Firefox and Thunderbird

Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird overview

Firefox and Thunderbird are the replacements for the combination web browser/mail reader mozilla. Firefox is a web browser only. Thunderbird is the email/news client. More information on Mozilla, Firefox and Thunderbird can be found on the official website at http://www.mozilla.org

The lab-supported installations of Firefox and Thunderbird on CSL workstations have been configured much like the lab-supported mozilla installation. That is, you should be able to move back and forth between UNIX and Windows and have the same bookmarks and email folders as you had under mozilla. However, due to this file sharing and the lack of proper file locking, it is not recommended that you run firefox (or thunderbird) on two CSL machines at the same time. Also, mixing and matching firefox or thunderbird with mozilla is not a good idea.

Firefox Troubleshooting

If Firefox hangs, freezes, crashes or otherwise misbehaves, try the following (in order) until the problem is resolved:

1. Quit and restart Firefox.
2. If Firefox won't start:
   • Make sure you are authenticated to AFS. If not, then reauthenticate.
   • Make sure you are not over your AFS quota. If you are, remove some files until you are under quota, then try firefox again.
   • If you are on a Windows machine, use the Firefox shortcut in your Start Menu, not a desktop shortcut. If this step fixed the problem, your shortcut is old. You should delete it and copy a new one to your desktop from the Start Menu (or always use the Start Menu instead of a shortcut).
   • Log out and log back in, then try again.
3. If the problem still exists, quit firefox (if running) and do one of the following:
   • If you're on a UNIX (linux, solaris) system, run firefox -cleanup
   • If you're on a Windows system, go to your Start Menu, then Mozilla Firefox, and finally Mozilla Firefox Cleanup
4. If the cleanup option did not fix the problem, it's time to try new firefox preferences:
   • Quit Firefox (if running)
   • If you are on a UNIX (linux,solaris) system:
     mv ~/.mozilla/firefox ~/.mozilla/firefox.old
   • If you are on Windows, browse to the U: drive and then the .mozilla.w2k folder. Rename the firefox folder firefox.old
   • Start Firefox. You should get brand new default Firefox preferences. If you've been using the lab-supported Firefox installation, you should still have all your bookmarks. You'll need to redo any changes you made to your preferences and reinstall any plug-ins you installed locally. You can remove your .mozilla/firefox.old and/or .mozilla.w2k/firefox.old directories to reduce your quota usage if/when you are sure you didn't lose anything.

Importing email and address books into Thunderbird

The import function under Thunderbird is completely broken, so the lab version supports only importing from the lab-supported mozilla installation. If you used our mozilla install and you used the default profile, when you run thunderbird for the first time, it should automatically import your imap folders, Local Folders, personal and collected address books, junk mail training and spell checker additions. Any additional address books you created will need to be exported from mozilla and imported into thunderbird via the GUI.

Thunderbird Troubleshooting

If Thunderbird hangs, freezes, crashes or otherwise misbehaves, try the following (in order) until the problem is resolved:

1. Quit and restart Thunderbird.
2. If Thunderbird won't start:
   • Make sure you are authenticated to AFS. If not, then reauthenticate.
   • Make sure you are not over your AFS quota. If you are, remove some files until you are under quota, then try thunderbird again.
   • If you are on a Windows machine, use the Thunderbird shortcut in your Start Menu, not a desktop shortcut. If this step fixed the problem, your shortcut is old. You should delete it and copy a new one to your desktop from the Start Menu (or always use the Start Menu instead of a shortcut).
   • Log out and log back in, then try again.
3. If the problem still exists, quit thunderbird (if running) and do one of the following:
   • If you're on a UNIX (linux, solaris) system, run thunderbird -cleanup
   • If you're on a Windows system, go to your Start Menu, then Mozilla Thunderbird, and finally Mozilla Thunderbird Cleanup
4. If the cleanup option did not fix the problem, it's time to try a new thunderbird profile:
   • Quit Thunderbird (if running)
   • If you are on a UNIX (linux,solaris) system:
     mv ~/.thunderbird ~/.thunderbird.old
   • If you are on Windows, browse to the U: drive. Rename the .thunderbird.w2k folder thunderbird.w2k.old (Note that the windows explorer will not let you name files starting with a '.', so remove the first '.' from the folder name when you rename it).
   • Start Thunderbird. You should get a new Thunderbird profile with brand new default Thunderbird preferences. If you've been using the lab-supported Thunderbird installation, you should still have all your email and message filters. You'll need to redo any changes you made to your preferences.

Thunderbird and deleting email

Our imap server does not properly support the "move to Trash" setting when deleting email in Thunderbird (or any other mail client for that matter). The CSL thunderbird default setting for deleting email is "mark it as deleted". Please leave this setting as is. This setting causes a red X to appear on deleted email. Use the File -> Compact Folders action to commit the deletion of these messages.

Thunderbird .signature

1. Looking to setup an automatic signature for every email you send out? Here's how:
   • Use your favorite text editor to create your signature file (if you don't already have one). It can contain whatever text you want (usually your name, address and other contact info) and can be located anywhere you have access to (somewhere in your home directory is best).
   • In thunderbird
     • If you are on UNIX, select Edit -> Account Settings.
     • If you are on Windows, select Tools -> Account Settings.
   • In the Account Settings window, select your email address in the left hand column (if it's not already selected), then in the right hand area, check the box next to Attach this signature:. Click the Choose... button and browse to the file you created in the first step. NOTE: If you are on UNIX and your signature file begins with a ".", you may need to check the Show hidden files and directories button in the file browser in order to find your file. Click Open to select the file.
   • Click OK. Your signature file should now be included at the bottom of every message you compose.