The first time you try to use email, the mail setup assistant will ask you for some basic information, so Evolution can let you use email. If you prefer more detailed configuration, or if you want to make changes to an existing email setup, see . The first time you try to send or receive mail with Evolution, the mail setup assistant 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 Cancel. The setup assistant (sometimes called a Druid, 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 .

Evolution Main Window

The assistant will ask you for the following information: Name: Your full name. Email address: Your complete email address. Organization: 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. Signature File: 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. Mail source type: Evolution supports several mail sources: POP and IMAP servers, and UNIX-style mbox and mh 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; IMAP servers store the mail on the server so you can access it from multiple locations; mbox> files are used by your computer for internal mail, and may be useful if you want to switch from another email client such as Spruce or Netscape Communicator. Ask your system administrator which you should use, or keep guessing until one works. You may use multiple sources if you wish; see for more information. If you decide not to have Evolution use any servers, the remaining items are not relevant; you only need to point to the location of the files you wish to access. Server: 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. Username: 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 Evolution has selected that value as the default. If you have a different username, you can enter it here. Authentication: Select the type of authentication you will use. You can click Detect supported types to find out which authentication protocols your network allows. Mail Transport: This is the mail sending protocol you will want to use. Evolution supports both SMTP and sendmail; SMTP is by far the more common. To learn how to configure Evolution in greater detail, or to change preferences once you have set them, see .