Scroll to bottom of inbox when new messages received?

Discussion of general topics about Mozilla Thunderbird
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guiro_boy
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Scroll to bottom of inbox when new messages received?

Post by guiro_boy »

Finally switched over to Thunderbird after being pretty much content with Outlook Express for a while. Overall, this is obviously a really nice piece of software and I've been able to fix what few problems I've had by searching for answers in these forums.

Still, there are a few little quirks that are bothering me. One of the big ones is that Thunderbird doesn't automatically scroll the message pane to my new messages after downloading. That is, I'll load up the client and the message pane will show my Inbox and the most recent messages in it by default. It will then download automatically any new messages I have. Even if new messages are found and downloaded, however, the message pane stays "fixed" in its initial position (displaying the old messages), so to see the new message headers I have to manually scroll down to them.

It just seems to me that it would be more intuitiive if Thunderbird automatically scrolled down to display the newly downloaded messages. Is there any way to tweak the settings to get it to function this way? Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!
pgobeil
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Post by pgobeil »

Click on the Date column to have the messages sorted new> old ?
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guiro_boy
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Post by guiro_boy »

I'm kind of surprised that I never got a response to this, but perhaps my explanation was a bit unclear -- just in case, let me clarify:

In Outlook Express (and every other mail client I've used, as far as I can recall), whenever new mail is received, the window displaying sender/subject/etc. automatically moves down (or refocuses, however you want to say it) so that the newly downloaded messages appear at the bottom.

In Thunderbird, however, when new messages are downloaded, the window remains "fixed" (displaying the old messages) and the new messages appear "offscreen" below, so I have to manually scroll down just to see who I've received mail from.

Are other people not having this issue, or am I just the only one bothered by it? It just strikes me as very unintuitive, as I can't imagine that anyone would not want to see their new messages as soon as they're downloaded. I realize that it doesn't take much effort to scroll down, but it just seems like a no-brainer that the new messages should appear at the bottom of the window without the need to scroll, and I'm curious if there's a reason that Thunderbird behaves this way, and if there's any way to fix it.
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guiro_boy
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Post by guiro_boy »

Sorry about the above -- didn't see your reply until after I had posted my own.
pgobeil wrote:Click on the Date column to have the messages sorted new> old ?

Well, I guess that's a possible workaround... seems a bit strange that one would have to do that, though. I mean, don't most people sort their messages old > new? As far as I know, that's the default setting in ever mail client I've ever used.
pgobeil
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Post by pgobeil »

My view is that the inbox folder should be use to store NEW messages only.
After reading, I delete or move messages to others folders (family, work, website...)
Keeping all your messages in the inbox folder is a very bad idea
see http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?t=137883
So, unless you receive more than 20 messages a day, scrolling
should not be a problem :-)
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guiro_boy
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Post by guiro_boy »

I understand what you're saying, but I think you're assuming a bit much.

I hardly store "all" of my messages in my Inbox. I generally will, however, keep messages in my Inbox until I've had a chance to reply to them -- this way I can keep all the messages I need to still respond to in one place. I receive a decent amount of mail and sometimes am too busy to respond to less urgent emails right away. As a result, it's not unusual for my Inbox to contain 20 to 30 messages. Is this so bizarre? Very few people I know move every single message out of their Inbox as soon as they've read it.

My point here isn't to defend my mail sorting habits, just that it seems like it would be so much more intuitive for Thunderbird to behave as most (all?) other mail clients do in this regard.

At 1024x768 with the default font settings and my Thunderbird window at a decent size (but not maximized), classic view with message pane, there is room for 9 lines of mail headers in the window. This means that if I have 9 or more messages in my Inbox (not an unreasonable amount, I think) and I receive one new message, I have to scroll down to see the new mail header. Am I the only one who finds that unintuitive?

I guess it's just that I can't think of a single reason why anyone wouldn't want the window to move down automatically.
idotherock
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Post by idotherock »

I mean, don't most people sort their messages old > new?


Actually, no. I've always sorted new > old. Not sure why, though. Seems like maybe that was how whatever email program I first used years ago was set up.

