Signatures - Thunderbird

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A signature is a block of text that is added automatically when you compose a new message or a reply.

Thunderbird allows you to set a signature file under Tools | Account Settings for each of your identities (called "accounts" in Thunderbird). Each signature can be plain text or HTML. An HTML signature can specify fonts, colors, formatting, images, etc. Each signature is stored in a separate file on your computer, and any signature file can be used by more than one identity.

Signature files

Thunderbird does not provide any way to create signature files. Use your operating system tools to create them—for example, use a plain text editor.

Thunderbird does not provide any special place to store signature files. You could create a Signatures directory in your profile to store them, making them easy to back up along with the rest of your profile. Or you could store them somewhere else.

Plain text signatures

To make a plain text signature, use a text editor to create a plain text file. Name the file with the extension .txt, for example: signature.txt

A plain text signature file does not support any special encoding, so it can only contain characters from your operating system's default character set (which might not be the default character set that you specify for messages in Thunderbird). Since recipients might not be using the same operating system, in the same configuration, that you do, it is not safe (or conformant with standards) to use any characters outside the US-ASCII range, which basically limits you to unaccented letters, numbers, and standard punctuation (but no "curly quotes" or em-dashes, since these are not in US-ASCII).

You can use a plain text signature in plain text messages and also in HTML messages.

Note:  If the editor you use to create your signature file can save files in various formats, ensure that you save the file as plain text in your operating system's default character set. Do not save the file using any tag language, or in any form of Unicode.

HTML signatures

To make an HTML signature, create an HTML file. Name the file with the extension .html, for example: signature.html

An HTML signature file only needs to contain an HTML fragment, not a complete HTML document. You can create the file using a plain text editor by typing the HTML tags yourself. Or you can create the file using a special editor that supports HTML.

A HTML signature file uses your operating system's default character set (which might not be the default character set that you specify for messages in Thunderbird). You can encode special characters using HTML in the normal ways—for example, you can encode a euro currency symbol (€) as € or as &#8364.

You can use an HTML signature in HTML messages and also in plain text messages. In a plain text message, the HTML is converted to plain text and some features might be lost if they cannot be represented in plain text.

Note:  Some word processors and HTML editors create HTML documents containing a lot of unnecessary HTML code. You can use a plain text editor to check the file and remove the parts that you do not need.

Tip for making an HTML-formatted signature

You can use Thunderbird to create an HTML signature file indirectly like this:

  1. In Thunderbird, compose a new HTML message.
  2. Type the text you want to use for your signature. Add whatever formatting you want (font style, color, bold, etc.).
  3. Select the text you want in your signature (or choose Edit – Select All if you want the whole message as your signature).
  4. Choose: Insert – HTML...
  5. In the Insert HTML window, select all the text and copy it. (For example, press Ctrl+C, or get a context menu for the text by right-clicking it and select Copy.)
  6. Open a new file in any text editor (for example, Notepad) and paste the text you just copied.
  7. Save the file, giving it a name with the .html extension—for example: signature1.html

Inserting a promotional button in your signature

If you want to include a promotional button for Thunderbird or Firefox in your signature, get the raw html code for the button from here (Thunderbird) or here (Firefox). Do as described above for making an html-formatted signature, but at step #2, put the cursor in the message body where you want the button to appear and then go to "Insert -> HTML". In the dialog box that pops up, paste in the raw html code for the button and click "Insert" to close the dialog. See this forum thread for further tips.

Extensions for multiple signatures

Thunderbird is designed to allow one signature for each of your identities. Some extensions provide different ways to manage multiple signatures:

  • If you want to have more than one signature per e-mail account or choose from a variety of signatures when composing mail, one option is to use the Signature Switch extension. It will allow you to easily select from multiple signatures in the Compose window by using a toolbar button or via the context menu (right-click).
  • The Quicktext extension: adds a menu in the Compose window from which you can select your own pre-defined text to insert at the current cursor location. Morever, the extension allows you include variables such as sender's/recipient's e-mail address, message subject, and date. See the Quicktext extension homepage for further information.
  • The Signature extension: similar to but simpler than the Quicktext extension, the Signature extension lets you insert pre-defined text wherever the cursor is located in the message body. Inserts plain-text only and does not allow variables to be used.
  • The Tagzilla extension: can be used to insert "taglines" or signatures in e-mail messages. Note that you must also install the JSLib extension before installing Tagzilla. See this thread for a few comments on Tagzilla limitations with regard to e-mail signatures.

See also

External links

  • Instructions on how to create a signature file and use it in Thunderbird are available here.
  • For general information on signature blocks, including information about the signature separator ("-- ") that Thunderbird inserts before your signature, see Dan's Mail Format Site.