical order. I would have like to know more about how pmail creates and maintains its mail folder structure and how to backup and restore it if it gets broken.

My pmail setup includes aliases and network configurations which are a pain to put back and losing the original folder structure is also a pain to rebuild. I often wondered why all settings couldn't be stored in a (xml?) file where they could be saved and restored. There was excellent sharing of the pmail program structure and what various files did, but since some date when large changes were made to the pmail, I've not relied on the old information.

My HIERARCH.PM has to much personal info to post up on open Forum. There are some strange entries:

0,0,"1074CEEF:1321:FOL02A97","4E946554:My mailbox",Name_Unavailable
0,0,"604624E1:7301:FOL010BE","4E946554:My mailbox",Name_Unavailable
0,0,"27D4EAB3:298A:FOL04B03","4E946554:My mailbox",Name_Unavailable
0,0,"423A88:46A2:FOL05BB3","4E946554:My mailbox",Name_Unavailable

and....

0,0,"R9BGYX9S:2BCD:FOL07EAE","4E946554:My mailbox",Name_Unavailable,0,20
0,0,"BJPCHXD8:4768:FOL06EF6","4E946554:My mailbox",Name_Unavailable,0,20

and....
0,0,"J24Y9YWS:5B5D:FOL0440E","11CE5922:H:\PMAIL Archive",Name_Unavailable
0,0,"ZEX2KKSJ:5B5E:FOL06FDF","11CE5922:H:\PMAIL Archive",Name_Unavailable
0,0,"W5KNACDO:5B5F:FOL07E1B","11CE5922:H:\PMAIL Archive",Name_Unavailable
0,0,"1ZIILUKR:5B60:FOL006C2","11CE5922:H:\PMAIL Archive",Name_Unavailable
0,0,"WYWP4MSZ:5B61:FOL01666","11CE5922:H:\PMAIL Archive",Name_Unavailable
0,0,"2YFG4B6H:5B62:FOL0686D","11CE5922:H:\PMAIL Archive",Name_Unavailable
0,0,"MLDNZE16:5B63:FOL0656C","11CE5922:H:\PMAIL Archive",Name_Unavailable
0,0,"0G7LPFSH:5B64:FOL01DF5","11CE5922:H:\PMAIL Archive",Name_Unavailable
0,0,"UDWAXIQU:5B65:FOL039F5","11CE5922:H:\PMAIL Archive",Name_Unavailable
0,0,"PU5OOFXI:5B66:FOL06FDD","11CE5922:H:\PMAIL Archive",Name_Unavailable
0,0,"KXFKR5RX:5B67:FOL04DDA","11CE5922:H:\PMAIL Archive",Name_Unavailable

I think this file needs cleaning up. Do you know what each line means, I can see lines pointing to the message folios and those above point to folders not in my current MAIL folder.

I'm now wondering if I created an 'Archive' on another disc or flash memory in the past which isn't accessible?

This is the first section of my HIERARCH.PM file:

2,1,"4E946554:My mailbox","","My mailbox"
0,0,"6A37BD4A:5743:MAIN","4E946554:My mailbox","Main folder"
0,16711680,"0412BD59:5745:FOLD4218","4E946554:My mailbox","Carol",0,16384
0,0,"1865BD59:5746:COPYSELF","4E946554:My mailbox","COPIES TO SELF",0,20
0,256,"WGTO8R1N:4420:FOL03C13","4E946554:My mailbox","Deleted Messages",0,20
0,16711680,"3EF13473:5D7D:FOL05D7D","4E946554:My mailbox","Auction In",0,16384
0,16711680,"76CD771:5D7E:FOL042BC","4E946554:My mailbox","Auction sent",0,16384
0,0,"42F32887:1E29:FOL0455B","4E946554:My mailbox",Name_Unavailable
0,0,"6B62AB7B:5E1B:FOL06669","4E946554:My mailbox","Purchases"
0,0,"7254830D:60AE:FOL01710","4E946554:My mailbox","Microsoft"
0,0,"1074CEEF:1321:FOL02A97","4E946554:My mailbox",Name_Unavailable
0,0,"604624E1:7301:FOL010BE","4E946554:My mailbox",Name_Unavailable
0,0,"27D4EAB3:298A:FOL04B03","4E946554:My mailbox",Name_Unavailable
0,0,"423A88:46A2:FOL05BB3","4E946554:My mailbox",Name_Unavailable
0,0,"20DA7AB1:5058:FOL068AC","4E946554:My mailbox","Shopping"
0,0,"48C21402:53AE:FOL02549","4E946554:My mailbox",Name_Unavailable
0,0,"049FBE6F:2738:FOL0409C","4E946554:My mailbox",Name_Unavailable
0,0,"6654BC5B:55DB:JUNK","4E946554:My mailbox",Name_Unavailable
0,0,"79874517:746B:FOL02638","4E946554:My mailbox","ITC"
0,16711680,"5BC6993D:1D10:FOL01D10","4E946554:My mailbox","Car",0,16384
1,16711680,"7D154163:Bank","4E946554:My mailbox","Bank",0,16384

It appears that every one of the folders sorted to the top contains ",0,16384" at the end of their entry. I don't know what that means. I one had a paper detailing HIERARCH.PM. I will try to find it and see if there is an explanation for ",0,16384".

You are on the right track in looking at HIERARCH.PM. That IS the file that holds the structure in the folder list. Your mention of your wife loosing her tray structure would have been caused by a corrupted HIERARCH.PM. When that happens, Pegasus Mail recreates it by polling all folder files. The tray structure is virtual, stored solely within HIERARCH.PM. When HIERARCH.PM is lost (rebuilt), the tray structure is lost. So, having a backup of HIERARCH.PM is the only way to recover a tray structure.

