gHacks technology news » thunderbird extension

Increase Thundebird’s Mass Mailing Capabilities

Martin — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:54:22 +0000

The desktop email client Thunderbird does offer mass mailing capabilities by default. It is possible to add multiple recipients for an email. Problems appear however if the number of recipients is extremely large (more than 100 for example) and if the individual recipients should not see the other recipients that received the email. The second problem can be tackled by adding each recipient in the BCC (blind carbon copy) field and a personal email address in the To field. The first problem can be solved by writing multiple emails below the maximum recipient per email limit. Both solutions increase the workload of the user writing the emails. They also make it more difficulty to keep track of the process as the user now has to handle multiple emails instead of just one.

Mail Merge is an experimental Thunderbird add-on that increases the email client’s mass mailing capabilities. It does so by introducing two new options to the email software: Mass Mail and Personal Mail.

Mass Mail

Mass Mail is ingenious. The user writing the email starts by writing one email that should be send out to all recipients. This includes the title, body and possible attachments. Then all recipients are added to that email in the appropriate fields. A click on the Mass Mail button (available under File > Mass Mail) will now create individual emails for each email recipient and put them in the outbox of the email client. Each recipient will therefor get an individual email message so that no other email addresses appear in the mail header.

Personal Mail

One problem of the Mass Mail approach is that the emails cannot address the individual. Adding Hej Frank to a mass mail would send that greeting to all other recipients as well. That’s where Personal Mail comes into play. Personal Mail makes use of variables and csv files to address individuals in mass mailings. Variables can be added to any field in the email in the form {{Variable}}. It is for instance possible to write an email like the following:

To: {{Mail}}
Subject: {{ID}}: Notification
Body: Hi {{Name}}, this email …

The selection of File > Personal Mail after writing the email will open a dialog with the mandatory option to load a csv file containing the information. The developer does not describe how the csv should look like and I was not able to figure it out on my own. Users who would like to make use of that feature might want to contact the developer directly. The email address is published at the Mozilla Thunderbird page of the add-on. Mail Merge is compatible with both Thunderbird 2 and 3 and can be downloaded from the official Mozilla website.

Tags: mass mail, thunderbird, thunderbird add-on, thunderbird extension

Display Clocks In Thunderbird

Martin — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 07:51:59 +0000

One add-on that I do not want to live without anymore is the Fox Clocks add-on. I initially only installed it in Firefox where it displays the current time in the status bar with the option to hover the mouse cursor over the clock to see additional timezones that have been configured. That’s great for users who work without taskbar on their computer system as they always have a clock in view. I recently discovered that the add-on is also compatible with Thunderbird. The core functionality of Fox Clocks remains the same but the display is different in the email client.

Fox Clock will add clocks to the Thunderbird status bar. Those clocks – unlike in Firefox – will be displayed next to each other in the desktop email program. This is more comfortable as all clocks are visible all the time opposed to the one clock that is visible in Firefox.

The add-on comes with additional options to configure the time format, position and style, time zone data and more. That’s another positive aspect of the add-on when compared to its Firefox counterpart. The clocks can be displayed on the left or right side of the Thunderbird status bar. An alternative is the option to display them as a toolbar instead which could then be placed in the Thunderbird header area.

Fox Clocks in an helpful add-on for email users who regularly correspond with email users from other places in the world. The Thunderbird add-on is compatible with all versions of Thunderbird. It can be downloaded from the official Mozilla Thunderbird website.

Tags: Email, email clocks, fox clocks, thunderbird, thunderbird add-on, thunderbird clocks, thunderbird extension

Bookmark Emails In Thunderbird

Martin — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 07:42:39 +0000

There are a few ways to take care of important emails that are arriving in the email inbox. The best way to deal with them is to react right away if possible. This sometimes does not work however if research, data or consultation is required before the email can be processed and replied to. The desktop email client Thunderbird comes with a few options to mark those important emails, one being the ability to add tags to emails which will color code them in the email client. Other email users prefer to move important emails into a special folder so that they can access the emails in that folder at a later time without having to search the email folder structure for them.

