Blockquote is hidden in letters

Question

Our system has the ability to send emails when the file status changes. You can attach a message to the status change and it will be sent by email.

Here is 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 letters are sent, they have a topic: 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 letters are sent with the same status message, the message is hidden in the letter. You need to click "show quoted text" to display a "hidden" message.

My boss did not notice the “show quoted text” link and complained that the letters were empty.

How can I make email clients not hide the text that, in his opinion, is “quoted”? Why does he think that my <blockquote> is a quote from a previous letter that contains the same text?

Answer 1

You do not need to use the blockquote tag. Try using a div or p with a style attribute.

Answer 2

The p tag is more universal and allowed in email clients more often than blockquote.