Displaying conversation views in a conversation-based email system

1. A method of processing messages, comprising:

receiving a plurality of messages directed to a user, each message having a unique message identifier;

associating each of the plurality of messages with a respective conversation, each conversation having a respective conversation identifier, wherein each conversation comprises a set of one or more messages sharing a common set of characteristics that meet first predefined criteria; and

displaying a list of conversations in an order determined in accordance with second predefined criteria, each conversation being represented as a single item in the list.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the list of conversations comprises a set of rows, each row corresponding to one of the listed conversations and including at least a sender list, a conversation topic and a date/time value.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein a row in the set of rows includes a message number indicator that indicates a number of messages in the conversation.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein a row in the set of rows includes a recipient indicator that indicates whether the user is a primary recipient or secondary recipient of any message in the conversation.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the conversation topic of a row in the set of rows includes a conversation name and a portion of the conversation associated with the row.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the date/time value in a row of the set of rows comprises a date/time value associated with a most recent message of the conversation that satisfies a query.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the conversations in the list of conversations are monotonically ordered according to their date/time values.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein

every conversation in the list of conversations includes at least one message marked with a particular label;

the date/time value in each row of the set of rows comprises a date/time value associated with a most recent message of the conversation that is marked with the particular label;

the conversations in the list of conversations are monotonically ordered according to their date/time values.

9. The method of claim 2, wherein at least one row in the displayed list of conversations further includes at least one user-defined label associated with the corresponding conversation.

10. The method of claim 2, wherein the sender list of a row in the list of conversations includes identifiers of one or more senders of at least one message in the corresponding conversation.

11. The method of claim 2, wherein the sender list of a row in the displayed list of conversations includes identifiers of a plurality of senders of messages in the corresponding conversation.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein, when the conversation corresponding to the row includes a message sent by a first sender and one or more messages sent by a second sender, the displaying includes displaying in a first distinct format an identifier of the first sender in the sender list when the message sent by the first sender has not been viewed or marked as read by the user, and displaying in second distinct format an identifier of the second sender in the sender list when all the messages sent by the second sender have been viewed or marked as read by the user.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the displaying includes highlighting a sender's name in the sender list when a message sent by the sender has not been read by the user.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein a sender's identifier in the sender list is replaced with a unique character string or icon when the sender is the user.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the unique character string is a self-referencing identifier in a particular language.

16. The method of claim 10, including associating with the conversation a set of senders of messages included in the conversation, the sender list including identifiers of a plurality of the senders in the set of senders, but less than all of the senders in the set of senders, when the set of senders exceeds a predefined limit.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein a sender's identifier is assigned a priority, for determining which sender identifiers to include in the sender list, wherein the priority is determined in accordance with date/time information and status information associated with the messages in the conversation.

18. The method of claim 2, wherein a row in the set of rows includes a recipient indicator that indicates whether the user is a primary recipient or secondary recipient of any message in the conversation.

19. A method for generating a form for a user to check and respond to a plurality of messages, comprising:

receiving a plurality of messages directed to a user, each message having a unique message identifier;

associating each of the plurality of messages with a respective conversation, each conversation having a respective conversation identifier; wherein each conversation comprises a set of one or more messages sharing a common set of characteristics that meet predefined criteria; and

displaying a list of conversations in an order determined in accordance with predefined criteria, each conversation being represented as a single item in the list and including at least a sender list, a conversation topic and a date/time value, wherein the sender list of at least one conversation in the list of conversations includes identifiers of multiple senders, but less than all the senders of the conversation.

20. A method of processing messages, comprising:

receiving a plurality of messages directed to a user, each message having a unique message identifier;

associating each of the plurality of messages with a respective conversation, each conversation having a respective conversation identifier; wherein each conversation comprises a set of one or more messages sharing a common set of characteristics that meet predefined criteria; and

providing presentation information for displaying a list of conversations in an order determined in accordance with predefined criteria, each conversation being represented as a single item in the list.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein providing presentation information includes providing information to display the list of conversations as a set of rows, each row corresponding to one of the listed conversations and including at least a sender list, a conversation topic and a date/time value.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein a row in the set of rows includes a message number indicator that indicates a number of messages in the conversation.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein a row in the set of rows includes a recipient indicator that indicates whether the user is a primary recipient or secondary recipient of any message in the conversation.

24. The method of claim 21, wherein the conversation topic of a row in the set of rows includes a conversation name and a portion of the conversation associated with the row.

