Difference between revisions of "Thunderbird"

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[[Category:Email Client]]
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[[Category:Email clients]]
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[[it:Thunderbird]]
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{{Article summary start}}
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[[ja:Thunderbird]]
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{{Article summary text|This article discusses the installation and configuration of the e-mail client, Mozilla Thunderbird. It also provides information about several popular add-ons and extensions to the program, including EnigMail, Lightning, and WebMail.}}
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[[tr:Thunderbird]]
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{{Article summary heading|Related}}
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{{Related articles start}}
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{{Article summary wiki|Thunderbird Export URLs}}
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{{Related|Firefox}}
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{{Article summary wiki|Firefox}}
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{{Related articles end}}
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{{Article summary end}}
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'''Mozilla Thunderbird''' is an email, newsgroup, and news feed client designed around simplicity and full-featuredness while avoiding bloat. It supports POP, IMAP, SMTP, S/MIME, and OpenPGP encryption (through the Enigmail extension). Similarly to Firefox, it has a wide variety of extension and addons available for download that add more features.
+
Mozilla [https://www.mozilla.org/thunderbird/ Thunderbird] is an open source email, news, and chat client developed by the [https://www.mozilla.org/ Mozilla Foundation].
  
 
== Installation ==
 
== Installation ==
  
−
[[pacman|Install]] {{Pkg|thunderbird}} from the [[official repositories]].
+
[[Install]] the {{Pkg|thunderbird}} package, with a [https://www.archlinux.org/packages/?q=thunderbird-i18n language pack] if required.
  
−
There are a number of language packs available if English is not your preferred language. To see a list of available language packs, try:
+
Other versions include:
−
$ pacman -Ss thunderbird-i18n
+
  
−
== Extensions ==
+
* {{App | Thunderbird Beta | Cutting edge features with relatively-good stability. | https://www.mozilla.org/thunderbird/channel/ | {{AUR|thunderbird-beta-bin}}}}
 +
* {{App | Thunderbird Earlybird | Experience the newest innovations as they're developed (equivalent to an alpha and Firefox Aurora releases). | https://www.mozilla.org/thunderbird/channel/ | {{AUR|thunderbird-earlybird}}}}
 +
* {{App | Thunderbird Nightly | Experience the newest innovations with nightly releases (for those that want to work with breakages). | https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/thunderbird/nightly/latest-comm-central/ | {{AUR|thunderbird-nightly}}}}
  
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=== Encryption with EnigMail ===
+
A version overview, both past and future, can be read on the [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Releases Mozilla wiki].
  
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==== Installation ====
+
== Securing ==
  
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===== Via addons.mozilla.org =====
+
=== Considerations ===
  
−
{{Note|
+
Under some circumstances Thunderbird may send your system's (internal) IP address as reply to HELO/ELHO requesting SMTP servers. If you have concerns, please read [http://kb.mozillazine.org/Replace_IP_address_with_name_in_headers this] article. You might change this for Firefox, too.
−
* This method won't work for x86_64, see [[#Via AUR]].
+
−
* The section below that points you to the static builds seems to work fine for x86_x64. The aur is out of date (07/25/12). You have to use the nightly builds though because arch is using v14 of thunderbird. }}
+
  
−
The first step to setting up email encryption is to download the GNU Privacy Guard (GnuPG). GnuPG is required by pacman, which is a part of 'base' system, so you do not have to install them manually.
+
If you want to hide Thunderbird for sending your system's [https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Gecko_user_agent_string_reference#Linux User Agent] string, then you can override the default string with an empty one:
  
−
EnigMail can be downloaded from [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/71 here], at Mozilla's addon database. Make sure that it is installed as a Thunderbird addon and isn't automatically interpreted to be a Firefox addon. This can be done by going to Tools -> Add-ons and clicking Install, then selecting the XPI addon package. Congratulations, EnigMail is now installed. You should now restart Thunderbird.
+
# go to {{ic|Edit > Preferences > Advanced > General > Config Editor}}.(*)
 +
# right-click and create new string entry {{ic|general.useragent.override}} and leave the second dialog entry empty.
  
−
===== Via enigmail.mozdev.org =====
+
While Thunderbird disables email images by default, it enables HTML rendering which may expose IP address and location. Choose {{ic|View > Message Body As > Plain Text}} to disable this.
  
