Thunderbird 115 Supernova FAQ

[[T:TBMore]] This article answers questions for new users of Thunderbird 115 (Supernova), in particular users who have upgraded from a previous version. Supernova is constantly evolving. Throughout the next year, we will deliver many improvements to existing Supernova features and introduce brand new ones. Upgrade to version 115 and experience the future of Thunderbird! __TOC__ == Where can I find more information on changes and new features in Thunderbird 115 Supernova? == Please refer to the following documents: * [[New in Thunderbird 115 Supernova]] * [[Getting Started with the Thunderbird main window (Supernova and newer)]] * [https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/115.0/releasenotes] * [https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/releases/] (all releases, including details on the latest minor releases) == How do I get the Thunderbird 115 “Supernova” Look? == Thunderbird 115 “Supernova” ships with brand new layout options to give you a more beautiful and more productive email experience. But those new options are not on by default for many. Here's how to turn on these new options (inspired by the blog post: [https://blog.thunderbird.net/2023/08/make-thunderbird-yours-how-to-get-the-thunderbird-115-supernova-look/ Make Thunderbird Yours: How To Get The Thunderbird 115 “Supernova” Look]). === Step 1: Turn on Vertical View === Rearrange the Folder pane, Message List pane, and Message pane to be displayed side-by-side (also known as "Vertical View") as follows ([https://blog.thunderbird.net/files/2023/08/TB-115-Switch-to-Vertical-Layout.gif animated GIF]): * Click: The Application Menu i.e. {menu ≡} > {menu View} > {menu Layout} > tick i.e. ensure {menu Vertical View} is checked "✓". *;[[Image:tb115-vertical-ticked]] === Step 2: Turn on Cards View === “Cards” view is a new way of displaying your message list. It is simpler and more compact, to help reduce cognitive burden when you view the list; * Click {button [[Image:tb115-display-options-icon-offical-from-micah]]} (which is the new ''Message list display options'' icon and is on the right of the ''Quick Filter'' icon) > {menu Cards View} ([https://blog.thunderbird.net/files/2023/08/TB-115-Switch-to-Cards-View.gif animated GIF]). See also: [[Getting Started with the Thunderbird main window (Supernova and newer)#w_vertical-view-layout-with-card-view]]. *;[[Image:tb115-howto-turn-on-card-view]] Cards View is still in active development. More features such as a message preview line and sender avatars will be added in the future. TIP #1: Are you having trouble finding that menu? The area of Thunderbird where you activate Cards View is called the "Message List Header". Some people choose to hide this section to reclaim a bit of vertical space. It is easy to get it back: * Click {menu ≡} > {menu View} > {menu Layout} > tick i.e. ensure {menu Message List Header} is checked ✓ TIP #2: Cards View is also available when using Classic or Wide layouts. === Step 3: Turn on “Tags” Folder Mode === There is a new {menu Folder pane options} menu also known as a “meatball” or “three horizontal dots” menu, {menu ⋯}, to the '''right''' of {button + New Message}. This menu has options to show the Total message count, Folder Size and hide the ''Get Messages'' and ''New Message'' icons as well as hide the Local Folders and the Folder Pane Header. It also has a {menu Folder Modes} sub menu which has options for display folders in the Folder Pane as well a new option to show Tags in the Folder Pane. If Tags are an important part of your workflow, here's how to make it easier to access them ([https://blog.thunderbird.net/files/2023/08/TB-115-Activate-Tags-Folder-Mode.gif animated GIF]): * Click {menu ⋯} to the '''right''' of {button + New Message} > {menu Folder Modes} > tick i.e. ensure {menu Tags} is checked "✓". That’s it! You can also use this menu to hide Local Folders. *;[[Image:tb115-turn-on-tags-folder-modes]] Tip: Want to move your Tags up or down in the Folder Pane? * Click {menu ⋮} next to Tags in the Folder Pane on the left > {menu Move Up} OR {menu Move Down} to place your Tags wherever you wish in the Folder Pane. === Step 4: Customize The Message Header === The Message Header is the section at the top of the Message Pane where the email is displayed, showing information such as sender’s name, contact photo (which pulls from the Address Book), subject, any associated tags, and more. Configure the Message Header Settings to suit your preferences as follows ([https://blog.thunderbird.net/files/2023/08/TB-115-Customize-Message-Header.gif animated GIF]): * In the Message Pane, click {button More ⌄} > {menu Customize...} make it yours > {button Done} Before clicking {button Done}, make it yours by deciding if you want to display a profile picture, show the sender's profile picture, sender's full address, show all headers, hide labels etc. *;[[Image:400px-2023-08-31-tb115-message-header-settings]] == Why doesn’t Thunderbird follow the operating system accent colors, especially on Linux? == The Thunderbird user interface (UI) is very large and complicated, with many moving pieces and elements the user can select, move, highlight, etc. By default, we ship Thunderbird with its own brand identity in order to guarantee AAA color contrast and readability between foreground and background elements. Areas like the message list, or the folder pane, contain many elements and icons with specific colors that need to change and adapt depending on the state of the element. A selected element will show a different background color, if the selected element is not currently focused it will show another color, if the element is only focused but not selected, it will show another color. All of these examples are just a fraction of all the variations we need to handle in every single UI element. Allowing every Operating System, especially Linux Desktop Environments, to fully affect the Thunderbird colors always created constant issues and unexpected consequences. The amount of bug reports of users unable to properly see the reply icon with their KDE Arch Theme with Dracula accent colors is something we constantly struggled with to give a humorous but relevant example. Even the default Ubuntu color scheme, with its orange accent color, created constant unexpected consequences. We do not have the resources to support each variation or edge case. Our primary focus is to guarantee that Thunderbird is always readable and usable in every configuration; therefore enforcing our own brand identity and keeping it consistent across operating systems allowed us to remove these unexpected breakages and reduce the the number of bug reports about accessibility and visibility. === Why does Firefox follow the OS colors? === Because Firefox UI is mostly just a toolbar and a settings page with monochromatic line icons. It is a much simpler and self contained UI that does not need to worry about color contrast and readability, and following system colors is easy to support. === We recommend Add-ons and Themes to customize your colors === We rebuilt the UI in order to rely entirely on CSS variables. We did this so add-on developers can create their own themes and drastically change the look and feel of Thunderbird by tweaking a few CSS variables. This is still a work in progress and improving constantly, but we are already seeing heavily customized themes to make Thunderbird look like a native GTK application, for example. == Why are my Thunderbird customizations broken in 115? == If your customization required changes to userChrome.css, userContent.css, or other related files, then these [[userChrome.css and .js and userContent are unsupported|userChrome* customizations are still unsupported in 115]] (they were also unsupported in 102 and all previous releases). There may be [https://support.mozilla.org/questions/thunderbird?tagged=unsupporteduserchromecss&show=all solutions in the forums] but please remember these are unofficial; unsupported solutions and could break at any time.

