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Customizing Thunderbird on Linux / Windows (config hacks)
Posted 26 July 2007
I moved to Ubuntu 7.04 sometime back and have been enjoying myself since. Though there were a couple of things which really annoyed me, and today I finally fixed them.
1. Reply on top of previous message
One problem was that in Thunderbird, when you reply to a message, the new message was appended to the end of the message you were replying to. I was used to Outlook, so I changed it to behave like Outlook (and Thunderbird on windows). To add the reply on top, you need to do the following:
- Goto Edit -> Preferences
- Click on the 'Advanced' tab
- Click on 'Config Editor…'
Now you would see the config editor. In the top search box, type the following: mail.identity.default.reply_on_top. If the value is set to '0', change it to '1' and the replies would start appearing on top.
2. Allow Javascript in Mails
Goto the Config editor as described earlier. Search for javascript.allow.mailnews. Set the boolean to 'true' (Toggle).
3. Display last name first
Search for mail.addr_book.displayName.lastnamefirst. Set the boolean to 'true'. Then search for mail.addr_book.lastnamefirst. Set the integer to '1'.
4. Add all incoming Email Addresses to your Address Book
Search for mail.collect_email_address_incoming. Set the boolean to 'true'.
5. Add default CC
Search for mail.default_cc. Set the string to the required emailid.
6. Not show send Progress
Search for mailnews.show_send_progress. Set the boolean to 'true'.
7. Check for newer version of Thunderbird once every week
Search for app.update.interval. Set integer to '604800' (the number of seconds in a week).
8. Use threads like Gmail
Search for mailnews.thread_pane_column_unthreads. Set the boolean to 'false'.
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