−
{{Note| As of 07/25/12 this worked.  It is nightly build though. Who knows if it will work tommorow?!}}
+
JavaScript is disabled for message content but not RSS news feeds. To disable JavaScript for RSS:
  
−
EnigMail addons that works for x86_64 can be downloaded from [http://enigmail.mozdev.org/download/download-static.php.html this] page. Select the Arch build of the addon and follow the instructions in the previous section to install.
+
# go to {{ic|Edit > Preferences > Advanced > General > Config Editor}}.
 +
# search {{ic|javascript.enabled}} and double-click the value to false.
  
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===== Via AUR =====
+
== Extensions ==
  
−
There is an [[AUR]] package: {{AUR|enigmail}}.
+
=== EnigMail - Encryption ===
  
−
===== Issues with the x86_64 version of enigmail =====
+
[https://www.enigmail.net EnigMail] is an [https://addons.mozilla.org/thunderbird/addon/enigmail/ extension] that allows writing and receiving email signed and/or encrypted with the OpenPGP standard. It relies on the [[GnuPG]].
  
−
It is possible that Thunderbird (Lanikai) hasn't got the same build-type (Error: Linux_x86-gcc3) as the enigmail (x86_64) and won't get installed. Downloading Thunderbird in the i686 version an installing enigmail by the Add-On application works fine.
+
Common packages include: {{AUR|thunderbird-enigmail}} and {{AUR|thunderbird-enigmail-bin}}.
  
−
If you download Thunderbird manually, remember copying the files to {{ic|/opt}} and creating a directory for Thunderbird. To still be able start Thunderbird from the "default location" create a file that points at {{ic|/opt/thunderbird/thunderbird}} for example.
+
==== Sharing the public key ====
  
−
Create a symlink to make it available in $PATH:
+
To distribute the public key one may upload it to a [[Wikipedia:Key server (cryptographic)|keyserver]].
  
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# ln -s /usr/local/bin/thunderbird /opt/thunderbird/thunderbird
+
==== Encrypting emails ====
  
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Finish with setting the right permissions and "updating" your shell.
+
Encryption does not always work properly with emails containing HTML. It is best to use plain text by choosing ''Options > Delivery Format > Plain Text Only'' in the new email window.
  
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# chmod 755 /usr/local/bin/thunderbird
+
Once the email is finished it can be signed through the ''OpenPGP'' menu.
  
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==== Creating a keypair ====
+
==== Decrypting emails ====
  
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A keypair can be created by opening Thunderbird and finding the 'OpenPGP' menu and clicking 'Setup Wizard'. The wizard will now help you create your keypair. All of the options are fairly self-explanatory and are not discussed in this article.
+
Assuming that the email was encrypted properly, just trying to open it should result in a pop-up asking to type in the keyphrase.
  
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==== Sharing your public key ====
+
==== Blank draft messages ====
  
−
There are a variety of ways to distribute your public key. One way is to upload it to a public keyserver network. Another is to share it with friends who are also using email encryption.
+
If after upgrading to {{Pkg|gnupg}} v2.1 your saved draft emails have gone "blank" and show a pink bar displaying:
  
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==== Encrypting your emails ====
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Enigmail Error - no matching private/secret key found to decrypt message; click on 'Details' button for more information
  
−
First of all, encryption does not always work properly with emails containing HTML. It is best to make all of the encrypted emails you wish to send plaintext. This can be ensured by going to Options in the 'New Email' window and finding Format, then clicking on "Plain-text only".
+
or, when you have a "Write" window open you repeatedly see a popup window with:
  
−
Once you have chosen a recipient and title and have written your message, you can sign and encrypt the message by using the OpenPGP menu. Once that is done, simply click "Send" and your encrypted email has been sent.
+
The email address or key ID 0x''key_id'' cannot be matched to a valid, not expired OpenPGP key.
 +
Please ensure that you have a valid OpenPGP key, and that your account settings point to that key.
  
−
==== Decrypting emails ====
+
and {{ic|gpg --list-keys}} fails to show some keys that used to be there, see [http://jo-ke.name/wp/?p=111 GnuPG invalid packet workaround].
  
−
This article will not go into the details of key signing.
+
=== TorBirdy - Anonymity ===
 +
TorBirdy is an [https://addons.mozilla.org/thunderbird/addon/torbirdy/ extension] that configures Thunderbird to make connections over the [[Tor]] anonymity network.
  
