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What do these symbols mean?

  • 4 replies
  • 1 has this problem
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  • Last reply by MalcolmHS

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Hi. Sometimes when I reply to an HTML message the message gets displayed within a light gray box outline. When I click the message, a small box appears at each corner, and 2 small symbols as shown in the attached .jpg files appear. I can not select or move the symbols. Does anyone know what they are? It may, or may not, be significant that I have disabled Thunderbird's usual blue vertical quote bars using the code snippets described in kb.mozillazine.org/Quote_bars.

Hi. Sometimes when I reply to an HTML message the message gets displayed within a light gray box outline. When I click the message, a small box appears at each corner, and 2 small symbols as shown in the attached .jpg files appear. I can not select or move the symbols. Does anyone know what they are? It may, or may not, be significant that I have disabled Thunderbird's usual blue vertical quote bars using the code snippets described in kb.mozillazine.org/Quote_bars.
Attached screenshots

Chosen solution

Thanks Toad-Hall. I eventually discovered that the message I was quoting in my reply quoted another message that quoted another message that quoted another message that contained a small 2x2 cell table!

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All Replies (4)

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They are tools for working with tables. The x deletes the selected row or column, the arrows insert a new row or column, to the same side as the clicked arrow.

Do they not vanish when you click away from the table?

Modified by Zenos

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Many thanks Zenos. Yes they do go away when I click outside the message. There is no indication however, other than the 2 symbols, that the message is a table. There is a single symbol centrally at the top, and a single symbol centrally at the side. When I click the "x" in either symbol, the whole message is deleted! Does that mean the quoted message is a table with a single cell? Why would one want to structure a message like that? Regards, Malcolm

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Definately sounds like the email has been constructed within a table.

To find out: select the original email so it shows in Message Pane. In the header area click on 'more' and select 'View Source'

a new window opens showing source code. scroll down to the html section and within the 'body' section you s hould find a 'table' mentioned.

RE: 'Does that mean the quoted message is a table with a single cell? Why would one want to structure a message like that?'

No good reason at all. Maybe they created it in something like 'MS Word' and copy pasted it into the email. Again not a good idea as it bloats the email with a load of unneccessary code.

Usually tables are used if you want to define exactly what goes where and it is a more complicated construction. Many companies eg: British Gas will send emails constructed that way, so they appear in a specific way.

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Chosen Solution

Thanks Toad-Hall. I eventually discovered that the message I was quoting in my reply quoted another message that quoted another message that quoted another message that contained a small 2x2 cell table!