For those who don’t know Thunderbird is a mail/RSS, news and blog client. I use it for maintaining all of my email accounts that I have including ones from my ISP, School, and even gmail. I like it for much the same reason why I like Pidgin. It allows me to put everything mail and RSS wise in one convenient location. And much like Pidgin, Thunderbird has a wide range of features and plug-ins for you to utilize. For instance when setting up you mail accounts you can have them all be separated into its own separate account folder or you can have all your mail go to one folder, the local folders group. For some people the latter works but for me I like to keep everything separate since I use certain mail accounts for certain things. I pretty much have a mail account for everything, from shopping to school. Then I break down these mail folders into more sub-folders, all in a effort to keep myself organized. Can’t say exactly how much this really helps me, but I do it anyways.
Another great feature which is starting to be implemented into most webmail clients like gmail is a search function. Thunderbird employs the same functionality by being able to search for a sender or subject (defualt) or you can search the entire message. Neat little feature if you inbox gets flooded with many messages from your friends and you need to find exactly what that professor said about that assignment thats due the next day. So yeah very useful function and one that I use frequently. Also makes use of the fact that I can hang on to quite a few messages, which brings me to another point at how good Thunderbird is a dealing with HUGE mail files. Most clients like Lotus Notes and Outlook die if your mail file gets too big, not Thunderbird. It just keeps on trucking along as if nothing is happening…though it does get a bit slower once the mail filer gets larger, no worries though you can archive your mail by compacting the folders (under the file menu) and still be able to retain all of your mail. Outlook crashes once your mail file exceeds 2GB and Lotus Notes starts acting funny around 5GB though it can handle larger mail files. I have seen Lotus Notes mail files in excess of 18GB. Now thats crazy. Naturally I dont really like those who don’t delete their mail that they don’t need, but with Thunderbird and how stable it runs, I kinda let it go. So I guess I don’t practice what I preach, but I do have rules in place to delete old messages from the mail server. It’s just Thunderbird that take on the additional mail file load.
An additional list of Thunderbird features include tagging, junk mail filter, custom message filters, scam and spam detection, image blocking (for possible virus intrusion), send mail in either plain text or HTML or both, import mail form other clients like Outlook, LDAP address books, and more. To view more of the features that Thunderbird has to offer click here.
One little thing to point out if you are like me and use separate account folders for each mail account you have is that there is no way within Thunderbird the program itself to manipulate which order the accounts appear in your all folders pane. However you can change what order they are in. Here is how to do it. First take note of the account name your wish to move and then the account name of the one you want to come after the the account you want to move. Then close Thunderbird and browse to your profile folder. For Windows XP users that would be “C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\<profile name>” (be sure you are showing hidden files and folders) and for Linux users it would be “~/.thunderbird/<profile name>
/” This may change for Linux users depending on third party builds. Once in there you want to open a file called “prefs.js” in the text editor of your choice. Then search for your account name. Once found take note of the account number. Do the same for the one to appear after the account you wish to move. Then look for the parameter <user_pref(“mail.accountmanager.accounts”> here you will see a list of those account numbers. The order listed in is the order they appear in. Then just cut the account you want to move and paste it before the account you want to appear after the account you want to move. Double check and make sure all the commas are in the right place and that there are not too many or you are missing one. Save the changes a viola you moved your account. Open up Thunderbird and it now will appear in the location you specified. For more information about the files within the profile folder click here.
LIGHTNING:
One great add-on for Thunderbird that I use frequently and just completely obliterates the need or even the compulsion to use Outlook again is Lightning. Lightning is an integrated calendar for Thunderbird. It is really great and I use it frequently to keep track of my appointments and tasks. It has a pane in Thunderbird to remind you of things coming up today, tomorrow or soon (as in later in the week or in a few days). Perfect for remembering those birthdays or anniversaries you keep forgetting. Then you can set it to be yearly on that date and you will never miss another important date again. Plus you will see it every time you check your mail so you won’t have an excuse any more. Again overall just a great and versatile add-on. Worried about updates…no worries Thunderbird automatically checks for updates of your add-ons each time you start Thunderbird, and Thunderbird will update itself as well every time it opens if need be. So what you end up with is worry free super secure mail client, with a long list of add-ons and endless customization. To learn more about Lightning click here.
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