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) 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: eg. Eva Lucianne Tester Email address: Your email address: eg. eltester@helixcode.com Organization: Any organization you represent; often, the company where you work. Leave this blank if you wish. One person I know always puts "My own bad self" in this box, so people know his opinions are his 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. Remeber, this is attached to every email you send. Mail source type: Evolution supports three mail sources: POP servers, IMAP servers, and UNIX-style mbox 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; UNIX-style 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 mutt. Ask your system administrator which you should use, or keep guessing until one works. You may use multiple servers if you wish; see for more information. Server: This should be the name of your mail server: it should look something like: mailserver.organization.org. Username: Normally, 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. To learn how to configure Evolution in greater detail, or to change preferences once you have set them, see .