Bringing back remote content of e-mail

I once disabled to load remote content for a specific newsletter, but now I want it back. Also, I once disabled the option completely (not just for that particular sender). Consequently, Thunderbird stopped asking me whether I want to load remote content. But although I changed the policy globally, TB stopped asking for any email with remote content, not just those that I received during the old policy. Only gmail (that's my account) I can see the remote content/html content online.

So my question is: How can I bring remote content back to TB? Things I've tried:

enable global option("Allow remote content in messages"
clean exceptions list (see image below)
putting the sender in the addressbook
set mailnews.message_display.disable_remote_image to false

I think it has something to do with the profile. Once I changed the profile folder (copied it from Windows 8.1., which I also have on the machine) and I could see the remote content as a result of the global option. But after I reset the profile folder, remote content is still not loaded.

The list of exceptions: enter image description here

MERose

Posted 2015-04-01T20:42:09.673

Reputation: 205

Can you explain some more what kind of remote content is involved, what works and what doesn't? – harrymc – 2015-04-14T22:00:53.410

@harrymc, I updated it to the question with regard to you question. – MERose – 2015-04-15T09:53:41.530

When messages with remote content are displayed, do you have a yellow bar across the top saying "To protect your privacy, Thunderbird has blocked remote content in this message.". If yes, what happens when you click the "Show Remote Content" button. – harrymc – 2015-04-15T10:50:08.033

I don't have that bar any more - that's why I am so desperate. – MERose – 2015-04-15T15:46:16.783

Answers

I compared the prefs.js file used by Thunderbird in Windows with prefs.js of my Ubuntu Thunderbird and found the problem:

user_pref("mailnews.display.html_as", 0);

It was was 1 on Ubuntu and non-existent in my Windows profile. Setting it to the default value of 0 brought back my remote content.

For the bar questioning whether I want to load remote content, I'd to set

user_pref("mailnews.message_display.disable_remote_image", true);

Again, it was false on Ubuntu and non-existent on Windows.

Also helpful was

user_pref("mailnews.display.prefer_plaintext", true);

which was false on Ubuntu and non-existent on Windows.

To eliminate the problem I had, edit/add the respective lines in Thunderbird's prefs.js.

MERose

Posted 2015-04-01T20:42:09.673

Reputation: 205

I found a couple of settings that seemed like they might be relevant to your search. I changed them in my local installation, and Thunderbird immediately stopped displaying content or asking if I wanted it displayed. I'm including what they are by default, it stopped asking when I switched them to 'true'.

security.mixed_content.block_active_content     default boolean false
security.mixed_content.block_display_content    default boolean false

If this does not fix it, I'd honestly recommend recreating your Thunderbird profile to get this working again. You probably already know this, but it sounds like you've got the problem identified as being the profile, not Thunderbird.

Matthew_Sp

Posted 2015-04-01T20:42:09.673

Reputation: 156

thanks for you time invested in my issue. Unfortunately, both settings are on their default state. So I might create a new profile. – MERose – 2015-04-17T21:11:54.443

Well, I'm glad to know the clever fix didn't work, thanks for letting me know! – Matthew_Sp – 2015-04-17T23:23:32.293