gmail newbie - alerts for specific contacts/labels

[samkatz]

I'm not getting this, migrating from a Blackberry doesn't help....

I don't want a ring for every single message I get into my inbox, just a visual notification, so I put alert ring on "silent"
But I do want a ring for certain contacts.
So I put a "star" label on these contacts,
Went into the label notifications setting and selected a ring tone.
Nothing happens.

Does chosing silent at mailbox level mean that everything else is silent? How do I get the phone to sound only for a few select contacts?? I can't find doc. on this

Thank you

 

[yankfade]

I have a similar problem, except the led doesn't turn on (it does play the notification sound). This is for emails that are filtered to skip the inbox and have a label applied.