While Thunderbird is an excellent email client with its simplicity and usability (compared to Outlook 2010 with it’s messy “ribbon” bar) – it is missing ‘out-of-the box’ some important features; such as shared calendars and simple note taking.
Thunderbird allows the installation of FREE 3rd-party “add-ons” or “extensions” which extend the capability of Thunderbird. So adding a calendar and a simple note-taking application should be easy.
Adding a calendar to Thunderbird
The first problem to overcome is getting an integrated Calendar happening in Thunderbird.
For this you will need to install the Lightning add-on / extension. Just go to Tools > Add-Ons and search for Lightning.
Once activated you will have a local Calendar setup in your Thunderbird email. Too easy!
Shared Calendars
If you need to share a calendar with multiple systems or devices, you will need to get a remote hosted calendar setup. The quickest and easiest option is to use a Google Calendar shared using it’s CalDAV support.
Google Calendars are actually pretty good as you can sync them with your various systems and mobile phones quite easily.
Once you have Lightning installed you simply create a new calendar and set it to use your Google Calendar.
If you need to share calendars with other members in your organisation you can manage access via Google and share the calendars with other users.
While not everyone uses Google accounts, it is the quickest and easiest way to get email + synced calendar setup for free.
NOTE: there are other options available and we can help you find a solution that fits your needs…
Adding Notes to Thunderbird
There are a few note taking extensions for Thunderbird, just search “notes” in the add-ons.
We chose to use use QuickFox Notes and store the notes in a synced folder to share them across different PC’s. This way we can use any sync services such as Dropbox or Box to share and sync notes across all our devices that can run either Thunderbird or Firefox.