I wish licensing was easier

[jh20001]

I like this plugin. It's pretty cool. The only issue, is I only use it for custom icons and that's it. The tabs and everything are cool, but I only have about 18 folders in the left window pane, so everything is all right there and easy to get to. But now, things have changed and when I right0click to customize icons, it says I have to have a pro license to do that since I can only have 5 icons with free. To have more than 5 and customize up to the number of folders I have, I'd have to pay $15 a year? Maybe if it was $15 for a lifetime license, and maybe if I had a need for the other features, but I don't (I'm cool with contributing a little). That's way too much just to be able to customize my icons for my personal mail. Sadly, there are no other addons I could find to do this, so I deleted the addon since it no longer made any sense to me :,(

[RealRaven2000]

We will see what we can do (maybe we can increase the number of icons for "free as in beer" users - you must have run a very very old version beforehand if you only got the warning now, because this particular restriction isn't really new.

[jh20001]

I've been keeping things mostly updated. The issue comes when you go back to change one of the icons or add a new one. All the previous folders still have their icons that I had icons set for. But as soon as you go to make a change, boom, pro-only, and now you lost an icon instead of changing one. Let me know, and when the time comes, I'll send a beer someone's way :)

[RealRaven2000]

I checked the licensing terms specifically with folder icons, here it is

obviously since QuickFolders is an immensely complicated Add-on which is completely changing the UI and causes me weeks of work every year to keep it updated and many hours of support every month, it is obviously in my interest to have sustainable funding, just some transparency on pricing:

the Pro license costs 15$ when you buy it first, renewals are $10.00 unless there is a sale which can make it $7.50 (63 cents/month).
For the standard license I charge $6.00 for year of usage (50cents / month)

It is not an awful lot but understandably any software it will add up, especially if you have many complicated / monetized Add-ons. there are only very few that actually monetize their Add-ons). But in fairness a lot do not work in Add-on development full time - for me it's simply a matter of feeding me and my family - and yes there were users who regularly donated larger sums, but that wasn't sustainable because of being a tiny fraction). And since I am using experimental code, the feature can always break (in fact it did, in Thunderbird 145, and I had to fix it or add improvements, see issues #399, #430, #546, #551, also 6.11 repairTreeIcons: removed OS.Path.fromFileURI(), #602, #619. You can see any issue number as a couple of hours of work on my side, error searching, debugging, coding, testing, releasing, translating change log and User facing output into 22 languages...

In your special case you only use the icons feature (how do you deal with the extra toolbars, I guess you remove them or hide them every day, or is there any added value to them at all for you? I am genuinely interested to see what other benefit you draw and how I could increase that).

so we have 2 options - we could tweak those numbers (e.g. doubling, by allowing 10 icons for free as in beer, 25 icons for standard users) - would that be helpful to you? If you only have 18 folders I imagine you probably want to mainly distinguish some important / focus folders).

For yourself you can also modify a file to tweak it:

unpack the Add-on (rename it to zip to do that)
edit the file quickfolders-model.js
Find the following section:

  MAX_UNPAID_ICONS: 5,
  MAX_STANDARD_ICONS: 12,

and tweak the numbers to what you need. then repackage and install.

Yes it is "open source" at least to the extend that I allow the user to modify the software to their need - you're just not supposed to then redistribute the "hacked" version, hence the license (CC ND 4.0) - ND stands for No Derivatives. It just means do not take my work and then release a "Free as in Beer" QuickFolders. If you do a modification in software you use, then why not, that's why we provide the source code, and that's how new features (or bug fixes) can be contributed for the benefit of everyone.

[jh20001]

I have no doubt that you spend a lot of time on the addon, and it is very nice. You've done a great job on it. I typically get rid of extra toolbars as I like a clean and simple interface. All I use Thunderbird for is:

1. A localized means of managing my inbox so my mail isn't just sitting in the cloud (I don't trust/use Microsoft solutions because that company is so bipolar and changes everything continuously or drops support for something a year later, etc., etc., so TB is great)
2. Mail rules. Love em. The only messy part of my Thunderbird installation :)
3. I've added a few folders for social stuff, like hiking and the rescue group I'm in.
4. I have had QuickFolders installed for quite a while, just for changing icons (as we know). I was too lazy to learn the CSS requirements of doing it manually.

I don't like having too many folders, too many toolbars, or too many buttons. I dial everything back to just the ones I commonly use. For example, I don't need three places to hit "reply" when each mail has the reply option right there (etc). A clean interface is a controlled and simplified experience. And yes, I only use icons for specific folders vs all folders.

I can definitely see how people would find themselves using QuickFolders for everything else, though. I have known people who had chaotic mailboxes due to their hobbies or careers. With what you do, I can see that it would easily be the case for you, having to manage support streams, troubleshooting, history, and everything else that goes with coding. I have a friend who used to work for Splunk in California, and he had dozens of folders, folders in folders, and so many other things happening with his mail. Made me dizzy looking at it all. But that is how his brain works, all spread out and multitasking all at once.

Me, I like the zenful experience, so that mail doesn't drive me mad :)

I'll look into the icons' code and change it to 10 for now. I appreciate it, and again, if there is a way, I'll send a little something over for beer fund :)

[RealRaven2000]

2. Mail rules. Love em. The only messy part of my Thunderbird installation :)

definitely check out quickFilters, it's awesome for those. And you can use most of the functionality without any license whatsoever.

[RealRaven2000]

2. Mail rules. Love em. The only messy part of my Thunderbird installation :)

definitely check out quickFilters, it's awesome for those. And you can use most of the functionality without any license whatsoever.

Oh btw if you tweak the source code of QuickFolders, either make a backup copy or disable updates for the Add-on, otherwise you lose your changes any time a new version is installed. That's the (hidden) cost of tweaking - it means merging in your changes with the main code regularly (if you want to stay up to date)

[fredstluka]

I don't need three places to hit "reply" when each mail has the reply option right there

Can even get rid of that one. I use Cmd-R on Mac (Ctrl-R on Windows) to do all my replies. Cmd-Shift-R for Reply-All.

Don't need a Send button either. Use Cmd-Enter.

So, replying "OK" to an email, can be as easy as: Cmd-R, "OK", Cmd-Enter.

Like you, I'm a minimalist. Maximize screen space for content. Waste as little as possible on decorations (buttons, toolbars, tabs, nav aids, etc.).

For that reason I LOVE QuickFolders Pro. Unlike you, I have l hundreds of folders in a deeply nested folder tree. And I file away most emails after reading them. I still have EVERY email I've ever sent or received (except spam and archived listservs) for the past 40 years.

So, I use the QF Pro shortcuts HUNDREDS of times per day:

• Cmd-M -- move message to folder typing a char or 2 of folder name
• Cmd-T -- same, but copy message, not move
• Cmd-J -- jump to folder, opening a new TB tab so I haven't lost my place when I close it to go back to what I was doing
• Cmd-S -- skip unread messages in this folder and go to next unread message in other folders

I pretty much NEVER use the mouse. For more of my favorite TB keys, see:

• http://bristle.com/Tips/Thunderbird/Keyboard.txt

For me personally, the $10/year is WELL worth it. For these main reasons:

• Saves me at least a couple hours per week to use the QF shortcut keys.
• Axel is an EXTRAORDINARILY responsive tool provider. Has added several features for me within 24 hours of when I first mentioned them.
• I like the sense of community that has risen up among the people who comment here.
• VERY configurable through the extensive Options panel
• Even more configurable by editing the source code, as Axel so willingly teaches his users to do
• Will never vanish from under me because it's all Open Source

Enjoy!
--Fred