Adding Calendar functionality to Mozilla Thunderbird

Before I start, I should probably introduce myself a little. My name’s Phil, and I run a blog at twistedethics.com, but I’ll be cross-posting all the good stuff on to here as well. By day, I’m responsible for the IT within a small company in the United Kingdom. We run a mixed-OS network, so you can be sure I’ll be blogging about both Linux and Windows. I’m also a big fan of open-source alternatives for home and business, so you’ll be seeing plenty of that stuff too. Which, conveniently, leads me to my first blog post!

In a bid to save money where we can, and detach ourselves from Microsoft reliance, we’ve deployed Thunderbird as a replacement for Outlook across a few workstations. We’ve found that when people switch from Microsoft Outlook to Mozilla Thunderbird they often miss having the calendar/task features. Fortunately, you can add Calendar and Task functionality to Thunderbird with the Lightning add-on.

Go to the Lightning download page

Right click on the download link and Save As… (If you don’t, Firefox might try to install the add-on itself.)

Open up Thunderbird and click on Tools > Add-ons

Install the Lightning file you just downloaded

Once you’re done, restart Thunderbird, and start using your new Calendar feature!

If you need Holiday calendars, you can get them here

I’ve only tested this in Windows, but it should work on Linux and the Mac just fine, too.

This article was originally published at twistedethics.com.

Tags: Question

This entry was posted by Karl L. Gechlik | AskTheAdmin.com on October 23, 2007 at 5:49 am, and is filled under General. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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Comments (17)

#1 written by Karl L. Gechlik
August 23, 2007 - 1:25 pm

Quote

Thanks Phil and Let Me Be The First To Welcome You To The AtA Family!

Great first post and we are looking to hear more about tech life in the UK – and if it differs @ all from ours in the U S of A!

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#2 written by Unknown
August 23, 2007 - 9:25 am

Quote

Thanks Phil and Let Me Be The First To Welcome You To The AtA Family!

Great first post and we are looking to hear more about tech life in the UK – and if it differs @ all from ours in the U S of A!

Click to Reply to This Comment.
#3 written by El Di Pablo
August 23, 2007 - 3:44 pm

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Thunderbird is the shiznite! Great article. Welcome aboard Phil!

Click to Reply to This Comment.
#4 written by Anonymous
August 23, 2007 - 3:49 pm

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We use thunderbird here for years now. it is the great software. now does calender task? better than the outlook

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#5 written by Commodore
August 23, 2007 - 4:19 pm

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Awesome article. Great to have people on board from across the pond. Very well written article, and I have at least 5 people here at work that use thunderbird and will greatly benefit from this- Kudos!

Click to Reply to This Comment.
#6 written by The Slothman
August 23, 2007 - 4:24 pm

Quote

Installed it and I have to say…..

What a sexy application. Nice find and welcome.

Click to Reply to This Comment.
#7 written by AlwaysUp9999999
August 23, 2007 - 5:32 pm

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Welcome to my favorite blog! Long time reader first time commenter.

Great to see you guys diversifying – is there a mac guy around?

Click to Reply to This Comment.
#8 written by Unknown
August 23, 2007 - 11:44 am

Quote

Thunderbird is the shiznite! Great article. Welcome aboard Phil!

Click to Reply to This Comment.
#9 written by Unknown
August 23, 2007 - 11:49 am

Quote

We use thunderbird here for years now. it is the great software. now does calender task? better than the outlook

Click to Reply to This Comment.
#10 written by Unknown
August 23, 2007 - 12:19 pm

Quote

Awesome article. Great to have people on board from across the pond. Very well written article, and I have at least 5 people here at work that use thunderbird and will greatly benefit from this- Kudos!

Click to Reply to This Comment.
#11 written by Unknown
August 23, 2007 - 12:24 pm

Quote

Installed it and I have to say…..

What a sexy application. Nice find and welcome.

Click to Reply to This Comment.
#12 written by Unknown
August 23, 2007 - 1:32 pm

Quote

Welcome to my favorite blog! Long time reader first time commenter.

Great to see you guys diversifying – is there a mac guy around?

Click to Reply to This Comment.
#13 written by Psymon
October 24, 2007 - 1:08 pm

Quote

Cool post!! Another alternative is running Evolution for Outlook functionality without the price.

Its native OS is Linux but there is a Win32 port:
http://shellter.sourceforge.net/evolution/

Doesnt work with Vista though:(

Click to Reply to This Comment.
#14 written by Unknown
October 24, 2007 - 9:08 am

Quote

Cool post!! Another alternative is running Evolution for Outlook functionality without the price.

Its native OS is Linux but there is a Win32 port:

Doesnt “>http://shellter.sourceforge.net/evolution/

Doesnt “>
Doesnt “>http://shellter.sourceforge.net/evolution/

Doesnt work with Vista though:(

Click to Reply to This Comment.
#15 written by Unknown
October 24, 2007 - 9:08 am

Quote

Cool post!! Another alternative is running Evolution for Outlook functionality without the price.

Its native OS is Linux but there is a Win32 port:

Doesnt “>http://shellter.sourceforge.net/evolution/

Doesnt “>
Doesnt “>http://shellter.sourceforge.net/evolution/

Doesnt work with Vista though:(

Click to Reply to This Comment.
#16 written by NinjaAdmin
October 25, 2007 - 1:29 am

Quote

Glad to see your still around Psymon!

Click to Reply to This Comment.
#17 written by Unknown
October 24, 2007 - 9:29 pm

Quote

Glad to see your still around Psymon!

Click to Reply to This Comment.

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Adding Calendar functionality to Mozilla Thunderbird

No trackbacks yet.

Can I disable the RESTART option after completing windows update? Is there any way to cancel a Reboot?

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