442826 - Select default starting folder doesn't work for Local Folders

Status: RESOLVED WORKSFORME

(Thunderbird :: Preferences, enhancement)

Description

[Rod Lockwood]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1.14) Gecko/20080404 Firefox/2.0.0.14
Build Identifier: Thunderbird 2.0.0.14 (20080421)

There is no way to have Thunderbird open the input folder by default at startup. It always opens at Local Folders. Also there should be an option to just have Thunderbird always open one way or the other and disable the opening prompt box.

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Start up Thunderbird after clicking on the opening window for working online or offline.
2.
3.

Comment 1

[Joshua Cranmer [:jcranmer]]

Go into Account Settings. Select an IMAP or Local Folders account. Hit Set As Default. WFM.

Comment 2

[Rod Lockwood]

Under Account Settings I have a tree on the left which lists my three accounts, Local Folders, and Outgoing Server (SMTP).

Under each of the accounts are the branches, Server Settings, Copies & Folders, Composition & Addressing, Disk Space, Junk Settings, Return Receipts, and Security.

Under Local Folders is only Disk Space and Junk Settings.

I cannot find anything under Tools > Account Settings with the option to ‘Set As Default’. Clicking on the Local Folders properties only takes me to the Tools > Account Settings > Local Folders branch.

Comment 3

[Joshua Cranmer [:jcranmer]]

+----------------+
|+ Account 1     |
|+ Account 2     |
|+ Account 3     |
|+ Local Folders |
+----------------+

+----------------+
| Add Account    |
+----------------+
+----------------+
| Set as Default |  <--- this button here
+----------------+
+----------------+
| Remove Account |
+----------------+

Comment 4

[Rod Lockwood]

That is already greyed out on my default account. Perhaps you misunderstand the question?

I am trying to get Thunderbird to open to the global inbox where the incoming messages are stored instead of the global Local Folders. The tree is on the left pane.

Local Folders <-Not Here
|
+Inbox <-Here
|
+Unsent
|
+Drafts
|
+Sent
|
+Trash

Comment 5

[Joshua Cranmer [:jcranmer]]

Hmm, it is disabled on Local Folders.

Something else you can do is set it the default account to a POP account delivering to the global inbox, and it will pop you there.

Comment 6

[Rod Lockwood]

Then I suppose I am requesting that it be enabled for the Local Folders. I don’t know, with Outlook Express, you just had an option to open to your folder of choice in the settings and that was it, and it never asked whether you wanted to work online or off.

Comment 7

[Decathlon]

(In reply to comment #6)
> Then I suppose I am requesting that it be enabled for the Local Folders. I
> don’t know, with Outlook Express, you just had an option to open to your folder
> of choice in the settings and that was it, and it never asked whether you
> wanted to work online or off.

I can confirm this lack in Thunderbird.
I use Folderpane Tools extension as a workaround, but I think his code should be integrated in Thunderbird (globally, with the feature for folder list reorder too, but this is another, neglected, bug).
This is a feature strongly requested by the user on several forums and IMO shouldn't be resolved with an extension because 1)many people doesn't know it, 2)must be part of the core application. 
The idea that an awful and obsolete client like Outlook Express has a simple feature like that and Thunderbird doesn't have it, get me angry (and sad):-(

Comment 9

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

I guess the question here is what is the original request.

• Is it to just have startup remember the last used folder, including Local Folders including Global Inbox? I believe that didn't work for some time. Works for me using 68.1.1 and two pop accounts changed to global inbox, but the first restart didn't remember the last chosen folder.
• Or is to set an explicit folder to be selected on EVERY startup?

The current design of Thunderbird is the former.

Giacomo, do you agree Thunderbird remembers the last folder on restart, for both regular pop and "Global Inbox"? https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/using-multiple-profiles if you need to create a test profile

Comment 10

[Giacomo Mazzini]

Wayne,
IMHO the answer could deserve a profile configuration option: i.e., while (under my main profile) I use to funnel messages from a number of different accounts into General Inbox (after having special messages automatically moved by Filters to specific folders for later business), I believe that it could be quiete useful to define a profile under which TB remembers any last opened folder.

(In reply to Wayne Mery (:wsmwk) from comment #9)

I guess the question here is what is the original request.

• Is it to just have startup remember the last used folder, including Local Folders including Global Inbox? I believe that didn't work for some time. Works for me using 68.1.1 and two pop accounts changed to global inbox, but the first restart didn't remember the last chosen folder.
• Or is to set an explicit folder to be selected on EVERY startup?

The current design of Thunderbird is the former.

Giacomo, do you agree Thunderbird remembers the last folder on restart, for both regular pop and "Global Inbox"? https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/using-multiple-profiles if you need to create a test profile

Comment 11

[Rod Lockwood]

The real problem is that I reported that 11 years ago when I was using XP. Since then I switched to the built-in email client in Opera. I have only returned to using Thunderbird, because Opera removed that feature from their browse and have done nothing to update Opera Mail. 11 years later, I am using Windows 7 and just now people are getting around to looking at this bug. Thunderbird now does what I had expected it to do years ago. The only problem I have now is that I would like to have a browser and email client combined again. Though I doubt that will ever happen. Especially since I also use Linux.

Comment 12

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

Most of us are volunteers. Perhaps the following applies - please don't shoot the messenger. Thanks for the update - so this can be closed.