A third option is provided by the Thunderbird add-on eMarks which supposedly stands for email bookmarks. The add-on adds a new toolbar to the email client. Emails can then be dragged and dropped into that toolbar easily. This makes these emails available from every folder the user might be in. These emails are then accessible with a left-click of the mouse. Thunderbird will automatically switch to the folder the email is stored in and display it in the preview pane.

A right-click on any bookmarked email will open a context menu with options to open the email in a new window or tab and to rename or delete it. Users who prefer no additional toolbar in the email client can disable it and access the bookmarked emails from the file menu at the top. An emarks entry is added by the extension that can be used to access the bookmarked emails with three clicks of the mouse. Not as comfortable as the toolbar solution but better if space is an issue.

The eMarks extension for the Mozilla Thunderbird email client is available at the Mozilla Thunderbird website. It is compatible with all the latest versions of the desktop email client (including Thunderbird 3 beta).

Tags: bookmark emails, emails, thunderbird, thunderbird add-on, thunderbird emails, thunderbird extension

Auto Resize Email Picture Attachments In Thunderbird

Martin — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 15:52:51 +0000

Modern digital cameras can produce large photos which makes it difficulty to send them to email recipients due to their sizes. Problems become apparent when the sending of the email takes a long time but also when the emails are rejected by the recipient’s email provider due to their total size. Computer users can resize the photos and pictures on their local computer system to decrease their size or upload them on the Internet to send the link to the shared photos to the email recipient instead.

The Auto Resize JPEG extension for the Mozilla Thunderbird email client offers another possibility. The extension will automatically resize pictures that are attached in the email client before they are send out by the user.

The Thunderbird extension will automatically recognize jpg image attachments and display a prompt after clicking on the send button. It is possible to optimize the images or skip the optimization. The options of the add-on contain settings to always optimize images in the email client (which will remove the prompt after clicking on the send button) and to specify a minimum height and width. The default values are set to 1024 pixels each. Options to change the quality level would be nice.

The extension for the Thunderbird email client can be very handy for users who regularly send image attachments in their email messages. It can save them time and bandwidth (and probably a few emails from angry recipients who received large emails). Auto Resize JPEG is available from the Mozilla Thunderbird website. It is currently only available for the Windows operating system.

Tags: Email, email client, mozilla thunderbird, resize attachments, resize images, thunderbird, thunderbird extension

Thunderbird Email Thread Visualizer

Martin — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 09:47:34 +0000

Mozilla Thunderbird is probably the second most popular desktop email client next to Microsoft Outlook. One of its main advantages is the extension engine that users know from the Firefox web browser which makes it easy to create extensions for the email client that increase its functionality. ThreadVis is an interesting Thunderbird extension that visualizes email threads in the email client.

Thunderbird by default does not link email conversations in any way. This means that it can sometimes be difficulty to locate all emails of a conversation in the web browser. This is especially true since those emails are usually located in at least two different folders (Sent folder and Email Inbox).

The concept that ThreadVis introduces can be explained with a few words. It processes emails from selected folders (or all emails if the user selects that option) and creates links between emails if they are part of the same conversation.

It then visualizes this conversation in the email header which makes it easy to jump to all emails that are part of it. The emails are color coded in the header. Green dots visualize emails that have been received by the user while red emails are those that have been sent. The time it took for each reply is also shown in the visualisation.

The Thunderbird extension will display a configuration dialog after installation which can be used to define the folders that should be processed and cached by it. It is important to process all relevant folders (e.g. inbox and sent). Some emails are otherwise shown as missing in the visualization.

The visualization can also be displayed in its own separate window which might be useful for some users. ThreadVis is a great Thunderbird add-on for users who want to have better control over email conversations in the email client.

