[Solved] Date separator in Thunderbird email list

[flicpper]

I’m running Thunderbird under Windows and also Mint, by pointing both to the same profile folder.
Under Windows, emails are listed as 25-09-2016 22:27, just as I want it. When I run Mint they show as 25/09/16 22:27, which is not what I want.

I am assuming this is an issue with the Mint system date settings?
Under Menu>Preferences>Language I have set it to English UK, UTF-8 (even though I am not in the UK). This is for: Language, Region, System locale (apply system-wide). It doesn’t seem to give me any other options apart from the country.

Where can I find the option somewhere to customise the year from two to four digits, the date separator from “/” to “-”, and also set the currency symbol to one of my own choosing?

[Cosmo.]

Create a new test profile for TB inside of your home - or if you prefer - create a fresh new user account in Mint which automatically create a new profile, if you start TB. Does its appear different there?

[flicpper]

Thanks for the reply.
I have had a lot of difficulty getting Thunderbird to work in Mint, so I don’t want to change anything unless absolutely necessary.
Why do I have to create a new profile, will this affect the date separator? Is there something in Thunderbird telling it what date separator to use?

Originally all the language preferences were set to English US and the Thunderbird date displayed as 09/25/16. When I changed to English UK the date changed to 25/09/16.
Also how do I customise the currency symbol?

[Cosmo.]

I wonder, if there is a problem with the TB profile.

If you create a new user account you can be absolutely sure, that this will not affect the TB profile in your main account. An account without sudo membership cannot even incidentally write anywhere except its own home.

[flicpper]

OK, so you're saying it's TB that controls the date separator / or - and not somewhere else.
To create a new TB user account what do I do? I remember something about pressing F2? but no idea what to type.
If I create a new TB account, do I have to create a new email account to use in it, so it doesn't overwrite or delete the existing email account in the first TB profile?
How would I switch between the TB profiles?

[Zill]

flicpper: The Thunderbird date display format is based on your system settings and so, if these are not set to your actual location then it is not surprising that the date format and currency settings seem to be incorrect.

However, you may still be able to tweak the date format to your requirements by installing the Thunderbird add-on "Super Date Format".

As far as the currency symbol is concerned, it is not clear if you mean the wrong symbol is being displayed on received emails OR if you have difficulty typing the correct symbol. If the latter case, then I suggest this is due to wrong keyboard mapping, probably due to the wrong system location. However, you should still be able to type the correct symbol if you find out what alt-keyboard code is required for your particular currency symbol.

[flicpper]

Zill,
Actually this is what I was expecting someone to say, because I only understand windows and in my mind refer back to that system all the time.
Yes, the date is not set based on my location, as I live in Thailand and it always wants to put the date in Thai, not English, plus a different DD MM YYYY order anyway. Hence I changed the locale from TH to US then UK, purely to try and display the date as I'd like: 25-09-2016.

I have the date in the DD MM YY format now, by using the locale setting I think it was, but still trying to work on getting it to DD MM YYYY, and also the date separator and change it from / to - (from forward slash to hyphen).

Thanks for your link on configuring the date in Linux, but I just don't understand any of the "command line"(?) instructions or how to use them, as a newbie from windows. I was hoping there would be something like in windows where you can customise the date, date separator, currency symbol, etc in a window?

[Zill]

flicpper: This is why I suggested trying the "Super Date Format" add-on. Although I have never used this myself, it looks like it will do what you require in that it provides a simple GUI where you can define exactly which format you want.

To see how it works, open the "Super Date Format" link I posted and then click on the first screenshot (on the left). All you need to do is make up the string you want using the "Date format" tab and it looks to me like you can use your own separators between the various symbols you have selected.

If you want to install this add-on, just open Thunderbird > Tools > Add-ons and then enter "date format" in the search box. When "Super Date Format" appears in the list, just hit install to start the process. You will then probably need to restart Thunderbird to complete the process. Then configure the "Date format" tab to your requirements.

If this add-on does not do what you want (or causes any other problems!) you can always either disable it or remove it completely at any time.

[flicpper]

I've installed the addon and it works fine in Mint, including the customised date separator.
When I reboot to Windows, the addon is diasbled, although I did find I can manually enable it - even though there's no need, as windows displays the date as I want, even the hyphen as a date separator.
Thanks very much for that suggestion.

[Zill]

flicpper: I'm pleased you got this working.

Would you now please mark the thread as solved to help any other users with a similar query. You need to edit your first post in this thread and add the prefix [Solved] to the title. Only the OP (Original Poster) can do this.