path: root/doc/C/usage-mail.sgml

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<chapter id="usage-mail"> 
  <title>Evolution Mail</title>
  <abstract>
    <title> An Overview of the Evolution Mailer</title>
    <para>
       <application>Evolution</application> email is like other email
       programs in all the ways you would hope:
     <itemizedlist>
       <listitem>
     <para>
       It can sort and organize your mail in a wide variety of ways with
       folders, searches, and filters.
     </para>
       </listitem>
       <listitem>
     <para>
      It can send and recieve mail in HTML or as plain text, and
      supports file attachments.
     </para>
       </listitem>
       <listitem>
     <para>
       It supports multiple mail sources, including IMAP, POP3,
       and local mbox files.
     </para>
       </listitem>
     </itemizedlist>
    </para>
    <para>
      However, <application>Evolution</application> has some important
      differences.  First, it's built to handle very large amounts of
      mail without slowing down or crashing.  Both the <link
      linkend="usage-mail-organize-filters">filtering</link> and <link
      linkend="usage-mail-organize-search">searching</link> functions
      were built for speed and efficiency on gargantuan mail
      volumes. There's also the <application>Evolution</application>
      <link linkend="usage-mail-organize-vFolders">vFolder</link>, 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.
    </para>

    <para>
       You can start reading email by clicking
       <guibutton>Inbox</guibutton> in the shortcut bar.  By
       default, the <interface>Inbox</interface> is open when you
       start <application>Evolution</application>, and the first
       time you see your inbox, there's a message in it from Helix
       Code welcoming you to the application.
    </para>
  </abstract>

  <sect1 id="usage-mail-getnsend">
    <title>Reading, Getting and Sending Mail</title>
    <sect2 id="usage-mail-getnsend-read">
      <title>Reading a Message</title>
      <para>
    The first time you open your
    <application>Evolution</application>
    <guilabel>Inbox</guilabel>, you will see a window like the one
    in <xref linkend="usage-mail-intro-fig">, with a message from
    Helix Code in the <interface>message list</interface>.  The
    message is displayed below that, in the <interface>view
    pane</interface>.  If you find the <interface>view
    pane</interface> too small, you can double-click on the
    message in the <interface>message list</interface> to have it
    open in a new window.  As is the case with folders, you can
    right-click on messages in the message list and get a menu of
    possible actions.
      </para>
      <para>
    Go ahead and click on the message in the <interface>message
    list</interface>.  That selects the message.  Then click on
    the <guibutton>Delete</guibutton> button in the tool bar.  The
    message now has a line through it, because you've marked it
    for deletion.  If you really want to get rid of it, choose
    <guimenuitem>Expunge</guimenuitem> from the
    <guimenu>Tools</guimenu> menu.  That will delete it
    permanently. If you want to keep it, click
    <guibutton>Delete</guibutton> again, and it will no longer be
    marked as deleted.  At some point in the future, this feature
    will change to something a little less counter-intuitive.
      </para>
 <!-- ==============Figure=================================== -->
 
      <figure id="usage-mail-intro-fig">
      <title>Evolution Mail</title>
      <screenshot>
        <screeninfo>Inbox</screeninfo>
        <graphic fileref="fig/mail-pic" format="png" srccredit="Aaron Weber">
    </graphic>
    </screenshot>
      </figure>
<!-- ==============End of Figure============================== -->

    </sect2>

    <sect2 id="usage-mail-getnsend-get">
      <title>Getting Mail</title>
      <para>
    To check your email, just click <guibutton>Get
    mail</guibutton> in the toolbar.  If this is the first time
    you've done so, the <interface>mail setup
    assistant</interface> will ask you for the information it
    needs to check your mail (see <xref
    linkend="config-setupassist"> for more information).  Then,
    <application>Evolution</application> will download your mail.
    New mail will appear in your <interface>Inbox</interface>.
        <!-- FIXME: add mention of Today if Today feature appears -->
      </para>

      <para>
    If you get an error message instead of mail, you probably
    need to change your network settings.  To learn how to
    do that, have a look at <xref
    linkend="config-prefs-mail-network">, or ask your system
    administrator.
      </para>

      <sect3 id="usage-mail-getnsend-get-attach">
    <title>Attachments, HTML Mail, and Live Documents</title>
    <para>
      If you receive a file attached to an email,
      <application>Evolution</application> will display it at the
      bottom of the message to which it's attached.  Text, HTML,
      and most images will be displayed in the message itself.
      For other files, <application>Evolution</application> will
      provide a link and icon at the end of the message.  Click on
      that, and <application>Evolution</application> 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 <application>Nautilus</application> or
      your favorite shell or file manager.
    </para>

