User:Rolandtb

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I've re-joined Mozilla as part of the Thunderbird team (MZLA) :-) yay!. My old userid on wikimo, rtanglao, doesn't work (references rtanglao@mozilla.com which i don't have access to). Previously

  • Thunderbird Support 2009-2012
  • I was part of the SUMO team at Mozilla Corporation (MoCo) and I worked on Firefox for Android and then iOS and then Desktop as well as Firefox for Enterprise and Firefox Rocket (remember that :-) ?!?) and a bit of VPN and insights reporting 2012-August 2020 hence the old userid rtanglao@mozilla.com which is no longer available for obvious reasons! (previous bugzilla id rtanglao@mozilla.com)
  • I worked at element.io on Matrix Support 2020-late 2022
  • Thunderbird Support Engineer working at MZLA since April 3, 2023
  • I am going to attempt to daily public "blog" here, see below! (DISCLAIMER: I don't speak for my colleagues and for engineering and I certainly shouldn't be quoted for dates of any kind or roadmap stuff!)
  • Other public places I update:

2024-04-23

  • Via Sancus, Doc Detective is a way to make sure browser screen shots, API calls, links, existence of page elements, anything you can write a script to verify is correct in your documentation (as opposed to your code). <-- We should be able to use something like this in our web based products as well as Desktop Thunderbird if we modify the code to launch TB desktop instead of web browser like Firefox.

2024-04-17

2024-04-16

2024-04-04

2024-04-03

2024-03-27

2024-03-12

2024-03-11

2024-03-08

  • Unsupported, untested way to copy all the message filters over from one profile to another, from ThiloteE in #thunderbird: "You can copy and paste the msgFilterRules.dat file from one mailbox folder to another mailbox folder (usually has to be the inbox, if I remember right), but you might have to do some experimentation, as I am not sure, if you have to change some folder names or e-mail addresses within that file.The probably easier and faster approach, if you are a beginner is to use the quickfilters addon, which allows you to copy paste filters across mail boxes. https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/addon/quickfilters/ "

2024-03-07

  • unsupported: geeky, untested-by-me way to get tags to work in Thunderbird IMAP email, too techy to document in SUMO KB since it involves adding about:config prefs, here's the link to grimeton.com: Tags with Thunderbird stored on IMAP server <-- QUOTE: By default all new custom tags are stored locally in your machine and information will be lost in other device – e.g. not synchronized, because such custom tag is not transmitted to IMAP server.

2024-02-23

QUOTE:

I want to close the loop on migrating from Eudora 7.1.0.9 to Thunderbird v17 (soon to be upgraded to v91):

I think I got everything across now. Here is what I had to do.

  1. I ran the Thunderbird v17 import routine for mail several times (4-5) and it finally brought over my mail and mailboxes. Just had to keep trying.
  2. The address book would never automatically come over using the main import function. So, I exported the address book from Eudora to a csv file. I then opened the address book in v17 (blank) and used tools\import function there selecting address book. Then file type csv and then selected my exported csv file. It was critical that the first row of data be the field names. I sorted the options (up and down) to match my fields to the options in v17. I tried this import 2-3 times and it eventually brought it across.
  3. There is no export and specific filter import in either Eudora nor v17. So, after I got the above working, I just keep hitting the main import function and just selected filters. After several times it imported.

So, in the end, it was just brute force.

END QUOTE

2024-02-22

2024-02-16

No, we don't support it at this time. However, there's a workaround you could use.

You could enable the feature which I had described here: https://thunderbird.topicbox.com/groups/e2ee/Tdc427a8b0255b85a

The feature is available in the Thunderbird 115.x stable release, however, it still needs to be explicitly enabled, by changing preference mail.openpgp.passphrases.enabled to true, as described in that article.

One you make that change, you can view the properties of your own key, and set a passphrase. Afterwards, every time you click an encrypted message, Thunderbird will prompt you to enter the passphrase to allow decryption.

If you don't want decryption, you can cancel the prompt.

(We intend to add a cache in the future, to make it more convenient to use the passphrase, without having it to enter every time. That work is tracked in https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1834577 - If you use the workaround, you'll have to set the timeout to 0 in the future, after we implement bug 1834577.)

2024-02-16

2024-02-15

  • filed bug 1880596: "KB Article Localization Dashboard erronously states that ALL articles require localization (even the ones that are up to date and localized)" and fix has been deployed already on stage. Thanks Ryan et al! Hopefully will be deployed on production on Monday or Tuesday Feb 19 or 20, 2024!

2024-02-08

  • bug 1847960: Bitdefender Toolbar can not be disabled - Bitdefender is great but this is not :-)

2024-01-25

2024-01-22

2024-01-17

2024-01-11

  • Happy New Year :-) !
  • On Monday or Tuesday of this week, I filed and solved github issue 33 for the SUMO KB: Update: Sending and Receiving Messages on Thunderbird #33
  • if compacting folders fails, then you will have a huge, potentially filling up your disk, nstemp file or 2 or 3 or 4 :-). See matrix and reddit, Extremely large disk usage by Thunderbird, for related messages about this problem being caused by the Protonmail bridge which by default hilariously :-) names the folder 127.0.0.1. tl;dr When a compact folder operation is interrupted, this can happen. Do a backup. Compact folders and then you can delete these nstemp files. Eines Tages werden wir mdir oder SQLite statt MBOX haben :-) und dann gibt es weniger solche Probleme.

