<chapter id="config-setupassist">
<title>Easy Setup with the Setup Assistant</title>
<para>
The first time you try to use email, the mail setup assistant
will ask you for some basic information, so
<application>Evolution</application> can let you use email. If
you prefer more detailed configuration, or if you want to make
changes to an existing email setup, see <xref
linkend="config-prefs">.
</para>
<sect1 id="config-setupassist-mail">
<title>Mail Setup</title>
<para>
The first time you try to send or receive mail with
<application>Evolution</application>, the <interface>mail
setup assistant</interface> will pop up to help you with your
email preferences. If you don't plan to use email, or if
you'd rather deal with your email preferences later, click
<guibutton>Cancel</guibutton>.
</para>
<!--
Before you get it, though, you should decide where you want to
keep it. Your options will vary a little depending on your
network setup, but they come down to storing the mail on your
hard disk (using <glossterm linkend="pop">POP</glossterm>), or
storing it on the network (using <glossterm
linkend="imap">IMAP</glossterm>). If you store your mail on
your local hard disk, you can read it whether you're online or
not, but you can only read it from one computer. If you store
it on the network, you can only read it when you're online,
but you can access it from almost any computer with a network
connection, even if it doesn't have
<application>Evolution</application>.
If you choose POP, you'll be putting mail in the
<guilabel>Inbox</guilabel> in the <guilabel>Local</guilabel>
folder. If you choose IMAP, it's the
<guilabel>Inbox</guilabel> of a folder with the same name as
your mail server. That's so you can maintain several distinct
IMAP servers if you want. See <xref
linkend="config-prefs-mail"> for more information about mail
servers.
-->
<para>
The setup assistant (sometimes called a
<glossterm>Druid</glossterm>, by analogy with the "Wizards"
that some other programs use) will guide you through the
network configuration process. It will ask you for some
basic information; your system administrator or ISP should
have the answers you'll need. The mail setup assistant is
pictured in <xref linkend="usage-setup-fig">.
<!-- ==============Figure=================================== -->
<!-- druid-pic should eventually become assistant-pic -->
<figure id="usage-setup-fig">
<title>Mail Setup Assistant</title>
<screenshot>
<screeninfo>Evolution Main Window</screeninfo>
<graphic fileref="fig/mail-druid-pic" format="png" srccredit="Kevin Breit">
</graphic>
</screenshot>
</figure>
<!-- ==============End of Figure=================================== -->
The assistant will ask you for the following information:
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term> <guilabel>Name:</guilabel> </term> <listitem>
<para>Your full name. </para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Email address:</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>
Your complete email address.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term> <guilabel>Organization:</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Any organization you represent, or the company where you
work. Leave this blank if you wish, or type "My own bad
self" so people know your opinions are yours alone.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Signature File:</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>
A text file appended to any email you send. A signature
file typically consists of your name and email address,
or a quotation you like. It's good form to keep your
"sig" on the short side: four lines is plenty. Remember,
this is attached to every email you send.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term> <guilabel>Mail source type:</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>
<application>Evolution</application> supports several
mail sources: <glossterm linkend="pop">POP</glossterm> and
<glossterm linkend="imap">IMAP</glossterm> servers, and UNIX-style
<systemitem><filename>mbox</filename></systemitem> and
<systemitem><filename>mh</filename></systemitem> files.
POP servers retrieve your mail and store it on your
local system so you can refer to it even when not
connected to a network; <glossterm>IMAP</glossterm>
servers store the mail on the server so you can access
it from multiple locations;
<systemitem><filename>mbox</filename>></systemitem>
files are used by your computer for internal mail, and
may be useful if you want to switch from another email
client such as <application>Spruce</application> or
<application>Netscape Communicator</application>. Ask
your system administrator which you should use, or keep
guessing until one works. You may use multiple sources
if you wish; see <xref
linkend="config-prefs-mail-network"> for more
information.
</para>
<para>
If you decide not to have
<application>Evolution</application> use any servers,
the remaining items are not relevant; you only need to
point to the location of the files you wish to access.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term> <guilabel>Server:</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>
This should be the name of the server where you get
incoming mail. It may (or may not) be the same as the
server where you send your outgoing mail.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Username:</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Enter the username for your mail server account, if you
have one. In almost all cases, this is the part of your email
address before the @ character, and
<application>Evolution</application> has selected that
value as the default. If you have a different username,
you can enter it here.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Authentication:</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Select the type of authentication you will use. You can
click <guibutton>Detect supported types</guibutton> to
find out which authentication protocols your network
allows.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Mail Transport:</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>
This is the mail sending protocol you will want to use.
<application>Evolution</application> supports both
<glossterm linkend="smtp">SMTP</glossterm> and
<application>sendmail</application>; SMTP is by far the
more common.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</para>
<para>
To learn how to configure <application>Evolution</application>
in greater detail, or to change preferences once you have set
them, see <xref linkend="config-prefs">.
</para>
</sect1>
</chapter>
