Why are you specifying a version? clicking the search link in the addon manager automatically uses a URL that seeks the correct addons for your version.

For example when I search for addons using the search term notes, the URL used is https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/search/?q=notes&appver=102.11.0&platform=WINNT

The last part ("q=notes&appver=102.11.0&platform=WINNT") limiting the results to the search query "notes" version that the request came from (appver=102.11.0) and the desktop platform being used (platform=WINNT)

Why you would be thinking the thing is broken I have no idea. It works fine for me.

The URL I have auto generated of https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/search/?q=notes&appver=102.11.0&platform=WINNT returns 65 addons.

Modifying it to https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-gb/thunderbird/search/?q=notes&appver=102.11.0&platform=WINNT returns the same 65 addons. Try them? Do you see different results?

Just an FYI, the entire Mozilla ecosystem of web sites are localized and the locale variable from the application accessing the web site is used to determine the language version that is picked up. If the appropriate pages have not been localized (quite common for some languages) then the en_US text is used, but the URL does not change.

I haven't been to Bugzilla yet - past experience dictates that it takes forever to get answers there

That is because Bugzilla is a bug reporting and action site, not a user support site. These days they are just as likely to note the bug report is a support issue and simply close it as an invalid bug. Especially if the person doing triage can not reproduce the described behaviour with the information proffered. Sometimes that might be me.

I was specifying a version because the results on the pages I got to (a day or two back and using Thunderbird 102.10) were not just v. 102 extensions and I had to click the v 102 entry from the list on the left to make the page specify what it said were v. 102 compatible - but they were not. I tried several and they either failed because the Add-0n manager would not accept them or because they were broken. The latter could have been because they author had not updated them, but I thought you were supposed to check for that when a version number was specified. Trying by using Chrome to go direct to the site and not using the Add-on manager produce extensions which add-on manager refused to add because they were not suitable for my version.

When I tried the URLs you gave above tonight, they took me to a page which said they were all for my current version, 102.11.0. It did NOT do that the last time I tried. I got different pages when I specified en-uk to when I specified en-gb. As I said in my first letter, this seemed wrong to me - thank you for answering my first query and confirming that they were only language oriented differences. My queries on Usenet gave me several URLs which I did not follow up as I thought at the time I had solved the problem. The first of these relates to Thunderbird, the others were Firefox oriented, but as it would appear it is the same server involved it would seem I am not the only one reporting bugs.

https://github.com/thundernest/thunderbird-website/issues https://github.com/mozilla/addons-server/issues/4599 https://github.com/mozilla/addons-server/issues/7535

As another example (there were several) I also enquired as to an old extension called Compact Headers. It did NOT show up when I searched for it from within the Add-on Manager. It did when I went first to the page with Chrome and used the drop down to search for v.102 extensions of that name - and it worked.

I am aware of what Bugzilla is. I used Thunderbird from the days when it was, from memory, Phoenix (?) and have posted on Bugzilla in the past. None of my bugs were dealt with despite being confirmed (one sat there for several years) hence my not bothering to go there yet. I was NOT thinking of going there for customer support but to look for similar bugs to mine being reported.

This leaves me no better off than before except to know that tonight it worked when previously it was chaos. As I said, I have been using and installing extensions from day one of Thunderbird (possibly from before you joined the company? ) and am well aware of the extensions site's workings and how to use it. It was complete chaos when I tried before. Now, either it has been fixed very recently, or you have major but intermittent problems with the site, or my installation of Thunderbird is faulty in some way.

P.S. When I search from Add-ons Manager for Compact headers - with or without hyphen - I get

https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-GB/thunderbird/search/?q=Compact-Headers&appver=102.11.0&platform=WINNT

and there is no extension of that name there.

When I search from Chrome/Goofle direct I get

https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-us/thunderbird/addon/compact-headers/

and there it is - large as life.

Maybe I'm imagining that too? I'm sure you can tell me why that is perfectly OK and it'#s my fault.

re : When I search from Add-ons Manager for Compact headers - with or without hyphen - I get

• https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-GB/thunderbird/search/?q=Compact-Headers&appver=102.11.0&platform=WINNT

and there is no extension of that name there.