As for the way HIERARCH.PM behaves, it is updated with each change to the folder structure. It is verified at each startup. This is way a crash that leave HIERARCH.PM corrupted will result in a rebuild on subsequent startup.

Those Name_Unavailable entries you see are the result of folder files that Pegasus Mail can not see. This can be due to manual deletion of .PMM/.PMI file pairs, or connecting then disconnecting a mailbox or directory as an added mailbox. An entry is added to HIERARCH for each folder in that added mailbox. During startup following disconnection those entries are flagged Name_Unavailable because Pegasus Mail is no longer looking for them. They will be reused when that added mailbox is reconnected.

Name_Unavailable entries are benign but there is no harm in deleting them either, except for the risk of damaging HIERARCH.PM due to an errant edit.

As for the sort order, I am clueless as to what is causing it but I believe a way to fix it is to:

• rename the folders above AAAA with a prefix of "_old"
• create new folders with the original folder name
• copy all messages from the old to the new
• delete the old once all is well.

I believe I have confirmed that it is indeed the "0,16384" that is causing the sort issue. They make up fields 6 and 7 in the entry. Here is a quote from the document "Pegasus Mail technical data" by Bob Kellock dated March 21,2012. I recall him sharing it with me during an in depth discussion about HIERARCH. It comes with a warning that it is comprised of notes for his own use. Because of that, it is not meant for public distribution. The information below is logical based on what we know and are seeing.

Fields 6 and 7 of tray and folder entries in Hierarch

Both tray and folder entries normally have five fields but can have 2 appended fields. Where there are 7 fields then field 6 is normally 0; the exception is for the "Recent search results" tray entry, when the value is 1, which causes the icon in Folders view to grow a magnifying glass.

By default, folders and trays are displayed. in Folders view, in alphabetical order. This can be overidden when the value of field 7 is non-zero (it can be anyting from 1 to at least 999), the higher the value the higher they appear in the list. Where two or more folders (or trays) have the same value for field 7 then those are sorted in alphabetical order.

By default, PM sets the value of field 7 of the Recent Search Results tray, the Copies to Self folder and the Deleted Messages to 20 which is the reason that those 3 items are listed, in alphabetical order, immediately below the New Mail folder.

Thanks for sharing your insight into HIERARCH.PM. I will look into that. I'll backup my present install and experiment with changes. I'm away for a few days and will pick this up when I return In this process i might want to start with a clean install and rebuild a new folder strucure.

In the ideal world, I would like 2 instances of pmail open then drag mail folders from the old folder structure into new. I haven't always found it easy to migrate mail after a crash. Is there an easy low stress way to do it? All the mail is there in the files and I guess from what you said earlier, if I copied those across, pmail would boot to a default structure with all message folders unstructured in alpha order under New mail? From there I could build the same structure, adding filing trays I had before and move messages? HIERARCH.PM is a very important file. I think I'll add it to my scheduled backup list.

I was aware of the lines that had 0,20 an 1,20 and have all other ones without those options.
Had no ideal what the options meant or did, so don't tought them.

Know the 128 byte at beginning of PMM files has the long name an the unique folder info.
Program that renames folders just modifies those locations and renames PMM and PMI files.
On rare occassions there is something outside outside those blocks that had characters, but could never figure out what those might be? 99% have nothing but nulls, so just made it consistant.

Wonder how those values got there??

Something new...

One of the great things about Pegasus Mail is that its program files are in a separate directory from most of its configuration and mail data files. This makes it very easy for backups and transfers to a different machine.

One of the bad things about Pegasus Mail is that its configuration files are intermingled with its data files. Accomplishing a truly clean new installation requires that you do the installation, configure it, and copy only data from the old installation. This is not difficult when there is only one identity. It becomes increasingly tedious the more identities there are. There is a white paper
in the Add-ons section of this forum that can serve as a guide.
https://community.pmail.com/index.php?u=/topic/11490/whitepaper-move-pegasus-mail-or-restore-mailbox-data
It is a little old but is still mostly relevant. Han's guide to filenames and extensions is a good supplement. Of course this forum can help too.

A couple of things.

1. lines with Name_Unavailable can generally be deleted.The exception would be if you mount mail folders from another location, and then that location isn't currently available. Example: I you have data on a usb and mount it, and then use is removed.If usb is restored, the folders would then become available.I don't do that so I remove the lines from my HIERARCH.PM with a script. Linux script since I run Pegasus under Linux using winecat cleanHIER

   !/usr/bin/bash

   grep -v Name_Unavailable <HIERARCH.PM >HIERARCH.PMzcp HIERARCH.PMz HIERARCH.PM

Sure similar could be done with windows.

I do backups of entire PMAIL directory using 7z using the date so have multiple backups.

!/usr/bin/bash

cd .wine/drive_c || exit
7z a /home/msetzerii/pmsave-"$(date +%F)".7z PMAIL/*
cd /home/msetzerii/ || exit
chown msetzerii:msetzerii pmsave-"$(date +%F)".7z
7z t pmsave-"$(date +%F)".7z
cp -v pmsave-"$(date +%F)".7z /DATA

At end copy the backup file to 4 other machines for extra backups.
Manually clean older ones.

Have a program that renames folders, since I've never like the FOLxxxxx.PM? setup.
Have found folder names don't have to be 8 characters. Can be shorter or somewhat longer.

Old DOS version of PMAIL let you rename folders, not just change long names.
But it does require one to update filter rules.