25. The method of claim 21, wherein the date/time value in a row of the set of rows comprises a date/time value associated with a most recent message of the conversation that satisfies a query.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the conversations in the list of conversations are monotonically ordered according to their date/time values.

27. The method of claim 21, wherein

every conversation in the list of conversations includes at least one message marked with a particular label;

the date/time value in each row of the set of rows comprises a date/time value associated with a most recent message of the conversation that is marked with the particular label;

the conversations in the list of conversations are monotonically ordered according to their date/time values.

28. The method of claim 21, wherein at least one row in the displayed list of conversations further includes at least one user-defined label associated with the corresponding conversation.

29. The method of claim 21, wherein the sender list of a row in the list of conversations includes identifiers of one or more senders of at least one message in the corresponding conversation.

30. The method of claim 21, wherein the sender list of a row in the displayed list of conversations includes identifiers of a plurality of senders of messages in the corresponding conversation.

31. The method of claim 21, wherein, when the conversation corresponding to the row includes a message sent by a first sender and one or more messages sent by a second sender, the providing includes providing in a first distinct format an identifier of the first sender in the sender list when the message sent by the first sender has not been viewed or marked as read by the user, and providing in second distinct format an identifier of the second sender in the sender list when all the messages sent by the second sender have been viewed or marked as read by the user.

32. The method of claim 21, wherein the providing includes providing information indicating when a message sent by a sender has not been read by the user.

33. The method of claim 21, further including replacing a sender's identifier in the sender list with a unique character string or icon when the sender is the user.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the unique character string is a self-referencing identifier in a particular language.

35. The method of claim 21, including associating with the conversation a set of senders of messages included in the conversation, the sender list including identifiers of a plurality of the senders in the set of senders, but less than all of the senders in the set of senders, when the set of senders exceeds a predefined limit.

36. The method of claim 21, wherein a sender's identifier is assigned a priority, for determining which sender identifiers to include in the sender list, wherein the priority is determined in accordance with date/time information and status information associated with the messages in the conversation.

37. The method of claim 21, wherein the providing includes providing a recipient indicator that indicates whether the user is a primary recipient or secondary recipient of any message in the conversation.

38. A computer program product, for use in a computer system, the computer program product comprising:

instructions for receiving a plurality of messages directed to a user, each message having a unique message identifier;

instructions for associating each of the plurality of messages with a respective conversation, each conversation having a respective conversation identifier, wherein each conversation comprises a set of one or more messages sharing a common set of characteristics that meet predefined criteria; and

instructions for displaying a list of conversations in an order determined in accordance with second predefined criteria, each conversation being represented as a single item in the list.

39. The computer program product of claim 38, wherein the list of conversations comprises a set of rows, each row corresponding to one of the listed conversations and including at least a sender list, a conversation topic and a date/time value.

40. The computer program product of claim 39, wherein a row in the set of rows includes a message number indicator that indicates a number of messages in the conversation.

41. The computer program product of claim 39, wherein a row in the set of rows includes a recipient indicator that indicates whether the user is a primary recipient or secondary recipient of any message in the conversation.

42. The computer program product of claim 39, wherein the conversation topic of a row in the set of rows includes a conversation name and a portion of the conversation associated with the row.

43. The computer program product of claim 39, wherein the date/time value in a row of the set of rows comprises a date/time value associated with a most recent message of the conversation that satisfies a query.

44. The computer program product of claim 43, wherein the conversations in the list of conversations are monotonically ordered according to their date/time values.

45. The computer program product of claim 39, wherein

every conversation in the list of conversations includes at least one message marked with a particular label;

the date/time value in each row of the set of rows comprises a date/time value associated with a most recent message of the conversation that is marked with the particular label;

the conversations in the list of conversations are monotonically ordered according to their date/time values.

46. The computer program product of claim 39, wherein at least one row in the displayed list of conversations further includes at least one user-defined label associated with the corresponding conversation.

47. The computer program product of claim 39, wherein the sender list of a row in the list of conversations includes identifiers of one or more senders of at least one message in the corresponding conversation.

48. The computer program product of claim 39, wherein the sender list of a row in the displayed list of conversations includes identifiers of a plurality of senders of messages in the corresponding conversation.

