On 8 Dec 2014, pfd@pfdstudio.com wrote:

> Also, when I delete/expire a message, mutt automatically displays the
> next unread message in the folder. Gnus requires another
> keystroke. (Not a big deal, but annoying.)

So set the groups to either auto-expire or total-expire and use the
spacebar to read your mail.

  https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/gnus/Expiring-Mail.html

> I have not managed to get gnus to display previously read messages in
> a thread automatically, though I've messed around with (setq
> gnus-fetch-old-headers t). I gather this is inconsistent on IMAP
> servers, and slow.

Set the variable "gnus-build-sparse-threads"

  https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/gnus/Filling-In-Threads.html

Charles

-- 
"Linux: the operating system with a CLUE...
Command Line User Environment".
(seen in a posting in comp.software.testing)