Thunderbird Desktop settings research: what we learned from your feedback
blog.thunderbird.net
blog.thunderbird.net
right-click make rule about this sender delete all the stuff in the email address (from left to right) up to the domain name (not just the name and @ symbol, but subdomain too ) click drop down to select the trash click save wait for popup. click run single rule.
And has been operating as a fully fledged subsidiary of the foundation since 2020: https://blog.thunderbird.net/2020/01/thunderbirds-new-home/
Maybe try the .deb version? (maybe need to back up your data in ~/snap/thunderbird/
Oh well, no software is perfect.
I've seen so many people claim this is the future we're living in, but I've never seen it actually work as described. It's always more hand holding than I'm willing to put into an llm
Surely I'm missing something? How are people using it? If someone replies to you "I think there was a problem with your attachment", do you search for your sent email?
Or did I miss something? Do you see your replies in the threaded view?
But if you need threading so much, you could also just move your send mails with the rest of the mails, there is a setting with the server-confg, which defines what is to be done with send mails, which by default saves a copy in the Sent-folder. You could also check out filters and labels.
And looking at the roadmap of thunderbird, there is some plan about a global database, which reads as if this might allow a Gmail-style frontend somewhere in the future. So maybe next year threading might a more solved problem..
Unfortunately that quoted history is not easily navigable and doesn't include attachments.
> there is a setting with the server-confg, which defines what is to be done with send mail
I looked into it, but it unfortunately only applies to future messages sent. Typing this I just realized that I could maybe move my existing sent messages into the uber-folder, I'll give that a try.
https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/ideas/true-threaded-conversat...
In the meantime, the Thunderbird Conversations add-on provides a conversation view that looks like classic Gmail, which is probably what you're looking for:
https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/addon/gmail...
As for the Message List Pane, maybe that's something I missed, I'll take another look.
I would suggest they first "demystify the language" and "streamline information architecture" of the article itself.
Also some details would be nice. And some acknowledgement of an understanding that the UI being "dated" and not "modern" probably isn't what's making it difficult to use.
The tone with which it manages to objectify the users and distance the writer from them is a cherry on top.
Deep down, though, I really wish they rebuilt it on top of something less heavy than Firefox, eg. ZED's GPUI.
> Thunderbird’s robust functionality is its superpower, but a dated interface shouldn’t be a barrier to entry for newer users.
I started preparing for the worst.
Is only 10 people representative of the population of thunderbird users?
Sample size is a very weird, often kinda counter-intuitive topic.
For very narrow studies it is possible to get representative data with fewer than a dozen interviews, but in this case it is explicitly not representative. In the video they mention that most of the participants have used Thunderbird for over a decade and follow release notes, development, and various forums closely, which to me suggests that they were recruited opportunistically rather than a random statistical sampling.
They do mention that they have plans to engage a larger audience in the future but that can be incredibly expensive. Even large organizations typically have to augment a small number of representative interviews with a large number of surveys and a very large set of user telemetry to properly weight interview feedback.
(I jest!)
I.e. a low memory solution so you can leave it going and only open the client for actual interactions. Thunderbird is pretty bloated to leave open all day and sending and receiving shouldn't need a web browser attached.
I agree with you. Having my mail client still use ~800MB of memory when in the tray is not great (and I have very few emails, so one cannot blame the index or whatever).
Unfortunately since Thunderbird's IMAP stack was recently (a few years ago) rewritten in javascript (from C++), it's now dependant on the web stack to receive and send emails. I doubt firefox/thunderbird is engineered in a way that you could unload only the html rendering part on demand.
So I doubt we'll ever have our wish granted...
Missing step numero Zero: What is a menu bar, where should it be placed, and how do I use its menu items in a way that adheres to the basic design rules of all operating systems on which this software runs?
still can't comprehend how is this legal in EU, Google at least provide takeout
I'd also like it to be possible to enter a U2F pin number when using Oauth because then I could actually use it with my company Yubikey.
There is no reason for the client to insist on knowing every email alias that delivers to a mail store.
Whatever the To address of a received mail, use that for the From addr in any replies...
#2 Suggestion: Make calendar reminders not get lost on snooze...
If all of your users customize extensively the moment they get your hands on the software that means your defaults suck. As long as they keep letting people customize it's good enough though.