Tags: Email, email client, email threads, mozilla thunderbird, threadvis, thunderbird, thunderbird emails, thunderbird extension

Thunderbird Email Address Auto Cleaner

Martin — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 15:33:23 +0000

Did you know that there is a difference between sending emails to recipients that are in the email address book and those that are not. The display name is one of the form fields that can be filled out in the email clients address book. This display name will be send along with the email address to recipients in the to, cc and bcc fields. Email recipients in Thunderbird see the display name in the to field and the email address when hovering over the display name in the status bar.

Sending the display name can be problematic because of several reasons. One is that it is up to the account owner to pick a display name which can sometimes be not appropriate to share with the recipient. Another problem is that it can lead to encoding problems on the recipients side as well.

The Thunderbird extension Address Auto Cleaner takes care of the issue by removing the display name from emails that get send out from the desktop email client. It will automatically remove the display name from the to, cc and bcc fields in Thunderbird before the email is send to the recipients.

Tags: auto address cleaner, Email, email address, thunderbird, thunderbird add-on, thunderbird extension

Thunderbird Delete Confirmations

Martin — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 13:44:04 +0000

The email client Mozilla Thunderbird does not come with delete confirmations turned on by default. There is also no option in the Thunderbird settings to activate delete confirmations. The advanced config editor does list two entries that might be there to enable delete confirmations but there is zero information to be found on the Internet about those two settings. Even if those settings would enable delete confirmations they would do so for all emails and folders.

Delete Confirm is a Thunderbird extension that adds delete confirmations to the email client. It is possible to enable delete confirmations on a per folder basis in Thunderbird. The Trash and Send folder delete confirmations are enabled by default while they are turned off for all other folders.

A right-click on a folder and the selection of Properties will display a checkbox to enable or disable delete confirmations. The extension will display a popup if the user tries to delete an email that resides in a folder that has delete confirmations activated.

Delete Confirm is compatible with all Thunderbird 2 versions and can be downloaded right from the Mozilla website. The add-on is experimental which means that the user has to log into the Mozilla website before downloading the add-on.

Tags: delete confirmations, delete email, Email, email client, email software, thunderbird, thunderbird add-on, thunderbird email, thunderbird extension

Thunderbird Archiving Shortcuts

Martin — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 10:22:26 +0000

The Archive This Thunderbird add-on provides configurable keyboard shortcuts to archive email messages with the press of a button. The add-on is compatible with all versions of Thunderbird 2. It is experimental which not only becomes obvious while trying to download the add-on but also when looking at the keyboard shortcuts that have been implemented by the software author.

The Thunderbird extension adds ten keyboard shortcuts to the Thunderbird email client which can be used to archive email messages. The functions are mapped to [CTRL 0..9] which proves to be difficulty as Thunderbird uses [CTRL 1] and [CTRL 2] for different functions making those two keyboard shortcuts not working initially.

The user can basically map a folder of his mailbox to one of the keyboard shortcuts. This essentially means that any selected mail would be moved to that folder upon pressing the keyboard shortcut. The shortcut [CTRL 0] has been reserved to work with mail filters which can also be defined in the extension. Pressing that shortcut while working in Thunderbird will apply all configured filters to the selected messages.

This proves to be a very effective method of moving mails quickly to designated folders in Thunderbird. It is possible to correct the non-working [CTRL 1] and [CTRL 2] keys by installing the excellent Keyconfig add-on for Thunderbird. Keyconfig will display all keyboard shortcuts in the email client and provide the means to change them. It can be used to either change the keyboard shortcuts of the extension or to change the original keyboard shortcuts to something else so that all keys can be used when working with the extension.

Tags: email client, keyboard shortcut, keyconfig, mozilla thunderbird, thunderbird, thunderbird add-on, thunderbird archive, thunderbird extension, thunderbird shortcuts

SMTP Server Selector For Thunderbird

Martin — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 11:29:35 +0000

If you ever needed to select a different SMTP server while sending mails in Thunderbird you can now by installing the Send Via add-on for Thunderbird. The add-on can come in handy if the main SMTP server is not accessible at the moment or having accessibility or connection problems.

