Source: CNET

The Webware 100 Awards honor the people’s choice in Web apps–the best sites and services chosen by you. The process of selecting the Webware 100 started with user nominations, which are now closed. Webware editors will select 300 finalists for users to vote from. Voting on these starts on March 31. Come back then to make your vote count!
Vote until April 30
Winners announced May 19

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Vote for Firefox > Browsing
cnet.com/html/ww/100/2009/poll/browsing.html

Vote for Thunderbird > Communication
cnet.com/html/ww/100/2009/poll/communication.html

Whether you’re a fan of them or not, toolbar buttons can save a lot of time by cutting down on the amount of time and actions that it takes to browse through menus or move around your screen to activate a particular function or feature or to change settings.
With that being said, I want to introduce you to the Custom Toolbar Buttons Maker by Michael Buckley that automatically generates a single installable XPI of a compilation of toolbar buttons that you create by selecting from a variety of more than 85 toolbar buttons for Thunderbird.

The Custom Toolbar Buttons Maker is an alternative to the highly popular Toolbar Buttons add-on that provides full sets of toolbar buttons for Firefox (100+ buttons), Thunderbird (85+ buttons), and Sunbird (25+ buttons) and is designed for those who wish to choose their own buttons and/or have no need for a full set.

Get Going
Creating, installing, and using your own customized set of toolbar buttons for Thunderbird is quite simple.
Go to the Custom Toolbar Buttons Maker for Thunderbird page and make your selections. A description for each button and its function is provided by way of tooltips.

When you’re finished with your selections, click on the “Make It!” button and your XPI will be generated.

Right click on the “Download” link and select “Save Link As…”

Open the Add-ons Manager in Thunderbird and drag your newly created XPI to the add-ons manager to install and select Restart.
When Thunderbird opens up again, open the Customize Toolbar manager (right click on a toolbar > Customize) and drag your new toolbar buttons to the desired location.
Be sure to select “OK” instead of closing the Customize Toolbar manager. Although you can close the Customize Toolbar manager in Firefox and your customizations will be saved, the same doesn’t apply to Thunderbird (even in Thunderbird 3.0b1).

If you find that you’re running out of toolbar space or you would just like more options, then get the TB Custom Toolbar (also by Michael Buckley) that allows you to add new toolbars to Thunderbird the same way that you can in Firefox.

Compatibility
All of the toolbar buttons for Thunderbird are marked as compatible with Thunderbird 1.5 to 3.0b1pre and the TB Custom Toolbar is compatible with Thunderbird 1.5 to 2.0+ but as I write this, they all work just fine in Thunderbird 3.0b1.
You can either install Nightly Testers Tools and select “Force Install” when installing the add-ons or bump up the max version number in the install.rdf from 3.0b1pre to 3.0b1 for the toolbar buttons, and from 2.0.0.* to 3.0b1 for the TB Custom Toolbar.

Get Toolbar Buttons
Custom Toolbar Buttons Maker for Thunderbird

TB Custom Toolbar

Other Links
Custom Toolbar Buttons Maker for Firefox, Thunderbird, and Sunbird

Toolbar Buttons (full sets) for Firefox, Thunderbird, and Sunbird

About Michael Buckley

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Ken – My Thunderbird