49. The computer program product of claim 47, wherein the instructions for displaying include instructions that, when the conversation corresponding to the row includes a message sent by a first sender and one or more messages sent by a second sender, the displaying includes display in a first distinct format an identifier of the first sender in the sender list when the message sent by the first sender has not been viewed or marked as read by the user, and display in second distinct format an identifier of the second sender in the sender list when all the messages sent by the second sender have been viewed or marked as read by the user.

50. The computer program product of claim 47, wherein the instructions for displaying include instructions for highlighting a sender's name in the sender list when a message sent by the sender has not been read by the user.

51. The computer program product of claim 47, including instructions for replacing a sender's identifier in the sender list with a unique character string or icon when the sender is the user.

52. The computer program product of claim 51, wherein the unique character string is a self-referencing identifier in a particular language.

53. The computer program product of claim 47, including instructions for associating with the conversation a set of senders of messages included in the conversation, the sender list including identifiers of a plurality of the senders in the set of senders, but less than all of the senders in the set of senders, when the set of senders exceeds a predefined limit.

54. The computer program product of claim 47, wherein a sender's identifier is assigned a priority, for determining which sender identifiers to include in the sender list, wherein the priority is determined in accordance with date/time information and status information associated with the messages in the conversation.

55. The computer program product of claim 47, wherein a row in the set of rows includes a recipient indicator that indicates whether the user is a primary recipient or secondary recipient of any message in the conversation.

56. A computer program product, for use with a computer system, the computer program product comprising:

instructions for receiving a plurality of messages directed to a user, each message having a unique message identifier;

instructions for associating each of the plurality of messages with a respective conversation, each conversation having a respective conversation identifier; wherein each conversation comprises a set of one or more messages sharing a common set of characteristics that meet predefined criteria; and

instructions for providing presentation information for displaying a list of conversations in an order determined in accordance with predefined criteria, each conversation being represented as a single item in the list.

57. The computer program product of claim 56, wherein the instructions for providing presentation information include instructions for providing information to display the list of conversations as a set of rows, each row corresponding to one of the listed conversations and including at least a sender list, a conversation topic and a date/time value.

58. The computer program product of claim 57, wherein a row in the set of rows includes a message number indicator that indicates a number of messages in the conversation.

59. The computer program product of claim 57, wherein a row in the set of rows includes a recipient indicator that indicates whether the user is a primary recipient or secondary recipient of any message in the conversation.

60. The computer program product of claim 57, wherein the sender list of a row in the list of conversations includes identifiers of one or more senders of at least one message in the corresponding conversation.

61. The computer program product of claim 39, wherein the sender list of a row in the displayed list of conversations includes identifiers of a plurality of senders of messages in the corresponding conversation.

62. The computer program product of claim 57, wherein the instructions for providing presentation information including instructions that, when the conversation corresponding to the row includes a message sent by a first sender and one or more messages sent by a second sender, provide in a first distinct format an identifier of the first sender in the sender list when the message sent by the first sender has not been viewed or marked as read by the user, and provide in second distinct format an identifier of the second sender in the sender list when all the messages sent by the second sender have been viewed or marked as read by the user.

63. The computer program product of claim 57, wherein the instructions for providing presentation information include instructions for providing information indicating when a message sent by a sender has not been read by the user.

64. The computer program product of claim 57, including instructions for providing presentation information include instructions for replacing a sender's identifier in the sender list with a unique character string or icon when the sender is the user.

65. The computer program product of claim 64, wherein the unique character string is a self-referencing identifier in a particular language.

66. The computer program product of claim 57, including instructions for associating with the conversation a set of senders of messages included in the conversation, the sender list including identifiers of a plurality of the senders in the set of senders, but less than all of the senders in the set of senders, when the set of senders exceeds a predefined limit.

67. The computer program product of claim 57, including instructions for assigning a sender's identifier a priority, for determining which sender identifiers to include in the sender list, wherein the priority is determined in accordance with date/time information and status information associated with the messages in the conversation.

68. The computer program product of claim 57, wherein the instructions for providing presentation information include instructions for providing a recipient indicator that indicates whether the user is a primary recipient or secondary recipient of any message in the conversation.

69. A system for processing messages, comprising:

means for receiving a plurality of messages directed to a user, each message having a unique message identifier;

means for associating each of the plurality of messages with a respective conversation, each conversation having a respective conversation identifier, wherein each conversation comprises a set of one or more messages sharing a common set of characteristics that meet predefined criteria; and

means for displaying a list of conversations in an order determined in accordance with predefined criteria, each conversation being represented as a single item in the list.