Sunbird in systray | FF&TB integration

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WishMaster
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Sunbird in systray | FF&TB integration

Post by WishMaster »

<b>1.</b> It would be nice if Sunbird could start up in the <u>systray</u> when starting Windows/Linux. All my contacts birthdays are in Sunbird, so I would like to see the alarm/popup when there is a birthday. Also for other appointments.
For this to happen, I need Sunbird to be "opened" constantly. Just because of that, it needs to sit in the systray, not cluttering my taskbar...


<b>2.</b> <u>FireFox and ThunderBird integration...</u>
- Suppose I am surfing the web, and I notice something interesting. I would like to select the text, rightclick and choose "send to sunbird". Then Sunbird opens and the selected text would be a new sunbird-entry (where I can set the date, etc..)
- the same thing for ThunderBird: when I get an e-mail with an appointment --> select the text, rightclick, "send to sunbird".


<i>(at the moment, there is an FF and TB "plugin" : lightening. But is is different for FF and TB, so you actually have 2 'calendars'... It is better to have 1 main calendar (sunbird), and send everything to there)</i>
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smsmith
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Post by smsmith »

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Minimize_to_s ... derbird%29

That link will help you to minimize Sunbird to the tray. To have it start up with Windows (only one I know how to do), make a shortcut to Sunbird and put in in the startup folder on your Windows Start menu. Edit the shortcut so the "Run" line reads Minimized Window. But, there is a bug in Mozilla products where this doesn't work if the window is in the maximized state. So, if it is, double click the task bar to "restore" it to a smaller size. Drag the corners until it is the size you want. The next time you use your shortcut to open sunbird, it will open minimized to the system tray.

As far as using Lightening with Fx and Tb, I believe that you can pick where the calendar is stored. At least the old calendar extension did it that way, so you could share the calendar between the programs. The only time things got hairy for me when I did that, was if I tried to edit the calendar from both programs (more or less at the same time). Give it a try and see if it still works that way.
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WishMaster
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Post by WishMaster »

Yes, but you would still have to open FF or TB to open the calendar... It isn't stand-alone then
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smsmith
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Post by smsmith »

Well, I guess I missed your point on the integration, sorry about that. Did my hints on minimizing to the taskbar/system tray on startup work for you?
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Old ssiter
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Post by Old ssiter »

WishMaster wrote:Yes, but you would still have to open FF or TB to open the calendar... It isn't stand-alone then
If you want a standalone calendar application that does not require Firefox or Thunderbird try Sunbird.
WishMaster
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Post by WishMaster »

lol ssitter...
Read better, I'm talking about Sunbird all the time :-p

smsmith: I'm using "kdocker" now in Ubuntu...seems to work fine
Although it would be nice if SunBird natively provides this (maybe in the future?)
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smsmith
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Post by smsmith »

Hey WishMaster, I doubt that the devs would put minimize to tray in as a standard feature, as the only program I can think of that does that by itself is Outlook. My list of used software is quite limited, though. :)

I think that if you are careful, you can integrate Lightning with Fx and Tb. If you are using Lightning with Tb, there would then be no need for Sunbird, and Sunbird/Lightning I believe are working off the same codebase, one stand alone and the other meant to be an extension.

You said that using Lightning the way I described would require Fx or Tb to be open in order to add things to the calendar when you "stumble" across them. Well, if you have Lightning installed in both, and stumble across something in Fx, you can add it from Fx. If you stumble across it in Tb, you can add it from Tb. Remember, I said you could share the calendar file, so entries made in one program would be reflected in the other. You would then probably need to refresh the other one to see the changes made. I don't recall having problems when I did things that way unless I tried to add an item from both at the same time, ie., start adding in Fx, get distracted, get undistracted, try to add item in Tb.

If you'd like, since all of my calendar stuff is in Outlook, I can try and play with using Lightning some and see if it still works that way.
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WishMaster
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Post by WishMaster »

Yeah, I know
I meant: if I want to use only the calendar (like quickly checking an appointment before I leave), I have to open TB or FF <i><u>first</u></i>, before I can open Lightening.

(and another thing: I have dualboot WinXp-Ubuntu, so that would mean I have to point to 1 calendarfile from 4 apps:
1. XP-TB
2. XP-FF
3. Ubuntu-TB
4. Ubuntu-FF )

At the moment, I am using icalx.com (an online calendar file) to get it done...

------

As for the tray-thing: I consider a calendar as a "notifier" or "reminder of important things".
That is also the reason why an antivirus scanner sits in the systray. Or MailWasher. Or MSN/gaim/....
SunBird (as stand-alone) in the systray, would make great sense...
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