2023-12-07

2023-12-05

  • There will be a Thunderbird 115.5.2

2023-12-04

2023-12-01

  • from ketti in matrix: for those who are interested in email protocol stuff, there's a modern email matrix space: #modern-email-space:matrix.org - if you only want to join the main room: #modern-email:matrix.org

2023-11-29

2023-11-24

2023-11-22

Sample Nov 1, 2023 regular expression work in progress

2023-11-21

2023-11-17

2023-11-16

2023-11-15

2023-11-14

  • Unicode characters will be allowed in the SUMO KB when the postgres migration is finished which should be the end of this month, November 2023. This will fix:

2023-11-09

2023-11-08

2023-11-07

2023-11-06

2023-11-03

2023-11-02

2023-11-01

2023-10-31

  • Per: Not being able to click on the column and then use the keyboard to move it is probably a bug., filed: bug 1862272: "macOS: Message List Columns can't be reordered with the keyboard after clicking on the column name in Keywords: table mode. Have to hit tab. Works fine on Windows and Linux." <-- component: Folder and Message Lists, keyword: access

2023-10-30

  • filed bug 1861898: "Version picker: Make Thunderbird 115 the default in the KB (it's currently 102)" <-- fixed by the fab Lucas Siebert on November 1, 2023

2023-10-27

2023-10-26

2023-10-25

2023-10-24

  • TIL: Conversations is part of our roadmap for 2024. In order to achieve that we need to rebuild our global message database. No firm timeline on this. The existing Thunderbird add-on does work in 115.
  • Did another revison of the Config Editor article to make it clear it is unsupported

2023-10-23

  • need an icon from the Thunderbird or Firefox UI for a SUMO KB article?
    • 1. find the SVG (In firefox right click "Inspect", in thunderbird it's more complicated :-))
    • 2. you will find something like url("chrome://global/skin/icons/undo.svg"), open that url (in this case it's chrome://global/skin/icons/undo.svg, save that svg
    • convert to png using inkscape: svgexport undo.svg undo.png 16:16 <-- convert to 16px by 16px png which is what is recommended for the SUMO KB

2023-10-20

2023-10-19

2023-10-18

2023-10-17

  • Today I re-learned the following about Matrix:
    • Brendan: So there's 2 layers of verification. There's verification of your own devices, and verification of others. Verifying a user means you have compared master keys (or a high-level representation of them, e.g. emojis) with a user, and from then on when you see them in the member list of an encrypted room, the shield next to their avatar will be either green or red, depending on whether they have verified all of their own devices. Verifying your own devices let people who have verified your master key know that your new device is safe. It also acts as a way for your existing devices to know they can share decryption keys to the new one, so you can decrypt previous messages.
    • Nheko, an alternative matrix client to Element.io, has "Send encrypted messages to verified users only" which by default is ON
    • Brendan again: The setting in Element's matrix client, app.element.io, is "Never send encrypted messages to unverified sessions" <- you do not want to enable this setting if you still want to communicate with unverified sessions.
  • created github issue: done: Create SHA1 deprecation article (or insert text in appropriate existing article) #26

2023-10-16

2023-10-13

  • TIL that Owl was broken in Thunderbird 115.3.2. Luckily the developer quickly released Owl 1.2.3 which fixed it!

2023-10-12

2023-10-11

  • Wayne in bug 1857694:"115 Supernova font / screen scaling size issues (eg oversized/huge)" and [1]: alex in comment 3: "layout.css.devPixelsPerPx is preference that comes from Firefox and we don't use nor support.Probably these users edited it in the past when Thunderbird UI wasn't really responsive nor scalable via built-in density or font size.I don't think we have any control over that pref, and we can't even ignore it." tb-support-crew and SUMO question 1424372:

Chatting with a developer, and consistent with Toad-Hall's instructions at https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1424372#answer-1606067, resetting layout.css.devPixelsPerPx to default value -1.0 should help with your size issue.

  • TIL from Alice on Matrix in #sumo that "Support questions are automatically locked aka "not closed, not archived" basically :-) 180 days from the creation date (bug 680924)"
    • comment 24 from 12 (!) years ago

Looking at the things to verify aren't affected by auto-locking:

1. All questions are indexed regardless of whether they're locked or not. I'm not going to change that. If someone wants that changed, they should create a new bug.

2. Questions with no answers and are older than 30 days have a meta tag telling search engines not to show them. I'm not going to change that, either. If someone wants that changed, they should create a new bug.

