Method and apparatus for facilitating message selection and organization with group-level actions

1. A method comprising:

providing, via at least one computing device, a messaging user interface comprising a message list display portion and a message group display portion, each entry displayed in the message list display portion corresponding to a message of a plurality of messages, each message having one or more attributes and corresponding values;

forming, via the at least one computing device, a message group from selected messages of the plurality of messages displayed in the message list display portion, the message group comprising one or more of the selected messages of the plurality identified to share at least one attribute value;

for the message group formed, displaying, via the at least one computing device, an entry in the messaging group display portion, the group-level entry comprising a group-level toolbar, the group-level toolbar comprising a number of action indicators, each action indicator selectable to perform a corresponding group-level action for the message group;

receiving, via the at least one computing device, input indicative of a user's selection of an action indicator from the group-level toolbar for the message group; and

in response to receiving the input indicative of a user's selection of the group-level action indicator, performing the selected action for the message group and updating the message list portion for each selected message belonging to the message group to reflect the group-level action taken.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

updating the message group display portion to display a new message group in the message group display portion, the new message group's display including one or more attribute values of the selected message.

3. The method of claim 1 , the method further comprising:

updating the message count associated with the message group listed in the message group display portion of the messaging user interface, the entry in the message group display portion comprising a message count, the message count being a display value indicating how many selected messages belong to the message group.

4. The method of claim 1 , the message is an electronic mail message.

5. The method of claim 1 , the method further comprising:

in response to selection of a group-level add action associated with an existing message group:

adding, via the at least one computing device, any unselected message of the plurality to the existing message group identified as having the at least one attribute value that is shared by each selected message belonging to the existing message group; and

for each added message, updating, via the at least one computing device, the message list display portion to indicate that the added message is a selected message.

6. The method of claim 5 , the message group display portion comprising a message count of a total number of unselected messages having the at least one attribute value that is shared by each selected message belonging to the existing message group, the message count indicating a number of unselected messages that are to be added to the message group in response to selection of the add action.

7. The method of claim 1 , the method further comprising:

in response to selection of a group-level mark-as-spam action, marking, via the at least one computing device, each message belonging to the message group as spam.

8. The method of claim 1 , the method further comprising:

in response to selection of a group-level move-to-folder action, moving, via the at least one computing device, each message belonging to the message group to a specified folder.

9. The method of claim 1 , the method further comprising:

in response to selection of a group-level mark-as-unread action, marking, via the at least one computing device, each message belonging to the message as unread.

10. The method of claim 1 , the method further comprising:

in response to selection of group-level flag-as-important action, marking, via the at least one computing device, each message belonging to the message as important.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein after a group-level action is performed on each message in the message group, an undo action indicator is displayed, and wherein the selected action performed on each message in the group is undone for each message in the message group in response to selection of the undo action.

12. A system comprising:

at least one computing device, each computing device comprising a processor and a storage medium for tangibly storing thereon program logic for execution by the processor, the stored program logic comprising:

providing logic executed by the processor for providing a messaging user interface comprising a message list display portion and a message group display portion, each entry displayed in the message list display portion corresponding to a message of a plurality of messages, each message having one or more attributes and corresponding values;

forming logic executed by the processor for forming message group from selected messages of the plurality of messages displayed in the message list display portion, the message group comprising one or more of the selected messages of the plurality identified to share at least one attribute value;

displaying logic executed by the processor for displaying, for the message group formed, a group-level entry in the messaging group display portion, the entry comprising a group-level toolbar, the group-level toolbar comprising a number of action indicators, each action indicator selectable to perform a corresponding group-level action for the message group;

receiving logic executed by the processor for receiving input indicative of a user's selection of an action indicator from the group-level toolbar for the message group; and

performing logic executed by the processor for, in response to receipt of the input indicative of a user's selection of the group-level action indicator, performing the selected action for the message group and updating the message list portion for each selected message belonging to the message group to reflect the group-level action taken.

13. The system of claim 12 , the stored program logic further comprising:

updating logic executed by the processor for updating the message group display portion to display a new message group in the message group display portion, the new message group's display including one or more attribute values of the selected message.

14. The system of claim 12 , the stored program logic further comprising:

updating logic executed by the processor for updating the message count associated with the message group listed in the message group display portion of the messaging user interface, the entry in the message group display portion comprising a message count, the message count being a display value indicating how many selected messages belong to the message group.

