P.S. I have realized that folders with new mail are bolded in BLUE type in the directory of folders, but I still need it to open folders that have new mail. Thanks for any help.

Try View|Folders|Unread

Or a Saved Search folder

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/using-saved-searches

Thank you. It appears to me that "saved searches" are the same as filters, which I have long used extensively. I went ahead and told all my folders that all the mail in them was read (thank you for the "mark folder as read" command), so now my folder directory only shows folders that legitimately have unread mail in them. So I guess now instead of having a range of tabs open at the top of my email program, I have a few folders showing in the directory. It's doable, but I don't like having to manipulate so much just to keep a folder open that I need as a reminder to do something. For instance, I like to keep a folder for bills open when I have unpaid bills. Now to do that I would have to artificially tell the program that it has an unread email. Plus to open a folder requires several steps: Go/folder/local folders/folder or/subfolder. Kind of frustrating to have structural limitations on folder access.

Another question: How do I get it to "send again", to produce a copy of an email for sending again?

Also, I appreciate having keyboard shortcuts, but I don't like not having a button to send email. And, I still have the same frustration with the loss of the ability to write folders and subfolders on the fly when moving emails that I want to save into folders. However, major improvement on Eudora OSE that I can once again edit received-email subject lines so that the subject actually tells me what's in the email when I store it.

Thank you, I really appreciate your help. I don't mean to sound ungrateful, I'm really glad to get started w/Thunderbird.

Yes, Saved Searches use the underlying filter tools, but present the results in persistent folders rather than a transient result window.

I never use "Go". All my folders are visible in the left hand pane.

View|Layout|Folder Pane

Another question: How do I get it to "send again", to produce a copy of an email for sending again?

Message|Message As New

or right-click then Edit Message As New

…I don't like not having a button to send email…

Which suggests you can't see the toolbars, which is where such buttons live.

http://www.ramsden.org.uk/5_Lost_toolbars.html http://chrisramsden.vfast.co.uk/13_Menus_in_Thunderbird.html

Frequently used folders might be made more accessible using, for instance,

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/thunderbird/addon/quickfolders-tabbed-folders/

Take some time out to learn your menus. ;-)

Thank you very much for all your help! I must protest ;) that I was going through menus trying to learn and find what I needed, but I needed some orientation about how to think in TB terms, which you've given me. Before your latest reply I did discover that you can right click on folders in the directory and tell it to open a folder as a tab, so I'm able to get the folders in constant view on tabs like I wanted. Remember that I'm using View/Folders/Unread so that I can easily see which folders have new mail, which is why I can't see my folder structure in the folder pane and would need to use Go to get to a specific folder (or toggle the View, but too much futzing). But! I'm going to start using the add-on you suggested, Quickfolders, it looks like just what I need, thank you!

I have one unresolved issue currently, and that is that I don't have a Send button. I do have toolbars visible and have already customized, but when I open the customization box, there is no, none nada option for a Send button. Isn't that weird? Ok, on doing a test, I see that there is a send button when I actually create/reply an email, but there is no send button on the main program alongside Reply/Reply to All/etc, and no way to customize one. Again, I am very grateful for the jumpstart and great information.

You create or edit a message in the compose window, which is where the Send button is. How would you use a Send button from the main window? What would it send? (Write starts a new message, Reply and Forward open or attach existing messages in the compose window. We covered Edit As New earlier, above. ;-) )

There used to be a pair of buttons, as standard, allowing you to rotate between the various folder views. The developers confiscated these because apparently too many people panicked when the view changed and they wondered where all their messages had gone. The buttons can be restored using an add-on:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/folder-pane-view-switcher/

Personally I consider Thunderbird unusable without these. ;-) I frequently switch between All and Unread. I use Saved Search folders to show me Unread messages, and Recent (work related) messages, but now and then I need to look for an older message where All is needed, and sometimes I'm looking for a personal message (non-work-related!) which is most quickly found using View|Folders|Unread. I use the QuickFilter search/filter a lot when looking for a message on a specific topic when I know which project folder it is likely to be in. I try to avoid Global Search as it is, generally speaking, insufficiently precise, but still useful in emergencies when you simply can't find an old message.

There are many ways to go about managing your mail, and maybe the number of options looks bewildering to a newcomer, but each will do particular things better than another method. I also use, as mentioned before, QuickFolders to keep the most frequently used folders visible at all times, and and the shift+m and shift+g shortcuts to move or go to folders via searching their names. Oh, and Mail Views, which can be found in the customization pane. And Expression Search:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/gmailui/

(don't be put off by the "Gmail GUI" bit!) to enhance the QuickFilter and provide regular expressions in searches.