Created an attachment (id=7726) [details]
screenshot of Nightly Tester Tools UI

Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:27.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/27.0
SeaMonkey/2.24a1 ID:20130919003001 c-c:1ea1fc3586db m-c:803189f35921

QF 3.14 pre4

When I hover the mouse over a tab, here are a few examples of what I get:

Inbox @ Movemail account [localhost]
Inbox @ Local Folders [Local Folders]
Trash @ Local Folders [Local Folders]
Planet Mozilla @ News & Blogs [Feeds]
mozilla.community.belgium @ Mozilla News [news.mozilla.org]

The part between [] seems to me to be redundant with the part between it
(excluded) and the @ sign (included). Would it be very hard to have a
preference to customize that tooltip, allowing e.g. to drop one or the other of
those redundant parts, and maybe to add the number of messages (unread / all)?
I imagine the UI could be similar to what the Nightly Tester Tools extension
(for Firefox, Thunderbird and SeaMonkey) uses to customize the window title and
the "Build ID" which I pasted (in my non-default customization) at top of this
bug description. (Of course the choices would be different.)

See the attached snapshot for the UI used in NTT 3.7pre20131013 (a "beta"
versions with more options than the current "stable" version). All rows are
clickable to append the concerned item at the end of the titlebar. The "Build
ID" string can still only be customized via about:config (or the Thunderbird
"Config Editor"), see the "Settings and "Variables" sections of
https://wiki.mozilla.org/Auto-tools/Automation_Development/Projects/Addons/NightlyTesterTools

OK, I can make it configurable to a degree. not sure if I care to build a whole
big interface + string parser like in the customize titlebar screenshot you
showed - seems a bit overkill. Also note that I would rather not add the counts
to the tooltips as I do not refresh tooltips as often as the tab labels for
performance reasons. I build them once when the toolbar is refreshed (usually
when you select a different category or add a new tab).

Since counts are already there as an option on the tabs themselves it seems
like an unnecessary duplication. The main reason for the tooltips is to avoid
confusion when you add multiple folders of the same name, so the current format
is:

Folder Name @ Base Folder [server name]  (virtual)

- the (virtual) part is shown when  the folder's MSG_FOLDER_FLAG_VIRTUAL is
set, e.g. you have a search folder or unified folder.

usually base folder and server name are different but you have a point when you
say this feels like unnecessary duplication. While we are there we could add an
optional parent folder so it could be:

parent/folder @ Base Folder [server] (virtual)
1.     2.       3.           4.       5.

with the parts 1. 3. 4. 5. as optional. As regards UI, I think I will be lazy
and employ the same technique as when you right-click the debug checkbox (opens
a filtered about:config window). This way I can add new options later without
the need for getting my translators involved.

Created an attachment (id=7727) [details]
3.14 prerelease 12

Here is a quick test version - if you want additional information from the
folder, here are some attributes that could be got:

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/XPCOM_Interface_Reference/nsIMsgFolder#Attributes

The button [Configure Tooltips...]  (in Tab Contents) should open about:config
to only display these 4 new options:

extensions.quickfolders.tooltips.baseFolder
extensions.quickfolders.tooltips.parentFolder
extensions.quickfolders.tooltips.serverName
extensions.quickfolders.tooltips.virtualFlag

there is a problem with the new button for some reason this filter doesn't work
all the time, if you see a lot more options simply close the config window and
try clicking the button again. Also, for the changes to be applied you
currently have to click [Ok] on the QF preferences dialog or select "Refresh
Visible Tabs" from the context menu. (to be fixed)

Only contains German and English locale (opening QuickFolders Options in other
languages will fail).

(In reply to comment #1)
> OK, I can make it configurable to a degree. not sure if I care to build a whole
> big interface + string parser like in the customize titlebar screenshot you
> showed - seems a bit overkill.

I just posted one possible UI as a kind of "maximum" example. Between that and
WONTFIX (which would be "the minimum"), you (as the module's owner) have a wide
latitude of choice.

> Also note that I would rather not add the counts
> to the tooltips as I do not refresh tooltips as often as the tab labels for
> performance reasons. I build them once when the toolbar is refreshed (usually
> when you select a different category or add a new tab).
> 
> Since counts are already there as an option on the tabs themselves it seems
> like an unnecessary duplication. The main reason for the tooltips is to avoid
> confusion when you add multiple folders of the same name, so the current format
> is:
> 
> Folder Name @ Base Folder [server name]  (virtual)
> 
> - the (virtual) part is shown when  the folder's MSG_FOLDER_FLAG_VIRTUAL is
> set, e.g. you have a search folder or unified folder.
> 
> usually base folder and server name are different but you have a point when you
> say this feels like unnecessary duplication. While we are there we could add an
> optional parent folder so it could be:
> 
> parent/folder @ Base Folder [server] (virtual)
> 1.     2.       3.           4.       5.
> 
> with the parts 1. 3. 4. 5. as optional. As regards UI, I think I will be lazy
> and employ the same technique as when you right-click the debug checkbox (opens
> a filtered about:config window). This way I can add new options later without
> the need for getting my translators involved.
> 
OK. I just downloaded the attachment you created with comment #2, it will be
installed at next restart. Stay tuned to this channel for future developments
on this subject.

(In reply to comment #2)
> Created an attachment (id=7727) [details] [details]
> 3.14 prerelease 12
> 
> Here is a quick test version - if you want additional information from the
> folder, here are some attributes that could be got:
> 
> https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/XPCOM_Interface_Reference/nsIMsgFolder#Attributes
> 
> The button [Configure Tooltips...]  (in Tab Contents) should open about:config
> to only display these 4 new options:

I found the button after attentively rereading this comment. (Approximating
from memory wasn't enough.) On first try it showed all possible prefs, so as
you said I closed the window and reclicked the button. This worked as
advertised.

