Open Bug 1323371 Opened 7 years ago Updated 1 year ago

New messages (not replies or forwards) never insert white space preceding signature

Categories

(Thunderbird :: Message Compose Window, defect)

45 Branch
defect

Tracking

(Not tracked)

UNCONFIRMED

People

(Reporter: jonathan.chiarella, Unassigned)

References

Details

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Ubuntu; Linux x86_64; rv:50.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/50.0
Build ID: 20161130094630

Steps to reproduce:

1. Set a signature as such:
Jonathan
+1-504-555-0924
j@smith-trucks.org

2. Write a new e-mail

(Please note that I will use ##### as a way to visualize the borders of a text window.)


Actual results:

E-mail begins with only one <CR><LF> line break before the signature. There is no line of white space to separate the message body from the signature.

######
This is a new message.
-- 
Jonathan
+1-504-555-0924
j@smith-trucks.org

#####


Expected results:

This is what a new message *should* look like:

#####
This is a new message.

-- 
Jonathan
j@smith-trucks.org
+1-502-555-0924

#####

The result for forwards is this:

#####
Check this out, please.

-------- Forward Message --------
How much?

-- 
Jonathan
j@smith-trucks.org
+1-502-555-0924

#####

The result for replies with the quoted text above and the reply below is this:

#####
> How much?
>
The answer.

-- 
Jonathan
j@smith-trucks.org
+1-504-555-0924

#####

The result for replies with the reply above the quoted text below and the signature below the reply (between the reply and the quoted text) is this:

#####
It costs this much.

Jonathan
j@smith-trucks.org
+1-502-555-0924


On Saturday, November 21, 1923, cust@home.net wrote:
> How much?
>

#####

Please note that in nearly all instances except a new message, different parts of the message each have a line of white space between them (i.e., two sequences of <CR><LF>).




#####
(There are problems with forwarded messages adding excessive white space and replies above not giving a line of white space, as well as issues with replies quoting the final <CR><LF> in quoted text of a plain-text e-mail. These however will get separate bugs.)
#####
Expected results:

If signatures are set, then new messages should begin with two sequences of <CR><LF> so that there will be a line of white space between the message body and the signature:

#####


-- 
Jonathan
j@smith-trucks.org
+1-502-555-0924

#####

#####
Start typing here and then hit send, without having to get in the habit of adding a line break after writing a message, but only after new messages (since clicking reply or forward makes Thunderbird put in the needed white space for signatures automatically).

-- 
Jonathan
j@smith-trucks.org
+1-502-555-0924

#####
Actually, the reply and forward case isn't quite right. It should not add the extra line.

If you want an extra-line, add on to the signature.
===
                    (empty line)
--
Jonathan
j@smith-trucks.org
+1-502-555-0924
===

In this case, you need to switch off the signature separator by setting this preference:
mail.identity.default.suppress_signature_separator
Tools > Options, Advanced, General, "Config Editor".

This was introduced with paragraph editing in TB 45.x.

Try switching paragraph editing off in
Tools > Options, Composition, General. Untick last item.
"When using paragraph format, the enter key creates a new paragraph"

Sorry about the confusing wording, we've changed that to
"Use Paragraph format instead of Body Text by default"
Component: Untriaged → Message Compose Window
See Also: → 1336531
Jonathan, if you're still interested, please take a look at bug 1336531 comment #6. I've looked into the matter further and it turned out that the system is not behaving consistently. I don't know whether we'll be adding another blank line in front of the signature in a new message or we'll be removing the blank lines in replies and forwards like I suggested in comment #2.

I checked the bug you are mentioning and understand your reasoning about empty lines and consistency in different modes.
But I agree with the Reporter that one empty line in front of the signature is not enough.
The method proposed in Comment2 doesn't work either. If I add more empty lines in front of the signature, they are removed automatically when I leave this tab in Account Settings, and the signature shifts back to the top. There's no way to add any empty lines in front of the signature for the plain-text composing I'm using.
P.S. I use Thunderbird 91.5.0 in Kubuntu 20.04 LTS.

Severity: normal → S3

I've upgraded to Thunderbird 102, but the signatures issue persists. When I set custom signature in account settings ("Use HTML" parameter is off), all empty lines above the signature are stripped, as soon as I leave this tab.

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