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How to define correctly font-size for Thunderbird's HMTL signatures?

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I am having troubles defining the font-size of the HTML signature for the email account I use with Thunderbird. Basically it appears like Thunderbird is interpreting strangely the HTML font definition, or at least renders the font differently from what I can see on Chrome or on W3School tryit editor. The simple code is:


html head /head body

p style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:100%;color:#0B3861;" xxxxx /b br xxxx br xxxx br

br br

font color="#339BA2" size="2" Confidentiality notice.. /font

/p /body /html


I set the size of the main font to 100% to guarantee some consistency with what the recipients will see, but I have to report that Chrome and W3TryItEditor render it as it were 10-12pt, while Thunderbird renders it differently depending on whether I open my mail in the Sent or in the Inbox folder (mail stored in Sent folder display a much larger 'confidentiality notice', and in both cases the main signature is much larger than what I see on Chrome).

I am not an expert with HMTL, but I really can't see why Thunderbird displays the confidentiality notice in a different way? Is there any preferred method to define font size for signatures, particularly if this method can ensure that the font is displayed consistently across different devices?

Thank you for assisting another noob. L

I am having troubles defining the font-size of the HTML signature for the email account I use with Thunderbird. Basically it appears like Thunderbird is interpreting strangely the HTML font definition, or at least renders the font differently from what I can see on Chrome or on W3School tryit editor. The simple code is: html head /head body p style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:100%;color:#0B3861;" xxxxx /b br xxxx br xxxx br br br font color="#339BA2" size="2" Confidentiality notice.. /font /p /body /html I set the size of the main font to 100% to guarantee some consistency with what the recipients will see, but I have to report that Chrome and W3TryItEditor render it as it were 10-12pt, while Thunderbird renders it differently depending on whether I open my mail in the Sent or in the Inbox folder (mail stored in Sent folder display a much larger 'confidentiality notice', and in both cases the main signature is much larger than what I see on Chrome). I am not an expert with HMTL, but I really can't see why Thunderbird displays the confidentiality notice in a different way? Is there any preferred method to define font size for signatures, particularly if this method can ensure that the font is displayed consistently across different devices? Thank you for assisting another noob. L

All Replies (2)

Most people who ask about font sizes seem to be obsessed with imposing their choice of font size on the recipient. The default font size used in composition is set under Tools|Options|Composition→General and we'd recommend "medium" which ought to be equivalent to your "100%".

On the face of it, your size="2" should display it one size down from "normal" or medium.

I hadn't noticed any variation between the different views. I'll see if I can reproduce your findings.

Note that Mozilla has a "house style" signature format and I believe some other mail clients may respect this, so it's quite possible that your own settings are being over-ridden by such clients.

The Stationery add-on lets you create complex style sheets. I'm not a fan of setting explicit font sizes, since I think the reader should determine the size, not the sender, but I found that MS Outlook ignores "medium" and sets it at 14 px, making your messages look like they're written in orange crayon. I found a font size button to go on the toolbar which lets me set an explicit font size, so I can repair messages damaged by Outlook, or better, pre-empt such damage when I know there's an Outlook user at the other end. ;-)

https://codefisher.org/projects/extra_format_buttons/

It seems the only way to define the font is to set the signature's size in a fixed unit, like pixel. But the display of the signature in Thunderbird appears to be rendered as it were bigger respect to chrome..