From 3b196ffb90e8d17f22cfc8f0422936d936de96f6 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Aaron Weber Date: Fri, 23 Jun 2000 20:32:12 +0000 Subject: Made moderate to major stylistic updates to this, apx-gloss.sgml, and to * C/evolution-guide.sgml: Made moderate to major stylistic updates to this, apx-gloss.sgml, and to all files beginning with "usage," especially wrt HTML mail. svn path=/trunk/; revision=3714 --- help/C/usage-mail.sgml | 662 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++---------------------- 1 file changed, 370 insertions(+), 292 deletions(-) (limited to 'help/C/usage-mail.sgml') diff --git a/help/C/usage-mail.sgml b/help/C/usage-mail.sgml index 2215689b31..a0d64b6d74 100644 --- a/help/C/usage-mail.sgml +++ b/help/C/usage-mail.sgml @@ -1,15 +1,14 @@ - + Evolution Mail An Overview of the Evolution Mailer - Email is an integral part of life these days, and - Evolution mail is here to help - you keep track of it. Evolution - email is like other email programs in all the ways you would - hope: + Evolution email is like other email + programs in all the ways you would hope: @@ -25,26 +24,25 @@ - It lets you use a wide variety of mail sources, including - IMAP, POP3, and local files. + It supports multiple mail sources, including IMAP, POP3, + and local mbox files. - However, Evolution has some - important differences. First, it's built to handle very - large amounts of mail without slowing down or crashing. We - had high mail volumes in mind when we designed our filtering and - searching - functions. There's also the - Evolution vFolder, an - advanced organizational feature not found in other mail - clients. If you get a lot of mail, or if you keep every - message you get in case you need to refer to it later, - you'll find that feature especially useful. + However, Evolution has some important + differences. First, it's built to handle very large amounts of + mail without slowing down or crashing. Both the filtering and searching functions + were built for speed and efficiency on gargantuan mail + volumes. There's also the Evolution + vFolder, an + advanced organizational feature not found in other mail clients. + If you get a lot of mail, or if you keep every message you get + in case you need to refer to it later, you'll find that feature + especially useful. @@ -89,17 +87,16 @@ will change to something a little less counter-intuitive. - +
Evolution Mail - Evolution Mail - + Inbox +
- + @@ -112,10 +109,9 @@ assistant will ask you for the information it needs to check your mail (see for more information). Then, - Evolution will download your mail - for you and send any mail you've marked ready to send. New - mail will appear in your Inbox and also - in the Today View. + Evolution will download your mail. + New mail will appear in your Inbox. + @@ -131,13 +127,15 @@ If you receive a file attached to an email, Evolution will display it at the - bottom of the message to which it's attached. Click on the - attachment icon or text, and - Evolution will ask you where you - want to put the file. Once you've done that, you can - open, move, copy, or execute it just like any other, using - Nautilus or your favorite shell - or file manager. + bottom of the message to which it's attached. Text, HTML, + and most images will be displayed in the message itself. + For other files, Evolution will + provide a link and icon at the end of the message. Click on + that, and Evolution will ask you + where you want to put the file. Once you've chosen one and + saved the file, you can open, move, copy, or execute it just + like any other, using Nautilus or + your favorite shell or file manager. @@ -147,66 +145,66 @@ turn it off if you prefer. + + Writing and Sending Mail - You can start writing a new - email message by selecting New - Mail from the File Menu, - or by pressing Ctrl-N. When you do so, - the New Message window will open, - as shown in . + You can start writing a new email message by selecting + New Mail from the File + Menu, or by pressing the + Send in the Inbox toolbar. When you do so, + the New Message window will open, as + shown in . + + -
- New Message Window - +
+ New Message Window + Evolution Main Window - +