15. The system of claim 12 , the message is an electronic mail message.

16. The system of claim 12 , the stored program logic further comprising:

in response to selection of a group-level add action associated with an existing message group:

adding logic executed by the processor for adding any unselected message of the plurality to the existing message group identified as having the at least one attribute value that is shared by each selected message belonging to the existing message group; and

updating logic executed by the processor for, for each added message, updating the message list display portion to indicate that the added message is a selected message.

17. The system of claim 16 , the message group display portion comprising a message count of a total number of unselected messages having the at least one attribute value that is shared by each selected message belonging to the existing message group, the message count indicating a number of unselected messages that are to be added to the message group in response to selection of the add action.

18. The system of claim 12 , the stored program logic further comprising:

marking logic executed by the processor for, in response to selection of a group-level mark-as-spam action, marking each message belonging to the message group as spam.

19. The system of claim 12 , the instructions further comprising instructions to:

moving logic executed by the processor for, in response to selection of a group-level move-to-folder action, moving each message belonging to the message group to a specified folder.

20. The system of claim 12 , the stored program logic further comprising:

marking logic executed by the processor for, in response to selection of a group-level marking-as-unread action, mark each message belonging to the message as unread.

21. The system of claim 12 , the stored program logic further comprising:

marking logic executed by the processor for, in response to selection of a group-level flag-as-important action, mark each message belonging to the message as important.

22. The system of claim 12 , wherein after a group-level action is performed on each message in the message group, an undo action indicator is displayed, and wherein the selected action performed on each message in the group is undone for each message in the message group in response to selection of the undo action.

23. A computer readable non-transitory storage medium for tangibly storing thereon computer readable instructions that when executed cause at least one processor to:

provide a messaging user interface comprising a message list display portion and a message group display portion, each entry displayed in the message list display portion corresponding to a message of a plurality of messages, each message having one or more attributes and corresponding values;

form a message group from selected messages of the plurality of messages displayed in the message list display portion, the message group comprising one or more of the selected messages of the plurality identified to share at least one attribute value;

for the message group formed, display entry in the messaging group display portion, the group-level entry comprising a group-level toolbar, the group-level toolbar comprising a number of action indicators, each action indicator selectable to perform a corresponding group-level action for the message group;

receive input indicative of a user's selection of an action indicator from the group-level toolbar for the message group; and

in response to receipt of the input indicative of a user's selection of the group-level action indicator, perform the selected action for the message group and updating the message list portion for each selected message belonging to the message group to reflect the group-level action taken.

24. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 23 , the instructions further comprising instructions to:

update the message group display portion to display a new message group in the message group display portion, the new message group's display including one or more attribute values of the selected message.

25. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 23 , the instructions further comprising instructions to:

update the message count associated with the message group listed in the message group display portion of the messaging user interface, the entry in the message group display portion comprising a message count, the message count being a display value indicating how many selected messages belong to the message group.

26. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 23 , the message is an electronic mail message.

27. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 23 , the instructions further comprising instructions to:

in response to selection of a group-level add action associated with an existing message group:

add any unselected message of the plurality to the existing message group identified as having the at least one attribute value that is shared by each selected message belonging to the existing message group; and

for each added message, update the message list display portion to indicate that the added message is a selected message.

28. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 27 , the message group display portion comprising a message count of a total number of unselected messages having the at least one attribute value that is shared by each selected message belonging to the existing message group, the message count indicating a number of unselected messages that are to be added to the message group in response to selection of the add action.

29. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 23 , the instructions further comprising instructions to:

in response to selection of a group-level mark-as-spam action, mark each message belonging to the message group as spam.

30. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 23 , the instructions further comprising instructions to:

in response to selection of a group-level move-to-folder action, move each message belonging to the message group to a specified folder.

31. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 23 , the instructions further comprising instructions to:

in response to selection of a group-level mark-as-unread action, mark each message belonging to the message as unread.

32. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 23 , the instructions further comprising instructions to:

in response to selection of a group-level flag-as-important action, mark each message belonging to the message as important.

33. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 23 , wherein after a group-level action is performed on each message in the message group, an undo action indicator is displayed, and wherein the selected action performed on each message in the group is undone for each message in the message group in response to selection of the undo action.