Easily Integrate Thunderbird into the Ubuntu Messaging Menu

By , Published September 26, 2010

Thunderbird users seeking out native notifications and interactive integration with their Ubuntu desktop need look no further than rubenverweij's 'Indicator for Thunderbird' add-on.

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The add-on is a 'must have' for Thunderbird users on Ubuntu. It makes use of Ubuntu's default notification system and the Ubuntu Messaging Menu for notification of new mail/

Thanks to reader Erik for the tip

Related posts:

  1. Messaging Menu support for Thunderbird is coming
  2. Add more apps to the Ubuntu Messaging Menu
  3. How to add Thunderbird to the Ubuntu messaging menu
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  • http://www.expatsinksa.com/ Bilal Akhtar

    Hey joey! I do remember I told you about this one some time ago. Forgot? Not expected….

    • http://omgubuntu.co.uk/ d0od

      There have been so many different thunderbird notifier’s etc that I wasn’t sure if i had mentioned this one before or not… =

    • http://omgubuntu.co.uk/ d0od

      There have been so many different thunderbird notifier’s etc that I wasn’t sure if i had mentioned this one before or not… =

  • Annonymoose ^^

    grr. i hate that envelope. i removed it, too.

  • Anonymous

    it would be cool if the icon would allow to minimize to tray. i use firetray but it would be cool to minimize it without a an extra icon in the panel, just like pidgin or gwibber.

  • Anonymous

    it would be cool if the icon would allow to minimize to tray. i use firetray but it would be cool to minimize it without a an extra icon in the panel, just like pidgin or gwibber.

  • Anonymous

    it would be cool if the icon would allow to minimize to tray. i use firetray but it would be cool to minimize it without a an extra icon in the panel, just like pidgin or gwibber.

  • erick

    ive have try this before it appear here. the problem is that if you have a message it wont alert you of your incoming messasge.

  • erick

    its nice to hear that it solves my problem to. hehehe…

  • Anonymous

    Is there anyway to make the envelope go Green when it’s being used in Avant Window Navigator, just that I have removed my panels, and I’d like it to go that colour.

  • http://twitter.com/syanide1 Syanide

    Finally a sensible way to achieve this. Yay.

  • http://claimid.com/el-bhm bhm

    Let me guess.
    I need to running Thunderbird. It kind of misses the point.

    • http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/C6S22ANL35LHAH27EX43XFQKTQ Klau3

      Yeah, this is the key question @bhmn

      If it doesn’t show mail when Thunderbird is closed its useless – IMHO.

    • http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/C6S22ANL35LHAH27EX43XFQKTQ Klau3

      Yeah, this is the key question @bhmn

      If it doesn’t show mail when Thunderbird is closed its useless – IMHO.

    • http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/C6S22ANL35LHAH27EX43XFQKTQ Klau3

      Yeah, this is the key question @bhmn

      If it doesn’t show mail when Thunderbird is closed its useless – IMHO.

  • erick

    did this works fine? coz in my case i had to create thunderbird.desktop in /usr/share/applications?

    • Jack Dalton

      Tested it a couple of days ago and I didn’t need to create anything.

      • erick

        removing the thunderbird.desktop in /usr/share/applications, when i click the t-bird icon in messaging menu i got no response.

  • Dipish

    IMHO firetray is still better since you can minimize the app to tray with it.

    • Anonymous

      You can do the same with All Tray, which is in the repositories.

      • http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/C6S22ANL35LHAH27EX43XFQKTQ Klau3

        I would like to use AllTray, but since 10.04 it doesn’t work for me.

  • Jack Dalton

    An indicator is worthless to me if it doesn’t let me “hide” the application(trying not to say “minimize to tray” ;)).

    Unfortunately that’s true for this thunderbird indicator as well as for the xchat(-gnome) indicator from Ken VanDine.

    I’ve not yet found an answer to the question: “What about the system monitor applet?” I’m not happy if I cannot see CPU/RAM/net usage ALL the time in the panel (same goes for temperatures from the sensors applet). :-(

    • Regunirun

      hate to break it to you, but that feature has been depreciated since Lucid.. And it will be actually _blocked_ in Natty

      • Jack Dalton

        Well, I don’t have to use Ubuntu… or GNOME.

  • Anonymous

    Thanks! I needed it on my Linux Mint.

  • http://twitter.com/Shuninzo Sébastien Michel

    Cool, I use Mailbox Alert but I’ll give it a try.

  • Anonymous

    does this work for thunderbird 2?? The page says “Indicators for Thunderbird 1.1″

    • http://intangiblestyle.com/ Matthew Babbs

      That’s the name of the add-on. Look down the page a bit (just below the install button) and it’s listed as working with Thunderbird 2.0 – 3.2 alpha1 pre.

      • Anonymous

        thanks! next time i’ll look down the page :)

    • http://intangiblestyle.com/ Matthew Babbs

      That’s the name of the add-on. Look down the page a bit (just below the install button) and it’s listed as working with Thunderbird 2.0 – 3.2 alpha1 pre.

  • Anonymous

    is it possible to change Mozilla Thunderbird/News / Outlook alternative

    to just Thunderbird

    • http://about.me/matthewkbabbs Matthew Babbs

      Yes! You just have to change the name in the launcher file. Do Alt-F2 to open the Run Dialog, then copy/paste in “gedit /usr/share/applications/thunderbird.desktop”. (That opens the file in the gedit Text Editor.) Look for the lines marked ‘Name’ and ‘Comment’, alter as you like, and save. Log out or restart and Thunderbird’s name and description should change.

      • http://about.me/matthewkbabbs Matthew Babbs

        Oops – that command should be “gksu gedit /usr/share/applications/thunderbird.desktop” – without the quotes of course ;)

  • Mohan

    Awesome tip!

