Hi, Scott.
The placeholder text is displayed in the message field, so it is not a font color issue. The text that I type is sent through the email so I know it is getting captured. But it is not displayed when the form refreshes.
Also, I don’t see how a font or background color setting would stop the Email field from being displayed when the form initially opens. It’s not a problem that the email field is not there initially, if that is how the plugin works. But, the visitor needs to be able to see his message in the message field instead of the placeholder text coming back.
Did you take a look at the screenshots in the link?
Thanks.