NNTP: viewing threads in thunderbird.

**robin_listas** · 31-Oct-2010, 07:28

Hi,

I read these forums with thunderbird. It works fine, but I have a little
nuisance: when I switch from one forum group to another, almost always
thunderbird shows one thread expanded, and often one I do not want to read.

I have to click a group, then push key "\", which in the Spanish
keyboard is [AltGr]-[\] - AltGr is the right hand [Alt], and "\" is the
top-left-most key, left of the "1" . which means I have to use my two
hands and release the mouse. That is the nuisance. It is slow and I have
to look down.

Sometimes it also works by clicking on a different group and going back
to the first one.

How can I force thunderbird to always open groups with ALL threads
collapsed?

--
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 11.2 x86_64 "Emerald" at Telcontar)

**DenverD** · 31-Oct-2010, 12:35

Carlos E. R. wrote:
> How can I force thunderbird to always open groups with ALL threads
> collapsed?

short version: as far as i can know there is no way to set what you
want because it seems to me that T-Bird _will_ always open at least
one thread with an unread post...in my case it opens the oldest thread
with an unread post..

hope this will help (it may not):

i set each forum group to display (under the "View" item in the menu
line) threaded and by date with oldest thread with an unread posts at
the top and newest threads at the bottom....so, when so i click to
switch to a group, the FIRST thing i do is just hit space bar one
time and it magicly jumps to the oldest thread's unread post....if it
is in a thread i don't wanna read, i grab the slider on the right and
pull it down, or actually i click below the slider and it scrolls down
allowing me to skim subject lines of all *collapsed* threads (after
that ONE is passed) until i see a thread i wanna enter and click on it...

when that thread is finished i just go back over and click under the
slider again, until i get to the bottom of the list, at which time i
go to the left pane where the list of forum topics and right click on
the one i'm in and select "Mark as read", and then click on the next
forum topic, and repeat..

may not work for you....if you wanna force all collapsed i bet the
mozilla forum has folks who do know how to do that without having to
hack the code and recompile! ;-)

--
DenverD
CAVEAT: http://is.gd/bpoMD [posted via NNTP w/openSUSE 10.3]

**robin_listas** · 31-Oct-2010, 22:13

On 2010-10-31 19:35, DenverD wrote:
> Carlos E. R. wrote:
>> How can I force thunderbird to always open groups with ALL threads
>> collapsed?
>
> short version: as far as i can know there is no way to set what you
> want because it seems to me that T-Bird _will_ always open at least
> one thread with an unread post...in my case it opens the oldest thread
> with an unread post..

Yagh.

> hope this will help (it may not):
>
> i set each forum group to display (under the "View" item in the menu
> line) threaded and by date with oldest thread with an unread posts at
> the top and newest threads at the bottom....so, when so i click to
> switch to a group, the FIRST thing i do is just hit space bar one
> time and it magicly jumps to the oldest thread's unread post....if it
> is in a thread i don't wanna read, i grab the slider on the right and
> pull it down, or actually i click below the slider and it scrolls down
> allowing me to skim subject lines of all *collapsed* threads (after
> that ONE is passed) until i see a thread i wanna enter and click on it...

Ah... interesting... though I'd rather see the newest first :-)

What you describe is what I have. Usually I get one near the bottom, ie,
newest posts. But it tends to open a thread that I'm not interested at
the moment, I prefer to see all collapsed and then select one of those
marked "watched" with new posts, ie, bold font.

> may not work for you....if you wanna force all collapsed i bet the
> mozilla forum has folks who do know how to do that without having to
> hack the code and recompile! ;-)

I thought someone here might know the trick, if it exists :-)

You know how many years it took the mozilla people to put a
reply-to-list button? Or in the browser to sign (pkcs)? That one meant
that for several years, to do signed business transactions we had to use
netscape 4.7. I know because some chaps from the Spanish signing
authority (the chaps that make paper and metal money, clinking clanking
sound etc) thought that it was time that mozilla had this needed feature
and pushed hard for it. I think they even set up a test site, lent devs
or who knows.