This article answers questions for new users of Thunderbird 115 (Supernova), in particular users who have upgraded from a previous version.

Supernova is constantly evolving. Throughout the next year, we will deliver many improvements to existing Supernova features and introduce brand new ones. Upgrade to version 115 and experience the future of Thunderbird!

Where can I find more information on changes and new features in Thunderbird 115 Supernova?

Please refer to the following documents:

• New in Thunderbird 115 Supernova
• Getting Started with the Thunderbird main window (Supernova and newer)
• https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/thu.../releasenotes
• https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/thu.../releases/ (all releases, including details on the latest minor releases)

How do I get the Thunderbird 115 “Supernova” Look?

Thunderbird 115 “Supernova” ships with brand new layout options to give you a more beautiful and more productive email experience. But those new options are not on by default for many. Here's how to turn on these new options (inspired by the blog post: Make Thunderbird Yours: How To Get The Thunderbird 115 “Supernova” Look).

Step 1: Turn on Vertical View

Rearrange the Folder pane, Message List pane, and Message pane to be displayed side-by-side (also known as "Vertical View") as follows (animated GIF):

• Click: The Application Menu i.e. ≡ > View > Layout > tick i.e. ensure Vertical View is checked "✓".

  

Step 2: Turn on Cards View

“Cards” view is a new way of displaying your message list. It is simpler and more compact, to help reduce cognitive burden when you view the list;

• Click (which is the new Message list display options icon and is on the right of the Quick Filter icon) > Cards View (animated GIF). See also: Getting Started with the Thunderbird main window (Supernova and newer).

  

Cards View is still in active development. More features such as a message preview line and sender avatars will be added in the future.

TIP #1: Are you having trouble finding that menu? The area of Thunderbird where you activate Cards View is called the "Message List Header". Some people choose to hide this section to reclaim a bit of vertical space. It is easy to get it back:

• Click ≡ > View > Layout > tick i.e. ensure Message List Header is checked ✓

TIP #2: Cards View is also available when using Classic or Wide layouts.

Step 3: Turn on “Tags” Folder Mode

There is a new Folder pane options menu also known as a “meatball” or “three horizontal dots” menu, ⋯, to the right of + New Message. This menu has options to show the Total message count, Folder Size and hide the Get Messages and New Message icons as well as hide the Local Folders and the Folder Pane Header. It also has a Folder Modes sub menu which has options for display folders in the Folder Pane as well a new option to show Tags in the Folder Pane.

If Tags are an important part of your workflow, here's how to make it easier to access them (animated GIF):

• Click ⋯ to the right of + New Message > Folder Modes > tick i.e. ensure Tags is checked "✓". That’s it! You can also use this menu to hide Local Folders.

  

Tip: Want to move your Tags up or down in the Folder Pane?

• Click ⋮ next to Tags in the Folder Pane on the left > Move Up OR Move Down to place your Tags wherever you wish in the Folder Pane.

Step 4: Customize The Message Header

The Message Header is the section at the top of the Message Pane where the email is displayed, showing information such as sender’s name, contact photo (which pulls from the Address Book), subject, any associated tags, and more. Configure the Message Header Settings to suit your preferences as follows (animated GIF):

• In the Message Pane, click More ⌄ > Customize... make it yours > Done Before clicking Done, make it yours by deciding if you want to display a profile picture, show the sender's profile picture, sender's full address, show all headers, hide labels etc.

  

Why doesn’t Thunderbird follow the operating system accent colors, especially on Linux?

The Thunderbird user interface (UI) is very large and complicated, with many moving pieces and elements the user can select, move, highlight, etc.

By default, we ship Thunderbird with its own brand identity in order to guarantee AAA color contrast and readability between foreground and background elements.

Areas like the message list, or the folder pane, contain many elements and icons with specific colors that need to change and adapt depending on the state of the element.

A selected element will show a different background color, if the selected element is not currently focused it will show another color, if the element is only focused but not selected, it will show another color.

All of these examples are just a fraction of all the variations we need to handle in every single UI element.

Allowing every Operating System, especially Linux Desktop Environments, to fully affect the Thunderbird colors always created constant issues and unexpected consequences.

The amount of bug reports of users unable to properly see the reply icon with their KDE Arch Theme with Dracula accent colors is something we constantly struggled with to give a humorous but relevant example.

Even the default Ubuntu color scheme, with its orange accent color, created constant unexpected consequences.

We do not have the resources to support each variation or edge case.

Our primary focus is to guarantee that Thunderbird is always readable and usable in every configuration; therefore enforcing our own brand identity and keeping it consistent across operating systems allowed us to remove these unexpected breakages and reduce the the number of bug reports about accessibility and visibility.

Why does Firefox follow the OS colors?

Because Firefox UI is mostly just a toolbar and a settings page with monochromatic line icons. It is a much simpler and self contained UI that does not need to worry about color contrast and readability, and following system colors is easy to support.

We recommend Add-ons and Themes to customize your colors

We rebuilt the UI in order to rely entirely on CSS variables.

We did this so add-on developers can create their own themes and drastically change the look and feel of Thunderbird by tweaking a few CSS variables. This is still a work in progress and improving constantly, but we are already seeing heavily customized themes to make Thunderbird look like a native GTK application, for example.

Why are my Thunderbird customizations broken in 115?

If your customization required changes to userChrome.css, userContent.css, or other related files, then these userChrome* customizations are still unsupported in 115 (they were also unsupported in 102 and all previous releases). There may be solutions in the forums but please remember these are unofficial; unsupported solutions and could break at any time.