- - - + + + Enter an address in the To: field, a - message in the Message: field, and - press Send. That's - easy. It may even be too easy, which is why I like to - queue my messages up to be sent a few minutes later. + subject in the Subject: and a message in + the big empty box at the bottom of the window, and press + Send. That's easy. It may even be + too easy, which is why I like to queue my messages up to be + sent a few minutes later. Send Now, Send Later - Evolution will send mail immediately unless you tell - it to do otherwise by selecting Send - Later from the MENU. - Then, when you press Send & - Receive, all your unsent messages will go - out at once. I like to use "Send Later" because it - gives me a chance to change my mind about a message - before it goes out. That way, I don't send anything I'll - regret the next day. + Evolution will send mail immediately unless you tell it to + do otherwise by selecting Send + Later from the MENU in + the message composition window. Then, when you press + Send, all your unsent messages will + go out at once. I like to use "Send Later" because it + gives me a chance to change my mind about a message before + it goes out. That way, I don't send anything I'll regret + the next day. To learn more about how you can specify message queue @@ -216,85 +214,89 @@ as putting the fig inside the paragraph may or may not have fixed an error --> - There is quite a bit more to sending mail, though. In the - next few sections, you'll see how - Evolution handles additional features, - including mailing lists, attachments, and forwarding. + You can probably guess the purpose of the buttons labelled + Cut, Copy, + Paste and Undo, but + there's a bit more to sending mail that's less obvious. In + the next few sections, you'll see how + Evolution handles additional + features, including mailing lists, attachments, and + forwarding. Choosing Recipients - If you have created address cards in the contact - manager, you can also enter nicknames or other portions - of address data, and - Evolution will complete the - address for you. (INSERT description of UI for this - feature, once it is decided upon). If you enter a name - or nickname that can go with more than one card, - Evolution will open a dialog box to ask you which person - you meant. (QUESTION: will users be able to drag & drop - address cards to send email?). For more information - about using email together with the contact manager and - the calendar, see and Evolution will complete + the address for you. If you enter a name or + nickname that can go with more than one card, Evolution will + open a dialog box to ask you which person you meant. + For more information about using email + together with the contact manager and the calendar, see + and . - - In addition, you can mark recipients in three different - ways. The To: field is for the - primary recipients of the message you are going to send. - However, it is considered bad form to have more than a - few email addresses in this section. - - - If you're writing to one person, but want to keep a - third party up to date, you can use - Cc:. Hearkening back to the dark - ages when people used typewriters and there were no copy - machines, "Cc" stands for "Carbon Copy." Use it - whenever you want to share a message you've written to - someone else. - - Using the Cc: field - - Say, for example, Susan sends an email to a client. - She puts her co-worker, Tim, in the in the - Cc: field, so that he know - what's going on. The client can see that Tim also - recieved the message, and know that they can talk - to Tim about the message as well. - - - - - If you have a large number of recipients, or if you want - to send mail to several people without sharing the - recipient list, you should use - BCc:. "BCc" stands for "Blind - Carbon Copy", and means that people listed in the - BCc: are excluded from the - recipient list, although they will receive the message - and the list of addresses from the - To: and Cc: - fields. - - - Using the BCc: field - - Let's say Tim sends an email to a client, and wants - his supervisor to know what he wrote. He doesn't, - however, want the client to start writing his - supervisor about the project— it's Tim's job - to deal with the client. So Tim puts his - supervisor's email address in the - BCc: field. That way, the - client has one contact, and the boss stays in the - loop. - - - + + + Multiple Recipients + + In addition, you can mark recipients in three different + ways. The To: field is for the + primary recipients of the message you are going to send. + However, it is considered bad form to have more than a few + email addresses in this section. + + + If you're writing to one person, but want to keep a third + party up to date, you can use Cc:. + Hearkening back to the dark ages when people used + typewriters and there were no copy machines, "Cc" stands + for "Carbon Copy." Use it whenever you want to share a + message you've written to someone else. + + Using the Cc: field + + Say, for example, Susan sends an email to a client. + She puts her co-worker, Tim, in the in the + Cc: field, so that he know + what's going on. The client can see that Tim also + recieved the message, and know that they can talk to + Tim about the message as well. + + + + + If you have a large number of recipients, or if you want + to send mail to several people without sharing the + recipient list, you should use + Bcc:. "Bcc" stands for "Blind Carbon + Copy", and means that people you put in the + Bcc: field get the message, but + nobody else sees their email address. They will still see + the list of addresses from the To: + and Cc: fields. + + + Using the Bcc: field + + Tim is sending out a message to all of his company's + clients, some of whom are in competition with each + other, and all of whom value their privacy. If he + puts every address from his address book's "Clients" + category into the To: or + Cc: fields, he'll have made the + entire client list public. + Don't assume it won't happen to you; I got careless + one day and did it myself. + + + + @@ -321,7 +323,7 @@ with quoted materials and the relevant replies interspersed--> Reply Message Window Evolution Main Window - +
