Currently, the account manager gets reloaded every time the accounts are reordered. This leads to the focus being lost and thus only one move is possibly with the keyboard shortcut.

Magnus pointed out that it also leads to the account list getting scrolled to the top, which can also be confusing in the drag'n'drop case.

The function that reloads the account manager is https://searchfox.org/comm-central/rev/36bc68ce1085a077c3e676153be5c30163a09d9e/mailnews/base/prefs/content/AccountManager.js#878-890

I'm not sure if the reload is done to avoid any state inconsistencies, since currently the function is only called when the order is changed from within the account manager's own tree.

Martin, can you check if we can improve this?

Moving accounts by keyboard does not work correctly after adding items, even though the code tries to do the right thing, the nodes end up in the wrong places.

Pushed by richard.marti@gmail.com:
https://hg.mozilla.org/comm-central/rev/2e2c9f4b952a
Allow moving an account multiple steps by keyboard. r=mkmelin

This has been on beta for a while, so time for the backport? Lots of other bugs already had ESR91 approved.

Leaving for patch author to request uplift.

Comment on attachment 9231451 [details]
Bug 1703501 - Allow moving an account multiple steps by keyboard. r=mkmelin

[Approval Request Comment]
Regression caused by (bug #):
User impact if declined: Can only move an account one step by keyboard before having to reacquire focus of it.
Testing completed (on c-c, etc.): automated test, nightly, beta
Risk to taking this patch (and alternatives if risky): low, worst case the wrong account is selected or an account manager tree might be out of sync of the account order.

Comment on attachment 9231451 [details]
Bug 1703501 - Allow moving an account multiple steps by keyboard. r=mkmelin

[Triage Comment]
Approved for esr91

Thunderbird 91.1.0:
https://hg.mozilla.org/releases/comm-esr91/rev/b17476b41fed

Verified testing the 91.1.0 release candidate on Windows 10.