<chapter id="usage-mail-organize">
<title>Organizing and Managing your Email</title>
<para>
Even if you only get a few email messages a day, you probably
want to sort and organize them. When you get a hundred a day
and you want to refer to a message you received six weeks ago,
you <emphasis>need</emphasis> to sort and organize them.
Fortunately, <application>Evolution</application> has the tools
to help you do it.
</para>
<sect1 id="usage-mail-organize-columns">
<title>Sorting Mail with Column Headers</title>
<para>
By default, the message list has columns with the following
headings: an envelope icon indicating whether you have read
or replied to a message (closed for unread, open for read,
and open with an arrow on it to indicate you've sent a
reply), an exclamation point indicating priority, and the
<guilabel>From</guilabel>, <guilabel>Subject</guilabel>, and
<guilabel>Date</guilabel> fields. You can change their order
and remove them by dragging and dropping them. You can add
new ones with the <guimenuitem>Field Chooser</guimenuitem>
item in the right click menu for the column headings.
</para>
<para>
Right-click on one of the column headers to get a list of
options:
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><guimenuitem>Sort Ascending</guimenuitem></term>
<listitem><para>
Sorts the messages top to bottom.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guimenuitem>Sort Descending</guimenuitem></term>
<listitem><para>
Sorts the messages bottom to top.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guimenuitem>Group By this Field</guimenuitem></term>
<listitem><para>
Groups messages instead of sorting them. (FIXME: Explain further)
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guimenuitem>Remove this
Column</guimenuitem></term> <listitem><para> Remove
this column from the display. You can also remove
columns by dragging the header off the list and
letting it drop. </para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guimenuitem>Field
Chooser</guimenuitem></term> <listitem><para> A list
of column headers; just drag and drop them into
place between two existing headers. A red arrow will
appear to show you where you're about to put the
column. </para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</para>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="usage-mail-organize-folders">
<title>Getting Organized with Folders</title>
<para>
<application>Evolution</application> keeps mail, as well as
address cards and calendars, in folders. You start out with a
few, like <guilabel>Inbox</guilabel>,
<guilabel>Outbox</guilabel>, and <guilabel>Drafts</guilabel>,
but you can create as many as you like. Create new folders by
selecting <guisubmenu>New</guisubmenu> and then
<guimenuitem>Folder</guimenuitem> from the
<guimenu>File</guimenu> menu.
<application>Evolution</application> will as you for the name
and the type of the folder, and will provide you with a folder
tree so you can pick where it goes.
</para>
<para>
When you click <guibutton>OK</guibutton>, your new folder will
appear in the <interface>folder view</interface>. You can
then put messages in it by dragging and dropping them, or by
using the <guibutton>Move</guibutton> button in the
toolbar. If you want to move several messages at once, click
on the ones you want to move while holding down the
<keycap>CTRL</keycap> key, or use <keycap>Shift</keycap> to
select a range of messages. If you create a filter with the
<interface>filter assistant</interface>, you can have mail
moved to your folder automatically.
</para>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="usage-mail-organize-search">
<title>Searching for Messages</title>
<para>
Most mail clients can search through your messages for you,
but <application>Evolution</application> does it faster. You
can search through just the message subjects, just the message
body, or both body and subject.
</para>
<para>
To start searching, enter a word or phrase in the text area
right below the toolbar, and choose a search type:
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Body or subject contains:</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>
This will search message subjects and the messages
themselves for the word or phrase you've entered in
the search field.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term> <guilabel>Body contains:</guilabel> </term>
<listitem>
<para>
This will search only in message text, not the subject
lines.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Subject contains:</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>
This will show you messages where the search text is
in the subject line. It will not search in the
message body.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Body does not contain:</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>
This finds every email message that does not have the
search text in the message body. It will still show
messages that have the search text in the subject
line, if it is not also in the body.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Subject does not contain:</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>
This finds every mail whose subject does not contain
the search text.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
When you've entered your search phrase, press
<keycap>Enter</keycap>. <application>Evolution</application>
will show your search results in the message list.
</para>
<para>
If you think you'll want to return to a search again, you can
save it as a virtual folder by selecting <guilabel>Store
Search as Virtual Folder</guilabel>.
</para>
<para>
When you're done with the search, go back to seeing all your
messages by choosing <guimenuitem>Show All</guimenuitem> from
the <guilabel>Search</guilabel> drop-down box. If you're
sneaky, just enter a blank search: since every message has at
least one space in it, you'll see every message in the
folder.
