Make Thunderbird’s Labels Stand Out
I’m a big fan of Thunderbrid, however one of the things that bugs me is that the labels don’t stand out enough. I feel as if they kind of blend into the background. I did a bit of research and figured out how to style the labels to stand out a bit more. Check it out:
To update your labels in Thunderbird follow these simple steps.
Install Stylish in Thunderbird - Go to https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2108 and download the Stylish extension. Open Thunderbird and go to Tools -> Extensions (v1.5) Tools -> Addons -> Extensions (v2) and click the install button. Browse to where you saved Stylish on your computer. Then restart Thunderbird. Note: If using Firefox, make sure to right click on the Stylish install link and choose Save Link As… because we don’t want to install it into Firefox.
Create a New Stylish Style - Open Thunderbird, click on the Stylish icon in the status bar, choose manage styles, click write and in the description field add TwisterMc’s Labels.
Get the Code - Click here and copy the code into the big Stylish input box. Make sure that the Enabled checkbox is checked and hit Save. Then close the Manage Styles window.
Refresh - In order for the labels to appear, close the main inbox window and re-open it, or just restart Thunderbird.
That’s it.
The new labels code has been tested in Thunderbird 1.5 and 2.0 on Mac and works great. It should work fine under Windows and Linux too. Let me know if you have any issues.
Ohh and for advanced users, you can add the labels code into userChrome.css if you’d like without installing Stylish.
What about the labels/tags that I created?
This did nothing for me on Windows, looks no different than normal.
- TheRLG April 12th, 2007 at 4:20 pm
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.3 - Windows XP
What version of Thunderbird? I tested it in XP v 1.5.10.
Also, have you changed your label colors at all or are they the default ones?
- Thomas April 12th, 2007 at 7:06 pm
Mozilla Firefox 2.0 - Mac OS X
Nevermind, I figured it out! thanks.
- TheRLG April 12th, 2007 at 8:46 pm
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.3 - Windows XP
Thanks! I’ve been wanting more out of Thunderbird’s labels for a long time.
- Ryan April 13th, 2007 at 9:24 am
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.3 - Windows XP
[...] Make thunderbird labels stand out - this was very useful [...]
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[...] Make Thunderbird’s Labels Stand Out - [TwisterMC] Via - [HawkWings] [...]
- Good Looking Labels in Thunderbird - lifehack.org April 30th, 2007 at 5:47 pm
WordPress 2.1.3
Thanks for this - I just followed the directions on my Mac and it works great!
- Michelle April 30th, 2007 at 10:31 pm
Unbranded Firefox 2.0.0.2 - Mac OS X
[...] Para saber como resolver a questão, portanto, basta seguir as dicas já existentes. Leia o artigo Make Thunderbird’s Labels Stand Out para aprender uma forma simples de realmente destacar as cores das suas tags no Thunderbird. Para fazer algo parecido no Gmail, use o script Label Colors. [...]
- » Organizando seu e-mail com tags coloridas no Thunderbird - Efetividade.net May 1st, 2007 at 9:43 am
WordPress 2.0.5
Not working for me…does it work with 98SE?
tb 1.5.0.10
- Maximus May 1st, 2007 at 9:49 am
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.3 - Windows 98
Finally!! Great hint.
Expecially in TB 2.0 I use tags but I never loved the default colors.
thanks
- dafi May 1st, 2007 at 10:50 am
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.3 - Windows XP
[...] Make Thunderbird’s Labels Stand Out [Blog on a Stick via Hawk Wings] [...]
- SoftSaurus May 1st, 2007 at 10:55 am
WordPress 2.1.2
Fantastic, that looks much nicer than the default!
- Paul Squires May 1st, 2007 at 10:55 am
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.3 - Windows XP
Does not work on Windows Vista Business with Thunderbird version 2.0.0.0 (20070326). Anyone else having a problem?
