Thunderbird taskbar mail notification

You are running Cinnamon. Sorry for asking. As for the file manager, I have no idea, since I don't run Mint at all, and never have.

Go back to my post 11, look at what works for me. Your input should look similar. Your user name is different, put your user name in. the .thunderbird entry will be the same. Put that much in, click the browse button, and see if you can figure the rest out.

Originally Posted by camorri You are running Cinnamon. Sorry for asking. As for the file manager, I have no idea, since I don't run Mint at all, and never have. Go back to my post 11, look at what works for me. Your input should look similar. Your user name is different, put your user name in. the .thunderbird entry will be the same. Put that much in, click the browse button, and see if you can figure the rest out.

This is what I've done.
The first two entries were what I tried a few months ago, but didn't work.
The third is following what you've suggested, but doesn't show any mail either.

More ongoing hassle.

Because I couldn't get Birdtray working, I emailed the developer. He told me I had a really old version - 1.6
I uninstalled it completely using Synaptic Package Manager, then typed sudo apt install birdtray That installed v1.6 again.

The developer pointed me to v1.8.1. That involved downloading source code (tar.gz)
I just clicked on it then extract.
Now I'm lost again. The instructions are so complicated (to me) to install it on different systems. I can't see when it says Mint Cinnamon anywhere.

I tried to attach the readme.md file but it refuse to upload, saying invalid file, even though I can read it?
This is where all the files are:
https://github.com/gyunaev/birdtray/releases/tag/1.8.1

Originally Posted by paxolin Because I couldn't get Birdtray working, I emailed the developer. He told me I had a really old version - 1.6 I uninstalled it completely using Synaptic Package Manager, then typed sudo apt install birdtray That installed v1.6 again. The developer pointed me to v1.8.1. That involved downloading source code (tar.gz) I just clicked on it then extract. Now I'm lost again. The instructions are so complicated (to me) to install it on different systems. I can't see when it says Mint Cinnamon anywhere.

Developers develop, but release-based distros do not "see" the development until much later... That's normal, and some developers have been very annoyed and outspoken about being bothered with such problems. Understandably - they might have fixed the problem long ago yet keep getting hassled by people who use an older version shipped with their distro. Is a newer version of BirdTray in your distro's backports maybe? If not, you should take it up with the distro maintainers, maybe they understand and will push out an upgrade.

Of course you can always compile from source.

I have to ask:

What do you want from BirdTray? Unread Email in your system tray? Does it have to be the system tray? Would a notification do? Because TB can do that natively.

Does it have to be Thunderbird? Because Evolution integrates into your desktop better.

Could you use a 3rd party systray app - that connects to your remote mailbox independently, and shows you that mail count?

Originally Posted by ondoho Developers develop, but release-based distros do not "see" the development until much later... That's normal, and some developers have been very annoyed and outspoken about being bothered with such problems. Understandably - they might have fixed the problem long ago yet keep getting hassled by people who use an older version shipped with their distro. Is a newer version of BirdTray in your distro's backports maybe? If not, you should take it up with the distro maintainers, maybe they understand and will push out an upgrade. Of course you can always compile from source. I have to ask: What do you want from BirdTray? Unread Email in your system tray? Does it have to be the system tray? Would a notification do? Because TB can do that natively. Does it have to be Thunderbird? Because Evolution integrates into your desktop better. Could you use a 3rd party systray app - that connects to your remote mailbox independently, and shows you that mail count?

Thanks for replying.

Unfortunately all of what you have said has gone straight over my head, as I am not technical one bit.
I'm just a basic user trying to find a program that will show me in the taskbar when I have new emails, like it used to work in Thunderbird before.

It's taken me years to get to understand Thunderbird (in Windows before), so I don't want to have to change. I'm afraid I still don't know what a desktop is?

"Could you use a 3rd party systray app - that connects to your remote mailbox independently, and shows you that mail count?"
I'm really sorry, but I don't know what any of that means. Is there any way to explain it very basically?

Open Thunderbird. Click on the 'hamburger' menu icon in the top right corner. Click on Prefences, then Preferences again. On the General tab, notice the part that says "When new messages arrive:". Check "Show an alert", then Customize. Select the notifications you want, and the amount of time you want them to be shown. If you want, also select "Play a sound" and select the sound you want played. Close the Preferences tab, and you should be notified every time you get a new email. That's as simple as I know how to explain it to you. If that won't satisfy you, you'll have to do some reading and start to learn how to use a computer. It does take some effort on your part.

Originally Posted by sgosnell Open Thunderbird. Click on the 'hamburger' menu icon in the top right corner. Click on Prefences, then Preferences again. On the General tab, notice the part that says "When new messages arrive:". Check "Show an alert", then Customize. Select the notifications you want, and the amount of time you want them to be shown. If you want, also select "Play a sound" and select the sound you want played. Close the Preferences tab, and you should be notified every time you get a new email. That's as simple as I know how to explain it to you. If that won't satisfy you, you'll have to do some reading and start to learn how to use a computer. It does take some effort on your part.

I did as you suggested. It does show a notification, but only for a few seconds then disappears. If I'm not looking at the screen all the time then I just miss it.

I feel you're being rather harsh telling me to do some reading to learn how to use a computer. I have used a computer for years and the programs with it.

What I struggle with is the technical understanding I need using Linux. That's the reason for asking on here. I feel aggrieved being told it does take some effort on my part. That is what I am doing here.

It makes me think it's pointless asking, only to be told to learn how to use a computer.

Well, you seem unable to do the simplest tasks required to solve your problems. If you are unwilling or unable to learn the simplest of techniques, then I feel I may be wasting my time and yours by trying to explain things.

As I said above, the notification time is adjustable. It's one of the settings, just change it to a longer time. If that isn't acceptable, and you can't be bothered to learn how change the settings in birdtray, then I have no other suggestions.

Originally Posted by sgosnell Well, you seem unable to do the simplest tasks required to solve your problems. If you are unwilling or unable to learn the simplest of techniques, then I feel I may be wasting my time and yours by trying to explain things. As I said above, the notification time is adjustable. It's one of the settings, just change it to a longer time. If that isn't acceptable, and you can't be bothered to learn how change the settings in birdtray, then I have no other suggestions.

1. I set the time to 30 seconds. When I sat and watched it, the notification was only for 5 seconds.

2. "you can't be bothered to learn how change the settings in birdtray". Why are you so rude? I just don't understand it. That's why I keep asking. You won't accept that.

OK, back to the technical parts of this thread please.