−
Assuming that the email was encrypted properly, just trying to open it should result in a popup window asking you to type in your keyphrase. Do so now, and the email will be decrypted for your viewing pleasure.
+
=== FireTray - Tray icon ===
  
−
=== Adding a calendar with Lightning ===
+
FireTray is an [https://addons.mozilla.org/thunderbird/addon/firetray/ extension] that adds a customizable system tray icon for Thunderbird. It is available in the AUR as {{AUR|thunderbird-firetray}}{{Broken package link|{{aur-mirror|thunderbird-firetray}}}}.
  
−
Lightning is an extension that brings Sunbird's functionality to Thunderbird. This integrates calendar functions into Thunderbird.
+
=== Lightning - Calendar ===
  
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=== Plain-text mode and font uniformity ===
+
[https://www.mozilla.org/projects/calendar/lightning/ Lightning] is a calendar [https://addons.mozilla.org/thunderbird/addon/lightning/ extension] that brings [[Wikipedia:Mozilla Sunbird|Sunbird]]'s functionality to Thunderbird, including CalDAV support.
  
−
Plain-text mode lets you view all your emails without HTML rendering. It can be configured from ''View menu > Message Body As'' option. This defaults to monospace font but font size is still inherited from original system fontconfig settings. You can uniform the default font and font size across all emails by overwriting it fontconfig user configuration. Appending below in user font config file before the closing </fontconfig> tag, will use replace monospace with Ubuntu Mono font with size of 10 pixels (provided you have already installed Ubuntu font family). Then run {{ic|fc-cache -fv}} to update system font cache.
+
It is available in the AUR as {{AUR|thunderbird-lightning-bin}}.
  
−
{{hc|/etc/fonts/conf.d/50-user.conf|
+
In case you are migrating a user profile (with Lightning installed there) from another platform (e.g. Windows), you may have to reinstall the Lightning addon from the mozilla addon page because Lightning is platform-dependent.
−
  <nowiki><match target="pattern">
+
−
    <test qual="any" name="family"><string>monospace</string></test>
+
−
    <edit name="family" mode="assign" binding="same"><string>Ubuntu Mono</string></edit>
+
−
    <!-- For Thunderbird, lowering default font size to 10 for uniformity -->
+
−
    <edit name="pixelsize" mode="assign"><int>10</int></edit>
+
−
  </match></nowiki>
+
−
}}
+
  
−
=== Resizeable tray icon ===
+
=== SOGo Connector (CardDAV) ===
  
−
There are a number of plugins that let Thunderbird close to tray, but most of them seem to make use of {{ic|/usr/lib/thunderbird-5.0/chrome/icons/default/default16.png}}, and if you are using a big screen and a bigger-than-standard dock (e.g. Avant Window Navigator) the icon could appear too little compared to the other tray icons.
+
[http://www.sogo.nu/english/downloads/frontends.html SOGo Connector] allows to sync addressbooks via CardDAV.
  
−
To make those plugins use the icons from {{ic|/usr/share/icons/hicolor/}} you just have to disable {{ic|/usr/lib/thunderbird-5.0/chrome/icons/default/default16.png}} renaming it for example to {{ic|default16.png.disabled}}, not forgetting to prevent pacman from reinstalling it by adding the following line to {{ic|/etc/pacman.conf}}:
+
It is available in the AUR as {{AUR|thunderbird-sogo-connector-bin}}.
−
NoExtract = usr/lib/thunderbird-5.0/chrome/icons/default/default16.png
+
  
−
=== Links in Thunderbird do NOT open in Firefox ===
+
=== Cardbook (CardDAV) ===
  
−
If you update from Firefox 3 to Firefox 4, you may no longer be able to click on a link in Thunderbird and have it open in Firefox. Especially if you are using KDE. To correct the problem, issue the following as your user, from the command line:
+
[https://addons.mozilla.org/thunderbird/addon/cardbook/ Cardbook] (VCard Addressbook): a new addressbook for Thunderbird based on the CARDDav and VCARD standards.
  
