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minimizetotray

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FAQ

  1. General questions
  2. Current development, future plans and requested features
  3. Technical support
  4. Help wanted
  1. General Questions

    • How do I minimize Mozilla Firefox or Thunderbird to the tray?
      Multiple ways exist for minimizing Firefox and Thunderbird to the tray. You can use whatever works best for you. The most common method is to right-mouse click on the minimize button in the top right hand corner of the window. Or you can select from the menu File->Minimize to Tray. Or you can use the keyboard shortcut for Firefox, Ctrl+Shift+M. If you want to always have Firefox and Thunderbird minimized to the tray instead of the taskbar, select that checkbox in the extension's options. If you want to minimize all open Firefox windows, middle click on the minimize button, (or CTRL+right-mouse click for those without middle buttons).

    • What is -turbo mode and how do I set it up?
      Note: -turbo mode has been disabled while we rework the code to make it work much more than 10% of the time.  :)

    • How do I make Firefox or Thunderbird always minimize to the tray instead of to the taskbar?
      You can select this setting through the extension's options. Click on Tools->Extensions, highlight the MinimizeToTray extension, and click on the Options button. Select the checkbox, and you're set.

      Always Minimize

    • How do I prevent the minimized tray icon from being periodically hidden in the inactive area of the tray?
       (Note: This does not apply to Windows 95/98/ME users)
      You can change this setting by doing the following:

      First, right mouse click on the Start button and select Properties. This will open a Taskbar and Start Menu Properties window.

      Start Properties

      At the top, make sure you are in the Taskbar tab. Check the checkbox labeled "Hide inactive icons" and then click "Customize".

      Custom Notifications

      Find your Mozilla application, either in Current Items or Past Items, and set the Behavior to "Always show". Mozilla Thunderbird users will probably also want to set the new mail indicator icon to "Always show" as well (although Windows sometimes seems to forget about that setting for the new mail icon, so it has to be set again a few times before it holds). Now click both OK buttons to get about of both windows, and that's it!

    • How do I minimize multiple Firefox windows to the tray in one click?
       There are two ways to do this. One way is to middle click on the Firefox's minimize button. This same thing can also be accomplished by CTRL+right-mouse clicking on Firefox's minimize button. To restore the windows, just left click on the Firefox tray icon.

    • What versions of Firefox and Thunderbird does this extension support?
      We try to stay up to date on all applications that support extensions.  This includes trunk/nightly builds.

    • What languages does this extension support?
      Thanks to the help of many users, this extension should support:

      * Catalan (ca-AD)
      * Czech (cs-CZ)
      * Danish (da-DK)
      * German (de-DE)
      * English (en-US)
      * Spanish (es-ES)
      * Euskara/Basque (eu-ES)
      * Finnish (fi-FI)
      * French (fr-FR)
      * Frisian (fy-NL)
      * Hungarian (hu-HU)
      * Italian (it-IT)
      * Japanese (ja-JP)
      * Lithuanian (lt-LT)
      * Norwegian (nb-NO)
      * Dutch (nl-NL)
      * Polish (pl-PL)
      * Portuguese (pt-BR)
      * Slovenian (sl-SL)
      * Russian (ru-RU)
      * Slovak (sk-SK)
      * Swedish (sv-SE)
      * Simplified Chinese (zh-CN)
      * Traditional Chinese (zh-TW)

      The next version should contain these languages which we already have translations for:


      If any of these languages are not working for you, or you think the translation is wrong, please email us. If you would like this extension translated into another language, please see the section on Language Translation.

  2. Current development, future plans and requested features

    • What is the current state of development with this extension?
      Development is moving along well. We have solved many of the major bugs, now we have moved on to solving other important bugs.  At the moment, all energy is focused on -turbo mode.  It's turning out to be more complicated that we thought.

    • Will this ever support other platforms, such as KDE or GNOME versions for Linux?
      We'd sure love to! The problem is, we don't have a clue how to do it =). If anyone else is capable of programming the KDE/GNOME side of this extension, we would welcome the help.

      For now, a good tool for tray minimizing on Linux is KDocker. It works for all NET WM compliant window managers, including KDE, GNOME, Xfce and many more.

    • Will Mozilla Sunbird/Calendar ever be supported?
      Both are supprted!  Calendar will automatically be supported if it is installed alongside MinimizeToTray.  The current 0.2 version of Sunbird does not have extension support, but the new version under development does.  We have already tested this extension with new Sunbird builds.  

      If you need to minimize the current 0.2 version of Sunbird to the tray, you can download and use this small program called SunTray.

    • Does this extension support the Mozilla Suite (Seamonkey)?
      Everything in MinimizeToTray works in the Mozilla Suite with the exception of tray icon menus.  Also, when Mozilla loads for the first time after the extension has been installed, an error message appears.  After that, the error message goes away.

    • Does this extension support automatic updates?
      Yes. When a new Mozilla application verison is released and tested, we will update our end so your MinimizeToTray extension can be updated as well.

    • Are there plans for Thunderbird's -turbo mode to always have a Thunderbird icon in the tray, whether it's minimized or not?
      This is also high up on the requested list, but it hasn't worked it's way into the to do list either.

    • Can this extension change what icon appears in the tray?
      No. It's an often requested feature, but there are too many limitations preventing us from changing the icon.

