MX Linux Forum

birdtray-1.4-1 is now available for download from the test repo.

Birdtray is a free system tray notification for new mail for Thunderbird. Its primary platform is Linux/X Windows.

basic setup:

Launch the ./birdtray executable from the local directory. It will show Thunderbird icon in system tray. Right-click on this icon, and click Settings. Go to Monitoring tab and select the Thunderbird MSF file for the mailbox you'd like to monitor.

Check out the comments on the authors github page for more info.

- mike

I can't configure Birdtray for my mail account. The monitoring tab wants me to point to the location of an .msf file but that's inside of my ~/.thunderbird/835jtufd.default/ directory. There's no way in Birdtray to allow it to access hidden directories, and if I copy/paste the absolute path from Thunar into Birdtray's configuration the "Open" button is still greyed out. I also have a ~/Mail directory but it doesn't contain the mail index .msf file that Birdtray wants. I don't know if it's related to the Thunderbird version 60.7.2 upgrade or not, but I doubt it. T-bird's working but how do I use Birdtray with it?

Unless someone else has figured this out I'd say Birdtray's inability to be able to access Thunderbird profiles where the inbox is stored is a bug. I downloaded the source for the latest version, 1.6.0, and compiled it but it's the same. I'd file an issue on its github page but I don't have an account and it won't let me create one for some reason. It doesn't seem to like my email provider.

OK, I figured out a work-around to get it configured. I copied the contents of .thunderbird to Mail (in my home directory), renamed .thunderbird to .thunderbird-save, created a symlink to Mail and named it .thunderbird. Thunderbird can find its profile by following the symlink and is happy, and Birdtray can be pointed to the Inbox.msf file it needs that's inside of the non-hidden Mail directory. I still don't know if it actually works or not though: I sent a test mail from a webmail mailbox I have for mailing list subscriptions but it hasn't arrived yet. This was kind of a pain in the butt to configure.

Well, it sort of works. A small part of the Birdtray icon turned green when the new message arrived, just a large green "1" superimposed on the white Birdtray icon. It's not really very easy to notice though and can easily be overlooked. I tried changing the notification color to bright red and it's better, but still easy to overlook. It would be better if the entire icon turned green (or red.)

I found that if I changed the "blinking speed" from the default value of none then the icon alternates between the regular white icon and a red 1, which is better. You can also change the default icon, but you have to manually point it at the replacement icon which must be a .png. I ended up using the 24x24 mail-read.png icon from Adwaita. I also set it to use mail-unread.png for unread mail, so I have a white envelope with a red dot that alternates with a large green 1 (I changed the notification back to the default color) when there's a new unread message.

I found also that I have to stop and restart Birdtray before some configuration changes are seen. Also, Thunderbird has to be running, then Birdtray started, in that order. I don't know whether items in Application Autostart start in the order they're in or not...may have to start them from within .profile and perhaps add a sleep value between starting T-bird and Birdtray.

You can right-click on Birdtray and have it hide Thunderbird. Left-clicking/double-clicking on Birdtray doesn't do anything, you have to right-click and show Thunderbird to get to your email. Thunderbird has to always be running in the background which consumes extra resources vs. a stand-alone mail notification widget that only starts T-bird when clicked.. Birdtray seems to basically just put a Thunderbird icon for the notification area rather than just a windows button when T-bird is running minimized.

With some configuration and tweaking Birdtray could be sort-of useful but it's definitely not for newbies as it doesn't "just work" OOTB. I could write a Tips&Tricks post for setting it up if anyone wants me to. I'd still have to test autostarting first though.

Edit: Birdtray won't autostart after being added to Settings/Session and Startup/Application Autostart. It only runs if I manually start it from Whisker Menu every time after I log in, and then I have to right-click and hide T-bird each time too. Birdtray is not useful at all IMHO. Maybe later when (if) it's more mature but not now.

Another option, instead of birdtray, is xul-ext-firetray. It works just peachy with TB. Of course you might not want this, but I am just throwing it out here, in case :)

Eadwine Rose wrote: Wed Jun 26, 2019 3:21 am Another option, instead of birdtray, is xul-ext-firetray. It works just peachy with TB. Of course you might not want this, but I am just throwing it out here, in case :)

Thanks, but I want to see if I can get Birdtray working properly first. I'm stubborn. :)

I've solved most of its issues. If you go to it settings and select everything on the Hiding tab, it automatically opens Thunderbird and hides it when you run Birdtray. Left-clicking on the Birdtray icon unhides T-bird and doing so again hides it again. So other than T-bird running constantly in the background Birdtray works like other stand-alone new mail notifiers.