−
gconftool-2 --type=string -s /desktop/gnome/url-handlers/http/command "firefox %s"
+
== Tips and tricks ==
−
gconftool-2 --type=string -s /desktop/gnome/url-handlers/https/command "firefox %s"
+
  
−
Another option is go to the preferences => advanced => general and then select Config Editor.
+
=== Setting the default browser ===
  
−
Search for "network.protocol-handler.warn-external"
+
{{Note|Since version 24 the {{ic|network.protocol-handler.app.*}} keys have no effect and will not be able to set the default browser.}}
  
−
those following three were false, turn then to true, and then Thunderbird will ask you when clicking on liks which application to use. Select /usr/bin/firefox or /usr/bin/xdg-open and do not forgot to select remember my choice wink
+
Recent versions of Thunderbird use the default browser as defined by the [[Default applications|system MIME settings]]. This is commonly modified by the Gnome Control Center (''Gnome Control Center > Details > Default Applications > Web'') (available in: {{Pkg|gnome-control-center}}).
 +
 
 +
This can be overridden in Thunderbird through ''Edit > Preferences > Advanced > General > Config Editor'' by searching for {{ic|network.protocol-handler.warn-external}}.
 +
 
 +
If the following three are all set to '''false''' (default), turn them to '''true''', and Thunderbird will ask you when clicking on links which application to use (remember to also check ''"Remember my choice for .. links"'').
  
 
  network.protocol-handler.warn-external.ftp
 
  network.protocol-handler.warn-external.ftp
Line 119: Line 117:
 
  network.protocol-handler.warn-external.https
 
  network.protocol-handler.warn-external.https
  
−
the mimetype where saved on {{ic|~/.thunderbird/.default/mimeTypes.rdf}}.
+
=== Plain Text mode and font uniformity ===
 +
 
 +
Plain Text mode lets you view all your emails without HTML rendering and is available in ''View > Message Body As''. This defaults to the [[Wikipedia:Monospace_(Unicode)|Monospace]] font but the size is still inherited from original system fontconfig settings. The following example will overwrite this with Ubuntu Mono of 10 pixels (available in: {{Pkg|ttf-ubuntu-font-family}}).
 +
 
 +
Remember to run {{ic|fc-cache -fv}} to update system font cache. See [[Font configuration]] for more information.
 +
 
 +
{{hc|~/.config/fontconfig/fonts.conf|<nowiki>
 +
<?xml version="1.0"?>
 +
<!DOCTYPE fontconfig SYSTEM "fonts.dtd">
 +
<fontconfig>
 +
  <match target="pattern">
 +
    <test qual="any" name="family"><string>monospace</string></test>
 +
    <edit name="family" mode="assign" binding="same"><string>Ubuntu Mono</string></edit>
 +
    <!-- For Thunderbird, lowering default font size to 10 for uniformity -->
 +
    <edit name="pixelsize" mode="assign"><int>10</int></edit>
 +
  </match>
 +
</fontconfig>
 +
</nowiki>}}
  
 
=== Webmail with Thunderbird ===
 
=== Webmail with Thunderbird ===
  
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Please see upstream wiki: [http://kb.mozillazine.org/Using_webmail_with_your_email_client Using webmail with your email client].
+
:''See upstream Wiki: [http://kb.mozillazine.org/Using_webmail_with_your_email_client Using webmail with your email client].''
  
−
=== Opening links in Thunderbird with Firefox ===
+
=== Migrate profile to another system ===
  
−
Launch Thunderbird and navigate to the ''Config Editor'' by clicking the following menu items:
+
{{Tip|The [https://addons.mozilla.org/thunderbird/addon/importexporttools ImportExportTools] addon offers an option to export and import a profile folder.}}
  
−
Edit > Preferences > Advanced > General > Config Editor.
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Before you start with Importing or Exporting tasks, backup your complete {{ic|~/.thunderbird}} profile:
  
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Right click in the list of parameters, select ''New'' and ''String'' in the menu.
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$ cp -R ~/.thunderbird /to/backup/folder/
  
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A box appears, asking you for the preference name. Put :
+
With migration you just copy your current Thunderbird profile to another PC or a new Thunderbird installation:
−
network.protocol-handler.app.http
+
  
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Click OK, the box then asks you for the value : set it to :
+
1. Install Thunderbird on the target PC
−
/usr/bin/firefox
+
  
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Do it again for the preference named {{ic|network.protocol-handler.app.https}} .
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2. Start Thunderbird without doing anything and quit it.
  