The Thunderbird add-on is available for all versions of Thunderbird 2. It is currently available as a experimental add-on at the Mozilla website from where it has to be downloaded before it can be installed in Thunderbird.

The add-on will add a drop down menu to the Send button in the Thunderbird email client which will list the available SMTP servers and an option to add a new SMTP server to use it to send the emails.

Selecting any of the available SMTP servers will send the message by connecting to the specified server.

Tags: email client, send via, server, smtp, stmp server, thunderbird, thunderbird add-on, thunderbird extension

Thunderbird Filter Additions

Martin — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 16:18:55 +0000

The email client Mozilla Thunderbird comes with a few mail filters preinstalled that can be used to automatically process incoming emails. The actions that can be selected as a Thunderbird filter are limited to moving, copying, deleting, forwarding or tagging messages, adding stars, setting mail priorities, marking as read, setting the junk status or replying with templates. While the actions do include several of the most used filters they do lack some actions that are available in other mail clients.

The experimental Mozilla Thunderbird 3 add-on FiltaQuilla adds those additional actions to the Thunderbird Filter settings, in particular filters to launch a software program, append text to subjects, remove tags or stars, mark the email as replied or unread, copy the mail as read or disable notifications.

Probably the most interesting filter of this list is the filter to launch a file after receiving an email message that meets the requirements.

Each Thunderbird filter can be activated and deactivated in the options of the Thunderbird add-on. The mail filters can be selected in the Tools > Message Filters menu.

The Thunderbird add-on is unfortunately only compatible with Thunderbird 3 and not with the more widely used Thunderbird 2. Thunderbird 3 is currently available in Beta 1.

Tags: email client, mozilla thunderbird, thunderbird 3, thunderbird add-on, thunderbird email, thunderbird extension, thunderbird filter, thunderbird filters

Copy Tables In Thunderbird

Martin — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 17:31:41 +0000

Tables can be embedded in emails easily. If a Thunderbird user receives an email that contains a table he is up for a problem though. It does not matter how he tries to copy the table or selected parts of it because the end result will always be that the formatting is lost. There is no way to copy a table from Thunderbird into Microsoft Excel or similar applications and retain the rows and columns of that table.

Table 2 Clipboard is a Thunderbird extension that adds this much needed feature to Thunderbird. The extension can be used to copy a table or part of it to the clipboard retaining the format of it. Pasting that data into a spreadsheet will put the data into rows and columns just like the original data was.

The add-on has to be downloaded from Mozilla and installed using the Tools > Addons menu in Thunderbird. A click on Install in that menu will open a file browser where the downloaded extension has to be selected.

The extension adds two entries to the right-click context menu. The first is always available which will copy the whole table to the clipboard. The second is only available when CTRL-selecting table cells to copy only those selected cells to the clipboard. A shortcut CTRL Shift C is also available to copy selected table cells to the clipboard.

The Thunderbird extension could be useful for Thunderbird users who regularly receive tables in their emails that are embedded in the message’s body and not attached in separate files.

Tags: copy tables, email client, mozilla thunderbird, tables thunderbird, thunderbird, thunderbird addon, thunderbird extension, thunderbird tips

Automatic CC Emails In Thunderbird

Martin — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 10:45:49 +0000

The email client Thunderbird does not provide an option to automatically send specific emails to a CC or BCC email address. While home users normally do not need that feature it might be required to send all email correspondence to a supervisor or different department in the company that you are working for. It can also be a good way to send emails to another account to store all send messages in one central place.

Auto-CC is an extension for the Mozilla Thunderbird email client that can configure the email client to automatically send CC or BCC emails whenever an email is send from the program. The extension is currently experimental which means that users need to log into the Mozilla website before they can download and install the mail extension.

The email address that the messages are send to has to be configured in the Thunderbird Config Editor. The editor can be accessed by clicking on Tools > Options, selecting the Advanced tab and clicking on the Config Editor button. Adding the auto_cc filter will display four parameters of the Thunderbird extension.

extensions.auto_cc.auto_cc_address: Double-click to enter the email address that will receive the CC or BCC emails.
extensions.auto_cc.enabled: Auto-CC is enabled if set to true and disabled if set to false
extensions.auto_cc.send_as_bcc: Will send the emails as BCC instead of CC if set to true.

