Mail Tweak (for Thunderbird)

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lnorman
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Joined: January 1st, 2008, 5:12 pm

Post by lnorman »

Rod,

This is a wonderful extension. I just helped a friend install it on her computer. Any thought of getting it packaged for download from the regular Thunderbird extensions with a bit easier install for folks like her -- who haven't a clue about drag/drop (still using IE for a browser...shiver) and who find "save Target as" to be a frightening proposition?

I know...this is probably too powerful of an extension for her, but...Bcc as a default was something she simply HAD to have.<g>

Lisa
lnorman
Posts: 4
Joined: January 1st, 2008, 5:12 pm

Post by lnorman »

Rod,

This is a wonderful extension. I just helped a friend install it on her computer. Any thought of getting it packaged for download from the regular Thunderbird extensions with a bit easier install for folks like her -- who haven't a clue about drag/drop (still using IE for a browser...shiver) and who find "save Target as" to be a frightening proposition?

I know...this is probably too powerful of an extension for her, but...Bcc as a default was something she simply HAD to have.<g>

Lisa
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Rod Whiteley
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Joined: December 6th, 2004, 3:41 am
Location: UK

Re: Filters or rules for email folders

Post by Rod Whiteley »

notary wrote:...automatically store the sent messages to a specific email in a designated folder...
I don't know any way to do that.

In Account Settings, on every Copies & Folders page, there is a checkbox: Place replies in the folder of the message being replied to   So if you read a message, then move it, then reply, that setting keeps the reply with the original.
Rod
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Rod Whiteley
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Post by Rod Whiteley »

lnorman wrote:...getting it packaged for download from the regular Thunderbird extensions with a bit easier install...
Unfortunately, a different download site would not make it any easier to install. I agree that installing extensions in Thunderbird is not as easy as it should be.
Rod
lnorman
Posts: 4
Joined: January 1st, 2008, 5:12 pm

Post by lnorman »

Unfortunately, a different download site would not make it any easier to install. I agree that installing extensions in Thunderbird is not as easy as it should be.


It installed easily. It is just that the drag and drop does not work between IE and Thunderbird...not really a surprise. For the non-technically minded like my friend, finding it through the "get extensions" and then being able to click on it through the link there would have simplified her life. Apparently her (non-mozilla oriented) technically minded programmer husband couldn't figure it out. (Rolls eyes) Anyway, it was just a thought because I think this is useful and might not be found by some of the folks that need it. She would never have found the extension in the first place if I hadn't found it for her.

Of course, it is also too powerful for someone like her...but hey, what's life without a little danger?<g>
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Rod Whiteley
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Joined: December 6th, 2004, 3:41 am
Location: UK

Post by Rod Whiteley »

Even if you find a Thunderbird extension through "get extensions", you still cannot simply click on it to install it, no matter what browser you are using. And the instructions there do not work for IE either. In fact, for IE users, it is simplest to click the link. IE does not know what to do with the file, so it invites you to save it. I have just changed my installation instructions to reflect this.
Rod
Bozz
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Joined: October 18th, 2007, 1:53 pm

Post by Bozz »

Doesn't IE change the .xpi file to .zip?
lnorman
Posts: 4
Joined: January 1st, 2008, 5:12 pm

Post by lnorman »

IE did not convert it to a zip. Once we clicked on it, it downloaded nicely and then add-ons through Thunderbird accepted the file and installed it perfectly.

As for other extensions, my experience is more with Firefox than Thunderbird, but the Thunderbird installer looked just like the Firefox one. You click on the extension in the search results, go to it's page. You click on the download button, it downloads and asks if you want to install it. It will then ask you to restart the application. To a non-techie, that seems like just clicking on the link did it.<g> (Later they wonder what all of those files are doing on their computer...)

Again, I'm not an add-on designer, I just noticed when checking the Thunderbird add-ons site that the .xpi file was the heart of the add-on package they serve up, so it seemed like yours was 99% of the way there...and she'd already looked there and stopped... if she hadn't had help, she wouldn't have found yours which does exactly what she needed it to do...which is make it so she can fill my inbox with forwards without revealing everyone's address.<g> Gee...thanks.

Y'know...maybe this isn't such a good thing. (just kidding)
rlegge
Posts: 1
Joined: January 14th, 2008, 1:54 pm

Personalization

Post by rlegge »

Hi,

I installed this on thunderbird 2.0.0.9.. I'm trying to use the Personalization feature. I can select my contacts from my address book, add the correct field substitution i.e. %%firstName%%.

When I run it, all the emails have the same first name in it rather than individual ones from each contact... (Ive also tried it on surname too, with the same results..

Ive tried the CSV feature instead, but if I edit the email at all before hitting the Personalize button, it doesn't give me the option of opening a file. To get the CSV option back, I have to exit and restart Thunderbird..

Any ideas?