2023-10-10

2023-10-06

2023-10-05

2023-10-04

2023-10-03

2023-10-02

2023-09-28

2023-09-27

2023-09-26

2023-09-25

2023-09-22

2023-09-21

2023-09-20

==Following subsections will have + signs to disclose==

[[UI:details_start]]

===subsection 1 specific content which will be collapsed until + is clicked===

blah blah about section 1

===subsection 2===

blah blah section 2

[[UI:details_end]]

  • From September 14th, 2023: SUMO question 1423746 top 10 contributor sfhowes was able to add a hotmail account with 115/Windows 11 with OAuth which reinforces the belief that 102->115 migration to OAuth for non enterprise has some issues which hopefully we are solving. sfhowes wrote:
    • I just added a Hotmail account to a new profile in 115/W11, with OAuth2, and it worked without any problems, sending or receiving. This account does not have two-step verification. I can't explain why others have issues, but it's possible they employ external security apps or VPNs that interfere with the authentication process. Perhaps doing a test with Windows running in safe mode would produce different results.
  • Attended SUMO monthly meeting: Support/Weekly Meetings/Agenda 2023-09-20 and added update with Wayne's help: "We found some late breaking issues in Thunderbird 115 so automatic updates from 102 to TB 115 are currently off. (users already on 115 will continue to get automatic updates to newer 115s) Hoping to resolve this later this next week."
  • Looked at bug 1853961: "Since upgrading to 115.2 from 102.15, cannot see IMAP mail folders or mail". Not sure if the thrilling conclusion :-) is user error i.e. OP aka Brian Barrett messed something up or something else? --> see also SUMO Question 1423621

2023-09-19

e.g. https://support.mozilla.org/api/2/question/?product=thunderbird&created__gt=2023-09-18&created__lt=2023-09-19

2023-09-18

  • Blank Folders issue (see https://wiki.mozilla.org/Thunderbird/Support/TB115.0SupportIssues#Not_so_minor ): Thunderbird 115 blank folder issue browser console screendump; Workaround which allows Thunderbird to display folders but doesn't solve the problem for the offending folder: drag offending folder e.g. "safe harbour_" in the example below to the desktop out of the Thunderbird Folder using Windows Explorer or macOS Finder or whatever it's called in Linux :-) !) key things:
    • 1. _addSubFolders error
    • 2. gloda.index_msg: Problem entering folder, <folder name> (in this case folder name is "safe harbour_".)

You can see 1. and 2. in in this full screen screenshot, and here's a thumbnail:


2023-09-18: Thumbnail of 800px wide version of Thunderbird 115 browser console error message from blank folder issue
  • Maybe we'll get a fix for this 14 year old bug soon :-) (links to get satisfaction!): bug 522768: "Search Results: Add "Folder path" column / Missing full path tooltip in "Location" column (Faceted Search: Open as List, Open in Conversation, Saved Searches, Search Messages; Main 3-pane Window) [containing folder]"

2023-09-16

  • Attended Thunderbird Office Hours event at 10am pacific

2023-09-15

  • More looking into microsoft oauth issues. Non enterprise email from microsoft can still use password auth instead of oauth (all new accounts enterprise or not are oauth by default) but password auth was disabled on enterprise on schedule in oct 2022. If I interpret things correctly, we did migrate everybody, enterprise and non enterprise, to Oauth but there may have been issues in that migration.

2023-09-14

  • For hotmail, outlook.com, live.com and other email hosted on MS365 / Office 365, people in TB115 are seeing cannot send emails because: bug 1798875:migrate Office365 accounts to OAuth2 authentication (password only, Less secure apps will not work starting Oct 1, 2022): never migrated them successfully to OAuth2 before upgrade.
    • Solution: Delete the scopes for sending and receiving emails as per Microsoft OAuth Authentication and Thunderbird in 2023 (use the config editor to filter for "oauth2", find the appropriate server(s), and delete the entries for "oauth2.issuer" and "auth2.scope") or wait for a Thunderbird 115 build with the fix to bug 1814823: Saved scopes or other login info breaks Microsoft OAuth
    • Workaround: Switch to from OAuth back to "normal password" (as per reddit user momplaysbass:Cannot send email after upgrade to Thunderbird 115; smtp.office365.com;starttls on port 587;Authentication method: normal password) which still works in September 2023 even though it was supposed to stop working in October 2022: NB: normal passwords will eventually stop working so it's best to use OAuth2 as per the real Solution above.
  • Filed github issue: Create accessibility documentation for JAWS, NVDA and other screen readers and accessibility tools for TB115 #19

2023-09-13

2023-09-12

  • More hacking of SUMO emoji dashboard
  • I went to the biweekly Support Release Scrum organized by the CX/SUMO team at Moco (video recording) and reported that manual updates are on since Wed September 13 (102.15 -> 115 manual updates turned on Wed Sep 6, 2023) and automatic updates will likely be turned on later this week. See Thunderbird/Support/TB115.0SupportIssues

2023-09-11

2023-09-08

2023-09-07

2023-09-06

2023-09-05

2023-08-31

  • SUMO KB can't handle emojis e.g. lightbulb emojis and other unicode characters: from SUMO devs "because mysql can't handle the full suite of unicode chars, because it uses only 3-bytes instead of the full 4-bytes required to support all unicode chars. this issue will go away once we move from mysql to postgres, which we're working on currently, and should happen in late 2023 or early 2024"
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