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Change the default theme for Thunderbird

  • 4 replies
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  • Last reply by tiago3

tiago3
tiago3
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Hi, I've been searching for the directory where Thunderbird stores the default theme for the application. I need to set a custom theme so when a new profile is created, Thunderbird already launches with that theme, thus removing the need to place that theme in every profile that is created. I haven't been able to find a way to do this. At first, I found that a chrome directory existed in /usr/lib/thunderbird/chrome/, but even though I setup this directory with the custom theme files, nothing happened when I created a new profile. Is there a way to setup a custom theme as the default theme for all new profiles?

Thanks in advance.

Hi, I've been searching for the directory where Thunderbird stores the default theme for the application. I need to set a custom theme so when a new profile is created, Thunderbird already launches with that theme, thus removing the need to place that theme in every profile that is created. I haven't been able to find a way to do this. At first, I found that a chrome directory existed in '''/usr/lib/thunderbird/chrome/''', but even though I setup this directory with the custom theme files, nothing happened when I created a new profile. Is there a way to setup a custom theme as the default theme for all new profiles? Thanks in advance.

Chosen solution

tiago3 said

Hi sfhowes, Thanks for the quick response. So just to be clear and see if I understood right, I'd have to manually prepare a profile somewhere in the filesytem with the chrome folder inside it and then also manually chose the profile which has the chrome subfolder once creating the profile through the Thunderbird UI. Did I get it right?

That's right, but you can see it's really not much faster than just creating a profile the usual way and then copying in the chrome folder from another profile - unless you're creating hundreds of profiles. To make TB apply a custom theme of the type contained in an xpi file, like theme add-ons, is more complex, and I think requires the creation of a cfg configuration file - a subject beyond my level of knowledge.

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All Replies (4)

sfhowes
sfhowes
  • Top 10 Contributor
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I think you would have to create a 'template' profile folder that is the same as a regular new profile except it has a subfolder named chrome with the relevant css files. This chrome subfolder of the profile folder is different from the chrome subfolder of the program files folder. Then, when you create a new profile, click Choose folder in the Profile Manager dialog, and then Browse to the template profile. TB would then launch in its Default theme, but the appearance would depend on the css in the chrome subfolder. Profile operations can be performed from Help/Troubleshooting, about:profiles.

http://kb.mozillazine.org/index.php?title=UserChrome.css&printable=yes

An example of a userChrome theme. There are many others online.

tiago3
tiago3 Question owner
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Hi sfhowes,

Thanks for the quick response. So just to be clear and see if I understood right, I'd have to manually prepare a profile somewhere in the filesytem with the chrome folder inside it and then also manually chose the profile which has the chrome subfolder once creating the profile through the Thunderbird UI.

Did I get it right?

sfhowes
sfhowes
  • Top 10 Contributor
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Chosen Solution

tiago3 said

Hi sfhowes, Thanks for the quick response. So just to be clear and see if I understood right, I'd have to manually prepare a profile somewhere in the filesytem with the chrome folder inside it and then also manually chose the profile which has the chrome subfolder once creating the profile through the Thunderbird UI. Did I get it right?

That's right, but you can see it's really not much faster than just creating a profile the usual way and then copying in the chrome folder from another profile - unless you're creating hundreds of profiles. To make TB apply a custom theme of the type contained in an xpi file, like theme add-ons, is more complex, and I think requires the creation of a cfg configuration file - a subject beyond my level of knowledge.

tiago3
tiago3 Question owner
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Thank you so much sfhowes!