534907 - 'Reply', 'Replay All', 'Forward', 'Edit as New' do not close original e-mail when they open a new compose window

Status: NEW

(Thunderbird :: Mail Window Front End, enhancement)

Description

[jenningsthecat]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.9.0.15) Gecko/2009102815 Ubuntu/9.04 (jaunty) Firefox/3.0.15
Build Identifier: version 2.0.0.23 (20090817)

When I select 'Reply', 'Replay All', or 'Forward' and a new Compose window opens up, I feel that the window containing the original e-mail should be closed automatically, as it is in Outlook Express. Once I've decided to reply or forward I no longer need the original e-mail to be open, and when I'm processing several e-mails in a row, it gets tedious closing the original e-mail each time. I can see that there might be a few users who prefer the current behaviour; is it feasible to make this behaviour configurable in either Preferences or Account Settings?

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Open an e-mail
2. Select Reply, Reply All, or Forward
3. Send the e-mail
Actual Results:  
When the window closes on the e-mail just sent, you will be looking at the original e-mail

Expected Results:  
The Folders pane and the Message List pane should be visible, and the original e-mail should be closed.

I am using Thunderbird with the Preview pane turned off, for security reasons.

Comment 1

[Ludovic Hirlimann [:Usul]]

I couldn't find a duplicate.

What is ta value of mail.compose.max_recycled_windows in the config editor ?

Comment 2

[jenningsthecat]

The value here is currently 1. After receiving the question regarding this setting I tried changing the value from 1, first to 2, then 6, then 0, and finallt back to 1, closing and re-opening Thunderbird after each change. The behaviour remained the same throughout, with the original e-mail staying open after selecting 'Reply' launched a new 'Compose' window.

Comment 3

[Bryan Clark (DevTools PM) [:clarkbw]]

With a preference or via an add-on I think we could do something like this.  The behaviour is understandable but likely that others expect the mail to remain around as well.

Comment 4

[Ludovic Hirlimann [:Usul]]

(In reply to comment #3)
> With a preference or via an add-on I think we could do something like this. 
> The behaviour is understandable but likely that others expect the mail to
> remain around as well.

New for the pref.

Comment 5

[jenningsthecat]

Thanks! I'm new to Linux; coming from the Windows world I find it really refreshing to be able to contact responsive and conscientious developers directly.

Comment 6

[jenningsthecat]

Thanks; but given the experiences I've had with Linux, I have no desire whatsoever to return to Windows!

Comment 7

[:aceman]

Confirming Outlook 2007 closes the original window.
This would also help bug 688284.

Comment 8

[Karina Smith]

Attachment: same problem

Thanks from inramita1980.