Background

After having used Outlook Express as my email client for quite a while before switching over to Thunderbird, I got used to purging messages from folders by clicking an icon on the toolbar. As of Thunderbird 1.0, the only way to purge/expunge messages ("compact" in mozilla lingo) from a single folder is to right-click on that folder, and select "Compact This Folder" from a menu. The compactfolder extension simply adds a big toolbar button to Thunderbird for compressing the current folder.

Note that I whipped this extension together for my own 'needs', and it does what I need it to. If you want it to do something more or something different, feel free to patch the source and let me know. Otherwise, the chances are that I won't often be making updates to it.

1. Go here to download/install the xpi file. You should probably choose the latest version.
   
2. Restart Thunderbird after installing.
   
3. Right-click somewhere on the top-toolbar, and choose "customize" from the context menu.
   
4. Drag the "Compact" icon where you want it on your toolbar, and click "OK" on the customize toolbar dialog box.