  • http://about.me/matthewkbabbs Matthew Babbs

    Unless you’re running the Netbook Edition, it’s not necessary to close Thunderbird or use a minimise to tray app – just put it on a different desktop. (And if you’re on a netbook, you probably don’t want Thunderbird running all the time anyway… )

    Also, you can get the Thunderbird entries to show in the Messaging Menu when Thunderbird is off – it just won’t tell you about new messages. There used to be an article about how to do this right nere on OMG, but it seems to be a 404 now.

    Guess it’s up to me… ;)

    Do Alt-F2 to opan the Run Dialog. Copy/paste the command “gksu gedit /usr/share/indicators/messages/applications/thunderbird”. (Without the quotes!) In the file that opens, enter “/usr/share/applications/thunderbird.desktop” (again, no quotes) and save. That’s the file that tells the Messaging Menu where to find Thunderbird’s info.

    Now, let’s tell it what to display. Open the Run dialog again; this time enter “gedit /usr/share/applications/thunderbird.desktop”. At the bottom of this file, add:

    X-Ayatana-Desktop-Shortcuts=Compose;Contacts

    [Compose Shortcut Group]
    Name=Compose New Message
    Exec=thunderbird mailto:
    OnlyShowIn=Messaging Menu

    [Contacts Shortcut Group]
    Name=Contacts
    Exec=thunderbird -addressbook
    OnlyShowIn=Messaging Menu

    Again, save, then log out. When you come back, Thunderbird should be in the Messaging Menu along with Compose and Contacts options.

    • http://jdevelopthis.blogspot.com Jacky Alcine

      That isn’t really user friendly.

  • http://my.opera.com/bachkhois Nguyá»…n Hồng Quân

    How to make the Thunderbird entry reside at Messaging Menu even when Thunderbird has been closed?

  • http://caosmental.com Jesús Pérez

    great!!

  • Carsten

    I’ve been using this plugin for a while now, and it’s nice, mostly. What’s a bit annoying about it is that it only will notify you about new elements in your Inbox folder, not about new messages in subfolders. Also, it may happen that when you see the envelope flash up, and open Thunderbird by clicking on the menu for Thunderbird in the Message Menu – with another folder than the Inbox currently opened in your Thunderbird window, then manually switching to the Inbox – the envelope flashes up again as it “rediscovers” the message, and you have to click that menu point again. I hope you’ll know what I mean, I feel my description might be a little confusing.

    • I Aint Thick

      I just noticed that it notified me of a junk mail. So I guess I have the opposite problem.

      • Anonymous

        Junk mail temporarily shows up in the inbox, triggering the notification, before thunderbird sends it to the Junk folder.

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  • http://twitter.com/Slammy The Slammy

    Weird …
    After installing this addon, my Pidgin started acting real slow, real weird.
    Had to remove it :(

  • Craig

    I installed it on my 10.4×64 with TB3.08. When new mail arrives I get a dialogue popping up saying “To see notifications via libnotify, the libnotify-bin package needs to be installed.” I installed the package via synaptic but it still comes up. Do I need to do something or should I just ditch the addon?

  • https://launchpad.net/~boniboyblue Boni Boy Blue

    Been using this for sometime but I would really love it if it notified me of new e-mails in the sub-folders since I filter my e-mails server side.

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  • http://twitter.com/syanide1 Syanide

    Can someone help me out with this, I jwant the messaging applet entry (and just it) to mimic the look of Evolution’s (the mail icon instead of Thunderbird’s, and “Mail” instead of “Mozilla Thunderbird…”. Is it possible. I thought of editing thunderbird.desktop, but I’m not sure if that would change just the messaging menu icon, or all.

  • http://twitter.com/syanide1 Syanide

    Can someone help me out with this, I jwant the messaging applet entry (and just it) to mimic the look of Evolution’s (the mail icon instead of Thunderbird’s, and “Mail” instead of “Mozilla Thunderbird…”. Is it possible. I thought of editing thunderbird.desktop, but I’m not sure if that would change just the messaging menu icon, or all.

  • http://twitter.com/milindat Mili

    Worked like a charm for me. Out of topic, what is the plugin (if it is one) you use to get the “Share Story” widget? Thanks in advance. :)

  • http://twitter.com/santhip Santhip Kanholy

    To minimize thunderbird you could use a dock .. it would minimize the application to a dock rather than to the taskbar … keeps the taskbar clean … :) :)

    Also, this indicator isn’t as good as the default indicator for the evolution calendar .. it shows the inbox with unread messages only when there is a new notification .. For the evolution indicator, it shows the inbox even when there are no new messages.. that’s a bummer X (

  • http://twitter.com/santhip Santhip Kanholy

    To minimize thunderbird you could use a dock .. it would minimize the application to a dock rather than to the taskbar … keeps the taskbar clean … :) :)

    Also, this indicator isn’t as good as the default indicator for the evolution calendar .. it shows the inbox with unread messages only when there is a new notification .. For the evolution indicator, it shows the inbox even when there are no new messages.. that’s a bummer X (

  • http://ukkaz.co.cc amirfazwan

    We’re sorry, but we can’t find what you’re looking for.

    add-on removed?

  • Anonymous

    The above link doesn’t work.. however i found this https://launchpad.net/~ruben-verweij/+archive/thunderbird-indicator?field.series_filter=natty

    Just add the PPA as normal and install.

  • Anonymous

    Maybe you can try ThunderUbuntu Addon

  • Anonymous

    Maybe you can try ThunderUbuntu Addon

  • http://twitter.com/cschluti Charlie Schluting

    “This add-on has been disabled by an administrator.” :(

 
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