Apparently, the feature did exist, but was removed: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1361658

sfhowes, thanks for the response. Considering the INCREDIBLE time effort necessary to create meetings in Lightening ( and specifically from an email of people you have been discussing things with ) how can we get this functionality back in the new version of lightening & Thunderbird ?

Let me be very specific. If a Thunderbird user ( like you or me ) gets an email from someone with say, 5 people on that email chain and a meeting is necessary, this means:

• you have to double click the message,
• keep it open in a new window so to see who that email that you want to invite,
• then click ( write ---> event ( or ) File ---> new ---> event )
• type in a title, put all the details into the body of the meeting
• go to attendees tab, right click, type in the peoples names by hand from the open email
• check carefully to make sure you got everyone and you didn't add in anyone with a similar email address
• hit send.

Even if you are the fastest typist and make NO mistakes that's 15min per meeting that you want to create because you have to deal with your contact list, trying in the right persons name / email address to send the invite to, etc., and with an email inbox jammed with piles of emails for meetings that have to be made, this is far too long a process.

Solution: right click on message ---> convert to ---> meeting ---> for everyone ( or ) add attendees and with the add attendees option, no one from the original message is automatically added to the new event.

I hope there is a way to get this functionality back, because to be honest, creating meetings and using Lightening is part of life and the process above is FAR too cumbersome to the point where Thunderbird / Lightening users are probably wasting hours where they shouldn't.

Sound possible ?

Anything is possible, but it's a question of how many users would benefit, and how much effort it would take to implement it, considering the priority of other bugs and enhancements. Entering attendees manually should be easier if they are contacts in an address book, as address autocomplete also works in the Event window.

sfhowes, thanks for the response, luckily from bug https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=462109 and https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1361658 it looks like the functionality is already there but turned off which is great, yes?

hopefully we can just get it turned back on as there is clearly a need for this from many users:

• right click on message ---> convert to ---> meeting ---> for everyone ( thus as it is now )

( or )

• right click on message ---> convert to ---> meeting ---> add attendees ( previously coded functionality

re: "Entering attendees manually should be easier if they are contacts in an address book, as address autocomplete also works in the Event window." but the point is 1) if they are not ; 2) if there are many of them 3) this is both time consuming and not how it works in all other email/calendaring apps and programs out there.

Is there any process or procedure to help with getting something like this done / escalated / validated as important enough to have happen? software developers always have lists of todo's from earth to the moon so......

I suggest you post the question in the Lightning support forum:

https://groups.google.com/g/mozilla.support.calendar