Assume I have a template that I have composed (fonts, styles, layout, etc.) and saved as a template. It would be nice to use that automatically in a reply or a new mail composition without having to go to the Drafts or Templates folder and selecting the document. Also, the existing method is disadvantageous in that I cannot reply to a message using my own style or settings.

Marking NEW.

reassigning to ducarroz.

*** Bug 105098 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

This would be a nice feature to have.

This might depend on bug 21210 (rfe: reply with template). My suggestion: There should be separate templates for composing new messages, for replies, and for forwarding (although the distinction should be with checkboxes, not radio buttons, so that one template can serve for two or more purposes). The user should be able to choose one template as default for composing, one as default for replying, and one as default for forwarding. It should be possible to restore the built-in default templates. The Compose button, the Reply buttons and the Forward button should have a little down-arrow (like the "Get new messages" button has) if there is any template defined for that function. When that down-arrow is clicked, a drop-down menu with a list of templates for that function would appear. When the button itself is clicked, the default template would be used. Will you also tell me to file a new bug for that, like they did in bug 21210? I was too afraid to file a dupe to do that. :-) I've also filed rfe bug 178263 for placeholders in templates - codes for placement of original message subject, body, date, sender... and also for the placement of the cursor. Isn't there a meta-bug for improving templates?

Mail triage team: nsbeta1-

I just posed this to netscape.mozilla.user.general, and "M Cowperthwaite" directed me here to the appropriate bug. The ability of a user to click the Compose button and have a particular template automatically pop up would really be helpful for those of us making forays into the frontiers of HTML emails. It's a brave new millennium, and HTML email formatting has gelled-up well enough that many are opting to use HTML emails almost exclusively. And the days will come when emails with company letterhead or more personalized formatting will be as commonplace as the home computer. Users should have the ability to set up, and automatically use, a default HTML email template, and they should also have a "Use My Template" option in the Format menu.

*** Bug 220682 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

There is an other aspect of this improvement : the ability to select a template from the "mailto:" string of a browser. Browsers (and Mozilla browsers) become very common inside many companies in their Intranet. It would be very fine that clicking on a link in the intranet starts the 'good' template : standard letter to answer a customer is not the same that standard letter to answer the boss.... In our company, we use mainly HTML mail with various templates.

*** Bug 261573 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

*** Bug 299242 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

It is a must have function at least for my freand, Jericho :o) ... and I agree with Vaclav Dvorak's drop drown idea! Please inplement it ASAP!

Is there still any activity (coding) on this bug? And is the assignee still active as it was originally assigned in Netscape days. Would be a shame if this very nice feature would be overlooked in the planning of future releases.

Seems that here is no activity any more? I would really like this function integrated in thunderbird. An extension exists, which is trying to do that trick (https://nic-nac-project.de/~kaosmos/templateloader-en.html), but it's not 100% perfect.

It would be nice if the template could be recipient-based. So if i write to my boss an other template is used than if i write to my girlfried. The setting could be stored in the adressbook. bye, lars

It would be nice too if the template be mailto:-link based, as indicated in 100467 bug. I suggest that these 2 reports be linked, and that voters of this bug vote for 100467 bug.

This feature is absolutely essential. It's a joke that TB does not have it, and is fast approching V2.0. Every other email client has default templates, in fact I was shocked when I noticed that TB doesn't. My suggestion would be an overhaul of the signature and templates system. In particular, variables are essential. Most email clients support variables for things like the name of the recipient, time, date etc.

I really hope that Thunderbird will have this feature implemented as soon as possible. IMHO a good mail client shouldn't miss this feature.

Nice to have, but not a priority.

Basic to have, and a priority. I cry for that since 2003, and as many other people do since before... unless unlike me, they have choosen another more friendly mailer : we are not in 199x not in 2003

A priority for us. I pushed to use T-bird in our office and now the big boss is asking me to have our emails look more "professional" with our corporate logo embedded. The signature and vcard functions while nice are no longer enough. The days of asci text are long gone.

Default template (Stationery) for both new mails and replies is implemented in my extension, called "Stationery"(https://addons.mozilla.org/pl/thunderbird/addon/4394). But my extension does not use TB Templates feature. It use HTML files from disk as templates. It is able to use Outlook and Outlook Express template files.

The Stationary extension is handy, but it is no substitute for proper template support I'm afraid. In particular, it lacks the following: 1. Support for plain text email 2. Support for variables 3. Support for signatures integrated into the template 4. Separate default templates for new mails and replies

The offering of HTML emails with the ability to specify default templates is not an option any longer, it's a must.

I agree to Simon that the implementation of a default template for mmail composition and replies based on each mail account (identity) is a must. I think that is an imported thing for thunderbird to stay up to date with other mail programs.