Thunderbird Supernova
I've been using Thunderbird Supernova since it became available to the public and the changes are absolutely fantastic! Thanks and kudos to all those involved!
I'm a long-time user of Thunderbird (decades) but haven't been a big fan of the preview pane. That's just me. However, with the advent of Supernova, I decided to turn on the preview pane particularly since you added the Card View feature. I use the "Vertical" layout with folders, messages and then the preview pane on the right.
Perhaps I'm just not in the know but is there an ability to open a message in a new tab from the preview pane? I looked at customizing the toolbars but didn't find an "Open" message button. I thought that double-clicking in the preview pane would open the message in a new tab but alas it doesn't do anything. I also right-clicked in the preview pane and there was no option on that menu to open the message either.
Even though I use my 55" TV for my monitor, I don't give the preview pane 100% capability to view the entire width of a message because I want to see more of the subject in the message column and a complete date and time. It's very clear that not all messages are created equally so some wrap and fit nicely and other won't wrap and the slider bars appear. I'm good with how this works. So when I'm using the slider bars in the preview pane there are times I want to open the message in a new tab to more readily read the larger message. I hope this makes sense. Thus my need to be able to open a message from the preview pane either by double-clicking or by using a button in the preview pane. And, BTW, my "General" settings are set to open a message in a new tab when double-clicked. I prefer to work from tabs (another very nice feature!).
If this feature doesn't exist then I would appreciate it if you would consider adding it and a button at the top of the preview pane panel to open a message in a new tab.
I'll look forward to your reply.
Kindest regards,
Ken Cox [removed email from public]
Modified by James
All Replies (3)
I think the reason you don't see that option is that it's always been standard practice to open messages from the Threads Pane (message list), with either double-click, Enter, right-click menu, or middle-click (open in background). On my setup, if I wanted to maximize the Subject column, I would hide all columns except Subject, Date & From (or set Cards View), set Wide View in Layout, and hide or shrink the Message Pane to a small size.
Thanks for your quick reply!
What I'm hoping for is the development team to consider my suggestion about opening messages in the preview pane. Your suggestion is much appreciated. I also have been opening messages from the "Message List Headers" column ever since the first day I installed it on my PC many years ago.
But...., I am hoping that while the Supernova team is in the mood for new and different features for Thunderbird perhaps they would be amenable to making a couple of other changes that would enhance user productivity a little more. I only came across the need for my suggestion once I changed my layout. If I had been using the preview pane all along I would have made this suggestion years ago.
I think adding an "Open" button to the preview pane message header right next to the other buttons is an excellent productivity enhancement. Back that up with adding "Open Message In New Tab" in the right-click context menu and you're done. Now the connection between the "Message List Headers" column and the preview pane is consistent and much stronger.
Perhaps I've chosen the wrong place to submit a suggested change to the application? Is there another location on the web where I can send my suggestion directly to the development team?
Thanks again!
You can post in https://connect.mozilla.org/ Brief postings will be easier for other users to digest.