98397 - mailnews.send_plaintext_flowed should be an account preference

Status: NEW

(MailNews Core :: Composition, enhancement)

Description

[Peter Anvin]

Currently, the only way to control format=flowed is to edit pref.js (per bug
29752).  However, this really ought to be a preference in the Mail/News Account
Settings dialog.  format=flowed can really mess with text, so for some users
this is a very important option.

Comment 1

[Asa Dotzler [:asa]]

setting bug status to New

Comment 2

[Jean-Francois Ducarroz]

-->varada

Comment 3

[(not reading, please use [e-mail] instead)]

taking all of varada's bugs.

Comment 4

[Mike Cowperthwaite]

xref bug 86607.

Comment 5

[David E. Ross]

Turning off format=flowed is necessary for proper use of digital signatures via PGP or GPG.  See bug #363302.  

For Thunderbird, this should be part of the user interface, either under [Tools > Options > Composition] or (better) specific to each account under [Tools > Account Settings > [account name] > Composition & Addressing].  Users should not have to go to [Tools > Options > Advanced > Config Editor] and then try to remember which preference variables to toggle (and remember that two -- not one -- variable is involved).  

Comment 6

[(not reading, please use [e-mail] instead)]

sorry for the spam.  making bugzilla reflect reality as I'm not working on these bugs.  filter on FOOBARCHEESE to remove these in bulk.

Comment 7

[Serge Gautherie (:sgautherie)]

Filter on "Nobody_NScomTLD_20080620"

Comment 8

[Mark Banner (:standard8)]

Bryan (our User Experience lead) needs to look at this, assigning to him for the time being.

Comment 9

[Bryan Clark (DevTools PM) [:clarkbw]]

Seems like the format=flowed and PGP problems are a separate issue that needs to be handled for people using PGP/GPG signatures.  Adding a pref for that situation doesn't sound like the right solution.

In general I can't see why one would need a pref in the Account settings UI for this.  The option exists in the about:config.  Will take a look at this again sometime later.

Comment 10

[David E. Ross]

The use of about:config [in Thunderbird: Tools > Options > Advanced > Config Editor] by users is being discouraged by Mozilla personnel.  See the comments in bug #330858 for a discussion of this.

Comment 11

[Andrew Hagen]

User-set prefs not in the prefs dialog box can be set in user.js. 

http://www.mozilla.org/support/thunderbird/edit

Comment 12

[David E. Ross]

The discouragement by Mozilla developers against users setting prefs via [Tools > Options > Advanced > Config Editor] applies equally to use of user.js.  In any case, neither method of setting a pref is user-oriented.

Comment 13

[Igor Velkov]

... and should be changeable from compose window - same as "wrap text".