Customizable Message List - Multiple Rows?

[rik-shaw]

I know this has been discussed before, but wondering about any way to have multiple rows used for single messages in the Message List? This would be particularly essential for users (like me!) using the "Vertical" layout with Thunderbird Conversations, etc.

With the Message List being the "middle column", it is essential to have multiple rows for single messages to show the relevant information. This is similar to how Geary (Linux) or Outlook do things. Here is an example:

Top line: (Star Status) Sender (larger) - Time (smaller)
Second line: Subject (smaller) - Thread Message Count (smaller)

Before in prior discussions it seemed this was not technically possible, but with recent updates to 78+ is there any way this can be done? I think forks like Postbox (was that the name?) could do this, but never in Thunderbird proper.

[tanstaafl]

I think you're asking is there any way to have two line listings for a message in the folder listing like you can with Outlook. Postbox did that but they have the advantage of being able to stick with one version of Gecko for many years at a time.

I think its been looked at in the past by the developers (there are a couple of bug reports requesting it) but they put it on hold while they slowly convert from XUL based user interfaces to HTML based ones. My impression is that right now they'd have to re-implement it every time they upgraded to a new version of Gecko.

https://developer.thunderbird.net/planning/roadmap-1 mentions:

de-XUL and web tech conversions [TB91 and beyond]
Thunderbird will move away from XUL documents and towards top-level (X)HTML windows. Thunderbird has over 200 top level documents, so this is a significant effort. Hopefully some scripting will help in pulling it through.
In parallel, the conversion from individual XUL elements to corresponding HTML ones will continue.
Thunderbird will no longer add new files using top level XUL.
The messenger.xhtml effort is tracked in bug 1570943.