My mailing list has a ghost.
My neighborhood association board changes annually, but when I edit the mailing list, sometimes the new list gets used and sometimes a ghost image of the old list is used. I enter the word "board" into the address bar and auto-type calls up the group name accurately, so I hit enter and write my email. Sometimes it goes to the current board members, and sometimes to the old board, as if the auto-type function has a memory of the old list somewhere that I can't get find to delete.
All Replies (3)
The old list is probably in the Collected Addresses address book, since that is where outgoing addresses are stored. By default, address autocomplete searches all address books for matches.
sfhowes said
The old list is probably in the Collected Addresses address book, since that is where outgoing addresses are stored. By default, address autocomplete searches all address books for matches.
That was my first thought. There is no secondary copy in the visible address books. Also, if there were multiple matches to "board", auto-fill would present the m both.
Address books are like the files that contain the mail, i.e. mbox files, in that when a contact is deleted, it's not actually permanently removed, but simply marked as deleted. So, if the book somehow becomes corrupted, contacts that appear to have been deleted from books or mailing lists may appear as 'ghosts'.
If this is in fact what's happening, I'd recommend rebuilding the address book by exporting it to an LDIF file (Tools/Export, Save as type: LDIF, name it PAB_backup). Then, Help/Troubleshooting Information, click Open Folder, close TB, rename abook.mab to abook.BAK. Restart TB, Tools/Import...Address books...Text file... select the LDIF file import the PAB_backup.LDIF. The contacts in PAB_backup can be moved to the new, empty Personal Address Book by drag and drop. You will have to rebuild the mailing lists (create a new list, name it, close it, add contacts by drag and drop), as these are not retained when a book is exported to LDIF.
The new, rebuilt Personal Address Book and mailing lists should now work properly. You can check the contents of a mailing list by selecting it in the Contacts sidebar (F9 in a Write window), Edit List (Ctrl+I), OK. This expands the list to show the contacts in the sidebar. Let's hope there are no ghosts.