To make delayed/planned sending of emails possible

[erique]

To make delayed/planned sending of emails possible

[ayu]

I know that it's difficult to implement true send later functionality without dedicated servers, but I would love it if the next time I am online and during work hours, thunderbird automatically sends my outbox emails. I think this should be easier to implement since thunderbird has similar functionality already for going online.

Another alternative would be to allow users to send all emails in outbox using cli commands. This would enable users to create a simple cron job to automate sending emails during specific hours.

[moz_samri]

Scheduled sending is an essential capability, especially when working across large timezone differences.

the Save as Draft, is one option, but then one needs reminders.

WRT security, the total number of extentions (attack surfaces), and the trust testing/maint of same, suggest that incorporating the 'essential' cababilities, of Similar 'competative' tools, should place a high value on implementation.

One could always use  other online services, if the system to system protocal had meta-data to invoke such sending.. Not ideal, but works.  The alternative is getting intimate with the BaseOS, but that is not, in general, a good idea, with too many dependencies.

A simple REMINDER List functionality, could possibly work if one had a consistent schedule, and only allow sending within those constraints.  The online email services, shine when specific times are REQUIRED..  but even they do not, in general allow specifying the time wrt source or destination time zone!

[luigipero]

Gentile Team di Thunderbird,

sono un utente appassionato del vostro programma di posta elettronica e apprezzo profondamente l’affidabilità e le funzionalità che continuate a offrire. Ho notato, però, che ci sarebbero alcune migliorie che potrebbero rendere l’esperienza d’uso ancora più efficiente e allineata alle esigenze di molti utenti professionali e privati. Vorrei condividere due suggerimenti che potrebbero migliorare ulteriormente il servizio:

1. Invio Programmato:
   Un’opzione che permetta agli utenti di programmare l'invio di un’email a una data e ora future sarebbe estremamente utile. Questa funzionalità è ormai comune in molte piattaforme di posta elettronica e garantisce un grande vantaggio, specialmente per chi lavora in ambito professionale e deve gestire la comunicazione in modo strategico.
   Pro:

   • Gestione ottimizzata delle email senza preoccuparsi di inviarle manualmente in un momento specifico.
   • Ideale per utenti che lavorano con team in diverse zone orarie.
   • Riduzione del rischio di inviare email in orari non desiderati o non lavorativi.

2. Risposta Automatica più Semplice con Date di Inizio e Fine:
   Aggiungere una funzione di risposta automatica che permetta di specificare facilmente date di inizio e fine per l’autoresponder renderebbe l'interfaccia più intuitiva e la funzionalità accessibile anche a chi non ha competenze tecniche avanzate. Potrebbe essere integrata direttamente nelle impostazioni del profilo, rendendo la configurazione rapida e senza complicazioni.
   Pro:

   • Gli utenti potrebbero impostare in anticipo le loro assenze (per ferie, malattia o periodi fuori ufficio) con precisione, senza dover accedere a impostazioni avanzate.
   • Rende Thunderbird più competitivo con altri client di posta elettronica che già offrono questa semplicità di gestione.
   • Aumento dell’efficienza, riducendo il rischio di dimenticare di attivare o disattivare manualmente le risposte automatiche.

Entrambi questi aggiornamenti migliorerebbero non solo la produttività degli utenti, ma semplificherebbero l’uso quotidiano del vostro software, rendendolo ancora più versatile e competitivo rispetto ad altre soluzioni sul mercato.

Spero che possiate prendere in considerazione questi suggerimenti e resto disponibile per ulteriori approfondimenti o chiarimenti.

Grazie per l'attenzione e per l'ottimo lavoro che continuate a svolgere.

Cordiali saluti,

Luigi Peronespolo

Dear Thunderbird Team, I am an avid user of your email program and deeply appreciate the reliability and features that you continue to offer. However, I have noticed that there are some improvements that could make the user experience even more efficient and aligned with the needs of many professional and private users. I would like to share two suggestions that could further improve the service:

Scheduled Sending: An option that allows users to schedule an email to be sent at a future date and time would be extremely useful. This feature is now common in many email platforms and guarantees a great advantage, especially for those who work in a professional environment and need to manage communication strategically. Pros: Optimized management of emails without having to worry about manually sending them at a specific time. Ideal for users who work with teams in different time zones. Reduced risk of sending emails at unwanted or non-working hours.

Easier Auto-Responder with Start and End Dates: Adding an auto-responder feature that allows you to easily specify start and end dates for the autoresponder would make the interface more intuitive and the functionality accessible even to those without advanced technical skills. It could be integrated directly into the profile settings, making setup quick and hassle-free. Pros: Users could set their absences (for vacation, sick leave, or out of the office) in advance with precision, without having to access advanced settings. Makes Thunderbird more competitive with other email clients that already offer this ease of management. Increases efficiency by reducing the risk of forgetting to manually enable or disable auto-responders.

Both of these updates would improve not only the productivity of users, but would simplify the daily use of your software, making it even more versatile and competitive compared to other solutions on the market. I hope you can take these suggestions into consideration and I remain available for further insights or clarifications. Thank you for your attention and for the excellent work you continue to do. 

Best regards, 

Luigi Peronespolo

[Jon]

(Note: similar ideas have been merged into this thread)

[ThomasEi]

Hi all,

IMO, these features - and I do not want to discuss the feature requests - require an instance that's permanently online. Either an Auto responder or a scheduled sender make no sense if they depend on the mail *client* running. I fully understand that  with web/online mail services as well as with the outlook/exchange combo, the experience of what is task of the mail client and what of the mail server get very blurred.
Despite the fact that I'd also appreciate these features I'd suggest that we do not bother the makers of a great *client* with requests for server-side features.

Regards,

Thomas

[Russn8r]

Scheduled send does NOT require an "instance that's permanently online." It only requires your T-bird program to up and running on your computer locally. Fact that it's a great program is no reason not to improve it with highly useful capability that Eudora had, and Outlook has.

Speaking of Eudora, its search/find capability was vastly better. For example, T-bird needs an option to search for a particular Attachment Name, and an option to Search All fields (subject, body, attachment name, to, from, cc, bcc)

[MattAuSupport]

If you all want a send later button,  how many are using the addon that delivers that?

https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/addon/send-later-3/