Here's a copy of my post over at MozillaZine. Thought that SpamCop users would be another good place to make this known. =)
Many people (including myself) have asked for an extension to easily report spam. I stumbled across the BlueFrog extension listed below, and realized that it worked just as a SpamCop extension would. I essentially just did a Find & Replace, substituting SpamCop's info in place of BlueFrog's. As such, this "brand new" extension has had some testing in the form of that extension. Likewise, I'll be the first to point out that very little of the work can be credited to me.
It's pretty simple. It just creates a new mail message with all Junk messages in the current folder attached. For security reasons, Tb won't send mail without interaction, so you do still have to hit Send, but the mail with all the spams is created automatically. There are only two options, your unique SpamCop reporting address and how to handle the messages once they're reported. It defaults to moving them to the Trash (so they're out of the way but not completely gone) and it should prompt you for your unique ID if you don't enter it first.
Nothing major, but hopefully it'll help some of you out.
http://pctech.invisibill.net/mozext/spamcopper/
Here's a copy of the ReadMe:
SpamCopper v0.01
What is it?
SpamCopper is a Thunderbird extension which allows a SpamCop.net user to easily report Junk messages to SpamCop. It is almost an exact copy of the BlueFrog (http://www.bluesecurity.com/) extension written by Vladim Z (http://www.teramips.com/bluefrog/). This extension is not affiliated with or endorsed by SpamCop.net, IronPort Systems, or anyone at either of those organizations. It is an independently created tool which simply makes using SpamCop a bit easier.
How do I use it?
Once installed, the extension adds a toolbar button. If the button doesn't show up automatically, right-click on the toolbar and choose Customize - the button should be available to drag to your toolbar. SpamCopper will create a new message with all messages in the current folder marked as Junk attached. Thunderbird cannot forward messages automatically, so you will need to send the message manually, but the email will be addressed, written, and have all Junk messages attached automatically.
How do I configure it?
You can access the two configurable options of SpamCopper from its entry in the Extensions window. In the options, you must enter your unique SpamCop reporting ID. That is middle section of your personal "submit.________________[at]spam.spamcop.net" address, replaced here by underscores. If you do not configure the ID before using the toolbar button, you will be prompted to enter your ID. In the options, you can also choose how Junk mail is handled after being reported. You can leave it as is, delete it, or move it to the Trash. By default, reported Junk will be moved to the Trash. This moves it out of your way, but it is still available if you would like to make a copy of it.
This is great! How can I help?
Use it! Get a SpamCop account and report spam. By helping to stop spammers, you're helping me and everyone else on the internet. Be sure to properly configure your mailhosts in your SpamCop account so it knows which headers come from your valid mail servers, and can more easily see the spam source (and not get your ISP blacklisted).
If you have the skills, write some code. Make improvements to the extension, use it as a base for creating your own similar extension, or just let it inspire you to make something else that helps people out. Just as I was able to modify the BlueFrog extension to meet my own needs under the MPL, you can modify this to suit your own needs. Please report any issues with the extension to me so that I can fix them. You are more than welcome to submit patches to me for the code, as I would like to keep the best working version in one place so as not to create a bunch of different derivatives that do the same thing and cause lots of confusion. I would also be interested in hearing about
any other projects stemming from this.
If you feel that it's more appropriate, you can send me money. I have a personal (no credit cards) PayPal account for my email address. If that doesn't work for you, get in touch with me and we can work something out. This extension and its source code are available 100% for free. Any payment sent to me is done voluntarily, in appreciation for working on this project.
What do you have planned for future?
This is my first Thunderbird extension. It is essentially a Find and Replace on the BlueFrog extension, so it has had some testing in another environment. I plan to watch the BlueFrog extension for any improvements or fixes, and incorporate those into SpamCopper as appropriate. I would also like to make this work on the Mozilla Suite, Seamonkey, and any other Mozilla-based mail programs. I have no timeframe for doing so, but it is something I would like to do.
