Discovered a particularly nasty offshoot of this problem. Although my Windows 7 computer properly updated no farther than v68.12.1 when I allowed it to update via the web site, my Windows 10 was what I consider to have been CRIMINALLY HACKED. Despite my Thunderbird there having specified absolutely never to do anything without my explicit consent, the fraudulent "update" process (expected only to go to v68.12.1) inflicted v78.7.1 on MY computer which absolutely refuses to conform to my essential specification that I MUST HAVE the sort folders function. The garbage notions of the designers of v78 that they have the right to reorganize my email functions into some absurd structure which bears no relationship to my essential work processes is categorically UNACCEPTABLE. I am now attempting to overwrite the CRIMINAL HACK version of Thunderbird which has been inflicted on my Windows 10 computer with no confidence in having my overwrite function and even less confidence now in Thunderbird as a functional email client since it is perpetrating nonconsensual reorganizations of MY computer.

For a human to work effectively, that which is most important or most frequent needs to be at the top of any listing. Allowing ASCII sort order, or Al Phaba Tickling as it is commonly known, to intervene is entirely unacceptable. It has for decades been demanded by certain judicially noticed convicted criminal predators because it is "easier on programmers". Fortunately, the disruption caused by version 78's infliction of Al Phaba illogic was fairly easy to correct since it happened on my suspicious anyway Windows 10 physical computer. All I had to do to correct the unexpected imposition of version 78 rather than the expected version 68.12.1 over my previous v68.10.0 was to copy Mozilla's (x86) directories and Profile file from my Windows 7 primary computer into place of the "reorganized" version 78 stuff.

But for reference purposes, there is absolutely no way that I can tolerate as a human trying to get some work done with the years successful Thunderbird software if I allow Al Phaba to intervene to trash my life. May make sense to artificially intelligent pogrommers trained by the felony identity thieving monopolist but it flatly doesn't work for this human. The availability of the former functional "add-on" Manually Sort Folders always was imperative for version 68 and has been explicitly banned from version 78. Furthermore I saw a sneaking suspicion of corruption with the notorious Google information thieves in the form of a "Google Notes" area indicated as part of version 78. Their behavior has resulted in numerous state laws, always far too far after the fact, attempting to rein in the intentionally criminal abuses by Google against humans, but if that vague mention is what it appears to be that too is a brutally unacceptable modification of Thunderbird.

Okay so I was a bit hasty referring to this situation as a CRIMINAL HACK ATTACK because I did, after all, naively click on "okay to update" because when I had done so under Windows 7, what I got was v68.12.1 not anything from v78 such as 78.7.1. Mere misunderstanding, a common occurrence with the brutally abusive Windows 10 anyway. But it does mean that UNLESS Thunderbird corrects its Al Phaba fascination and actually isn't corrupt with the Google information thieves, there is no way I could ever make use of version 78. So my expectation has to be that v68.12.1 hasn't been sabotaged into an unacceptably short lifespan OR that the antihuman defects of Al Phaba and/or Giggling will eventually be corrected somehow.

Please do not use this forum for rambling rants. I may offer my time freely, but wading through all the text just to find out what you really need in formation was a daunting task.

The addon 'Manually Sort Folders' : You said: The availability of the former functional "add-on" Manually Sort Folders always was imperative for version 68 and has been explicitly banned from version 78.

Please do not make incorrect statements. You obviously felt you needed this addon to assist you, but it is not imperitive to have it as an addon in order to use any version of Thunderbird. Thunderbird has not explicitly banned this addon.

By now, you should be well aware that addons need to be maintained by their author and often updated to work and be compatible with the current version of Thunderbird.

This is an addon which you have chosen to use. Currently, it is not a default part of Thunderbird. The addon is the reponsibility of the author. Whether you use it or not is up to you and nothing to do with Thunderbird. You would need to check if an addon you use is capable of working with specific versions of Thunderbird.

But for the record.....I just looked it up and can tell from the information, that if you use the correct version of the addon then it should work in the version it claims to work within.

Version 2.0.6 Released Feb. 27, 2021 83.8 KiB Works with Thunderbird 68.0 and later "This release fixes a bug related to the account list not sorting at startup, and improves compatibility with more recent versions of Thunderbird up to 86."

• https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/addon/manually-sort-folders/

I'm trying to work out what is your actual problem regarding the addon. The first thing to check: if using version 78* have you updated the addon to the current version number 2.0.6?

re : But it does mean that UNLESS Thunderbird corrects its Al Phaba fascination and actually isn't corrupt with the Google information thieves, there is no way I could ever make use of version 78. So my expectation has to be that v68.12.1 hasn't been sabotaged into an unacceptably short lifespan OR that the antihuman defects of Al Phaba and/or Giggling will eventually be corrected somehow.

Absolutely no idea what on earth you are talking about. " corrects its Al Phaba fascination" - you may know what you are talking about but it's dribbling nonsense to me. You may think it's common terminology, but I have no idea what you are refering to or what part of it is in Thunderbird. "Thunderbird ...actually isn't corrupt with the Google information thieves" - seriously. What has an independent email client program running, by your choice, on your computer, have anything to do with Google?

As a head's up...information in the way of cookies etc is used by almost the entire internet. Webpages use cookies. Mailing List companies add info to emails so they can collect data for statistical purposes. Everything is data and how it is used is information and that is helpful either directly or indirectly to cordinate business to virtually everyone whether individuals or companies. People are encouraged to store all their data on other big companies' servers eg: Microsoft, One Drive. I do not choose that option, but plenty do. They are happy to have all their private photos etc stored on servers on the other side of the world. Any person with an email address - it's all held on servers somewhere. It will all get scanned for spam etc.

