Make the Menu Bar visible as default in Thunderbird

[davidsk]

I am a SUMO volunteer and regularly (daily, really) respond to user issues where the individual is not aware that a menu bar exists, yet many features of Thunderbird are so readily available there. I think it was with version 78 that a decision was made to hide the menu bar, possibly for a cleaner look? Regardless, new users need help, and the menu bar makes navigation so much easier than trying to find the desired feature from that cursed hamburger menu (cursed because it has some features of menu bar and uses the same words, furthering confusion). The menu bar is even more important, now that ver 128 is out, because 128 also allows menus to be hidden that require the menu bar to be reactivated. This becomes a vicious circle. True, some users don't want the menu bar, and can easily hide it in one step. But please look at this from the new or casual user's perspective: hiding useful tools is counter-productive. This seems to be a simple change. Please, just do it for all of us. Thank you.

[Jon]

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[ThePillenwerfer]

Absolutely agree, David.

A lot of the default settings seem balmy.  There are also complaints about messages being displayed in the wrong order because threading is on by default.

It's even worse when Thunderbird's, or Firefox's, behaviour changes after an up-date.  I'd suggest that when new things are added they default to 'Off' when up-dating with details of what they are and how to enable them if desired on the What's New page.  Tab previews are a recent example from Firefox and Thunderbird 128 defaults to showing sender's name and full e-mail address rather than just the former — somebody was complaining about that a couple of hours ago.  Being enabled on a new installation is a different matter as that won't confuse/annoy existing users.

The level of ignorance amongst users is not to be under-estimated and a lot don't realise that things can be changed in Settings.

All software developers, not just Mozilla, should bear in mind that we use software because we like it.  Change it and that may no longer be the case.

[Ed_in_Texas]

"All software developers, not just Mozilla, should bear in mind that we use software because we like it.  Change it and that may no longer be the case."

I used Eudora for years and years, working email off line (a habit developed with dial up).  Eventually forced to change I picked Tbird and was happy.  Then the interface was drastically changed.  It no longer presented my emails as I wished and I couldn't find how to change the presentation (other than arranging by date order as I wanted).  I studied "settings" to no avail.  I don't like not being able to arrange columns (date/time group/Sender/Subject at a minimum).  With the previous version of Tbird I could sort on the sender column and go through wiping out a couple or three thousand accumulated messages in short order, haven't a clue how to do that now.  I couldn't care less for "chat" or calendar functions in my email client.  I searched for how to change the presentation and found a site where a user was explaining he served a group of seniors who were not happy with the latest version (I can understand that).  Whomever answered told him to have the seniors use the old version while he had the time to convert them to the new version as they old version would not be supported much longer.  Struck me as a sort of "TS Boomer, get over it.", accurate but not very empathetic.  That response even sent him (and me) to an inappropriate website.  Another sent me here.

[ThePillenwerfer]

I'm in utter agreement.  I've never seen why e-mail clients have a calendar on.  It's like fitting a tin opener to a bucket — both useful to have but what's the connection?

To make the newer versions civilised firstly switch from Card to Table View.  Click the icon I've circled in the first picture below to do that.

After that you can right click the heading of one of the columns and that brings up a list of possible ones so you can tick ones you want to show and un-tick ones you don't. 

If you double-click the word Date at the top of the column it will sort the messages in date order.  Clicking it again will reverse the order.  The same goes for Sender.

You can also drag them left and right to change the order.

The bar at the vertical bar at the left can be got rid of by clicking the left-pointing arrow at the bottom of it.

Finally there's Threading. 

Firstly press Alt-v and click "Sort by" on the drop-down menu that appears. Towards the bottom of that are "Threaded" and "Unthreaded." Click "Unthreaded."

That will sort out the folder you are currently displaying but only that one.

To make it work in every folder right-click somewhere on the line with the column headings and choose "Apply current view to folder and its children" at the bottom, then pick one of your accounts, then the top of the next list that comes up. See the second picture as hopefully that'll make it clearer.

You have to do it for every account you have.  Ideally there's be a simple Off setting that applied across the board but there isn't.

The big problem is that settings aren't in places that make logical sense to people other than those who wrote it.

I'm now on version 115 and don't plan to up-date it for years; I will when and if protocols change and it can no longer be used.

[Ed_in_Texas]

Thank you so very much. It really was as simple as "table view", which isn't under "view" - of course.  I'm graphically challenged* so the circled icon on the right made me think it looked like a piece of movie film (for those of us old enough to remember film) and must have something to do with videos, hence I did not think to look there. Apparently this version has a default of "card view" for I've never had to change to the "table view" in all the years I've used the software.

*  I read.  I think drawing is stick figures, and not very good ones at that. 

Thanks again, you have saved what little sanity I have left.

Ed

[ThePillenwerfer]

Customisation is Thunderbird's (and Firefox's) biggest plus but it isn't easy.  I'd be at an equal loss as to what the icon is supposed to signify and it isn't helped by it being so spindly and indistinct.  As you say, you'd expect changing the View to be on the View Menu or, as it's a setting, under Settings.  The default settings are often far from opium as well, though I admit that is somewhat subjective.

I wonder how many people just give up.

[Magnus26]

Hello all! Making the menu bar visible by default would be a great enhancement of Thunderbird, so I do agree with David.

PS -- From version 128.4.0 the menu bar words are set with white letters which makes it very difficult to see them in the light theme I like to use. I do not know how to make them black. I use the operating system Q4OS with KDE. -- DS