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Inconsistent line/paragraph breaks in HTML formatted email

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  • Last reply by david

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Hi,

I've been using Thunderbird for years and have always had this issue, but it seems more prevalent now. It's getting a bit annoying so I'm looking for a solution. I've googled it, there are plenty of references to difficulties with formatting "as sent" not being "as received", but in this case I'm talking about a formatting issue that happens immediately in Thunderbird, has nothing to do with the receiving system.

Here's the deal...

I routinely send out batches of emails that use a specific template for formatting. I need to use HTML format because I often highlight and underline things that I've found if I don't will not be seen. To avoid much back and forth from people who did not read the email properly, I want to bold face and underline some key things.

The first example here is "what it looks like before I click Send". It shows proper paragraph structure, normal blank lines between each paragraph, etc.

The second image is what it looks like "after I click Send". It looks like this even in the "outbox" (if I'm sending later) and it hasn't even yet gone out. Appearance is identical in the sent items, and I've had recipients respond to me by replying to the original email and can see they received it formatted as in the screen shot.

Usually it either adds line breaks where none exist, or removes line breaks, merging two paragraphs together.

I've tried composing in an external editor that allows me to see non-printing characters and making sure there is just a single line break between paragraphs (and that line break is THERE), then pasting into Thunderbird. That seems to help, but if I then save that as a template and re-use it in the future, more and more weirdness creeps into it as I bring it up, change some of the verbiage to reflect the current case, and send.

What is going on here, how do I fix this? I've used Outlook for decades, have done similar things with it and have never had this issue. There's nothing "different" I'm doing when composing these - type type type, carriage return, type type type.... Perfectly normal stuff.

Is there a setting somewhere that either prevents this from happening or at least allows me to see non-printable characters so I can recognize them and fix that before it is sent?

Thanks,

Todd

Hi, I've been using Thunderbird for years and have always had this issue, but it seems more prevalent now. It's getting a bit annoying so I'm looking for a solution. I've googled it, there are plenty of references to difficulties with formatting "as sent" not being "as received", but in this case I'm talking about a formatting issue that happens immediately in Thunderbird, has nothing to do with the receiving system. Here's the deal... I routinely send out batches of emails that use a specific template for formatting. I need to use HTML format because I often highlight and underline things that I've found if I don't will not be seen. To avoid much back and forth from people who did not read the email properly, I want to bold face and underline some key things. The first example here is "what it looks like before I click Send". It shows proper paragraph structure, normal blank lines between each paragraph, etc. The second image is what it looks like "after I click Send". It looks like this even in the "outbox" (if I'm sending later) and it hasn't even yet gone out. Appearance is identical in the sent items, and I've had recipients respond to me by replying to the original email and can see they received it formatted as in the screen shot. Usually it either adds line breaks where none exist, or removes line breaks, merging two paragraphs together. I've tried composing in an external editor that allows me to see non-printing characters and making sure there is just a single line break between paragraphs (and that line break is THERE), then pasting into Thunderbird. That seems to help, but if I then save that as a template and re-use it in the future, more and more weirdness creeps into it as I bring it up, change some of the verbiage to reflect the current case, and send. What is going on here, how do I fix this? I've used Outlook for decades, have done similar things with it and have never had this issue. There's nothing "different" I'm doing when composing these - type type type, carriage return, type type type.... Perfectly normal stuff. Is there a setting somewhere that either prevents this from happening or at least allows me to see non-printable characters so I can recognize them and fix that before it is sent? Thanks, Todd
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Since the HTML formatting is important for what you do, I encourage you to install the addon 'ThunderbirdHTMLedit' from https://betterbird.eu/addons/index.html Use this once, and you'll never turn back. This editor works seamlessly within Thunderbird and you can switch from normal edit mode to HTML edit mode with a single click. I consider the addon priceless. It's free, although a small donation gets a registration code. Try it and I think you will agree.

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