322316 - If focus is on newsgroups, new email creation does not allow creation of Rich-Text (HTML) messages, only plain-text messages

Status: UNCONFIRMED

(Thunderbird :: Mail Window Front End, enhancement)

Description

[RenegadeX]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8) Gecko/20051111 Firefox/1.5
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8) Gecko/20051111 Firefox/1.5

(Note: I believe this is both a Bug and a RFE, but I filed it as a RFE as it is not critical)

While browsing newsgroups in Thunderbird (am using 1.5RC2, but any version will do), if you want to compose a new email to someone (via File->New Message, or the 'Write' button, or via any 'reply' button/menu option), the Mail Compose window that opens will *always* be for 'plain text', regardless of message-sending options; the user is not presented the opportunity to switch the Message Format to HTML.

The only way around this is to exit the newsgroup and click on a non-newsgroup 'Local Folder' folder.

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Set the focus to a newgroup account/ng folder/ng message list/ng message
2. Attempt to compose a new email (possibilities include: 'Write' button on toolbar, 'File->New->Message', (right-click on message): 'Reply to Sender Only', 'Reply to All', 'Forward'
3. Attempt to find a way to switch the Message Compose window to the Rich-Text (HTML) format.

(note: ironically, when composing mail from the Local Folders, the Message Compose window has an option under 'Options->Format', but it is missing here)
Actual Results:  
There is no way to change to Rich-Text message Compose mode (fonts, bold, italics, formatting, inline pictures, etc)

Expected Results:  
If I am creating a new email, I expect it to ignore the fact that I was last in a newsgroup and present me with the same 'Compose' window that I would get if I had started the message while focused on a 'Local' folder.

At the very least, I expect to see an item in the Compose window Options menu for 'Format->', that allows me to between Plain Text mode and Rich-Text mode.

note: I looked in the main TB Options area and see nothing that will allow me to change this default behaviour.

Additioally, Outlook Express handles this issue correctly, but there is a further enhancement that should be made in Thunderbird:
- In OE, when in a newsgroup, the 'New' message toolbar button only offers 'New Post' - the File menu offers 'New->Mail Message' and 'New->News Message'. I would like to see the 'Write' toolbar button in Thunderbird have a dropdown that allows a user to select 'News Message'(default when in newsgroups) 'Email Message'. ('news message' would be plain-text and auto-fills the To: field with the current newsgroup (if applicable), while 'Email Message' leaves the 'To:' field blank and follows the Rich-Text/HTML Sending rules already specified in the Options.

Comment 1

[RenegadeX]

Interesting - I found Bug 16908 (https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=16908) from October of 1999 where someone had suggested a feature enhancement so that the 'new msg' button would have a drop-down allowing for a new plain-text or new HTML message. Even though the Bug was left as 'Status: New', it was recommended 'wontfix' for a number of reasons including the fact that Shift-Clicking to create a new message open the New Message Compose window in HTML-mode.

Good to know (I didn't know the shortcut before), but I still think this issue should be revisited before the next TB release.