- Steve May 1st, 2007 at 11:00 am
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.3 - Windows Vista
Being the dolt I am, I’ll change my name to minimus…I figured it out…it looks great…thanks
- Maximus May 1st, 2007 at 11:10 am
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.3 - Windows 98
Hmmm. I must be doing something wrong. The script works for some but not all of my tagged messages, i.e., some have black type and colored background, while others have the old format- colored type and white background.
- Lee May 1st, 2007 at 11:35 am
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.2 - Windows XP
I’m having the same trouble as Lee; only two out of eight of my tags show up in the new format…
- Kevin May 1st, 2007 at 11:42 am
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.3 - Windows XP
How do I make it work for my new tags? E.g., I created a tag for ‘email lists’, but it doesn’t show up.
- mike May 1st, 2007 at 11:55 am
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.3 - Windows XP
Similar problem to Lee and Kevin above - works for Tags that I didn’t edit but not tags I changed or new tags.
- CheGordito May 1st, 2007 at 12:29 pm
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.3 - Windows XP
All of my tags are new I guess I am having the same problems as Lee and Kevin and CheGordito above.
- Steve May 1st, 2007 at 1:25 pm
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.3 - Windows Vista
I’ll have to write up a tutorial on how to get custom tags/colors to work too. Right now, it only works with the default set of labels/tags.
- Thomas May 1st, 2007 at 1:27 pm
Safari 312.6 - Mac OS X
Awesome, thanks. Everything works for me on Thunderbird 2.0.0.0.
- Big Cheez May 1st, 2007 at 1:27 pm
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.3 - Windows XP
Same for me….some look great, some are unchanged. Need that tutorial, please….
- Rassi May 1st, 2007 at 2:13 pm
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.3 - Windows XP
Thanks,
Looking forward to the tutorial
Lee
- Lee May 1st, 2007 at 2:17 pm
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.2 - Windows XP
looks good. worked for me on windows xp and tbird 1.5.0.10
- James Carlos May 1st, 2007 at 5:46 pm
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.3 - Windows XP
[...] Man labai gėda, bet tik visai neseniai sužinojau, kad Thunderbird gautas el pašto žinutes galima žymėti pagal kategorijas paprasčiausiais klaviatūros klavišais 1-5. Tačiau kartą jau pradėjau tai daryti, tai skubu pasidalinti patarimu, kaip tas žymas padaryti daug gražesnes, nei paprasčiausias teksto spalvos pakeitimas. (Lifehack.org) [...]
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WordPress 2.1.3
Make labels stand out in Thunderbird
Following on from my post about keeping your inbox clean, blogger TwisterMC has an interesting post about making labels stand out more in Thunderbird.
It involves using the “styleish” extension or hacking the userchrome.css but if you use a lot of…
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Netscape Navigator 4.0
[...] If you followed the Thunderbird Labels modification I put up a few days back, you may have found out that it didn’t work for custom labels/tags. Yes, I knew that, but wanted to start off with the basic labels. Here is a quick tutorial on how to get your custom ones up and running. [...]
- Make Custom Thunderbird Labels Stand Out » Blog on a Stick May 2nd, 2007 at 6:54 am
WordPress 2.0.4
Here is the custom labels/tags tutorial: Custom Colors
- Thomas May 2nd, 2007 at 6:59 am
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.3 - Mac OS X
Knowing very little about scripting, I modified the sample script to apply “green” for a “ToDo” tag that I created. However, when I apply it, I get a pink background rather than light green. Here’s the script as I modified it:
treechildren::-moz-tree-cell(lc-33cc00) { border-bottom:1px solid #33cc00 !important;
background-color: #CCFF99 !important;}
treechildren::-moz-tree-cell-text(lc-33cc00) { color: #000 !important; }
treechildren::-moz-tree-cell(lc-33cc00, selected) { background-color: #33cc00 !important; }
treechildren::-moz-tree-cell-text(lc-33cc00, selected) { color: #FFF !important; }
Color Cop tells me this pink color is #FFCCFF but that code is nowhere to be found anywhere in the script.
