1772624 - subject should have different style than header labels if header column is not used (both used bold in the same font size)

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(Thunderbird :: Message Reader UI, defect)

Description

[Sebastian Hengst [:aryx] (needinfo me if it's about an intermittent or backout)]

Last Thunderbird 102.0a1 and latest 103.0a1, Windows 8.1

If one turns off the column for header labels (message > "More..." button > "Customize..." > "Hide labels column"), the subject has no label and is shown in bold. The same style gets used for headers like Cc and Bcc. This could be used to convince people of additional headers (e.g. "Cc [e-mail]").

Comment 1

[Alessandro Castellani [:aleca]]

Attachment: Screenshot from 2022-06-03 15-04-17.png

Sorry, I don't understand the issue.
The style of the subject line is completely different from the recipients.
Even if someone tries to "trick" the user by adding a header in the subject, the content is not clickable and it's visually very different from an actual header.
Is this the source of your concern? Am I missing something?

Comment 2

[Sebastian Hengst [:aryx] (needinfo me if it's about an intermittent or backout)]

Attachment: headers bold text

Comment 3

[Sebastian Hengst [:aryx] (needinfo me if it's about an intermittent or backout)]

Attachment: headers bold text

Comment 4

[Sebastian Hengst [:aryx] (needinfo me if it's about an intermittent or backout)]

There is not necessarily another recipient if the sender uses only the Bcc field. This could causes the impression the fake recipient agrees to the message content if there is no reply by them. And yes, not all users will catch the fake address is not a contact widget.

Comment 5

[Alessandro Castellani [:aleca]]

This is a bit extreme, and I don't see any security implication.
Also, considering that the "no labels" option is actually optional and not a default, users that find it confusing can always avoid it.
Moreover, the subject font size can be increase via the same option panel.
This is not really an issue.
Thanks for the report anyway.

Comment 6

[Magnus Melin [:mkmelin]]

That it's a non-default configuration doesn't change the fact that it's problematic. It just alleviates the problem a bit.
It's actually a bit confusing that the "Hide labels column" only hides From and Subject, and nothing else.
I think having the single From without a label will work, but if we also have unlabelled subject then its already confusing, adding a a bunch of potentially situations allowing someone to trick the user.

I also don't understand why the bolding got mixed around: the To header itself isn't important, the content of it is.

I think some adjustments are needed here.

Comment 7

[Alessandro Castellani [:aleca]]

Attachment: Bug 1772624 - Reduce opacity of inline labels in customized message header. r=mkmelin

Comment 8

[Alessandro Castellani [:aleca]]

(In reply to Magnus Melin [:mkmelin] from comment #6)

It's actually a bit confusing that the "Hide labels column" only hides From and Subject, and nothing else.

From and Subject are the only "static" fields that are always consistent across message types, therefore makes sense to not always show those labels if the user doesn't want to see them.
All other header fields are pretty unique and need an inline label to be properly read.

I also don't understand why the bolding got mixed around: the To header itself isn't important, the content of it is.

The bolding of the header is important for visual hierarchy and readability pacing.
Recipients shouldn't be bold as they attract too much attention and make the whole area very busy and hard to read. (That's also why I proposed to have a larger font size for the subject, which makes the reading pace more natural and removes the need of bold text).
The To, Cc, Bcc, etc, labels are short and define the context of the section, so they need to be visually distinct.

I uploaded a patch that creates a difference in the font-weight between labels and subject line, as well as increasing the opacity of the inline labels to match those of the regular labels column.

Comment 9

[Pulsebot]

Pushed by [e-mail]:
https://hg.mozilla.org/comm-central/rev/ca8c3788c398
Reduce opacity of inline labels in customized message header. r=mkmelin

Comment 10

[Alessandro Castellani [:aleca]]

Comment on attachment 9280522 [details]
Bug 1772624 - Reduce opacity of inline labels in customized message header. r=mkmelin

[Approval Request Comment]
Regression caused by (bug #): bug 1556261
User impact if declined: slightly harder visual separation between recipients and subject line when labels column is hidden
Testing completed (on c-c, etc.): c-c
Risk to taking this patch (and alternatives if risky): low

Comment 11

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

Comment on attachment 9280522 [details]
Bug 1772624 - Reduce opacity of inline labels in customized message header. r=mkmelin

[Triage Comment]
Approved for beta

Comment 12

[Rob Lemley [:rjl]]

Thunderbird 102.0beta6:
https://hg.mozilla.org/releases/comm-beta/rev/2a71d66d452d