Many thanks
Richard
Ed1
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Joined: January 30th, 2005, 2:33 pm

Post by Ed1 »

I installed the latest version (0.12) of Mail Tweak into TB 2.0.0.9 and checked the option to autohide the folder pane. The pane did autohide as expected.

I then decided to revert to the normal "Classic" pane view and unchecked the Mail Tweak option to autohide the folder pane. After doing so, there was no change to the display - the folder pane remains hidden, even after restarting TB, disabling Mail Tweak, uninstalling Mail Tweak and rebooting Windows (ME). Sliding cursor to the left margin has no effect now, of course, in bringing back the folder pane.

The View - Layout setting can be changed in the toolbar menu from Classic to Wide to Vertical, but the change has no effect on the display. It seems frozen. The F8 button or View - Layout menu setting for Message Pane display does work properly, though.

I even went into about:config and edited a preference there that referred to the UI for folder pane display, changing it from 0 to 1. Still no change in the display. (The setting seems to automatically revert back to 0 when next viewed.)

How can I get my folder pane view back? Help please!
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Rod Whiteley
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Re: Personalization

Post by Rod Whiteley »

rlegge wrote:...all the emails have the same first name... in it rather than individual ones from each contact... (Ive also tried it on surname too, with the same results..
I have never seen that happen, so I do not know what to do. If you choose Tools – Error Console after it fails, are there any relevant error messages?

rlegge wrote:Ive tried the CSV feature instead, but if I edit the email at all before hitting the Personalize button, it doesn't give me the option of opening a file. To get the CSV option back, I have to exit and restart Thunderbird.
I can reproduce that, so I'll look into it...

later...

I fixed one case, where you cancel the CSV file picker and after that you have to restart Thunderbird to get the file picker again. This fix will be in the next release (0.13), probably at the weekend. I am not sure that it is exactly the same as the problem you found. Reply here again if 0.13 still fails.
Last edited by Rod Whiteley on January 17th, 2008, 9:23 am, edited 1 time in total.
Rod
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Rod Whiteley
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Joined: December 6th, 2004, 3:41 am
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Post by Rod Whiteley »

Ed1 wrote:...the folder pane remains hidden...
When I do that, the folder pane ends up collapsed. I can drag it open in the normal way, and then it stays open.

I have sometimes seen errors when changing layouts, but they seem to be unrelated. After a layout change fails, choose Tools – Error Console to look for an error message. The one I have seen relates to gDbView, which is not controlled by Mail Tweak.

To reset the folder pane, go Thunderbird's profile, close Thunderbird, use a text editor to open the file localstore.rdf, search for folderpane_splitter, and delete the tags that mention it. (To delete a tag, delete everything from the < at the start of the tag to the > at the end.)
Rod
Ed1
Posts: 1059
Joined: January 30th, 2005, 2:33 pm

Post by Ed1 »

Rod, you are correct about the folder pane remaining collapsed after checking and unchecking the option to have it autohide.

After creating a new TB profile, reloading all of my mail accounts and addons, and migrating the address book and some other files to the new profile, I was inspecting the old profile display and by chance discovered that the folder pane was still there, but just collapsed. I was able to retrieve it just by dragging the pane divider bar to the right. (I noticed this just before checking this thread to see if there was a solution posted!)

I do not have an error console entry that seems related to this issue.

Is this collapsing folder pane a bug in Mail Tweak that can be remedied?
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Rod Whiteley
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Joined: December 6th, 2004, 3:41 am
Location: UK

Post by Rod Whiteley »

Thunderbird is designed to have a folder pane that collapses, and that remembers its state between sessions. So a collapsed folder pane is a normal state for Thunderbird to be in, not a bug.
Rod
albeter
Posts: 2
Joined: January 18th, 2008, 7:35 pm
Location: Seattle, WA, USA

Improvements to “Folder Pane Auto-Hide” tweak

Post by albeter »

I installed Mail Tweak v 0.12 and I think it provides a fine selection of valuable enhancements to TB. [I have TB v 2.0.0.9 installed.]

I particularly like the “Folder Pane Auto-Hide” tweak. It really frees up the display screen to allow greater utilization of the available screen real estate. However, in using the feature I discovered an unfortunate side-affect to its use. It makes moving a message to another folder by drag & drop impossible.

If I select a message(s) and move the curser to the left edge of the window, the folder pane will not revert back. Therefore, I cannot drop the selected messages into another folder.

I work around this limitation by utilizing the context menues: “Move To” (“Copy To”) > Recent or Favorite folders [right click after selecting desired messages]. However, this is cumbersome at best.

I would like to suggest the follow improvements to eliminate the problem.
1) Add an ON|Off button to the menu or the tool bar to toggle the “Folder Pane Auto-Hide” tweak.
2) Add the feature that if a certain keyboard key (e.g., “Alt” key) is held down during the time the curser moves to the left edge of the screen activating the display of the folder, then the folder pane will not disappear if the curser moves back to the right into the message pane while the key is depressed.

Thank you for providing this useful extension.
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