575415 - tb needs way to bulk export/import folders & settings (preferably separately)

Status: UNCONFIRMED

(MailNews Core :: Import, enhancement)

Description

[Jim Michaels]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9.2.6) Gecko/20100625 Firefox/3.6.6 ( .NET CLR 3.5.30729)
Build Identifier: 3.1

tb needs a way to import/export in bulk:
- feeds (separately)
- feed content (can be separate, as an option)
- folders and inbox (separately, if you have to include the accounts, do so)
- accounts (separately)
- settings, if any (separately, or make it go with the accounts if they are really related to accounts)
- newsgroups (separately)
- news (can be separate, as an option)

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1.rebuild OS
2.copy APPDATA\mozilla directory from old hard disk (hopefully your mail is in there) to new hard disk
3.install tb for first time

Actual Results:  
"cleaning bird cage"

Expected Results:  
mail imported

since tb can't import mail, I propose a method to import/export mail, for those whose mail is precious to them, like mine is to me.

Comment 1

[Sebastian Hengst [:aryx] (needinfo me if it's about an intermittent or backout)]

You can take your whole profile with you. Note that you chose the wrong folder, it is %APPDATA%/Thunderbird, not %APPDATA%/Mozilla.

Copy the <a href="http://www.mozilla.org/support/thunderbird/profile">profile</a> from the old machine, create a new profile on the new machine, remember the file path and replace the content of that directory with the content of the copied profile from the old PC. Start Thunderbird with the profile manager to launch that profile (Thunderbird should remember the chosen profile later) if you had already started before copying the old profile to the new machine.

Comment 2

[Jim Michaels]

I get hexadecimal numbers instead of folder names.

Comment 3

[Jim Michaels]

also, when I copy a feed url to clipboard, delete the feed, (which leaves the hex folder behind), add the feed again (new folder comes out right, but feed also gets added to hex folder, now I have 2 copies).

no matter what I do, nothing is enabled to delete those hex folders.  my firefox profile is hosed after doing what you said.

Comment 4

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

If separately is desired, then separate bugs are needed. But you might make this a meta bug, and have the other bugs block this - many of which may already exist. Perhaps this bug is even a duplicate.