With default font setting, I want to change the color of my outgoing text, but TB also reformats the text of what I'm replying to. Help!
I want to change my default outgoing text color and style, but Thunderbird winds up reformatting the email that I'm replying to. My hope is to leave all existing formatting of the email intact while replying in Ariel, dark blue.
Thanks!
Chosen solution
If there is hardcoded html css setting the font colour in the original received email, then this should be preserved and show the original section as intended and your section as you would like, but if there is no hard coded formatting in the original then it will apply whatever default setting you choose to the whole email.
In the past, I've had emails that were created using MS Word which always includes a load of unnecessary coding. When I selected to Reply, I could not control any default font colour or background colour because of the css coding in the original email. Eventually, I manually accessed the email and make alterations in order to Reply using my formatting. I do not suggest you do this. I did it as a one off as did understand what I was doing. But it is an example of how formatting hardcoded into an email can have unexpected effects.
You could use the 'Formatting Bar' to change font colour for that email.
There is an addon, but you may need to alter the install.rdf to cope with newer versions.
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On the toolbar 
> Options > Composition > General is where such defaults are set. Are you using those options?
Matt said
On the toolbar
Thank you for replying. :) Yes, I am using those options. TB formats my reply text correctly, but also changes the text of the email that I'm responding to. I've attached a sample.
Chosen Solution
If there is hardcoded html css setting the font colour in the original received email, then this should be preserved and show the original section as intended and your section as you would like, but if there is no hard coded formatting in the original then it will apply whatever default setting you choose to the whole email.
In the past, I've had emails that were created using MS Word which always includes a load of unnecessary coding. When I selected to Reply, I could not control any default font colour or background colour because of the css coding in the original email. Eventually, I manually accessed the email and make alterations in order to Reply using my formatting. I do not suggest you do this. I did it as a one off as did understand what I was doing. But it is an example of how formatting hardcoded into an email can have unexpected effects.
You could use the 'Formatting Bar' to change font colour for that email.
There is an addon, but you may need to alter the install.rdf to cope with newer versions.
Thank you for this information, Toad-Hall. Many of my replies are to emails that people have composed on cell phones, which I'm presuming do not always hard code the font settings.
I've decided to just click the font button on my replies, individually formatting my responses to the emails.
Thanks!