Server Settings > Message Store Type Grayed out
I just downloaded and installed Thunderbird 60.0 for Windows 7. I've not installed this version before (When I download and installed last week to a different computer I got 52.9.1). One thing that is a bit disconcerting: in Account Settings > Server Settings, the 'Message Store Type' is set to "File per folder (mbox)" and is grayed out so I cannot select anythings else. My 'Server Type' is "IMAP Mail Server", and I normally select "File per message (maildir)", but was not given that option in this case.
All the mail folders seem to be there and I can send and receive mail. But, is this setting going to mess me up somehow? Are future messages going to be save in some mbox file?
Chosen solution
The format has never been "turned on" well it might have been for a few weeks a couple of years ago. there was a release where the option was left on by mistake.
As you can see from the article, it is possible to turn it on and use it, but it is turned off by default.
The format is very slow in maturing. Thunderbird was on shaky ground after Mozilla stopped development, but it is planned to be the default storage method into the future. MBOX has to many issues with anti virus products deleting whole folders of mail and stopping the application dead in it's tracks while is spends and age scanning the mbox files.
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the maildirl like format has never need enabled other than in development versions. It is not considered suitable for a release version due to the number if bugs.
See https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/maildir-thunderbird
So, did Thunderbird turn this option off in 60.0? Our entire office has been using Maildir/IMAP with Thunderbird for 3 years using Dovecot as the server. We've never experienced any bugs with this format per se.
Is there a future possibility that Thunderbird will remove support for this?
Chosen Solution
The format has never been "turned on" well it might have been for a few weeks a couple of years ago. there was a release where the option was left on by mistake.
As you can see from the article, it is possible to turn it on and use it, but it is turned off by default.
The format is very slow in maturing. Thunderbird was on shaky ground after Mozilla stopped development, but it is planned to be the default storage method into the future. MBOX has to many issues with anti virus products deleting whole folders of mail and stopping the application dead in it's tracks while is spends and age scanning the mbox files.
Wow, that's interesting. I've installed a number of Thunderbirds on Windows 7 over the years which are mostly at 52.9 now, likewise on Linux also at 52.9. I've always been able to select the 'Message Store Type'. Including, actually on a newly installed Windows 7 60.0 version just the week before I installed the one in question. That one too let me select the Maildir store type.
On the new system I did set the config mail.server.server1.storeContractID = @mozilla.org/msgstore/maildirstore;1. However, it seemed to be working OK even before I did that. As a precaution, I'll set this config variable on future installs. So far, I've never had a problem and, despite what the link says, my Dovecot/Maildir/IMAP repository does save the flags. That, in fact, is one of the selling points to users as I have been able to migrate their Outlook Color Categories to flags and, unlike Outlook, they don't get lost when the PST gets corrupted since the flags are stored with the filename.
Thanks for the info. I'll keep my fingers crossed.