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{{Note|Xfce4 users may want to set this preference value to "exo-open", which then will use the browser set up in "Preferred Applications".}}
+
3. Go to your Backup folder of your old Thunderbird installation
  
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You can now click on URL directly to launch them into Firefox !
+
4. Enter the backup profile folder:
  
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==== Setting Firefox to open links in new tabs/new windows ====
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$ cd /to/backup/folder/.thunderbird/<oldrandomnumber>.default/
  
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You can change whether links are opened in new tabs or in new windows by opening up /usr/bin/mozilla-firefox in a text editor.
+
5. Copy its content into the target profile folder {{ic|~/.thunderbird/<newrandomnumber>.default/}}
  
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There are two lines near the top that say:
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$ cp -R /to/backup/folder/.thunderbird/<oldrandomnumber>.default/* ~/.thunderbird/<newrandomnumber>.default/
  
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OPEN_IN=new-window
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=== Export + Import ===
−
#OPEN_IN=new-tab
+
  
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This setup will open URL's in a new window. Simply comment the first line and uncomment the second line to open URL's in a new tab!
+
Before you start with Importing or Exporting tasks, backup your complete {{ic|~/.thunderbird}} profile:
  
−
Another way to do that is to select the right radiobutton in ''Edit/Preferences/Tabs'' in your Firefox browser menu.
+
$ cp -R ~/.thunderbird /to/backup/folder/
 +
 
 +
If your accounts are broken or you want to join two different Thunderbird installations, you better install one Import and Export AddOn (eg. [https://addons.mozilla.org/thunderbird/addon/importexporttools ImportExportTools AddOn]) to both Thunderbird installations and following this just export and import all your data to the new installation.
 +
 
 +
=== Changing the default sorting order ===
 +
Thunderbird (up to at least 31.4.0-1) sorts mail by date with the oldest on top without any threading. While this can be changed per folder, it is easier to set a sane default instead as described in [https://superuser.com/questions/13518/change-the-default-sorting-order-in-thunderbird this Superuser.com post].
 +
 
 +
Go to Edit -> Preferences -> Advanced -> General -> Config Editor and set these keys:
 +
 
 +
mailnews.default_sort_order = 2 (descending)
 +
mailnews.default_view_flags = 1 (Threaded view)
 +
 
 +
=== Maildir support ===
 +
The default message store format is mbox. To enable the use of Maildir, see [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Thunderbird/Maildir Mozilla wiki: Thunderbird/Maildir]. You basically have to set this preference through (Edit -> Preferences -> Advanced -> General -> Config Editor):
 +
 
 +
mail.serverDefaultStoreContractID = @mozilla.org/msgstore/maildirstore;1
 +
 
 +
Some limitations up to at least 31.4.0-1: only the "tmp" and "cur" directories are supported. The "new" directory is completely ignored. The read state of mails are stored in a separate ".msf" file, so initially all local mail using Maildir will be marked as unread even when located in the "cur" directory.
  
 
== Troubleshooting ==
 
== Troubleshooting ==
  
−
=== Segfault at startup ===
+
=== LDAP Segfault ===
 +
 
 +
An [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=292127 LDAP clash (Bugzilla#292127)] arises on systems configured to use it to fetch user information. A possible [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=292127#c7 workaround] consists of renaming the conflicting bundled LDAP library.
 +
 
 +
=== Error: Incoming server already exists ===
 +
 
 +
It seems Thunderbird (v24) still has that bug which pops up with "Incoming server already exists" if you want to reinstall a previously deleted account with the same account data afterwards. Unfortunately, if you get this error you can now only clean reinstall Thunderbird:
 +
 
 +
1. Make a backup of your current profile:
 +
 
 +
$ cp -R ~/.thunderbird /to/backup/folder/
 +
 
 +
2. Export all you Accounts, Calendar and Feeds via an AddOn like it's written in ''Export section'' of this Wiki.
 +
3. Uninstall your current Thunderbird installation
 +
 
 +
$ pacman -R thunderbird
 +
 
 +
4. Remove all your data by deleting your current Thunderbird folder {{ic|rm -R ~/.thunderbird/}}.
 +
 
 +
5. Install Thunderbird again:
 +
 
 +
$ pacman -S thunderbird
  
−
A [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=292127 problem (mozilla-bug)] arises on systems configured to use ldap to fetch user information: Thunderbird segfaults at startup. A [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=292127#c7 work around] exists.
+
6.Create your mail accounts, feeds and calenders (empty).
  
−
=== Folder name in local language but menus in English after Thunderbird update ===
+
7. Install the [https://addons.mozilla.org/thunderbird/addon/importexporttools/ ImportExportTools] AddOn
  
−
First, verify that you have package '''thunderbird-i18n-xx''' installed, where "xx" is the language you want. If not, install it/reinstall it.
+
8. Import all your data.

