Thunderbird Calendar: Allow Former Plain-Text Editor in Event Description Field

[Loggy7]

Short Version

In TB Calendar's Event Description field, I'd love it if the former plain-text editor could be resurrected via a new toggle/checkbox option in Settings (or in Config Editor), so we're not forced to use the new rich-text editor.

Long Version

I use Calendar Events a lot, especially the free-form Description box where I enter lots of notes and to-do's.

In TB 78.x, the big Description area/box/field was a plain-text editor. It worked *flawlessly*. (I'm on MacOS 11.7.x, btw.)

But when I upgraded to TB 91.x (and now 102.x) , it became a rich-text editor.

I don't mind that in itself, but the rich-text editor has a handful of bugs that make it difficult to copy-paste and edit the data in that Description box reliably. Very frustrating. I talk more about these bugs in this Mozilla Connect thread here.

It would be great if the former plain-text editor could still be an option, via a new toggle/checkbox control in Settings (or an entry in Config Editor). Since all the old plain-text-editor code must still exist (currently deactivated), presumably reactivating it as a user option shouldn't be a large development chore (I hope!), and would hopefully continue providing bug-free UI/editing for those of us on MacOS who don't need rich-text features.

Thank you for considering my humble feature request.

[Dende]

I also would prefer an plain-text-toggle. I sync TB with Google, to which also my iPhone syncs with.
After going through two different systems, the result is an unreadable mess on my iPhone (iOS 15.7.5)
And it used to work like a charm for years - but now I always get an hardly ledgebale mess displayed...

[keynet]

Agree. It worked like a charm as plain text for years. If you wanted HTML, you could add it, that worked too. Now neither works!  If there's going to be HTML it has to be really well implemented

[DaveLaQ]

Still buggy all these months later. My big complaint is that the formatting doesn't stick. Specifically, text I entered is all broken into extra lines (line breaks have spring up out of nowhere) when I go back and re-open an event after saving some time earlier.

[Loggy7]

OP here. Thanks for everyone's comments and feedback on this issue. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one.

If you haven't done so already, please be sure to click Kudos/Like/ThumbsUp in the footer of my original post. The more votes we get, the more visibility we accrue for this frustrating set of UI bugs, and the greater likelihood of getting the very-functional plain-text editor resurrected.

For all of you also experiencing these problems, are you on a Mac like me, or is TB exhibiting these issues on Windows too? (On Linux too?)

Another thing... I've also had issues with syncing since the rich-text editor was launched. The calendar server I use handles plain-text, and again, it worked flawlessly and cooperated fantastically, pre- rich-text. But now there are syncing problems, and 1 obvious thing is that TB force-wraps lines at an arbitrary length, which is yet another unexpected alteration to my plain-text content. Before rich-text, data synced pristinely, word for word, line by line.

My request, again, to Mozilla: Please restore the former plain-text editor, as it worked FLAWLESSLY for several years. Perhaps add a toggle to allow some users to use rich-text if desired. As someone above recently echoed about the plain-text days: "it used to work like a charm for years".

(Thank you again for your consideration.)

Sidenote to all: Command+Shift+V seems to work for Paste Without Formatting, although I think they should also add it to the context menu, since that's where most users will go looking for it.

[DaveLaQ]

Confirming that the issues are happening for me in Windows 10, too. Extra line breaks as well as the random mid-line break that you describe. Very little of the rich text functionality survives a sync operation it seems.

[Ginkobibi]

I fully agree in at least providing the option to use again plain text. Rich text is barely usable now

[DaveLaQ]

Such a huge gaff. Have to wonder why it happened at all and why it's taking so long to fix. 😞

[hornetster]

Did they even test this 'feature' before release?

Don't believe it works for anyone/anywhere...

Hopefully, with the big, new, release expected this year (sometime), all will be fixed.

[MNixon]

I concur.
The new editor is awful.
I've used TBird and Lightning Calendar since 2010(?).
Every issue in all 42 posts that I have read are what I am experiencing also.
I cannot put into words how fouled up it is, and especially when Calendar LOSES events.
At least fixing the editor (composer?) would help.

Why oh why have the devs ignored this so long?

If more users knew how and where to voice their concerns, the complaints would be X1000.

MNixon.

[cal-user]

I agree to all comments complaining about the editor functionality. I also do not understand how this feature reached go-live status without testing. I am using calendar entries a lot in my daily usage. It struggles a lot with all the formatting an HTML stuff. It causes only effort and headache for correction, and I try to avoid the composer now (editing entries instead on my smartphone calendar).

I prefer plain-text formatting as it was before. Please fix the editor, else it is really not usable. Thanks

[cal-user]

I agree to all comments complaining about the editor functionality. I also do not understand how this feature reached go-live status without testing. I am using calendar entries a lot in my daily usage. It struggles a lot with all the formatting an HTML stuff. It causes only effort and headache for correction, and I try to avoid the composer now (editing entries instead on my smartphone calendar).

Meanwhile I am using a workaround:
Add-On "Provider for Google Calendar" has a preference called "Force use of plain text in event descriptions". For me this works and it gets rid of all the errorneous HTML tags.

I prefer plain-text formatting as it was before. Please fix the editor. Thanks

[DaveLaQ]

Even the plain-text editor is funky. It double spaces stuff that I want single spaced.  And anything getting pasted into it gets the same treatment, only it doubles even existing double-spaced text.  :^(

[atown]

The solution that @cal-user recommended solved my issue.. I was entering descriptions in the calendar entry in Thunderbird, and by the time they made it to my iphone via Google Calendar, they were a freaking mess... no amount of pasting as text, or editing out spaces/returns worked... it was always garbage.  Now that I click the box for "force use of plain text in event descriptions" it transfers my entries perfectly to my iphone.  THANK YOU @cal-user!!

[Loggy7]

This Add-On folks are speaking of: Is it an add-on to TB or to something else? Where is it?

Can folks like me who don't use Google Calendar somehow make use of it to force plain-text?

[atown]

@Loggy7 

https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-us/thunderbird/addon/provider-for-google-calendar/

And, honestly, I don't know if it will work w/o the use of google calendar as background db.