    <para>
       <application>Evolution</application> can also display
       HTML-formatted mail, complete with graphics.  HTML
       formatting will display automatically, although you can
       turn it off if you prefer.
    </para>

<!--  ######## Feature will probably not be implemented ******
    <para>
       It can also display <glossterm>live
       documents</glossterm>, which have scripted or
       executable contents&mdash; for example, a working
       spreadsheet page or a chess game.  
    </para> 

-->

      </sect3>
    </sect2>

    <sect2 id="usage-mail-getnsend-send">
      <title>Writing and Sending Mail</title>
      <para>
     You can start writing a new email message by selecting
     <guimenuitem>New Mail</guimenuitem> from the <guimenu>File
     Menu</guimenu>, or by pressing the
     <guibutton>Send</guibutton> in the Inbox toolbar.  <!-- THIS
     IS A BAD BUTTON NAME AND MUST BE FIXED --> When you do so,
     the <interface>New Message</interface> window will open, as
     shown in <xref linkend="usage-mail-newmsg-fig">.
      </para>



<!--   ==============Figure=================================== -->
      <figure id="usage-mail-newmsg-fig">
    <title>New Message Window</title>
    <screenshot>
      <screeninfo>Evolution Main Window</screeninfo>
      <graphic fileref="fig/newmsg-pic" format="png" srccredit="Aaron Weber">
    </graphic>
    </screenshot>
      </figure>
<!-- ==============End of Figure=================================== -->

 <!-- Check the alignment of the following paragraph in the PS and
 HTML output: it's indented for no good reason -->
      <para>
     Enter an address in the <guilabel>To:</guilabel> field, a
     subject in the <guilabel>Subject:</guilabel> and a message in
     the big empty box at the bottom of the window, and press
     <guibutton>Send</guibutton>.  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.

     <tip id="usage-mail-getnsend-send-attach-tip">
      <title>Send Now, Send Later</title>
      <para>
        Evolution will send mail immediately unless you tell it to
        do otherwise by selecting <guimenuitem>Send
        Later</guimenuitem> from the <guimenu>MENU</guimenu> in
        the message composition window.  Then, when you press
        <guibutton>Send</guibutton>, 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.
      </para>
      <para>
        To learn more about how you can specify message queue
        and filter behavior, see <xref linkend="config-prefs-mail">.
      </para>
     </tip>
       </para>

      <para>
    You can probably guess the purpose of the buttons labelled
    <guilabel>Cut</guilabel>, <guilabel>Copy</guilabel>,
    <guilabel>Paste</guilabel> and <guilabel>Undo</guilabel>, but
    there's a bit more to sending mail that's less obvious.  In
    the next few sections, you'll see how
    <application>Evolution</application> handles additional
    features, including mailing lists, attachments, and
    forwarding.
      </para>


      <sect3 id="usage-mail-getnsend-send-to">
    <title>Choosing Recipients</title>
    <para>
      If you have created address cards in the contact manager,
      you can also enter nicknames or other portions of address
      data, and <application>Evolution</application> 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
      <xref linkend="usage-contact-automate"> and <xref
      linkend="usage-calendar-apts-group">.
    </para>

    <sect4 id="usage-mail-getnsend-send-to-mult">
      <title>Multiple Recipients</title>
      <para>
        In addition, you can mark recipients in three different
        ways.  The <guilabel>To:</guilabel> 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.
      </para>
      <para>
        If you're writing to one person, but want to keep a third
        party up to date, you can use <guilabel>Cc:</guilabel>.
        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.
        <example>
          <title>Using the Cc: field</title>
          <para>
             Say, for example, Susan sends an email to a client.
             She puts her co-worker, Tim, in the in the
             <guilabel>Cc:</guilabel> 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.
          </para>
        </example>
      </para>
      <para>
        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
        <guilabel>Bcc:</guilabel>. "Bcc" stands for "Blind Carbon
        Copy", and means that people you put in the
        <guilabel>Bcc:</guilabel> field get the message, but
        nobody else sees their email address.  They will still see
        the list of addresses from the <guilabel>To:</guilabel>
        and <guilabel>Cc:</guilabel> fields.

