Using your Citadel calendar and contacts in Thunderbird

We are going to use a couple of Extensions to Thunderbird so that we can access and manipulate our Citadel Calendar and Contacts. The Plugins we need are:

• Lightning. This Extension adds full Calendar and Todo support to Thunderbird. There are versions for Windows, Linux, and Mac. This howto deals with the Windows version, but installing for other systems is nearly identical.
• Sync Kolab. This syncs Contacts and Calendar entries that are stored in IMAP mail folders with Thunderbird Address Books and Calendar files stored on your local computer. This Extension is for all systems.

First, download the Lightning and Sync Kolab extensions from the sites linked above. As of this writing, the direct links to the xpi's are: Sync Kolab.xpi and Lightning for Windows.xpi

Only download these items (use right click if neccessary) or Firefox will try to install them.

Next, in Thunderbird, click on the 'Tools' menu item, then on the 'Add-ons' sub-item:

In the Add-ons window that comes up, click on the button. Find the Lightning xpi file where you saved it. Install it. Restart Thunderbird. Repeat with the Sync Kolab xpi.

Next check the timezone setting for you calendars. To do this click on the 'Tools' menu then on the 'Options...' subitem:

Then go to the 'Lightning' icon, and the 'Timezone' tab to select your timezone:

Click

Again, click the 'Tools' menu item, but this time choose 'SyncKolab Options' sub-item.

You will get the Sync Kolab configuration screen. Here is an example of what it looks like:

The left hand payne lists the current sync configurations. You will need a configuration for each server you are syncing with.

In the right hand pane you select the local item (Address book, Calendar, Task), the remote "Folder" on the server and the Format.

For each configuration, select a local Address Book to sync with (I have the default 'Personal Address Book' selected here), the account you want to sync with and the folder that contains the contacts I want to sync with (Inbox->Contacts). For Citadel, the Contact Format is 'VCard/Kolab1'. If you want this to be a read only Address Book, you can leave 'Save to Imap Folder' unchecked. In this case, I want Contacts that I add to my Address Book to be saved on the server, so I checked it.

The 'Calendar' tab is similar:

The check boxes at the bottom are pretty self explanatory. If you only want to sync Contacts, leave the Calendar box unchecked and vise-versa. If you want to review the changes that were made during a sync, which is a good idea when first using it, leave the 'Close Sync Window when Done' box unchecked. Click the button when done.

Click on the 'View' menu then the 'Toolbar' subitem then the 'Customize...' subitem:

Find the Sync Kolab Button and drag it to where you want it in the toolbar:

Click on

Click on the button in the toolbar to sync.