Today we're presenting fourteen features that don't exist in Thunderbird, although requests date back to 1999.
Main window:
- Like in every regular application, the menu bar is at the top of the main window. It's surprising that Thunderbird broke that rule in Supernova-Kaboom and users are now struggling with
userChrome.cssto get it back where it belongs. - Equally, Supernova-Kaboom got rid of the message counts in the status bar, a UI element which had existed for more than 20 years.
- Betterbird's Windows and Linux system tray icon offer a tooltip, so you can see at a glance in which folders to find new messages.
Improvements for people who like it tidy:
- Some people want Betterbird always start on the same folder, most likely an inbox or unified inbox, no matter which folder was open when they closed the application. That's why Betterbird offers a startup folder.
- Some people open many messages in tab, but they don't want to see those messages again after a restart. That's why Betterbird offers optional tab restore.
- For people with very wide screens there are vertical tabs.
- People with many accounts appreciate Betterbird's implementation of account colours. The old add-on doesn't work any more, and Thunderbird's own implementation leaves much to be desired.
Message list, aka thread pane:
- Long before Thunderbird introduced its space-wasting cards view, Betterbird offered a multi-line view like in Outlook. Individual columns are still present, only the message subject has moved to the second line.
- Many users don't know that there is a secondary sort, that is, you can sort by one column and then by another. That why we're showing secondary sort indicators.
- Ever selected more than one message or a collapsed thread (multi-select) and wondered about the not-so-useful summary view? It can be turned off in Betterbird, so the message shown is the last selected message.
Threading improvements:
- People who use a threaded view appreciate Betterbird's connecting lines that had been used for two decades before they became another Supernova-Kaboom casualty.
- Betterbird also offers reversed threading, so when sort be date descending (newest message on top), the threads are also sorted that way.
Finally, rethreading and message editing:
- Rethreading: In a threaded view, messages can be moved to a different thread, or removed from a thread. In folders containing feed articles, these can also be grouped into threads.
- The subject and other message headers can be edited. This functionality is available via add-ons, but it's better to have it in the toolbox.