      However, if you really want to change the icon, there is a way. For example, lets say the Thunderbird icon really really bugs you. Perhaps you just don't like it.  Or perhaps it look too much like a blue whig over an envelope instead of a blue bird over an envelope. And this bugs you so much, that you want to change it to an envelope icon instead.
      If so, you can manually change the icon by following these steps:
      1. Go to the Mozilla Application folder (such as C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\ or C:\Program Files\Mozilla Thunderbird\)
      2. Go to folder: chrome\icons\default
      3. Replace messengerWindow.ico with an icon of your choice. If you want, you can use this envelope icon file.
    • Will this extension ever appear on Mozilla's main extension web page instead of just on mozdev?
      This is in the plans.  The extension is fairly solid now, and so we hope to get have the extension appear on Mozilla's main extension web page, so it's easier to find, install and auto update.

    • What are some other requests for this extension?
      Some other requests we've received are:
      * More powerful context tray menus for Thunderbird. Mostly it revolves around being able to use all of Thunderbird's functionality while always keeping it minimized. A variation of this is the ability to hover over the Thunderbird icon and see how many messages are in an inbox.
      * Include an option to automatically add Firefox or Thunderbird to the list of programs Windows loads on startup.
      * Have an option to set -turbo mode as an extension option, rather than just a command line parameter.
      * Have a checkbox option that reads "Always display tray icon even if not minimized".   This will probably get implemented with -turbo mode.
      * Force the tray icon to always show.  This can already be set manually as described here.
      * Have an option to change the shortcut keys involved with this extension.
      * Add the ability for shortcut keys to restore the Mozilla appliation from the tray.
      * Add the ability to change profiles from the tray icon menu.
      * Have the extension ask for a password before it can be restored again. This would be particularly helpful in preventing others from accessing emails from Thunderbird.
      * Have the Mozilla application still show up in the Alt+Tab list even though the window has been minimized. (Note: this is probably not possible).
      * Have an option to prevent a new Firefox window from opening when one was already minimized. If the Firefox icon is clicked, it would simply restore your current minimized window.

    • I have other requests not mentioned here, who do I contact?
      Have other ideas? We'd love to hear them. Please send your requests to the project mailing list.

  3. Technical Support

    • This extension isn't working!
      There are two main reasons why this commonly occures. 1) There is a bug, or 2) It was installed wrong.

      First, to determine if there is a bug, the Javascript Console will inform you if something went wrong. Click on Tools->Javascript Console, and when the window opens, click on the Clear button. With that window open try to minimize your Mozilla application. If there's a problem the Javascript Console will show it. If you see a JavaScript Console error, please go to the section I receive a JavaScript Console error whenever I attempt to minimize the application.

      Second, if no bug was detected, and the problem doesn't seem to match anything else found in this FAQ, then most likely, it wasn't installed right or some strange glitch happened. If so, you may want to uninstall and start over.  If the problem still persists, you may want to try the full blown manual uninstall and reinstall.

      If neither of these solutions apply, then move on to the section My problem isn't listed here, who can I contact for help?

    • I received this error message:
      No dll Message 2

      Most likely, this is due to having a conflict between trunk and aviary builds.  If you were running on a normal version of a Mozilla app, and then you downloaded and ran a trunk/nightly build, this error can pop up.  In this scenario, simply uninstall the extension, and redownload the correct extension for the Mozilla build you are using.

      This error can also occur just after uninstalling.  If so, just ignore it, this should be the only time this error message will be displayed. 

    • I receive a JavaScript Console error whenever I attempt to minimize the application.
      This Javascript error will have the following information:

      Error: uncaught exception: [Exception... "Component returned failure code: 0xe0c70005
      [trayIWindowHider.minimize]" nsresult: "0xe0c70005 ()"
      location: "JS frame :: chrome://minimizetotray/content/core.js :: anonymous :: line 152" data: no]

      This has been fixed.  If you're still getting this error, please update your Mozilla application.

    • I want to manually remove everything associated with this extension. How do I do that?
      Sometimes the need arises to personally remove everything by hand. If such a need arises, here are the steps to accomplish it.  (Officially, this is not a fully recommended method by Mozilla.  But it has worked flawlessy every time I've done it.)

      First, uninstall the extension in your Mozilla application. Restart the application, go to Tools->Extensions, and verify that it's gone. When you have verified this, close down the application.

      Next, delete out the extension's folder manually. The extension folder is located in your profile's folder. On most Windows computers, it's located in the following path:
      C:\Documents and Settings\[your Windows login name]\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\default\[funky profile name]\extensions\
      The folder you want to delete is {31513E58-F253-47ad-86DB-D5F21E905429}

      After you've deleted that folder, see if there is a Temp folder in there. If so, delete it.

      That's it, all traces of the extension should be gone.

    • My -turbo mode doesn't seem to work.
      We've disabled turbo mode to rewrite this feature.

    • I think I found a bug, what do I do now?
      If nothing else, report it. But, please be kind to us and investigate the bug before emailing us. Check to see if we haven't yet made mention of the bug in our list of bugs. Also, carefully observe the behavior of the bug many times so you are sure you have a handle on what's going on. When you send a bug report, carefully describe the steps you took to produce the bug, the unexpected behavior it caused, and what should have happened if the extension worked correctly.

      One great way to investigate is through the Javascript Console. Click on Tools->Javascript Console, and when the window comes up, click on Clear. Then, go to your Mozilla application, and duplicate the bug. If anything appears in the Javascript Console, that's pay dirt for us.

      Another way to investigate is to try to duplicate the bug on another computer. If it can be duplicated on more than one computer, then it's likely we will be able to duplicate it as well.

      Again, if this is too complicated or confusing, just report what you can. Please send any bug reports to the project mailing list.

    • My problem isn't listed here, who can I contact for help?

      You can email us at the project mailing list.

  4. Help wanted

The minimizetotray project can be contacted through the mailing list or the member list.
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