Compose in tab (Thunderbird enhancement 449299)

[armaccloud]

This request is for two setting(s) to
Automatically (on click write button) to open the compose email window to open in a new tab
Automatically (on click reply or reply-to-all button) to open the compose email window to open in a new tab

[Betterbird]

"Compose in tab" has been on the cards for a long long time, see: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=449299.
There's some sort of patch here https://gist.github.com/liamzebedee/5055929, and according to this comment there was some funding at https://freedomsponsors.org/issue/119/, but that site no longer exists. Maybe it moved to Bountysource.

And there's an old add-on: https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/addon/compose-for-thunderbird/

[armaccloud]

Thank you for your fast answer.
Is this something that betterbird might consider developing?
Or are you not developing new functionality aside from Thunderbird (only bug fixes)?

[Betterbird]

We're considering it. We've implemented a few things people wanted and TB isn't doing, like the multi-line view, complex search terms, search in encrypted messages, etc., see https://www.betterbird.eu/#featuretable.

From an effort and ongoing maintenance point of view "compose in tab" is the biggest ask to date. We know since our project leader used to be "Thunderbird compose peer".

[Betterbird]

There is a bunch more material on this, but it was never finished off and all the code and patches likely don't work/apply any more.
https://blog.mozilla.org/labs/2010/09/2756-bugs-found/ - Video: https://vimeo.com/14657225 - Repo: https://github.com/protz/Compose

Looking at https://gist.github.com/liamzebedee/5055929, that's actually very little, it merely replaces calls to OpenComposeWindow[WithParams] with OpenComposeTab[WithParams] and includes a new file msgComposeTab.js, but sadly that file isn't there. @liamzebedee, was that code ever written? This "roadmap" mentions: Make a tab ... New tab is working, but parameters haven't been passed. Maybe the author forgot to do a hg add msgComposeTab.js to add the new file to the patch ☹️. This comment states: I've created a new JS module msgComposeTab.js, rewritten [nearly] all of the calls to OpenComposeWindow/OpenComposeWindowWithParams to this new JS module. So where is it?

[Betterbird]

(Not totally) surprisingly, when you issue
openContentTab("chrome://messenger/content/messengercompose/messengercompose.xhtml", "tab") in the console and then hide the navigation/URL bar, you get this. Try it yourself. It's even partly functional.

Maybe it's not too hard after all. https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=449299 has heaps of votes and this could be the next Betterbird killer feature 😃. The double menu is not too crash hot. We'll look into it further.
P.S.: It will cause a lot of strive with add-ons which expect a compose window.

[armaccloud]

This is good news, thank you for looking into this! The bug report you mentioned was opened 14 years ago :)
Would be great if this were integrated into Betterbird.

[Betterbird]

76c1eae is very much work in progress. Here's a likely incomplete list of all the stuff that does NOT yet work (the crossed-out stuff DOES work):

1. Right click (context menu) in compose area
2. Ctrl+S doesn't save as draft (button works)
3. Drag attachment
4. Color picker, other insert (image, link, etc.) dialogues
5. Send closes window
6. Status bar CSS
7. Add-ons like ThunderHTMLedit don't work (since they attach to compose windows)
8. Reply, forward, edit draft, edit as new, etc.
9. Save composition as HTML/plaintext (untested, likely not working)
10. Do not persist compose tab, user needs to edit draft again.
11. Save draft when window/tab is closed.
12. Double menu bar is ugly.

UPDATE: Will update this comment with the progress.

[Betterbird]

People ask where this is going: "Drag attachment" is blocked by an upstream issue:
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1795487

[Betterbird]

Despite some considerable effort invested into this, it's likely not going to be implemented due to architectural issues, the worst being that without a stand-alone compose window, all add-ons working on the compose window will stop working since the rely on working in a window with a certain internal URL (chrome://messenger/content/messengercompose/messengercompose.xhtml).

[armaccloud]

Thank you, @Betterbird, for putting so much effort into researching the possibilities for this.