MessageFaces

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I use it?
After installing the extension and restarting Thunderbird, open Tools -> Extensions and double click MessageFaces. On the first tab of the settings window, you can choose the Face image for each identity. On the other tabs, you can enable support for the additional face types listed above.
Why can't I use files larger than 725 bytes?
The Face header specification dictates this to ensure your email can be properly processed by all mail servers (and you do want servers to transport your mail to the addressee, don't you?) Besides, not putting any limit on the image size needlessly bloats the message size.
Why is Gravatar support optional? Should I enable it?
It is optional because it requires an active internet connection, and many people read their mail offline. If you do not, you should definitely enable it: Gravatars are displayed by an increasing number of weblogs next to the comment postings, so many people who don't even use Thunderbird or MessageFaces have their own Gravatar.
How can I make the Face images larger, e.g. Gravatar?
You can change the default maximum face size of 48 Pixels by changing a hidden preference. Install the about:config extension (2016 edit: this is not built into the browser), then open Tools -> about:config. Type faces into the filter field, then double click on the extensions.messagefaces.maxsize pref and enter a new size. Note that this setting will only enlarge Gravatar images and set the maximum size of local face images and Face URLs. Face header, picons, and X-Face images are unaffected, as their specification uses a fixed size of 48 x 48 pixels.
Why is X-Face header support optional?
The technique used by MessageFaces to decode the image data is not very fast. While you won't notice this on modern systems (e.g. PCs with 2 GHz and more), it can seriously affect older computers. If there is enough demand, I might decide to implement a new method of decoding (using C++ code instead of JavaScript), which will be much faster.
Ironically, the color Face Header is easier to process, because MessageFaces can let core Mozilla components do the main work.
How can I set my own X-Face/Face URL?
MessageFaces does not include a user interface for these tasks. However, you can manually set these headers.
What are Face URLs?
Recently, the idea of putting a link to a photo of the sender into the mail has been made popular by Apple Computer's .Mac mail accounts. It works by inserting a special header named "X-Image-URL" into the message, containing the http:// address of a picture that should be displayed. MessageFaces also supports the rare headers "X-Face-URL" and "Face-URL", which serve the same purpose. Note that you should read the security/privacy warning displayed in the MessageFaces settings window before activating this feature.
Are picons supported?
Yes. This feature was added in MessageFaces 1.2. Local picon searches were added in MessageFaces 1.2.1.
Are favatars supported?
No, and I will most certainly not add it. Favatars are meant to be added to weblog posts where the commenter entered the URI of his home page, which is then used to retrieve the favicon. As e-mails don't have a web page address in them, MessageFaces would have to use the sender's e-mail address instead. However, no one guarantees there is a web server behind that domain name, and even if there is, it's not very likely that the user has control over the top level directory (e.g. www.hotmail.com/). Additionally, a user's home page is often at an entirely different server than his e-mail address (perhaps because it's a hosting company, and his e-mail address is handled by his ISP). So unless people e-mail me and convince me that it's worth the effort, I'm not going to implement it - users have better options for online face images (e.g. gravatar.com).
What other mail/news clients support the Face header?
Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen, the creator of the Face header, maintains a list of software that has Face support at http://quimby.gnus.org/circus/face/ (at the bottom of the page). The list is not very long, so it might be a good idea to convince your e-mail contacts to use Thunderbird (and MessageFaces) if they want to see your Face image ;-)
Can I translate MessageFaces into another language?
Translations are always welcome - please contact me (the maintainer) via the address given on the bottom of this page. I only ask for two things: first, send me your locale files, so I can incorporate them into the next release. Second, expect that I contact you asking to update your translation for new releases.
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