NC_Connector-Window behind "new event" popup

[drehpunkt-tinokorth]

Hello Contributors,

when I'm using the function "insert Talk-Link" the apearing plugin window is shown behind the "new event" popup.

Is there a chance to put the window into the foreground?

Best regards

Tino

[DeBaschdi]

Thanks for your report .

From our side, this looks like a window focus policy / window manager behavior issue in the “new event dialog” path, not a Nextcloud backend issue.
The popup is created correctly, but on some systems the OS/WM may prevent add-on popups from being brought to the foreground (focus-stealing protection).

Could you share a bit more about your platform so we can narrow this down?

1. Operating system and version (Windows / macOS / Linux).
2. If Linux: desktop environment / window manager (GNOME, KDE, Xfce, Wayland/X11, etc.).
3. Does it only happen in the event dialog flow, or also when event editing is set to tab mode?
4. Do other Thunderbird add-on popups show similar background behavior on your system?

If you want, we can provide a test build that adds an explicit “focus retry” strategy (request focus right after popup creation and retry shortly after).
This can improve behavior on many setups, but we should be transparent: it cannot guarantee foreground focus on all systems, because WM/OS focus policy cannot be bypassed by the extension.

[DeBaschdi]

Please check this Pre Release
https://github.com/nc-connector/NC_Connector_for_Thunderbird/releases/tag/pre_2.2.9

[drehpunkt-tinokorth]

Hello @DeBaschdi,

with the version 2.2.9 this problem is not solved.

1. Operating system and version (Windows / macOS / Linux).
Linux Mint

Linux 6.8.0-100-generic #100-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Tue Jan 13 16:40:06 UTC 2026 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

If Linux: desktop environment / window manager (GNOME, KDE, Xfce, Wayland/X11, etc.).
X-Cinnamon

Name: Mutter (Muffin)
Class: N/A
PID: N/A
Window manager's "showing the desktop" mode: OFF

Does it only happen in the event dialog flow, or also when event editing is set to tab mode?
It appears also when editing an event and using the "insert Talk Link" function.

Do other Thunderbird add-on popups show similar background behavior on your system?
Yes. When editing p.e. an address book entry the edit window is in background behind the "editing meeting" window. So the "edit meeting" window seems to be "always on top".

So it could be a "problem" of the calendar function?

Best regards

Tino

[DeBaschdi]

Hi Tino,

thank you for the additional details — that helps a lot.

What you describe matches quite well with a known focus-stealing / window focus policy behavior on Linux Mint Cinnamon (Muffin). On some systems, newly opened add-on popups are not reliably allowed to come to the foreground, especially when the calendar “Edit meeting” window is treated by the window manager as a top-most or modal-style dialog. The fact that you also see similar behavior with other Thunderbird/add-on windows points in the same direction.

The focus-retry approach included in 2.2.9 can improve things on many systems, but unfortunately it cannot guarantee foreground focus on every desktop environment, because that part is ultimately controlled by the window manager / OS.

That said, I will take another closer look at it and check whether we can make the Talk wizard behave more robustly in the calendar context, for example by attaching it more closely to the event dialog.

Thanks again for testing and for your detailed feedback.