The Case of the Missing Thunderbird Attachment

If you have been working in Eudora, you might be expecting to clean up or backup the location where Thunderbird holds your attachments.  You might look for this location, but you will never find it.

Why? Thunderbird does not store your attachments in a permanent location.  On a Windows machine, any attachments you open will be placed in a temporary location (eg. temp) that is periodically emptied.  If you want to keep an attachment, it's up to you to save it somewhere permanent.  Here's how:

1. In Thunderbird, open the message that contains the attachment.
2. Right-click the attachment and select Save.
3. Save the attachment to a permanent location.

Tip: Don't forget to do a little clean up on the location you choose for saved attachments.  Something you need to keep this year may not be useful 5 years from now!

Thanks to Marti Lindsay, Life Science Library for suggesting this tip!

Using Thunderbird as an RSS Feed Reader

You can make Thunderbird your RSS feed reader so that your mail and RSS feeds are in the same program.

Step 1: Set up an RSS/Blog account.

1. In Thunderbird, go to File → New → Account.
2. Select RSS News & Blogs. 
3. Click Next.
4. Enter the account name (eg. My RSS Feeds) and click Next and then Finish.

Step 2: For each RSS feed you want to add, subscribe.

1. In the folders pane, right-click on the new account (eg. My RSS Feeds).
2. Click Subscribe.
3. Click Add and enter the URL for the feed and click OK.

Note: This does not include listservs.

Thanks to Nicole Ortmann, Email Migration Assistant, I-Tech, for submitting this tip.

Customizing the Thunderbird Toolbar

If you'd like to customize the Thunderbird Toolbar (eg. add or remove a few icons, change how items appear, etc.), this tip is for you!

1. Right-click in the toolbar area at the top of the screen and click Customize...  The Customize Toolbar window appears.
• To add an item to the Toolbar, drag it from the Customize Toolbar window to the Toolbar.
• To remove an item from the Toolbar, drag it from the Toolbar to the Customize Toolbar window.
• Use the Show dropdown menu to select how you want your items displayed (as Icons and Text, just Icons, just Text, etc.).
• To change the size of your icons, you can check or uncheck Use Small Icons.
• To return Thunderbird's Toolbar to it's original state, Click the Restore Default Set button.
2. Click Done.

 Thanks to Nicole Ortmann, E-Mail Migration Assistant of I-Tech, for submitting this tip!

Setting Thunderbird as Default Mail Client in Windows XP Via MS Word

To set Thunderbird as your default mail client in Microsoft Word:

1. Go to the Start menu and select the Control Panel.
2. Double-click on the Add or Remove Programs option and then choose Set Program Access and Defaults on the left side of the box.
3. Click on Custom and then click on the arrows icon (two arrows pointing down on the right side of the box). Under Choose a default email program, select Thunderbird and click OK.

Thanks to Nicole Ortmann, E-Mail Migration Assistant of I-Tech, for submitting this tip!

Refining Your X-PSU-Spam Filters

1. Follow the ITS Knowledge Base instructions for your email client:
   
   • Eudora (Windows)
   • Eudora (Mac)
   • Thunderbird (Windows or Mac)
   
   
2. Before saving your filter, add a second condition:
   
   • In Eudora:
     
     1. In the unlabeled dropdown menu, select and.
     2. From the Header dropdown menu, select <>.
     3. Select contains from the next unlabeled dropdown menu.
     4. Enter email.psu.edu into the text box.
     
     
   • In Thunderbird:
     
     1. Under For incoming messages that, click the Match all of the following option and click the plus sign ( + ).
     2. In the first dropdown menu, select To or cc.
     3. In the second dropdown menu, select contains.
     4. Enter email.psu.edu into the textbox.
     
     
   
   
3. Save your filter as the instructions for your client instruct you to do. Your filter will filter only PSU-flagged spam coming to an invalid address.

Note: You can also use these instructions to create refined filters on other problem addresses. For example, create two more new filters, follow these instructions and susbsitituting email.psu.edu with: mail.psu.edu psulias.psu.edu With these filters running, you will catch spam flagged coming from all of these addresses!

Warning: For this filter to work, please make sure you are giving out your correct Penn State email address, so that legitimate mail may be distinguished from spam. (See http://alerts.its.psu.edu/alert-1102)

Special thanks to Susan Ware, Vairo Library, Brandywine, and David Hutchinson, MTSS, for suggesting this tip!