Walkthroughs – Thunderbird

Walkthroughs created with Thunderbird 1.5

These walkthroughs are companions to the product You Are Not Your Inbox: Overcoming Email Overload, an audio program by Stever Robbins. Click here for information about You Are Not Your Inbox.

• Creating smart mailboxes
• Color-coding messages using filters
• Filter messages into a separate mailbox
• Using stationery and templates
• Turning off new mail notification

Creating smart mailboxes

1. Choose Edit | Find | Search Messages…
2. Choose Search for Messages in: Inbox
3. Choose a set of conditions to separate out the messages you want to see in the smart mailbox.
4. If you want a smart mailbox that views messages from your mom, you might choose From contains mom@moms-domain.com

   

5. If you want a smart mailbox that contains only messages from the last 3 days, you might choose Age in days is less than 3 days

   

6. Click Search to run a trial search.
7. Click Save as Search Folder
8. Enter the name of the mailbox. For example, Messages from Mom
9. Choose where in your folder tree to put the search folder (if you don’t know what this means, leave it alone).
   
10. Click OK
11. You will be taken back to the Search Messages dialog box. Close the box.
12. You will see your new search folder in the Thunderbird folder list.

    

 

Using filters / rules to color-code messages

Thunderbird does not have the ability to arbitrarily color-code messages. Rather, you must give a message one of several labels, each of which shows up as a different color in your inbox.

1. Choose Tools | Message Filters…
2. Click New to add a new filter
3. Name your rule. For example, "Make all messages from Boss red."
4. Choose From contains your-boss’s-email-address
5. In the Perform these actions section, choose:
   Label message as whichever-label-you-want

   

6. Click OK
7. You will return to the message filters window. You can add more filters or close the window.

Filter messages from mom or an e-zine into a separate mailbox

First, create the mailbox where you will send the messages.

1. Right click on Local Folders and choose New Folder…
   
2. Type in the mailbox name, for example, Incoming EZines
3. Click OK

Next, create the filter to move messages to that mailbox.

1. Choose Tools | Message Filters…
2. Click New to add a new filter
3. Name your rule. For example, "Move all ezines to Ezines folder."
4. Choose From contains the-ezine-from-address
5. In the Perform these actions section, choose:
   Move message to mailbox: Incoming EZines
6. Click OK
7. You will return to the message filters window. You can add more filters or close the window.

 

Using Stationery/template/autocorrect

Creating stationery

1. Choose File | New | Message… to open a message Compose window.
2. Enter the subject line and message text that you want to be able to reuse later.
3. On the toolbar of the Compose window, click the down-arrow next to the folder labeled Save.
4. Choose Save as Template

   

5. Now your stationery has been saved in your "Templates" folder.
6. You can either send the message now or close the Compose window.

Using stationery

1. Find the Templates folder in your folder tree in the Thunderbird pane.
2. Click on the Templates folder.
3. All your templates will be listed in the message pane.
4. Right-click the template you want to use.
5. Choose Edit as New…

   

6. A new Compose window will open with the template inserted in the message.
7. Finish the message and send it as normal.

 

Turn off "You have new mail"

1. Choose Thunderbird | Preferences…
2. Click the General tab.
3. In the area When New Messages Arrive, clear the checkboxes by all of the notification options.

Even better, turn off automatic message checking

1. Choose File | Offline | Work Offline
2. When it asks, "Download messages first?" be bold, say Don’t Download.
3. Now you won’t be bothered with email again.

To turn back on message checking

1. Choose File | Offline | Work Offline to clear the checkmark by the Work Offline option.
2. If you wish, cilck the Get Mail icon in the toolbar to make sure you retrieve all new mail.