Totally agree with you - I see nothing in the list that mentions 'Compact Headers'.

WORKAROUND: Under 'WORKS WITH' - in left side column, My version of Thunderbird is selected TB 102.11

But if I click on the 'WORKS WITH' right side drop down icon and select 'Any Thunderbird' Then like magic 'Compact Headers' appears at the top of the list.. All addons that work in my version are available and any that do not are greyed out.

If I select to read more info by clicking on 'Compact Headers' then I can see it says it's version 3.5

If I search via Google for Thunderbird addon Compact Headers - I can easily see Compact Headers version 3.5 and it says it Works with Thunderbird 102.0 - 106.0

In my opinion this is a bug, but at least the workaround works.

I've sent an email to the author of the addon which may help to get this bug fixed.

Yes, I can reproduce what you did exactly. However, I can't see that there is any problem with the extension - it seems to me it is the website that is wrongly set up or the Addons Manager is faulty. The fact that the Manager failed in both our cases, it works just fine via Google, which might well suggest a problem with the Manager. In some cases, although searching from the Add-ons Manager appears to give correct results. it shows extensions which are not compatible with 102.11. This actually could be the fault of the extensions but as more than one from different authors have problems it is more likely that the site (or its operators) is not sorting them into version correct types. I doubt the authors have control over this. For example, a search from within the Manager for "calendar" gives a page with "Google Calendar Tab" and "Open Google Calendar " on it. Albeit similar, but apparently from different authors, neither of them work correctly with my version of 102.11 so it appears likely they are the wrong version. Even if the fault lies with the authors, I thought that extensions were supposed to be checked before they were allowed on the site - they used to be, anyway. It appears totally chaotic to me.

Regards,

Bob

The addon extensions are checked as being ok before being made available on the thunderbird.net website, but those responsible for Thunderbird are not checking to see if the addons work with each and every update version of Thunderbird - that is the responsibility of the person/author who owns/wrote the addon.

The two addons you mention: It seems a couple of years have passed since any updates to the addons. I did find some info mentioning about max version is 78, but those comments are at least 2.5 years old.

Google Calendar Tab 0.2 says Last Updated: Feb. 11, 2020 Open Google Calendar 1.6 Last Updated: Dec. 13, 2020

They do not explicitly say they can work with eg: 102 . It justs says : Works with Thunderbird 64.0 - * That '*' implies they would work with any version, hence why it probably appears in the ok for version 102 list. But in reality, I would only trust those addons that explicitly say they work in version 102. You would only know if they were designed to be compatible with 102 if you asked the author or it stated that 102 version on website.

In Thunderbird, there has been huge changes in those intervening years especially regarding google calendar, so when it comes to addons, I would have expected a recent update and something more explicitly saying it works with 102.

Either way, that list is not correct, it should have found 'Compact Headers'.

102 list. But in reality, I would only trust those addons that explicitly say they work in version 102. You would only know if they were designed to be compatible with 102 if you asked the author or it stated that 102 version on website. In Thunderbird, there has been huge changes in those intervening years especially regarding google calendar, so when it comes to addons, I would have expected a recent update and something more explicitly saying it works with 102. Either way, that list is not correct, it should have found 'Compact Headers'.

Thanks for the help anyway. It seems I must trust nothing an be careful. I've more or less got everything in usable shape now, so unless the Calendar Tweaks author changes his mind and starts up again, I'll stick somewhere near I am. Thanks again.

Regards,

Bob

Looks like a bug on ATN, when multiple versions of an add-on exist for multiple versions of Thunderbird the older version is not found when searching from within Thunderbird.

For now I disabled the second version of Compact Headers so it can be found again from within TB 102 but this is not a solution.

I reported the issue with ATN, I hope it is fixed soon, this also affects some of my other add-ons.

Cheers,

Michel, Compact Headers author.

Thanks for your reply, Michel. I hope the problem doesn't affect your extensions too much - we appreciate them greatly. I too hope they fix it soon.