- Lee May 2nd, 2007 at 12:52 pm
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.3 - Windows XP
[...] de este post A del.icio.us A menéame AFresqui [...]
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WordPress 2.0
Lee, any chance you have more than one label/tag assigned to your message?
- Thomas May 3rd, 2007 at 5:54 am
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.3 - Mac OS X
Nope, just one.
- Lee May 3rd, 2007 at 6:13 am
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.3 - Windows XP
Can’t figure it out. The directions are not in order; after following several of the steps there is an oh, yes, do this if thus and such obtains. Too late. I can’t read all of it, reorganize it, and hold it all in my head.
Nobody edits anymore; it’s all stream of consciousness to some degree.
- Nyal Williams May 13th, 2007 at 2:10 am
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.3 - Windows NT 4.0
Nyal, where are you having an issue? Everything is in order above.
- Thomas May 15th, 2007 at 6:09 am
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.3 - Mac OS X
[...] How to make Thunderbird’s labels stand out [...]
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WordPress 2.0.5
So I installed but all the tags are still the same. No background color? Running XP Thunderbird 2.0
- Nicolas June 13th, 2007 at 5:18 pm
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.4 - Windows XP
Nicolas - Once you have Stylish installed, go here: http://userstyles.org/styles/2437
That’ll automatically load all the labels. You may need to re-start Thunderbird after loading if they don’t automatically take effect.
- Thomas June 15th, 2007 at 6:00 am
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.3 - Mac OS X
[...] Following on from my post about keeping your inbox clean, blogger TwisterMC has an interesting post about making labels stand out more in Thunderbird. [...]
- My Get Things Done List » Blog Archive » Make labels stand out in Thunderbird [Flipping Heck! Productivity, Technology and Motivation blog] September 4th, 2007 at 11:09 pm
WordPress wordpress
I installed this in TB 2.0.0.9 on WinXP. I see no icon in the status bar, so I can’t “click on the Stylish icon in the status bar…”. This even though TB’s Add-ons window does shoe Stylish as being installed. What am I doing wrong?
- Russ January 15th, 2008 at 9:52 am
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.11 - Windows XP
Thank you so much…..new to Thunderbird and making the tags stand out more was one of my few complaints. Have a Mac and it works great!
- Terry January 20th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.11 - Mac OS X
Following up on my post of Jan 15th re no icon in the status bar… I eventually found the icon in the Customize Toolbar dialog (right-click toolbar) and dragged it to the toolbar. (I gather from posts I’ve seen elsewhere that Stylish puts an icon in the status bar when installed in Firefox.)
- Russ January 21st, 2008 at 8:16 am
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.11 - Windows XP
[...] some suggestions (and code, of course
to help you along the way. First, let me give credit to Twister MC’s wonderful post that I will be using as a reference for the label coloring scripts below. OK, let’s get [...]
- Tweaking Thunderbird’s chrome | Eric Wendelin February 16th, 2008 at 12:57 am
WordPress 2.3.2
THANK YOU so much for posting this. I have spent hours trying to figure out how to do this. I owe you a beer!
- Chuck March 13th, 2008 at 9:06 am
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.12 - Windows XP
Hello together,
i’ve a question about the coloring of lightning 0.8pre or lightning 0.7. I know that a could change colors from the calendar-items by editing the userchrome.css. But Did everyone knows a list of all posible css tags? I haven’t found a description about this.
Bye
Marcus Radisch
- Marcus Radisch March 24th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.12 - Ubuntu Linux
Sorry Marcus, I don’t know much about coloring lightning.
- Thomas March 27th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
Safari 525.13 - Mac OS X
Is it possible to something like this with unread e-mails? i’m trying to make the unread emails stand out a bit more..
- Christian April 2nd, 2008 at 4:43 pm
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.13 - Windows XP
Thanks, wonderful
- Jest April 10th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.13 - Windows XP