But Thunderbird, well it's just a program on your computer doing your bidding - accessing servers to allow you to access and send emails.

I'm facing what "looks to me" as if it were a "If it ain't broke, fix it so that it is broken" situation. Nowhere do I find any explanation (please provide pointer if there is one) what it is that version 78 is supposed to make better over version 68. I genuinely have never seen anywhere any indication of what is "supposed to be" improved with version 78. I had been perfectly happy with the way v68s were functioning OTHER THAN the repetitive "update" process which never seemed to do anything relevant "for me" but was always a hassle only partially controllable by refusing to allow the updates to proceed. Never mind my use of punny "Al Phaba" language to express my decades of displeasure with "alphabetical" impositions for listings. The mention of version 2.0.6 of the Manually Sort Folders .xpi was important. I've been using version 2.0.2 in my Thunderbird v68.12.1. However, when I went into the Add-Ons area on v78.7.1, it no longer allowed for applying ANY version of Manually Sort Folders. Not the 2.0.2 that I had in my downloads area nor anything at all. So key question here is HOW do I get Manually Sort Folders v2.0.6 working under Thunderbird v78? It wouldn't seem able to install itself, only downloadable (which I've now done and am capable on some test machine of reallowing Thunderbird v78 to install). But since "I think" I have to have Manually Sort Folders to make use of Thunderbird, how can we resolve the apparent conflict between what "I think" I need and what Thunderbird programmers are willing to allow?

Ok I edited that last just so I could read it.

But I am at a loss. What is the problem.

I first looked on the addon site at this manually sort folders. https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/addon/manually-sort-folders/

This add-on works well with version 78.*. I like that I can re-order my accounts with ease! Highly recommended if you desire to manually sort! Many thanks go to the developer.

That does reinforce the assertion that the addons works with V78. Perhaps it is time for you to simply use the addon manager either from the tools menu or the application menu to manage your addons instead of using XPI files. They are rarely a good way to manage things as their do not include updates which the addon manager does manage as it links to the web site to check for updates and download them automatically (although a restart is sometime required to implement the new versions, but that is visible from the addon manger)

Every version of Thunderbird comes with release notes. For V78 there are now a number as there have been 8 major releases and some minor releases in the 78 series since July 2020 when V78 was first released. V78.8 https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/78.8.0/releasenotes/ V78.7.1 https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/78.7.1/releasenotes/ V78.7 https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/78.7.0/releasenotes/ V78.6.1 https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/78.6.1/releasenotes/ V78.6 https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/78.6.0/releasenotes/ V78.5.1 https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/78.5.1/releasenotes/ V78.5 https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/78.5.0/releasenotes/ V78.4.3 https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/78.4.3/releasenotes/ V78.4.2 https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/78.4.2/releasenotes/ V78.4.1 https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/78.4.1/releasenotes/ V78.4 https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/78.4.0/releasenotes/ V78.3.3 https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/78.3.2/releasenotes/ V78.3.2 https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/78.3.2/releasenotes/ V78.3.1 https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/78.3.1/releasenotes/ V78.3 https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/78.3.0/releasenotes/ V78.2.2 https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/78.2.2/releasenotes/ V78.2.1 https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/78.2.1/releasenotes/ V78.2 https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/78.2.0/releasenotes/ V78.1.1 https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/78.1.1/releasenotes/ V78.1 https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/78.1.0/releasenotes/ V78 https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/78.0/releasenotes/

Those notes do not provide details on the security issues addressed in each release and they are covered here https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/security/known-vulnerabilities/thunderbird/

Happy reading.

Thanks to Matt for attempting to address some of my concerns. Pointing to the v78.7.1 Release Notes: "changed Thunderbird will no longer allow installation of addons that use the legacy API". That is clearly what I ran into when v78.7.1 refused to allow bringing in ANY .xpi file to replace the existing v2.0.2 that had been present when it over wrote my previous Thunderbird v68.10.0 without my consent. I saw nothing in your answer to suggest how to get Manually Sort Folders v2.0.6 initially installed into Thunderbird v78.7.1 which is what the "update" process wanted to install.

The notion of allowing "automatic updates" is beyond the pale for my environment. Yup, I've heard every software designer in the world not merely suggesting but insistently DEMANDING that they be allowed to make modifications on my computer system at whim and devoid of specific consent from me. My office is not an appropriate place for outsiders to be allowed to take control of my operations on their schedule and with whatever adverse impacts may be involved in what they wanna install. However well intended your suggestion, Matt, as a security matter it is absolutely impermissible in my office.

Quite frankly Toad-Hall's description of my concerns seems a quite good description for what I have been seeing in the Release Notes that I had already seen and/or that you listed out. A lot of rambling rants which make figuring out what is actually happening "a daunting task". Going through them all I see an emphasis on applying PGP encryption to all emails which "might be" relevant if and only if everyone on my receiving list was using PGP, only if everyone on my incoming list was matching whatever PGP decryption requires. In other words, encryption makes sense only if everyone is on the same page. Impossible in my environment because nobody is on the same page.

There also seems to be some emphasis on better handling of multiple deletion and moving situations. That sounds nice but wouldn't make it worthwhile for me to experience some of the "tripling of To lines" and other absurd defects which other users of Thunderbird v78 have been reporting. I've got work to do around here that involves considerable use of emails which are being handled adequately by Thunderbird v68.12.1. I have seen nothing in any of the Release Notes to suggest I even "could be" better off in any relevant way if I were to allow any aspect of version 78 into my life. That is the key thing which the Release Notes leave entirely unanswered. Doesn't mean there isn't any "guiding hand" to all these changes, which knows what it's all really for, only that it doesn't show up in the Release Notes.