Latest revision as of 08:17, 2 May 2016

Related articles

Mozilla Thunderbird is an open source email, news, and chat client developed by the Mozilla Foundation.

Installation

Install the thunderbird package, with a language pack if required.

Other versions include:

  • Thunderbird Beta — Cutting edge features with relatively-good stability.
https://www.mozilla.org/thunderbird/channel/ || thunderbird-beta-binAUR
  • Thunderbird Earlybird — Experience the newest innovations as they're developed (equivalent to an alpha and Firefox Aurora releases).
https://www.mozilla.org/thunderbird/channel/ || thunderbird-earlybirdAUR
  • Thunderbird Nightly — Experience the newest innovations with nightly releases (for those that want to work with breakages).
https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/thunderbird/nightly/latest-comm-central/ || thunderbird-nightlyAUR

A version overview, both past and future, can be read on the Mozilla wiki.

Securing

Considerations

Under some circumstances Thunderbird may send your system's (internal) IP address as reply to HELO/ELHO requesting SMTP servers. If you have concerns, please read this article. You might change this for Firefox, too.

If you want to hide Thunderbird for sending your system's User Agent string, then you can override the default string with an empty one:

  1. go to Edit > Preferences > Advanced > General > Config Editor.(*)
  2. right-click and create new string entry general.useragent.override and leave the second dialog entry empty.

While Thunderbird disables email images by default, it enables HTML rendering which may expose IP address and location. Choose View > Message Body As > Plain Text to disable this.

JavaScript is disabled for message content but not RSS news feeds. To disable JavaScript for RSS:

  1. go to Edit > Preferences > Advanced > General > Config Editor.
  2. search javascript.enabled and double-click the value to false.

Extensions

EnigMail - Encryption

EnigMail is an extension that allows writing and receiving email signed and/or encrypted with the OpenPGP standard. It relies on the GnuPG.

Common packages include: thunderbird-enigmailAUR and thunderbird-enigmail-binAUR.

Sharing the public key

To distribute the public key one may upload it to a keyserver.

Encrypting emails

Encryption does not always work properly with emails containing HTML. It is best to use plain text by choosing Options > Delivery Format > Plain Text Only in the new email window.

Once the email is finished it can be signed through the OpenPGP menu.

Decrypting emails

Assuming that the email was encrypted properly, just trying to open it should result in a pop-up asking to type in the keyphrase.

Blank draft messages

If after upgrading to gnupg v2.1 your saved draft emails have gone "blank" and show a pink bar displaying: 

Enigmail Error - no matching private/secret key found to decrypt message; click on 'Details' button for more information

or, when you have a "Write" window open you repeatedly see a popup window with: 

The email address or key ID 0xkey_id cannot be matched to a valid, not expired OpenPGP key.
Please ensure that you have a valid OpenPGP key, and that your account settings point to that key.

and gpg --list-keys fails to show some keys that used to be there, see GnuPG invalid packet workaround.

TorBirdy - Anonymity

TorBirdy is an extension that configures Thunderbird to make connections over the Tor anonymity network.

FireTray - Tray icon

FireTray is an extension that adds a customizable system tray icon for Thunderbird. It is available in the AUR as thunderbird-firetrayAUR[broken link: archived in aur-mirror].

Lightning - Calendar

Lightning is a calendar extension that brings Sunbird's functionality to Thunderbird, including CalDAV support.

It is available in the AUR as thunderbird-lightning-binAUR.

In case you are migrating a user profile (with Lightning installed there) from another platform (e.g. Windows), you may have to reinstall the Lightning addon from the mozilla addon page because Lightning is platform-dependent.

SOGo Connector (CardDAV)

SOGo Connector allows to sync addressbooks via CardDAV.

It is available in the AUR as thunderbird-sogo-connector-binAUR.

Cardbook (CardDAV)

Cardbook (VCard Addressbook): a new addressbook for Thunderbird based on the CARDDav and VCARD standards.

Tips and tricks

Setting the default browser

Note: Since version 24 the network.protocol-handler.app.* keys have no effect and will not be able to set the default browser.

Recent versions of Thunderbird use the default browser as defined by the system MIME settings. This is commonly modified by the Gnome Control Center (Gnome Control Center > Details > Default Applications > Web) (available in: gnome-control-center).

This can be overridden in Thunderbird through Edit > Preferences > Advanced > General > Config Editor by searching for network.protocol-handler.warn-external.