A button can be added to the Compose toolbar to quickly turn the feature on or off. One thing that this extension is missing is the ability to select CC or BCC emails on an account basis. As of now all accounts are affected if the extension is enabled which might be ok in a work environment but not at home. The toolbar button is not the perfect solution because it quickly becomes an inconvenience to turn the extension or or off several times a day depending on the emails that are send out. It is also likely that the user will forget to turn on or off the extension from time to time.

As of now it’s a great solution for users who use Thunderbird in a work environment which requires to BCC or CC emails to another email address.

Tags: automatically bcc, automatically cc, email client, email tips, emails, mozilla, thunderbird, thunderbird add-on, thunderbird extension

Thunderbird Folder Hotkeys

Martin — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 15:07:06 +0000

One of the limitations of Thunderbird is that there are no hotkeys to quickly switch folders or save mail into another folder. The user has to use the mouse to save or copy mails into folders and use it as well if he wants to switch folders. Well there actually is a way to switch folders with the keyboard only which involves ALT Tab but it’s more of a nuisance than a useful feature.

Enter Nostalgy for Thunderbird. The extension for Thunderbird adds much needed hotkey support for several actions that are performed regularly. The major three are switching to another folder, saving mail into a folder and to copy mail into a folder.

The shortcuts are (g) for switching folders, (s) for saving mails and (c) for copying mails. Pressing a button opens a folder browser and a text input field in the status bar of Thunderbird. The user can enter part of the folder’s name to filter the results and use the up and down arrow keys to pick it. Pressing Shift in combination with one of the hotkeys will go to, save or copy the selected mails into the folder that has been previously used.

Nostalgy provides access to several other hotkeys plus provides users with the option to create their own. The hotkey (b) saves the current message in the selected folder and puts the focus on it, (L) hides the folder pane, (`) shows messages with the same sender / subject and the two search hotkeys (return) and (CTRL return) which selects and focuses on the last / all messages that match the criteria.

New hotkeys can be created with the Go, Save, Copy and Save Go commands which can be extremely useful to navigate and work with a set of popular folders.

The help file contains reference to additional hotkeys that might be useful to some users:

L Hide/show the folder pane
ESC-F Focus the folder pane
ESC-M Focus the message pane
ESC-ESC Focus the thread pane
ESC-ESC-ESC Focus the thread pane, clear quick search box, select the “All” view
ESC-I Focus the quick search box (same as Ctrl-K)
Ctrl-Left/Right Scroll the message from the thread pane

The last interesting feature of Nostalgy is the creation of rules that match folders with messages which are then proposed in the status bar. This makes it possible to move messages quickly to their designated folders with the Shift S or Shift C combination. Might be useful if a user wants to read a message before moving it to another folder.

The only problem that could be experienced during tests was that Nostalgy has problems with Thunderbird themes that reduce the size of the status bar. The functionality is still given but the user might run into display problems for the text that is typed into the box.

Tags: Email, mozilla thundebird, nostalgy, thunderbird, thunderbird add-on, thunderbird extension, thunderbird hotkeys

gHacks technology news » thunderbird extension

Increase Thundebird’s Mass Mailing Capabilities

Related posts

Display Clocks In Thunderbird

Related posts

Bookmark Emails In Thunderbird

Related posts

Auto Resize Email Picture Attachments In Thunderbird

Related posts

Thunderbird Email Thread Visualizer

Related posts

Thunderbird Email Address Auto Cleaner

Related posts

Thunderbird Delete Confirmations

Related posts

Thunderbird Archiving Shortcuts

Related posts

SMTP Server Selector For Thunderbird

Related posts

Thunderbird Filter Additions

Related posts

Copy Tables In Thunderbird

Related posts

Automatic CC Emails In Thunderbird

Related posts

Thunderbird Folder Hotkeys

Related posts