Well, how about providing a link to the article you have been following?

You don't need to know HTML coding if you use Thunderbird itself to create the signature.

But Thunderbird does not offer absolute text sizes, for the very good reason that you don't know anything about the conditions under which your message will be read. Your preferred typeface may not be available, and the size, surely, must be scaled to suit the display. An absolute insistence on, say, 10pt or about 3.5 mm, wouldn't work if the message were projected onto a 2m wide screen. You really want it to be scaled up.

Sorry, which article is that? I went through the Thunderbird help page and that referred me here. The screen sizes of the people I generally contact are all within what I suspect most would agree is the "average" (17" - 23"?). I doubt that any of them would even have thought of using a 78" TV screen that is bigger than seems reasonable for even a large living room. I have been sending e-mails ever since the facility started 20 years or so ago and have always used 10 or 12 pt Trebuchet MS in a shade of blue and would simply like to continue to do the same thing.

My problem is that Thunderbird doesn't seem to offer the facility to create the signature I want. The Thunderbird options for text size seem odd and it either appears tiny or huge and, most times at odds with the main body text. I like to make my own decisions about how my correspondence is presented. Nobody had ever complained about the end result until I started using Thunderbird. In all other respects, I think it's an excellent piece of software but it doesn't perform well in this respect.

Anyway, thanks for your response.

Mike

We have large projector screens here at work. Most schoolrooms in the UK now seem to have them in lieu of blackboards.

My point is, you don't KNOW what will be used to view your missive. Setting it at any absolute size, such as one in points is futile. That's why the W3C guidelines suggest sizes such as "medium", "large" - the user sets what is useful and comfortable for them, and then text can be emphasised or de-emphasized by making it relatively larger or smaller.

As an engineer, I am concerned with edge cases. I want it to always work, not just most of the time for most people. Yes, points work for most people most of the time, but strictly speaking they make sense only when you have control over the delivery medium - say, the size of the sheet of paper it will be printed on.

Electronic communications don't include considerations for paper; very often none is involved. And you don't KNOW if the user will use a regular 14" screen, a tiny phone or a large display. In these cases we expect (and require!) it to be scaled down or up to suit the environment. So setting it in an explicit precise font size is just not going to cover the edge cases.

So, use "medium" size, base your text on variations bigger or smaller than this, and let the user choose what is best for him.

Try the section named "signatures stored in files" here.

Much the same for fonts; you don't KNOW what typefaces will be available to your correspondents. As a Linux user, I don't have Verdana or Trebuchet, so I'll see it in some variation of a base sans-serif font. You can't oblige me to see it in Trebuchet.

Or blue. Maybe my eyesight struggles with blue and I coerce all coloured text onto black.

All of your formatting choices can be ignored or overturned by the recipient; don't invest too much time and effort into it.

Forgive me but your response seems to suggest that I don't understand what I really want. I don't e-mail schools or businesses who use enormous screens. I e-mail friends and associates and I know what equipment they own and utilise. Yes, they mostly own and use mobile 'phones and tablets but the ONLY time anyone has told me the font and point size I am using for my e-mails seems "odd" has happened since I started using Thunderbird - this is why I have been trying to make it conform to my requirements rather than those of schools and Internet Software suppliers.

To the best of my knowledge, recipients of my e-mails don't choose how they read my e-mails and I'm positive they don't waste time overturning my formatting choices - they read them as I send them (I have sent a few to myself in trying to resolve this problem and they arrive in my Inbox just as I wrote them). Maybe this shows a basic lack of understanding of how it's all supposed to work but I prefer stuff that works the way I want it to.

I visited the section on "signatures stored in files". I had already tried this facility but Thunderbird insisted on changing what I stored in the file to something it decided was better.

All this is not really helping me achieve what I want, so I'll just say "thank you" for helping and accept that, if I want to carry on using Thunderbird, it will have to be on the software's terms, not mine.

Mike

If you want to include a defined font, then you be advised to use a font that can be recognised by different OS systems, although you still cannot absolutely guarrantee the recipient will have it installed.

