Filter 'Search' by date range

[bex1210]

I have Thunderbird 60.9.0 running on a Windows 7 Pro (64 bit) SP1 computer. When I do a 'Search' for an item, T'Bird lets me filter: 'From Me', 'To Me', by 'People', by 'Folder', etc. But I want to be able to filter by a Date Range.

In one example, I know that the Email in question was written in October 2018. But I have several hundred responses when I filter by the author's name, and sorting that list by date consumes 10-15 pages before I get to October 2018. So I would like a filter that would restrict the search to October, 2018 (or a similar time frame).

I have searched this forum, the T'bird add-ons, used a search engine to do a general search, etc. I cannot find anything that addresses this problem.

So any assistance would be greatly appreciated.


Harry

[tanstaafl]

See http://kb.mozillazine.org/Search_-_Thunderbird

You're using global search. The simplest solution would be to use classic search via edit -> find -> search messages. The main restriction is that type of search only searches the currently selected folder.

If you add the expression search / gmail add-on at https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-US/th ... ui/?src=ss it lets you search by date using the quick filter bar. See https://cdn.rawgit.com/wangvisual/expre ... /help.html for information about the before and date keywords.

Another solution would be to create a virtual folder whose contents are defined as messages in specific folders which match a specific date range per http://kb.mozillazine.org/Saved_Search , and then select that virtual folder and use the
quick filter bar to search it.

[bex1210]

My message got printed twice, and I can't determine how to delete one of them, so I changed this one for just this sentence.

[bex1210]

tanstaafl:

Every time I think I have looked in every possible nook for information on Thunderbird, you come up with a half dozen or so that not only did I not find, but they are always exactly what I am looking for. I don't know how you do it!

Yes, I am using Global Search. I did read about Classic Search from your link. Over 99% of my Emails are in one account, so the currently selected folder is not really a restriction. But Classic Search seemed a little unwieldy to use.

I installed Expression Search. The instructions are very criptic, but I printed a list of them, and I have it working. That seems to be a good solution for my needs, especially since the Quick Filter will narrow the choices if I need them. And once i realized that the af:command has a space before the dash, that seems to work fine.

But there are two questions I have that hopefully you can answer. If you go to:
https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-US/th ... ui/?src=ss [I can't get this URL to print correctly, no matter what I try]

then go to the screen shots and scroll to the last one, it is titled 'Settings". Where do you find this screen in Thunderbird? I have searched everywhere, and can't find it.

Second, when I am typing in the Expression Search window, at the bottom of the page is a popup which says 'You can disable this tooltip in option dialog'. Where is the option dialog?

Harry

[tanstaafl]

The options dialog (what I think you meant by settings) is available via tools -> add-on options. You used to access the options via tools -> add-ons but they moved that , I think in version 60.

I tried the beta version linked to in https://github.com/wangvisual/expressio ... /issues/80 but it doesn't work with my 68.2.1 installation.

[bex1210]

The options dialog (what I think you meant by settings) is available via tools -> add-on options. You used to access the options via tools -> add-ons but they moved that , I think in version 60.

I tried the beta version linked to in https://github.com/wangvisual/expressio ... /issues/80 but it doesn't work with my 68.2.1 installation.

I found it where you indicated. I had never tried that link, so didn't realize that it actually opened the Options choices for each of my add-ons---even though that is exactly what the link says! And the settings list has been slightly revised from what is displayed on the Mozilla add-ons page. It now addresses my 2nd question also.

From reading the github link you referenced, it sounds like the whole Search function in T'Bird 68 is messed up. The lack if developers willing to invest the time to create Version 68+ adaptations of their add-on is one reason I am stick ing with Version 60.


Harry