Introduction to Thunderbird - Revision history

Scellef: /* Filters */ Fixed List-Id example

2012-01-06T02:02:04Z

Filters: Fixed List-Id example

Rfs: /* Keyboard Shortcuts */

2012-01-05T18:28:40Z

Keyboard Shortcuts

Scellef at 17:32, 5 January 2012

2012-01-05T17:32:41Z

Scellef at 17:32, 5 January 2012

2012-01-05T17:32:01Z

Scellef: /* Filters */ Okay I'm really going to bed now.

2012-01-05T07:53:56Z

Filters: Okay I'm really going to bed now.

Scellef: First draft. Ugh, I need to go to sleep already.

2012-01-05T07:45:29Z

First draft. Ugh, I need to go to sleep already.

New page

Thunderbird is Mozilla's free (as in beer) and open source e-mail client. As of January 2011, this is the preferred client for handling the daily dump of Free Geek e-mail staff are required to sift through. This tutorial will cover installing, configuring, and tweaking a Thunderbird installation inside of Ubuntu 10.04.

==Installation==
Ubuntu 10.04 does not come with Thunderbird out of the box, so the first thing you will need to do is install it. To do so:
# Go to '''Applications >> Ubuntu Software Center'''
# Search for ''thunderbird'' and select '''Mozilla Thunderbird Mail/News'''
# Click '''Install'''

Alternatively,
# Go to '''Applications >> Accessories >> Terminal'''
# Type <code>sudo apt-get install thunderbird</code>

==Configuration==
The first time you run Thunderbird (under '''Applications >> Internet >> Mozilla Thunderbird Mail/News'''), you should be greeted with a wizard to assist you in setting up your initial account. Follow these steps:

# Under '''Your name:''', enter your full name,
# Under '''Email address:''', enter your Free Geek e-mail address (e.g., bhope@freegeek.org),
# Under '''Password:''', enter your Free Geek password,
# Click '''Continue''',
# Thunderbird will begin talking to Free Geek's mailserver to determine what encryption methods and settings to use. It won't always choose the correct ones, so be sure that your setting look like the following (after selecting '''Manual Setup'''):
#* '''Username:''' ''Your Free Geek username''
#* '''Incoming:''' ''mail.freegeek.org'' ''IMAP'' ''993'' ''SSL/TLS''
#* '''Outgoing:''' ''mail.freeegeek.org'' ''SMTP'' ''25'' ''STARTLS''
# Now click '''Create Account'''. If, for whatever reason, there's an error at this step, get in touch with a Collective member or a Technocrat to help you troubleshoot.

==Filters==
Thunderbird allows you to create relatively flexible mail filters to help sort the perpetual onslaught of Free Geek communications. First, we need to create a folder for your filtered messages to live in. Do the following:

# Select '''File >> New >> Folder'''
# Give a sensible name for your folder (e.g., Production)
# Make sure your new folder is listed as a subfolder of '''INBOX'''
# Click '''Create Folder'''

Now that we have a place for your filtered message, we need to create some filters. In order to do this, do the following:

# Select '''Tools >> Message Filters...''' from Thunderbird's menu bar
# Select '''New...'''
# Fill out an appropiate name for the filter (e.g., PaidWorkers for the paidworkers list)
# Make sure the '''Apply filter when''' field is set for ''Checking Mail or Manually Run''
# Select the '''Match ''any'' of the following''' radio button
# In the first menu bar, choose '''Customize...'''
# Under '''New message header''', enter the following: <code>List-Id</code>
# Select '''Add''' and '''OK'''.
# For the filter criteria, make sure it looks something like this:
#* '''List-Id''' '''is''' '''$LISTNAME@lists.freegeek.org'''
# Under '''Perform these actions:''', make sure it looks something like this:
#* '''Move Messages to''' '''$FOLDERNAME''' (where $FOLDERNAME is whatever you named the folder where this particular filter will be pointed towards)
# Click '''OK'''

Unfortunately, you'll have to do the above for every mailing list you wish to filter. However, it's highly recommended that you take the time to look through your mailing list subscriptions and devise filters for each of them as best suits you. Most Free Geek communiques occur over list, and it's imperative that staff is able to efficiently read and search through their e-mail in order to remain up to speed.

Eventually, there'll be a master filter schema that can be implemented to prevent this headache from having to be experienced by incoming staff. Poke Sean about it periodically in the hope that he accumulates enough guilt to make it happen.

'''NOTE:''' The filter rules that you set up will only live on the machine on which you implement them. If, for instance, you check your Free Geek e-mail through the web client, the filters won't be applied and, distressingly, everything will stay inside of your ''INBOX'', rather than being sorted into that lovely folder you made earlier. If you find yourself in such a situation, you can manually tell Thunderbird to run its filters against your ''INBOX'' by doing the following:

# Make sure you have your '''INBOX''' (or which ever folder you wish to run your filters on) selected
# Select '''Tools >> Run Filters on Messages'''

As an aside, there exist a couple of a Thunderbird extensions to provide you a decadent GUI button to perform the same task. Try Googling for it, if you're so desperate for needless clickums.

==Keyboard Shortcuts==
To be written...

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← Older revision		Revision as of 17:32, 5 January 2012
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	==Keyboard Shortcuts==		==Keyboard Shortcuts==
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@@ Line 43: / Line 43: @@
 # Select '''Add''' and '''OK'''.
 # For the filter criteria, make sure it looks something like this:
-#* '''List-Id''' '''is''' '''$LISTNAME@lists.freegeek.org'''
+#* '''List-Id''' '''is''' '''$LISTNAME.lists.freegeek.org''' (where $LISTNAME is the mailing list you're applying this filter to)
 # Under '''Perform these actions:''', make sure it looks something like this:
 #* '''Move Messages to''' '''$FOLDERNAME''' (where $FOLDERNAME is whatever you named the folder where this particular filter will be pointed towards)

@@ Line 51: / Line 51: @@
 Eventually, there'll be a master filter schema that can be implemented to prevent this headache from having to be experienced by incoming staff.  Poke Sean about it periodically in the hope that he accumulates enough guilt to make it happen.
 '''NOTE:''' The filter rules that you set up will only live on the machine on which you implement them.  If, for instance, you check your Free Geek e-mail through the web client, the filters won't be applied and, distressingly, everything will stay inside of your ''INBOX'', rather than being sorted into that lovely folder you made earlier.  If you find yourself in such a situation, you can manually tell Thunderbird to run its filters against your ''INBOX'' by doing the following:
@@ Line 58: / Line 60: @@
 As an aside, there exist a couple of a Thunderbird extensions to provide you a decadent GUI button to perform the same task.  Try Googling for it, if you're so desperate for needless clickums.
 ==Keyboard Shortcuts==
 To be written...