Make Mozilla Thunderbird spell check emails

Posted on February 27, 2011 by Robert Longworth

Mozilla’s Thunderbird has the ability to spell check your emails – However before this feature will work you need to download and enable your dictionary.

Firstly you must locate and download the dictionary of your choice. One of the easiest ways to do this is by using the link provided in options – to find this link click Tools > Options, within the options click on the Composition tab. You will see a blue hyperlink Download More Dictionaries which will tkae you to an official Mozilla webpage where you can find many different dictionaries.

After downloading the dictionary of choice, run the .xpi file using Mozilla Thunderbird inorder to install the dictionary.

Mozilla Thunderbird Dictionary

Next back on the composition tab enable the Enable spell check as you type. If you have installed your dictionary correctly then you should be able to select your dictionary from the drop-down box provided. Note: If you haven’t installed a dictionary the drop-down will contain no items!

If you are having trouble installing your dictionary you can try to install the add-on by going to Tools > Add-ons and then click the Install button. Browse to the .xpi file you just downloaded and click Open, this will install the dictionary.

In addition you can also enable the option to Check spelling before sending an email, however be aware this will spell check the entire email including previous replies.

Mozilla Thunderbird Email Composition

Posted on February 27, 2011 by Robert Longworth

Typically it is accepted that an email contains the body of the current message at the top of the email, followed by a signature below the message and then trailed by any messages from previous messages. This seems logical and makes it easy to read and follow the structure of a conversation, however Mozilla Thunderbird by default does not compose an email in this way.

In Thunderbird you can alter and compose an email which ever way you prefer. This setting is per account so you could even have different email accounts compose a message differently.

To alter the composition of an email select Tools > Account Settings, you will be presented with a list of options for all you different email accounts. Under the email account you wish to alter select Composition and Addressing. If you set the Automatically quote the original message when replying to enabled then you have the option to set two additional drop-down boxes – which effect the composition of your email.

As demonstrated below, if you choose to compose your email as mentioned previous then alter the drop-down boxes as shown.

Start my reply above the quote – where the quote is previous messages in the email

Choosing this then allows you to position your signature:

Below the quote- places the signature after all messages including any previous messages
Below my reply – places the signature after the current message but before any previous messages

Choose the option which is right for you and then apply your changes by pressing the OK button.

Mozilla Thunderbird Email Composition

Mozilla Firefox spell check all text fields

Posted on February 27, 2011 by Robert Longworth

In Mozilla Firefox the default spell checking function only checks for multi-line text boxes. However it is also possible to get Firefox to spell-check single line text boxes.

This option doesn’t appear in the standard Tools and Options so we’re going to edit some hidden firefox preferences. To do this open the Mozilla Firefox browser and enter about:config into the url bar at the top of the screen, then press enter.

If this is the first time you have been to these preferences you will receive a security warning promting you before going further – aslong as you promise to be careful you can continue!

Lots of options… lets make use of the filter provided to find the right one. You should see a flashing indicator in a textfield called Filter: at the top of your screen. Type spellcheckd into the Filter: textfield and that should narrow us down to just the one option as show below.

Mozilla Firefox Spellcheck All Fields

Double-clicking on the field lets you change the value. By default the value is set to 1

Selecting one of the following values will provide the following behaviour…

Disable spell checker
Specll check multi-line text boxes only (default)
Spell check all text boxes

Choose the option which is right for you and then close the about:config tab.

Mozilla Firefox prevent websites resizing your browser

Posted on February 27, 2011 by Robert Longworth

It can be annoying when a website resizes your browser for their own design. However there are ways to help prevent this from happening.

Using the Firefox menu go into: Tools -> Options -> Content

Then click on the Advanced… button, across from Enable JavaScript. Uncheck the Move or resize existing windows checkbox, as shown below and that annoying litte trick should come to an end!

Remember to click the OK button to apply changes.

Mozilla Firefox prevent javascript resizing window

Mozilla Firefox open search bar results in a new tab

Posted on February 27, 2011 by Robert Longworth

In Mozilla Firefox the Search Bar is the text bar found in the top right corner of the window. Using Firefox’s Search bar, you can use the most popular search engines without having to visit their websites. When you enter a term in the Search bar, the indicated search engine is queried, and the search results are displayed in Firefox. In the Navigation toolbar, the Search bar is displayed in the far right corner.

Firefox Search Bar

When you search using the search bar, by default the results are displayed in the current tab. You may however find that you don’t want the search to interfere with your current tab, but would prefer the search results to be displayed in a new tab.

If this is the first time you have been to these preferences you will receive a security warning promting you before going further – aslong as you promise to be careful you can continue!

Lots of options… lets make use of the filter provided to find the right one. You should see a flashing indicator in a textfield called Filter: at the top of your screen. Type search.open into the Filter: textfield and that should narrow us down to just the one option as show below.

Firefox Search Bar Options

Double clicking the field will change its value. By default the value is set to False.

Selecting one of the following values will provide the following behaviour…

False: Open search box results in the existing tab (default)
True: Open search box results in a new tab

Choose the option which is right for you and then close the about:config tab.