</para>
<para>
If you'd like to perform a more complex search, open the
advanced search dialog by selecting
<guilabel>Advanced...</guilabel> from the
<guilabel>Search</guilabel> drop-down menu. Then, create your
search criteria (each with the same options you saw in the
regular search bar), and decide whether you want to find
messages that match all of them, or messages that match even
one. Then, click <guibutton>Search</guibutton> to go and find
those messages.
</para>
<para>
You'll see a similar approach to sorting messages when you
create filters and virtual folders in the next few sections.
</para>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="usage-mail-organize-filters">
<title>Create Rules to Automatically Organize Mail</title>
<para>
Filters work very much like the mail room in a large company.
Their purpose is to bundle, sort, and distribute mail to the
various folders.
In addition, you can have multiple filters performing multiple
actions that may effect the same message in several ways. For
example, your filters could put copies of one message into
multiple folders, or keep a copy and send one to another
person as well, and it can do that in under a second. Which is
to say, it's faster and more flexible than an actual person
with a pile of envelopes.
</para>
<para>
Most often, you'll want to have
<application>Evolution</application> put mail into different
folders, but you can have it do almost anything you like.
People who get lots of mail, or who often need to refer to old
messages, find filters especially helpful, but they can greatly benefit
anybody who gets more than a few messages a day. To
create a filter, open the <interface>filter
assistant</interface> by selecting
<menuchoice>
<guimenu>Settings</guimenu>
<guimenuitem>Mail Filters</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice>.
</para>
<figure id="usage-mail-filters-fig-assist">
<title>The Filter Assistant</title>
<screenshot>
<screeninfo>The Filter Assistant</screeninfo>
<graphic fileref="fig/filter-assist-fig" format="png" srccredit="Aaron Weber">
</graphic>
</screenshot>
</figure>
<para>
The <interface>filter assistant</interface> window contains a
list of your current filters, sorted by the order in which
they are used. From the drop-down box at the top of the
window, choose <guilabel>Incoming</guilabel> to display
filters for incoming mail, and <guilabel>Outgoing</guilabel>
for those which sort only outgoing mail.
</para>
<para>
The <interface>filter assistant</interface> also has a set of
buttons:
<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>
<guibutton>Add</guibutton> — Create a new filter.
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
<guibutton>Edit</guibutton> — Edit an existing filter.
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
<guibutton>Delete</guibutton> — Delete the selected filter.
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para> <guibutton>Up</guibutton> — Move the
selected filter up in the list so it gets applied first.
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
<guibutton>Down</guibutton> — Move the selected filter down
in the list, so it comes into play later.
</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>
If you don't have any filters set up, the only one of those
buttons you can click is <guibutton>Add</guibutton>, which
will open a dialog to let you add a filter rule. If you do
have filters, you can either add a new filter rule, or select
one from your list and click <guibutton>Edit</guibutton>.
</para>
<para>
The filter rule editor, shown in <xref
linkend="usage-mail-filters-fig-new">, is where you'll
actually create your filtering rule.
<figure id="usage-mail-filters-fig-new">
<title>Creating a new Filter</title>
<screenshot>
<screeninfo>Creating a new Filter</screeninfo>
<graphic fileref="fig/filter-new-fig" format="png" srccredit="Aaron Weber">
</graphic>
</screenshot>
</figure>
</para>
<para>
Enter a name for your filter in the <guilabel>Rule
Name</guilabel> field, and then begin choosing the criteria
you'd like to use as you sort your mail. Choose how many
criteria you'd like by pressing <guibutton>Add
Criterion</guibutton> and <guibutton>Remove
Criterion</guibutton>. If you have multiple criteria, you
should then decide whether to have the filter do its job only
<guilabel>if all criteria are met</guilabel>, or <guilabel>if
any criteria are met</guilabel>.
</para>
<para>
For each filter criterion, you must first select
which of the following parts of the message you want the filter to
examine:
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Sender</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>
The sender's address.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Recipients</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>
The recipients of the message.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Subject</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>
The subject line of the message.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Specific Header</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>
The filter can look at any header you
want, even obscure or custom ones. Enter the header name
in the first text box, and put your search text in the
second one.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Message Body</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>
Search in the actual text of the message.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Expression</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>
For programmers only: match a message according to an
expression you write in the Scheme language, used to
define filters in Evolution.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Date Sent</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para> Filter messages according to the date on
which they were sent: First, choose the conditions you
want a message to meet — <guilabel>before</guilabel>
a given time, <guilabel>after</guilabel> it, and so forth.