Now, if I could only get it to autostart when I log in. I'm still working on that.

I GOT IT TO WORK!

I created a script named birdtray_autostart containing this: made it executable and copied it to /usr/bin, then in Settings/Session and Startup I added an autostart item on the Application Autostart tab, named it Birdtray, and pointed it at that shell script, and Robert was my avuncular! Finally! Apparently it doesn't like being started very soon after login. There must be other things still running when proggies are autostarting that it either needs or that prevent it from running. That's why I added a 30 second delay.

So now that I know how to make this little piglet a functional email notifier, my offer to create a Tips&Tricks post on configuring it to work properly stands IF anybody's actually interested in using Birdtray, otherwise I may not bother. OTOH maybe I should while everything's still fresh in my mind, in case I forget.

But I got it working for MEEEE! That was kind of a fun way to spend a rainy afternoon.

Congrats!!

JayM wrote: Wed Jun 26, 2019 1:10 am Unless someone else has figured this out I'd say Birdtray's inability to be able to access Thunderbird profiles where the inbox is stored is a bug. I downloaded the source for the latest version, 1.6.0, and compiled it but it's the same. I'd file an issue on its github page but I don't have an account and it won't let me create one for some reason. It doesn't seem to like my email provider.

There is a birdtray-1.5-1 in buster I could try to backport after work today. Maybe that'll help. Stay tuned. - mike

I just sent birdtray-1.5-1~mx17+1 up to go into test. I tested it in a VM and it seemed to work. When setting what folder to monitor, I did a browse and then pasted in the path to my thunderbird email folder: "/home/<user>/.thunderbird/ls4yrawa.default/"

Give it a day or so to show up in the repos. If you can't wait, pm me and I'll send you a link to a zipped set of debs to test.

- mike

1.5.1 still has the file browser issue of not being able to show or open hidden directories, and so does the newest version, 1.6, that I'd gotten from github and compiled. 1.5.1 does work though.

JayM wrote: Fri Jun 28, 2019 11:44 pm 1.5.1 still has the file browser issue of not being able to show or open hidden directories, and so does the newest version, 1.6, that I'd gotten from github and compiled. 1.5.1 does work though.

thanks for the test post - mike

FYI I was finally able to create a GitHub account and I filed a bug report about the file browser issue.

JayM wrote: Sat Jun 29, 2019 12:35 am FYI I was finally able to create a GitHub account and I filed a bug report about the file browser issue.

nice!

I found that if you right-click on an empty space in the file browser there's an option in the actions menu to show hidden files.

Eadwine Rose wrote: Wed Jun 26, 2019 3:21 am Another option, instead of birdtray, is xul-ext-firetray. It works just peachy with TB. Of course you might not want this, but I am just throwing it out here, in case :)

I decided to try this instead of birdtray so I installed xul-ext-firetray and also xulrunner-22.0 but (dumb question time) how do I start it and configure it? I can't find anything xul-like in the Whisker menu and in a terminal I get "command not found". I don't know anything about Xul except from the movie Ghostbusters. :)

JayM wrote: Sat Aug 24, 2019 8:55 pm

Eadwine Rose wrote: Wed Jun 26, 2019 3:21 am Another option, instead of birdtray, is xul-ext-firetray. It works just peachy with TB. Of course you might not want this, but I am just throwing it out here, in case :)

I decided to try this instead of birdtray so I installed xul-ext-firetray and also xulrunner-22.0 but (dumb question time) how do I start it and configure it? I can't find anything xul-like in the Whisker menu and in a terminal I get "command not found". I don't know anything about Xul except from the movie Ghostbusters. :)

It didn't want to install in a VM so I'm looking for parts to rebuild it. Along the way I found this. You try this yet?
edit: I found the parts for a version 24.8 although repology says it's up to 41.2. I'll see if it'll build, install and run.

FYI I don't particularly care about using xulrunner, I just wanted to try that firetray email notifier that Eadwine Rose mentioned instead of birdtray. While birdtray is working OK for me, I had to add a short delay before it autostarts to get it to autostart at all, and when it runs it automatically opens then hides thunderbird, and when that happens thunderbird steals the focus from whatever else I'm trying to do such as enter my root password for MXPI which is becoming annoying. So I thought I'd investigate alternative solutions to email notifiers.

JayM wrote: Sun Aug 25, 2019 12:15 am So I thought I'd investigate alternative solutions to email notifiers.

If only Mailnag http://www.webupd8.org/2016/03/mailnag- ... -with.html could be used with XFCE, it would be the best of all in my opinion.