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pianoman1948
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Post by pianoman1948 »

And I have always sorted old > new ... for the same reason: every other mail client I have used does it. And this doesn't just apply to the Inbox, it's an issue with whatever folder you are looking at. Some of mine have thousands of messages in them, so I always have to scroll manually to the bottom to see the new messages in TB.
pianoman1948
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Post by pianoman1948 »

... so I agree automatically srolling to the bottom is intuitive and ought to be an option. I just realize how I have been compensating for this: Click on any message header in the list and hit Ctrl --> End. That takes you to the bottom without scrolling.
RonSMeyer
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Re: Scroll to bottom of inbox when new messages received?

Post by RonSMeyer »

I just upgraded to Win 7 which does not have an email client. Downloaded Thunderbird. Overall I like it but this not auto-scrolling down as messages are received is really annoying. This thread started in 2004 and here it is 2009. This is never going to happen is it?
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Freee!!
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Re: Scroll to bottom of inbox when new messages received?

Post by Freee!! »

RonSMeyer wrote:I just upgraded to Win 7 which does not have an email client. Downloaded Thunderbird. Overall I like it but this not auto-scrolling down as messages are received is really annoying. This thread started in 2004 and here it is 2009. This is never going to happen is it?

First of all, a five year kick is not really appreciated on this forum.

You could try the AutoMsgSelect extension, but my recommendation is to just keep your Inbox empty by moving all read messages to (subfolders of) "Read". That way you won't have to scroll and it will help to prevent some other problems as well.
RonSMeyer
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Re: Scroll to bottom of inbox when new messages received?

Post by RonSMeyer »

>> First of all, a five year kick is not really appreciated on this forum.

And if I started a new thread you would yell at me "Use the search function"!

That's what happens on virtually every forum. A new user uses the search function and they get yelled at by the old users for kicking an old thread. A new user posts a new thread and they get yelled by the old users for not using the search function.

I will try the extension. I get 200 emails a day. What am I supposed to do, quit my job so I can stay home and clear my inbox?
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Freee!!
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Re: Scroll to bottom of inbox when new messages received?

Post by Freee!! »

RonSMeyer wrote:>> First of all, a five year kick is not really appreciated on this forum.

And if I started a new thread you would yell at me "Use the search function"!
Too true :(
You could have started a new thread and mention you used the search function (and maybe add a link to this thread).
That's what happens on virtually every forum. A new user uses the search function and they get yelled at by the old users for kicking an old thread. A new user posts a new thread and they get yelled by the old users for not using the search function.
You are perfectly correct, been there, done that and still got the scars myself ;)
Solution: Post a link when starting a new thread, silences most of them.
I will try the extension. I get 200 emails a day. What am I supposed to do, quit my job so I can stay home and clear my inbox?
Do you read all those 200 or do you delete some unread?
I just move messages immediately after reading them (unless I delete them of course). It takes all of one second extra to file them correctly and my Inbox is always clear.
RonSMeyer
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Re: Scroll to bottom of inbox when new messages received?

Post by RonSMeyer »

Posting a link along with a new message is a very good idea. I hadn't thought of that. I will do that next time. Thank you.
I already have rules to auto-file the most important emails in specific folders. Obviously I do not get 200 emails at one time but I could get 20 or 30 and hour and I would like to have the most recent emails always scrolled to the bottom. I do go through and delete junk and reorganize every few days so it doesn't get overwhelming but I just don't have time to constantly be doing it.
Unfortunately, I could not find an extension called AutoMsgSelect or anything resembles that name.
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Freee!!
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Re: Scroll to bottom of inbox when new messages received?

Post by Freee!! »

RonSMeyer wrote:Posting a link along with a new message is a very good idea. I hadn't thought of that. I will do that next time. Thank you.
You're welcome.
I already have rules to auto-file the most important emails in specific folders. Obviously I do not get 200 emails at one time but I could get 20 or 30 and hour and I would like to have the most recent emails always scrolled to the bottom. I do go through and delete junk and reorganize every few days so it doesn't get overwhelming but I just don't have time to constantly be doing it.
I don't use rules, I just manually move every message out of the Inbox upon handling, takes up to 1 second extra, no real problem.
Unfortunately, I could not find an extension called AutoMsgSelect or anything resembles that name.
I found a couple of references quickly enough, but I can't find a download either at this moment. I know the author of this (and a couple of other valuable add-ons) stopped working on them :(
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