Then, choose the time. The filter will compare the
message's time-stamp to the system clock when the filter
is run, or to a specific time and date you choose from a
calendar. You can even have it look for messages within a
range of time relative to the filter &mdash perhaps you're
looking for messages less than two days old.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Date Recieved</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>
This works the same way as the <guilabel>Date Sent</guilabel>
option, except that it compares the time you got the message
with the dates you specify.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Priority</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>
Emails have a standard priority range from -3 (least
important) to 3 (most important). You can have filters set the
priority of messages you recieve, and then have other filters
applied only to those messages which have a certain priority.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Regex Match</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>
If you know your way around a <glossterm
linkend="regular-expression">regex</glossterm>, or
regular expression, put your knowledge to use here.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Source</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Filter messages according the server you got them from.
You can enter a URL or choose one from the drop-down
list. This ability is only relevant if you use more
than one mail source.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</para>
<para>
Now, tell it what to do with those messages. If you want more
actions, click <guibutton>Add Action</guibutton>; if you want
fewer, click <guibutton>Remove Action</guibutton>. And choose
again:
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Copy to Folder</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>
If you select this item, <application>Evolution</application>
will put the messages into a folder you specify. Click the
<guibutton><click here to select a folder></guibutton> button
to select a folder.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Move to Folder</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>
If you select this item, <application>Evolution</application>
will put the messages into a folder you specify. Click the
<guibutton><click here to select a folder></guibutton> button
to select a folder.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Forward to Address</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>
Select this, enter an address, and the addressee will
get a copy of the message.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Delete</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>
Marks the message for deletion. You can still get the message
back, at least until you <guimenuitem>Expunge</guimenuitem> your
mail yourself.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Stop Processing</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>
Select this if you want to tell all other filters to ignore
this message, because whatever you've done with it so far
is plenty.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Assign Color</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>
Select this item, and <application>Evolution</application>
will mark the message with whatever color you please.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Assign Score</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para> If you know that all mail with
"important" somewhere in the message body line is
important, you can give it a high priority score. In a subsequent filter you can
then arrange your messages by their priority score.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</para>
<para>
You're done. Click <guibutton>OK</guibutton> to use this
filter, or <guibutton>Cancel</guibutton> to close the window
without saving any changes.
</para>
<!-- FIXME: This needs to be in there. But the feature is temporarily
disabled and I don't know how it will be reimplemented.
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
<guilabel>When mail arrives:</guilabel> Select
this option to have messages filtered as they
arrive.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<guilabel>When mail is sent:</guilabel> Select
this option to filter your outgoing mail. You
can use this feature to keep your
<interface>Outbox</interface> as organized as
your <interface>Inbox</interface>.
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para>
-->
<note>
<title>Notable Filter Features</title>
<para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>
Incoming email that your filters don't move goes into the Inbox;
outgoing mail that they don't move ends up in the Sent folder.
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para>
</note>
<sect2 id="usage-mail-organize-filters-mailing-lists">
<title>Filtering by Mailing List</title>
<para>
You can tell <application>Evolution</application> to filter by
mailing list. This means that <application>Evolution</application>
will look at the mailing list address, and find out automatically
what list this is. If you are subscribed to mailing lists, you
should use the <guibutton>Filter by List</guibutton> instead of by
sender.
<example>
<title>Filter by List</title>
<para>
Kevin subscribes to bananas@ximian.com. However, there is also
a bananas@ximian.org address. If he used a regular
<guibutton>Filter by Sender</guibutton>, he would need to specify
one for each address. However, <guibutton>Filter by
List</guibutton> will recognize that both of them are the same
list.
</para>
</example>
</para>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="usage-mail-organize-vFolders">
<title>Getting Really Organized with Virtual Folders</title>
<para>
If filters aren't flexible enough for you, or you find
yourself performing the same search again and again, consider
a virtual folder. Virtual folders, or vFolders, are an
advanced way of viewing your email messages within
<application>Evolution</application>. If you get a lot of
mail or often forget where you put messages, virtual folders can help
you stay on top of things.
</para>
<para>
A virtual folder is really a hybrid of all the other organizational
tools: it looks like a folder, it acts like a search, and you
set it up like a filter. In other words, while a conventional
folder actually contains messages, a virtual folder is a view of
messages that may be in several different folders. The
messages it contains are determined on the fly using a set of
criteria you choose in advance.
