Reply changes font to Times
Hi, When I want to reply to an email, the font changes to Times instead of the Arial I have chosen in my preferences. Why?
All Replies (6)
The last time I looked at message source, I found that Thunderbird doesn't actually insert the font name into the html mark-up.
I suspect that along with setting the font size to "medium", this is all about allowing the reader to choose how they see it, rather than being made to bend to the author's preferences.
If you want to impose a specific font on your messages, I suggest you use the Stationery add-on and work up some stationery templates that include specific font declarations. I have this in one of mine:
<head>
...
<style type="text/css">
body {
text-align: left;
font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif !important;
font-size: 9pt !important;
color: black !important;
background-color: white !important;
}
</style>
....
</head>
Of course you could put the above into one of Thunderbird's own templates, but you have to remember to use it. With Stationery, the most recently used stationery form is applied automatically.
Oh, and reading your message more carefully, I think you'll find that (maybe because of the above) Thunderbird simply adopts whatever style is in the original message that you're replying to.
One challenge with html is that there is only one active default style markup statement, and so if you successfully add your own replacement default style statement it will in all likelihood also apply to the quoted message text. The alternative approach, as Outlook does it, is to more or less re-apply your chosen style line by line.
I was hoping it was not so complicated :-) In short: When I receive an email, no matter what style/font, my reply always starts using Times. I would simply like it to use Arail 14 as I have chosen in my preferences. Is that not possible?
'Menu icon' > 'Options' > 'Options' > 'Display' > 'Formatting' tab Default font: select from drop down
This is then used as default font for both display and emails you create. The font is not hardcoded, so allowing the recipient to choose what font they have set on their computer. After all not everyone has the same OS or same fonts on their computer and some people may need to display in a manner they can read eg: if eyesight problems.
If you set: 'Menu icon' > 'Options' > 'Options' > 'Composition' > 'General' tab Font: Variable Width' Size: 'Medium' Then the settings set in the 'Display' tab are used when composing. If you change those settings then you need to be aware that they are not just used for your composing view, but also hardcoded into the html and they force the recipient to see those fonts which may not be available or suitable for that person to read.
If the original email had such css coding included then it may be overriding your selection. Hence why it is better not to change the 'Composition' settings as it can have impacts on how the recipient can repond using a prefered font.
I still understand very little of why it has to be som complicated (in my eyes), but still - many thanks for Your reply's :-)