If the following three are all set to false (default), turn them to true, and Thunderbird will ask you when clicking on links which application to use (remember to also check "Remember my choice for .. links"). 

network.protocol-handler.warn-external.ftp
network.protocol-handler.warn-external.http
network.protocol-handler.warn-external.https

Plain Text mode and font uniformity

Plain Text mode lets you view all your emails without HTML rendering and is available in View > Message Body As. This defaults to the Monospace font but the size is still inherited from original system fontconfig settings. The following example will overwrite this with Ubuntu Mono of 10 pixels (available in: ttf-ubuntu-font-family).

Remember to run fc-cache -fv to update system font cache. See Font configuration for more information. 

~/.config/fontconfig/fonts.conf
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE fontconfig SYSTEM "fonts.dtd">
<fontconfig>
  <match target="pattern">
    <test qual="any" name="family"><string>monospace</string></test>
    <edit name="family" mode="assign" binding="same"><string>Ubuntu Mono</string></edit>
    <!-- For Thunderbird, lowering default font size to 10 for uniformity -->
    <edit name="pixelsize" mode="assign"><int>10</int></edit>
  </match>
</fontconfig>

Webmail with Thunderbird

See upstream Wiki: Using webmail with your email client.

Migrate profile to another system

Tip: The ImportExportTools addon offers an option to export and import a profile folder.

Before you start with Importing or Exporting tasks, backup your complete ~/.thunderbird profile: 

$ cp -R ~/.thunderbird /to/backup/folder/

With migration you just copy your current Thunderbird profile to another PC or a new Thunderbird installation:

1. Install Thunderbird on the target PC

2. Start Thunderbird without doing anything and quit it.

3. Go to your Backup folder of your old Thunderbird installation

4. Enter the backup profile folder: 

$ cd /to/backup/folder/.thunderbird/<oldrandomnumber>.default/

5. Copy its content into the target profile folder ~/.thunderbird/<newrandomnumber>.default/ 

$ cp -R /to/backup/folder/.thunderbird/<oldrandomnumber>.default/* ~/.thunderbird/<newrandomnumber>.default/

Export + Import

Before you start with Importing or Exporting tasks, backup your complete ~/.thunderbird profile: 

$ cp -R ~/.thunderbird /to/backup/folder/

If your accounts are broken or you want to join two different Thunderbird installations, you better install one Import and Export AddOn (eg. ImportExportTools AddOn) to both Thunderbird installations and following this just export and import all your data to the new installation.

Changing the default sorting order

Thunderbird (up to at least 31.4.0-1) sorts mail by date with the oldest on top without any threading. While this can be changed per folder, it is easier to set a sane default instead as described in this Superuser.com post.

Go to Edit -> Preferences -> Advanced -> General -> Config Editor and set these keys: 

mailnews.default_sort_order = 2 (descending)
mailnews.default_view_flags = 1 (Threaded view)

Maildir support

The default message store format is mbox. To enable the use of Maildir, see Mozilla wiki: Thunderbird/Maildir. You basically have to set this preference through (Edit -> Preferences -> Advanced -> General -> Config Editor): 

mail.serverDefaultStoreContractID = @mozilla.org/msgstore/maildirstore;1

Some limitations up to at least 31.4.0-1: only the "tmp" and "cur" directories are supported. The "new" directory is completely ignored. The read state of mails are stored in a separate ".msf" file, so initially all local mail using Maildir will be marked as unread even when located in the "cur" directory.

Troubleshooting

LDAP Segfault

An LDAP clash (Bugzilla#292127) arises on systems configured to use it to fetch user information. A possible workaround consists of renaming the conflicting bundled LDAP library.

Error: Incoming server already exists

It seems Thunderbird (v24) still has that bug which pops up with "Incoming server already exists" if you want to reinstall a previously deleted account with the same account data afterwards. Unfortunately, if you get this error you can now only clean reinstall Thunderbird:

1. Make a backup of your current profile: 

$ cp -R ~/.thunderbird /to/backup/folder/

2. Export all you Accounts, Calendar and Feeds via an AddOn like it's written in Export section of this Wiki. 3. Uninstall your current Thunderbird installation 

$ pacman -R thunderbird

4. Remove all your data by deleting your current Thunderbird folder rm -R ~/.thunderbird/.

5. Install Thunderbird again: 

$ pacman -S thunderbird

6.Create your mail accounts, feeds and calenders (empty).

7. Install the ImportExportTools AddOn

8. Import all your data.

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