So, for a feature to creep into mozilla, I expect it to take years. Many
>:-)

It could be worse... there is a site collecting money to pay devs to add
some html write capabilities to kmail... No kidding! >:-)

--
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 11.2 x86_64 "Emerald" at Telcontar)

**DenverD** · 01-Nov-2010, 02:27

Carlos E. R. wrote:
> It could be worse... there is a site collecting money to pay devs to add
> some html write capabilities to kmail... No kidding! >:-)

html mail is Lucifer's baby!

--
DenverD
CAVEAT: http://is.gd/bpoMD [posted via NNTP w/openSUSE 10.3]

**robin_listas** · 02-Nov-2010, 06:43

On 2010-11-01 09:27, DenverD wrote:
> Carlos E. R. wrote:
>> It could be worse... there is a site collecting money to pay devs to add
>> some html write capabilities to kmail... No kidding! >:-)
>
> html mail is Lucifer's baby!

Nevertheless, it is needed (business). And those that need it have to
dump kmail and embrace thunderbird.

Use case: Tables.

I have to send tables in email. Tabulated data.
When they reply to those emails from gmail webmail, they return
unreadable, no column remains still a column.

I don't care if it is html, or a limited html language, or a rich text
standard. Sometimes we need to send email with a format that allows
things like font sizes, bold, italics, perhaps color, perhaps inserted
images, tables, etc. Similar to what we have in a word processor.

Hey! That's what we have in this forum. Are forums evil? Shall we ban
all forum users and send them quick to NNTP instead? >:-)

Yes, of course we can send a "word" document. Many do so. Or a PDF
document. Many do so. But it is not email... it can not be quoted
inline. It can not be quick opened, you have to click to open in another
app. It is a worse evil.

Html is evil? Then purify it. Invent something else, make it good, make
it an accepted standard world wide. >:-)

--
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 11.2 x86_64 "Emerald" at Telcontar)

**DenverD** · 02-Nov-2010, 08:35

Carlos E. R. wrote:
> Html is evil? Then purify it. Invent something else, make it good, make
> it an accepted standard world wide. >:-)

actually my statement was from another time...back when i was
connecting with a 28.8 modem to a state owned telco charging far too
much by the minute to want colors, bolds, winkies, tables or images..

today, i don't care--however, i do think it better ok to send TEXT
emails and attachments than to loose the ability to just send the basics..

if kmail doesn't wanna add html, then let the users switch to cake!

is there no open source emailer with html AND text built-in?

--
DenverD
CAVEAT: http://is.gd/bpoMD [posted via NNTP w/openSUSE 10.3]

**robin_listas** · 02-Nov-2010, 12:51

On 2010-11-02 15:35, DenverD wrote:
> Carlos E. R. wrote:

> if kmail doesn't wanna add html, then let the users switch to cake!

The thing is, that apparently they ask users to suggest features they
want in kmail. Html write support (it does read) has been requested and
ignored for many years. So they are thinking to pay dev time to force
the issue.

Such are the evils of opensource... >:-)

> is there no open source emailer with html AND text built-in?

Thunderbird.

--
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 11.2 x86_64 "Emerald" at Telcontar)

**martin_helm** · 02-Nov-2010, 13:09

Carlos E. R. wrote:

> if kmail doesn't wanna add html, then let the users switch to cake!
>

I am a bit surprised. I use kmail now for several years and never had a
problem writting html mails with it as long as I use it (the default is set
to text but it is a mouse click to change to html mails with all kinds of
formatting). Am I missing something here?

--
openSUSE 11.3 64 bit | Intel Core2 Quad Q8300@2.50GHz | KDE 4.5 | GeForce
9600 GT | 4GB Ram
openSUSE 11.3 64 bit | Intel Core2 Duo T9300@2.50GHz | KDE 4.5 | Quadro FX
3600M | 4GB Ram

**DenverD** · 02-Nov-2010, 13:26

martin_helm wrote:
> Am I missing something here?

Shhhhh!

maybe the devs are waiting to see the money and THEN tell them where
the setup switch is :-)

--
DenverD
CAVEAT: http://is.gd/bpoMD [posted via NNTP w/openSUSE 10.3]