@@ -330,131 +332,198 @@ with quoted materials and the relevant replies interspersed--> If a message has several recipients, as in the case of - mailing lists or messages that have been carbon copied, - you may wish to select one of the items under the - Reply-To submenu on the - MENU menu. This will allow you to - choose one or several of the other message recipients in - addition to the person who originally sent you the - message. If there are large numbers of people in the - Cc: or To: - fields, this can save substantial amounts of time. In - addition, Reply-To makes it very easy to keep off-topic - conversation away from mailing lists and newsgroups. + mailing lists or messages that have been carbon copied, you + may wish to click Reply to All + instead of Reply. If there are large + numbers of people in the Cc: or + To: fields, this can save substantial + amounts of time. But be careful, and always make sure you + know who is getting a message: it could be a mailing list + with thousands of subscribers. Using the Reply-To feature - Returning again to the email Susan sent to Tim and - their client, you'll note that the Reply-To feature - allows the client to decide whether to reply just to - Susan, or to both Tim and Susan by selecting - a menu item, rather than by cutting and pasting the - email addresses. + Susan sends an email to a client, and sends copies to + Tim and to an internal company mailing list of + co-workers. If Tim wants to make a comment to all of + them, he uses Reply to All, but + if he just wants to tell Susan that he agrees with her, + he uses Reply. - - Embellishing that email + + Embellish your email with HTML - Evolution allows you to - make your email more attractive in a number of ways. You - can send messages formatted with HTML, attach any sort - of file to them, and even include live documents, like - spreadhseets or chess games. This section will tell - you how. - - - - Colors, pictures, and fonts with HTML Mail + You can't normally use text treatments or pictures in + emails, which is why you've probably seen people use + asterisks for emphasis or use + emoticons to convey their + feelings. However, most of the newer email programs can + include and display images and text treatments as well as + basic alignment and paragraph formatting. + + + HTML Mail is not a Default Setting - Most email messages are sent as plain text, but they - can also be sent as HTML, which means they can include - color, text style, and other formatting information. - Evolution will read and display HTML properly without - trouble, and also allows you to send outgoing - email messages as HTML. To send an HTML message, just - use the composition toolbar to add formatting; - your message text will appear formatted in the composer - window, and the message will be sent as HTML. + Some people do not have HTML-capable mail clients, or + prefer not to receive HTML-enhanced mail because it is + slower to download and display. Some + people refer to HTML mail as "the root of all evil" and + get very angry if you send them HTML mail, which is why + Evolution sends plain text + unless you explicitly ask for HTML. To send HTML mail, + you will need to select Send Messages as + HTML in the mail settings dialog box. See + for more information. + + + If you format a message with HTML, but do not have + Send Messages as HTML enabled in your + mail settings, the composer will remove your text styles. + It will, however, preserve indentation and lists. It will + do the same thing for any individuals in your address book + whom you have marked as preferring not to receive HTML. + + + + HTML formatting tools are located just above the + composition frame, and in the Insert and + Format menus. Your message text will + appear formatted in the composer window, and the message + will be sent as HTML. + + The icons in the toolbar are explained in tool-tips, which + appear when you hold your mouse over the buttons. The + buttons fall into four categories: + + + + Headers and lists: Choose + Normal for your default text + style, or Header 1 through + Header 6 for varying sizes of + header. You can also select + pre for preformatted text + blocks, and three types of List + Item. + + + + + + Text style: B is for bold text, + I for italics, + U for an underline, and + S for a strikethrough. + + + + + + Alignment: Located next to the text style buttons, + these three paragraph icons should be familiar to + users of most word processing software. The + leftmost button will make your text left-justified, + the center button, centered, and the right hand + button, right-justified. + + + + + + Indentation rules: The button with the arrow + pointing left will reduce a paragraph's indentation, + and the right arrow will increase its indentation. + + + + + + There are two tools that you can find only in the + Insert menu. + + + + Insert Link: Use this tool to + put hyperlinks in your HTML messages. When you + select it, Evolution will + prompt you for the Text that + will appear, and the Link, where + you should enter the actual web address (URL). + + + + + Insert Image: Select this item to + embed image into your email, as was done in the welcome + message. Images will appear at the location of the + cursor. + + + + A Technical note on HTML Tags - You can't use the composer window to create web pages, - at least not if you plan to hand-code them with HTML. - If you enter HTML directly into the composer— say, - <B>Bold - Text</B>, the the composer will assume you - meant exactly that, and not "make this text bold," as a - HTML composition tool would. For the very technically - inclined, that means that when the text <B> is sent as HTML, it will - be converted to the string - &lt;B&gt;. Real gearheads - should wonder how I got all that stuff straight, given - that I'm writing this in SGML. + The composer is a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) + editor for HTML. That means that if you enter HTML + directly into the composer— say, <B>Bold Text</B>, the + the composer will assume you meant exactly that string + of characters, and not "make this text bold," as an HTML + composition tool or text editor would. - - Some people do not have HTML-capable mail clients, or - prefer not to receive HTML-enhanced mail because it is - slower to download and display. - Some people refer to HTML mail as - "the root of all evil" and get very angry if you send - them HTML mail, which is why the default in - Evolution is plain text. - If you choose to send HTML mail, but have an address - book entry for someone who does not wish to receive - HTML-enhanced mail, you can note that preference in - their address card. The mailer will automatically - strip the HTML tags from any messages you send to that - address. - - - - + + Attachments - If you want to attach a file to your email message, - you can do so by . If - your recipients can read HTML mail, you can put an - image inside the mail by dragging the file into the - composer window, or by selecting Menu - Item from the Menu - menu. Still, unless you know what email client the - recipient is using, it's best to send a message or - attachment in the simplest manner possible. - - - + If you want to attach a file to your email message, just + click the button with a paper clip on it, labelled + Attach. + Evolution will then ask you to + select the file. Do so, and then send the message. Be + aware that big attachments can take a long time to + download. + + + + + Forwarding Mail - Forward is useful if you have - received a message and you think someone else would like - to see it, or if you get a message intended for someone - else. You can forward a message as an attachment to a - new message (the default way of forwarding) or you can send it - inline as a quoted portion of the - message you are sending. Attachment forwarding is best - if you want to send the entire message you received, - unaltered. Inline forwarding is best if you want to - send portions of a message, or if you have a large - number of comments on different sections of the message - you are forwarding. Remember to note from whom the + The post office forwards your mail for you when you change + addresses, and you can forward mail when you get a letter by + mistake. The email Forward command + works in much the same way. It's particularly useful if you + have received a message and you think someone else would + like to see it. You can forward a message as an attachment + to a new message (this is the default way of forwarding) or + you can send it inline as a quoted + portion of the message you are sending. Attachment + forwarding is best if you want to send the full, unaltered + message on to someone else. Inline forwarding is best if + you want to send portions of a message, or if you have a + large number of comments on different sections of the + message you are forwarding. Remember to note from whom the message came, and where, if at all, you have removed or altered content. @@ -478,6 +547,17 @@ with quoted materials and the relevant replies interspersed--> I started with ten, but four were "Don't send spam." + + + + Don't send spam or forward chain mail. If you must, + watch out for hoaxes and urban legends, and make sure + the message