blockquote hidden in emails

Question

Our system has an option to send out emails when the status of a file is changed. You can attach a message to the status change and it'll be sent in the email.

Here's an example email:

File 1234 has been updated by <b>John Smith</b> with a status of <q>Updated</q> with an attached message of:<br/><br/>
<blockquote>Updated the file</blockquote>
<br/>

When these emails are sent, they have the subject: Status update for file 1234.

Zimbra, and most other email clients, will group multiple emails from the same file into the same "conversation". For some reason, if 2 emails are sent with the same status message, the message is hidden in the email. You need to click "show quoted text" to show the "hidden" message.

My boss didn't notice the "show quoted text" link, and complained that the emails were blank.

How can I make email clients not hide text it thinks is "quoted"? Why does it think my <blockquote> tag is a quote from the previous email that happens to contain the same text?

Answer 1

You don't have to use the blockquote tag. Try a div or p with a style attribute instead.

e.g. in the style:

p.blockquote {
  font: 14px/22px normal helvetica, sans-serif;
  margin-top: 10px;
  margin-bottom: 10px;
  margin-left: 50px;
  padding-left: 15px;
  border-left: 3px solid #ccc;
} 

and in the HTML:
<p class="blockquote">...</p>

Answer 2

the p tag is more versatile and is allowed in mail clients more often than blockquote.