</para>
<para>
As messages that meet the virtual folder criteria arrive or are
deleted, <application>Evolution</application> will
automatically place them in and remove them from the
virtual folder contents list. When you delete a message, it gets
erased from the folder in which it actually exists, as well as
any virtual folders which display it.
</para>
<para>
Imagine a business trying to keep track of mail from hundreds
of vendors and clients, or a university with overlapping and
changing groups of faculty, staff, administrators and
students. The more mail you need to organize, the less you
can afford the sort of confusion that stems from an
organizational system that's not flexible enough. Virtual folders
make for better organization because they can accept
overlapping groups in a way that regular folders and filing
systems can't.
</para>
<example id="usage-mail-organize-vFolders-ex">
<title>Using Folders, Searches, and Virtual Folders</title>
<para>
To organize my mail box, I set up a virtual folder for
emails from my friend and co-worker Anna. I have another
one for messages that have "ximian.com" in the address and
"Evolution" in the subject line, so I can keep a record of
what people from work send me about
<application>Evolution</application>. If Anna sends me a
message about anything other than Evolution, it only shows
up in the "Anna" folder. When Anna sends me mail about the
user interface for <application>Evolution</application>, I
can see that message both in the "Anna" virtual folder and
in the "Internal Evolution Discussion" virtual folder.
</para>
</example>
<!-- (INSERT SCREENSHOT HERE: virtual folders in action) -->
<para>
To create a virtual folder, select <menuchoice>
<guimenu>Settings</guimenu> <guimenuitem>Virtual Folder
Editor</guimenuitem> </menuchoice>. This will bring up a
dialog box that looks suspiciously like the filter window
(for more information on filters, see <xref
linkend="usage-mail-organize-filters">), and which
presents you with a list of virtual folders you have previously
created. If you have created any virtual folders, they are listed
here, and you can select, edit or remove them if you wish.
If you have not created any, there will be only one available
option: click <guibutton>Add</guibutton> to add a new
Virtual Folder.
</para>
<para>
You can enter a name for your virtual folder in the
<guilabel>Name</guilabel>. Then, tell
<application>Evolution</application> what messages to look
for. This process is exactly like filter creation: decide
between <guilabel>Match all parts</guilabel> and
<guilabel>Match any part</guilabel>, then choose what part of
the message to look in, what sort of matching to perform, and
specify exactly what it is that you want to find, be it a
line of text, a score, a regular expression, or a particular date or
range of dates.
</para>
<para>
The second part, however, is slightly different. In the
section of the window labelled <guilabel>Virtual Folder Sources
</guilabel> is a list of folders in which
<application>Evolution</application> will search for the
contents of your vFolder. Click <guibutton>Add</guibutton>
to add a folder, or <guibutton>Remove</guibutton> to remove
one. That way, you can have your vFolder search in
newsgroups, or just in one of your mailboxes, or just in a
select few folders you've already screened with filters.
</para>
<para>
The vFolder creation window is shown in <xref
linkend="usage-mail-vfolder-fig-createrule">
<figure id="usage-mail-vfolder-fig-createrule">
<title>Selecting a vFolder Rule</title>
<screenshot>
<screeninfo>Creating a vFolder Rule</screeninfo>
<graphic fileref="fig/vfolder-createrule-fig" format="png" srccredit="Aaron Weber">
</graphic>
</screenshot>
</figure>
</para>
</sect1>
<!--
<sect1 id="usage-mail-subscriptions">
<title>Subscription Management</title>
<para>
<application>Evolution</application> lets you handle your
IMAP and newsgroup subscriptions with the same tool: the
subscriptions manager. To start using it, choose
<menuchoice> <guimenu>Settings</guimenu> <guimenuitem>Manage
Subscriptions</guimenuitem> </menuchoice>.
</para>
<para>
If you have configured any IMAP (mail) or NNTP (news)
servers, you will see them listed in the left half of the
subscription management window. Click on a server to select
it, and you will see the folders or newsgroups available to
you. You can then select individual folders and subscribe to
them, or remove yourself from the subscription list.
</para>
<para>
Once you have subscribed to a folder or newsgroup, your system
will check for new messages whenever you press the
<guibutton>Get Mail</guibutton> button.
</para>
</sect1>
-->
</chapter>