doesn't have multiple layers of email + quotation symbols (>) indicating multiple layers + of careless inline forwarding. + + + Always begin and close with a salutation. Say @@ -513,16 +593,6 @@ with quoted materials and the relevant replies interspersed--> - - - Don't send spam or forward chain mail. If you - must, verify any rumors, and make sure the - message doesn't have multiple layers of email - quotation symbols (>) indicating multiple - layers of careless inline forwarding. - - - When you reply or forward, include just enough of @@ -540,53 +610,59 @@ with quoted materials and the relevant replies interspersed--> Organizing Your Mail - 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 need to sort and organize them, - and Evolution has the tools to - help you do it. + 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 need to sort and organize them. + Fortunately, Evolution has the tools + to help you do it. Getting Organized with Folders Evolution keeps mail, as well as - address cards and calendars, in folders. Some, like - Inbox, Outbox, and - Drafts have already been created for - you. If you like, you can create new folders by selecting - New and then + address cards and calendars, in folders. You start out with a + few, like Inbox, + Outbox, and Drafts, + but you can create as many as you like. Create new folders by + selecting New and then Folder from the - File menu. You must specify both the name - and the type of the folder; a folder can hold mail, calendars, - or address cards, but you can't mix them up. Some people - don't like that. Too bad. + File menu. + Evolution 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. + + Folders have Limits + + A folder can hold mail, calendars, or address cards, but + you can't mix them up. Also, an email message can be in + only one folder at a time, just like real mail in real + folders. If you need more flexibility, try vFolders. + + - The new folders will appear in the folder - view, and you can drag them wherever you want to - relocate them. You can drag messages around too. If you - create filters with the filter - assistant, you can have mail moved to a folder - automatically. An email message can be in only one folder at - a time, just like real mail in real folders. + When you click OK, your new folder will + appear in the folder view. You can + then put messages in it by dragging and dropping them. If you + create a filter with the filter + assistant, you can have mail moved to your folder + automatically. Searching for Messages - Because Evolution automatically - creates an index of every email you send or receive, it can - search through your old messages and present you with results - very quickly. You can search through just the message - subjects, just the message body, or both body and subjet. + Most mail clients can search through your messages for you, + but Evolution does it faster. You + can search through just the message subjects, just the message + body, or both body and subject. - To create a search, enter the word or phrase you're - looking for in the form field below the toolbar, and - choose a search type: + To start searching, enter a word or phrase in the text area + right below the toolbar, and choose a search type: @@ -633,7 +709,7 @@ with quoted materials and the relevant replies interspersed--> Then, press Enter. Evolution will show your search - results in + results in the message list. @@ -689,14 +765,16 @@ with quoted materials and the relevant replies interspersed--> - + - Then, the filter assistant will ask you which emails it should act - upon. You can set criteria to include words or phrases in the - subject, To:, Cc: or body of the message. (FIXME: WHAT ELSE?) - Once you've decided which messages to filter, the assistant will - ask you the sort of action you wish to take. More details and - screenshots should follow here. + Then, the filter assistant will ask you which emails it should + act upon. You can set criteria based on message size, the + sender, primary addressee or cc: list, or words in the subject + or body of the message. Once you've decided which messages to + filter, the assistant will ask you the sort of action you wish + to take. You can file, delete, or forward the message, and you + can also have it be exempted from other filters which would + otherwise have acted upon it. @@ -721,9 +799,9 @@ with quoted materials and the relevant replies interspersed--> Getting Really Organized with Virtual Folders If you find that filters aren't flexible enough for you, or - end up performing the same search again and again, you should - consider a virtual folder. Virtual folders, or vFolders, are - an advanced way of viewing your email messages within + end up 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 Evolution. If you get a lot of mail or often forget where you put messages, vFolders can help you stay on top of things. -- cgit v1.2.3