Arial, Times New Roman, Courier are examples of commonly used fonts. Trebuchet MS is reasonably well received, but as Zenos has explained, he is an example of someone without it.

I would be wary of using mid or light blues. Light blues are difficult to read and mid blues are usually the colour used to denote links, so could cause some confusion or concern.

Signatures can be created in Thunderbird Write window and saved as html files which are then added to all outgoing emails via Account Settings.

How to create signature with/without image.

• click on 'Write' to open new write message - make sure you remove any current signature, so the Write content area is completely clear.
• Select all formatting from the 'Formatting Bar' - even if already auto selected by default settings - reselect it if you want the default settings.
• Type signature eg: Regards and name

To insert an image:

• 'Insert' > 'Image'
• Select: 'Attach this image to the message'
• click on 'Choose file' button
• locate an image you created that has been saved in a folder on your computer
• Click on 'Open' - Image should be shown in the small 'Image preview' box.
• Select: 'Don't use alternate text' or type in 'alternate text'

Options to Adjust the dimensions of image to suit

• Click on 'Dimensions' tab
• Select: 'Custom size' and 'Constrain'
• Change width to eg: 200 pixels - Height is auto adjusted

Option to Set image to be a clickable link:

• Click on 'Link' tab
• Enter url: eg: http://www.anje.co.uk

• Click on 'OK' to insert the image.

If you do not want to use a clickable image to get to website, but just a text link:

• Insert > Link
• Enter the Link text. This could be your actual http website address or something like 'My website'.

Link location:

• enter the actual http://www. etc etc website
• click on OK.

Save file to a suitably named folder on computer, but not in Thunderbird folders. You will need to select "HTML Files" in the "Save as type" list box. It must be saved as HTML file. Close the Write window.

Attach the HTML signture file: 'Tools' > 'Account Settings' of mail account or right click on mail account in Folder Pane and select: 'Settings'

• Select : 'Attach the signature from a file instead'
• Click on 'Choose' button
• locate the html signature file and click on 'Open'
• Click on 'OK'

This would be the link to info on signatures: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/signatures

the key part might be that you are not actually selecting the formatting.

Remember some people use Plain Text and this will strip all formatting anyway. I'm with Zenos on the font size - So, use "medium" size, base your text on variations bigger or smaller than this, and let the user choose what is best for him. Strongly advise you do not set an actual font size. People with reading/sight issues may have their Thunderbird set up to use a larger font, so enforcing a size may make it unreadible.

Also remember that some people have colour issues, so using red on green would not be a good idea.

Thanks for this more detailed response on the subject. Unfortunately, there is no Formatting Bar that I can see in my copy of Thunderbird and I can find no way of getting one to show. I've checked out the suggestion of holding down the "Shift" key whilst clicking on the "Write" button but no formatting bar appears. All I get is a new message form opening.

On the subject of a blue coloured typeface, I have used this for a number of years and would like to continue. I use a dark blue and links seem to appear in green. Sadly, when I managed to get some sort of signature to appear on my e-mails it was in a very pale, washed out blue in huge contrast to the main body of the text and would not change whatever I did.

If you're able to offer any further help, I'm keen to have it.

Mike

<html>

 <head>
   <style type="text/css" align="left">

   </style>
   <style><!-- 
     .moz-txt-sig, .moz-signature { opacity: inherit !important; } 
     .moz-txt-sig, .moz-signature { color: black !important; }
   --></style>
 </head>
 <body bgcolor="white">
   <br>
   <br>This is 10pt Trebuchet MS
   <br>  
 </body>

</html>

Thunderbird waters down signatures to de-emphasize them. This can be overridden but I need to look up how to do that.

You need to get two things right:

1. compose in HTML (the shift ought to fix that) and
2. toolbars enabled.

View|Toolbars (in the traditional menu in the Write window) and tick the checkboxes. No menu? Press <alt> or F10.