> 
> extensions.quickfolders.tooltips.baseFolder
> extensions.quickfolders.tooltips.parentFolder
> extensions.quickfolders.tooltips.serverName
> extensions.quickfolders.tooltips.virtualFlag
> 
> there is a problem with the new button for some reason this filter doesn't work
> all the time, if you see a lot more options simply close the config window and
> try clicking the button again. Also, for the changes to be applied you
> currently have to click [Ok] on the QF preferences dialog or select "Refresh
> Visible Tabs" from the context menu. (to be fixed)
> 
> Only contains German and English locale (opening QuickFolders Options in other
> languages will fail).
> 

These four preferences are all boolean, their use feels really friendly:
toggling each of them does what one would naturally think that it should do.
For a minimum solution, I think you have outdone yourself.

I see that Mozdev only proposes "review ? - +" as flag on an attachment, and I
don't feel qualified as a reviewer. If we were at bugzilla.mozilla.org I would
give you feedback+ even if not asked for it.

Created an attachment (id=7729) [details]
3.12.2 prerelease 16

Fixed a couple of things: Now the QuickFolders toolbar is (and tooltips are) 
refreshed when the about:config window is closed (however not instantly when
you change the setting). Also the readonly portion of the filter was fixed
(before you could delete the filter contents and inadvertently change other
unrelated settings). Finally, the window now stays on top of the QF options
window (even when you click that).

I am not sure if the filter reliability problem is fixed, but so far it worked
for me every time.

changed title for clarity.

(From update of attachment 7729 [details])
typo in attachment title

Thanks for your attention to detail in an already excellent enhancement to this
outstanding product.

Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:27.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/27.0
SeaMonkey/2.24a1 ID:20130919003001 c-c:1ea1fc3586db m-c:803189f35921

QF 3.14pre17 from bug 25608 attachment 7731 [details]

Clicking the button still brought up (at first) an about:config window with all
prefs shown; OK on retry.

Maybe the fact that I have an about:config tab in the Browser, with a different
filter set ("ghtth" to get the preferences concerning lightweight themes) is
relevant.

Apart from this small quirk, the fix is all right for me. I propose to declare
this bug FIXED, document the possible need to close and retry as a known
problem, and (if you think it's worth it) open it as a low-priority followup
bug.

Created an attachment (id=7735) [details]
3.14 prerelease 20

I replaced the timer in charge of filtering (which is obviously to hit and
miss) with a load event listener for the about:config window in order to make
sure the filter works. Having the filter unreliable defeats the whole purpose
of loading a subset of configuration settings. I also added another tooltip
part:

extensions.quickfolders.tooltips.msgFolderFlags

This appends a hexadecimal representation of all folder flags, as documented
in:

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/nsMsgFolderFlags.idl

hope this resolves the config filtering problem even on SeaMonkey. THis version
also includes some SeaMonkey specific fixes regarding "single message" tabs;
since SM always uses the 3pane mode (even when opening a message in a tab) it
clicking a QuickFolder Tab used to be unreliable then. Now it is able to open a
new tab (or reuse existing one if the folder is already open) while viewing a
single mail.

(In reply to comment #9)
> Created an attachment (id=7735) [details] [details]
> 3.14 prerelease 20
> 
PS: the following locales are included in this version:
de
nl
ca
en-US
es-MX
it
pl
pt-BR
sr
sv-SE

these locales are yet incomplete (lead to error when opening options):
fr
hu-HU
ja-JP
ru
vi
zh
zh-CN

Will mark this as fixed as soon as the about:config filter is reported back as
reliable.

(In reply to comment #9)
> Created an attachment (id=7735) [details] [details]
> 3.14 prerelease 20
> 
> I replaced the timer in charge of filtering (which is obviously to hit and
> miss) with a load event listener for the about:config window in order to make
> sure the filter works. Having the filter unreliable defeats the whole purpose
> of loading a subset of configuration settings.

yes, an onload listener sounds more reliable than a timer.

> I also added another tooltip
> part:
> 
> extensions.quickfolders.tooltips.msgFolderFlags
> 
> This appends a hexadecimal representation of all folder flags, as documented
> in:
> 
> https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/nsMsgFolderFlags.idl
> 
> hope this resolves the config filtering problem even on SeaMonkey.

ah, interesting

> This version
> also includes some SeaMonkey specific fixes regarding "single message" tabs;
> since SM always uses the 3pane mode (even when opening a message in a tab) it
> clicking a QuickFolder Tab used to be unreliable then. Now it is able to open a
> new tab (or reuse existing one if the folder is already open) while viewing a
> single mail.
> 

I'll restart shortly in order to complete the installation of this new version,
and then I'm going to test it under high load conditions (such as at startup,
when my 100+ browser tabs are being loaded three at a time and my mail servers
are all being checked for new mail) which is when a timer would be most likely
to fail. And of course I'll report back here.

> I'll restart shortly in order to complete the installation of this new version,
> and then I'm going to test it under high load conditions (such as at startup,
> when my 100+ browser tabs are being loaded three at a time and my mail servers
> are all being checked for new mail) which is when a timer would be most likely
> to fail. And of course I'll report back here.
> 

Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:27.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/27.0
SeaMonkey/2.24a1 ID:20130919003001 c-c:1ea1fc3586db m-c:803189f35921

QF 3.14pre20

No need to close and reopen this time: the QF prefs were "filtered" on first
attempt.

P.S. I toggled the new hex field and saw it at work.

(In reply to comment #10)
[...]
> Will mark this as fixed as soon as the about:config filter is reported back as
> reliable.
> 

AFAICT it's been reliable since 23 November (comment #12). I would have marked
it as FIXED some time ago except you said you would.