Despite my tone, I do appreciate what you're trying to do. Thanks for the section headed what exactly should I do with that? Normally, my signature contains a hyperlink for my website address and I definitely don't want that watered down. As far as I can tell, the <SHIFT> key has no effect. I thought I had set up Thunderbird to compose in html; how do I check? The toolbars that are enabled are: the Menu Bar and the Mail Toolbar and something called the Status Bar. There appear to be no other options on offer. The version of the software I am using is 45.2.0 and this is indicated as being the latest version. I can also access the Quick Filter Bar from a drop-down menu attached to the QF button. Does any of this help? Mike

You do need to have the Write window open to see the Composition Toolbar and the Formatting Toolbar. It sounds to me that you are describing what is available in the main window.

The attached is a rather old screenshot but it show what you are looking for.

The text I posted could be copy-and-pasted into Notepad, then saved as an html file. Then you tell Thunderbird, in its account settings, to use that HTML file for a signature. If you're careful, you should be able to insert your own text and links and then save it over the original html file.

Or you could copy the text into the signature box in account settings, tick the little HTML box. The trouble with this approach is that you need to grapple with the html markup code to modify it.

I should in due course be able to find the tweak for solid colours.

   <style><!-- 
     .moz-txt-sig, .moz-signature { opacity: inherit !important; } 
     .moz-txt-sig, .moz-signature { color: black !important; }
   --></style>

I have inserted this into the previous posting, but I also need to check it over t make sure ot works as expected.

Two things could be occurring.

First you need to have HTML enabled. right click on mail account name in the left Folder Pane and select 'Settings' select 'Composition & Addressing' for the mail account. Select 'Compose messages in HTML format' see image below showing my settings.

Then you need to have the 'Formatting Bar' enabled. Open a new Write window. 'View' > 'Toolbars' > 'select 'Formatting Bar' see second image below.

Another go at the html code:

<html>

 <head>
   <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
  <style type="text/css" align="left">
    <!-- .moz-txt-sig, .moz-signature { opacity: inherit !important; } -->
  </style>
 </head>
 <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
   <br>
     Message text here<br>
   <br>
   <div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
     <font face="Trebuchet MS, Arial, sans-serif" color="#3333ff">
       Signature text here<br>
     </font>
   </div>
 </body>

</html>

I have left the font and size for the body text undetermined. I think this could be set to some specific choice quite easily.

It's going to take me a while to play with all the suggestions you have made but I thank you for everything you have done - if I can't resolve my problem after all this, I deserve a good slap!

I appreciate the trouble you have taken. Once I have completed my part of the operation, I'll report back so that others can benefit. Thanks again.

Mike

Zenos took you on the huge side, but Most people these days read their mail on a screen some 5-7 inches. Their phone. My wife reads most of hers on an ipad, Sure she has a desktop and a laptop, but the ipad is where most mail is read because it is under her arm at meetings etc. Although the mail also goes to the phone.

OK, I've played about a little more. I've pasted the second set of html script into the signature box and it produces more or less what I want but a little small in size. However, now, when I go to use a second colour when replying to an e-mail I receive, I am unable to change the colour from the pre-determined blue.

I frequently annotate the senders text with my own comments but in a different colour. I seem to be unable to do this as Thunderbird is currently set up.

Also, the difference in point size between small & medium or medium & large text seems huge.

I have played around with the html script (I'm beginning to understand what the language requires to work) and pasted the following into my signature box: <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <style type="text/css" align="left"> <! .moz-txt-sig, .moz-signature { opacity: inherit !important; } > <! body { font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: #1BAAF7; margin-top: 25px; margin-left: 25px; } > </style>

If I uncheck the "Compose messages in html format" box, this provides exactly the e-mail signature style I want but (I suppose unsurprisingly) I can't change the colour of the main body text (I presume this is because plain text does not offer colour selection.

There seems to be only a little way to go before I have what I want. Are you able to provide the springboard?

Mike

When I click on view I do not get an option to restore the formatting bar/menu. How can I get the formatting bar back onto my Write screen?

I think you may have already said why you cannot see an option to enable the formatting Bar.

If I uncheck the "Compose messages in html format" box, So I'm presuming you have still got that option unchecked. You have either not read my previous comment or chose not to follow the instructions.

Please read my previous comment which starts with "Two things could be occurring."