        <example id="ex-mail-bcc">
          <title>Using the Bcc: field</title>
          <para>
             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 <guilabel>To:</guilabel> or
             <guilabel>Cc:</guilabel> fields, he'll have made the
             <emphasis>entire</emphasis> client list public.
             Don't assume it won't happen to you; I got careless
             one day and did it myself.
         </para>
        </example>
      </para>
    </sect4>
      </sect3>

   <sect3 id="usage-mail-getnsend-send-reply">
    <title>Replying to Messages</title>
    <para>
       In order to reply to a message, click on it once in the
       message list to select it.  Then press the
       <guibutton>Reply</guibutton> button.  A window like the
       <interface>New Message</interface> window will appear, but
       the subject will already be present&mdash; the same subject
       as the message to which you are replying, but with Re:
       before it, to mark it as a reply.  In addition, the full
       text of the previous message is inserted into the new
       message, either in italics (for HTML display) or with the
       &gt; character (in plain text mode) before each line.  This
       indicates quoting.  You can intersperse your message with
       the quoted material as shown in <xref
       linkend="usage-mail-getnsend-reply-fig">

<!-- note that this figure should have a reply mail ready to send,
with quoted materials and the relevant replies interspersed-->
 <!-- ==============Figure=================================== -->
       <figure id="usage-mail-getnsend-reply-fig">
     <title>Reply Message Window</title>
     <screenshot>
      <screeninfo>Evolution Main Window</screeninfo>
      <graphic fileref="fig/replymsg" format="png" srccredit="Aaron Weber">
    </graphic>
    </screenshot>
      </figure>
<!-- ==============End of Figure=================================== -->
    </para>

    <para>
      If a message has several recipients, as in the case of
      mailing lists or messages that have been carbon copied, you
      may wish to click <guibutton>Reply to All</guibutton>
      instead of <guibutton>Reply</guibutton>.  If there are large
      numbers of people in the <guilabel>Cc:</guilabel> or
      <guilabel>To:</guilabel> 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.
      <example>
        <title>Using the Reply-To feature</title>
        <para>
          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 <guibutton>Reply to All</guibutton>, but
          if he just wants to tell Susan that he agrees with her,
              he uses <guibutton>Reply</guibutton>.
        </para>
      </example>
    </para>
      </sect3>

      <sect3 id="usage-mail-getnsend-send-html">
    <title>Embellish your email with HTML</title>
    <para>
            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
            <glossterm>emoticons</glossterm> 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.
        </para>
    <note>
      <title>HTML Mail is not a Default Setting</title>
      <para>
        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.  <emphasis>Some</emphasis>
        people refer to HTML mail as "the root of all evil" and
        get very angry if you send them HTML mail, which is why
        <application>Evolution</application> sends plain text
        unless you explicitly ask for HTML.  To send HTML mail,
        you will need to select <guilabel>Send Messages as
        HTML</guilabel> in the mail settings dialog box.  See
        <xref linkend="config-prefs-mail-other"> for more information.
          </para>
      <para>
            If you format a message with HTML, but do not have
        <guilabel>Send Messages as HTML</guilabel> 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.
           </para>
    </note>
    <para>
           HTML formatting tools are located just above the
       composition frame, and in the <guimenu>Insert</guimenu> and
       <guimenu>Format</guimenu> menus.  Your message text will
       appear formatted in the composer window, and the message
       will be sent as HTML.
      </para>
      <para>
            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:
            <variablelist>
             <varlistentry>
             <term>Headers and lists</term>
          <listitem>
        <para>
                  Choose <guilabel>Normal</guilabel> for your default
                  text style, or <guilabel>Header 1</guilabel> through
                  <guilabel>Header 6</guilabel> for varying sizes of
                  header.  You can also select
                  <guilabel>pre</guilabel> for preformatted text
                  blocks, and three types of <guilabel>List
                  Item</guilabel>.
                </para>
          </listitem>
           </varlistentry>
           <varlistentry>
             <term>Text style</term>
          <listitem>
        <para>
                  <itemizedlist mark="none">      
          <listitem><para><guilabel>B</guilabel> is for bold text</para></listitem>         
                  <listitem><para><guilabel>I</guilabel> for italics</para></listitem>
          <listitem><para><guilabel>U</guilabel> to underline</para></listitem>
          <listitem><para><guilabel>S</guilabel> for a strikethrough.</para></listitem>
                 </itemizedlist>
               </para>               
          </listitem>    
        </varlistentry>
        <varlistentry>
          <term>Alignment</term>
          <listitem>
        <para>
                  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.
                </para>
          </listitem>
          </varlistentry>

        <varlistentry>
          <term>Indentation rules</term>
          <listitem>
        <para>
                  The button with the arrow pointing left will reduce
                  a paragraph's indentation, and the right arrow will
                  increase its indentation.
               </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      </variablelist>
        </para>
    <para>
           There are two tools that you can find only in the
           <guimenu>Insert</guimenu> menu.
           <itemizedlist>
        <listitem>
          <para>
                 <guilabel>Insert Link</guilabel>: Use this tool to
                 put hyperlinks in your HTML messages.  When you
                 select it, <application>Evolution</application> will
                 prompt you for the <guilabel>Text</guilabel> that
                 will appear, and the <guilabel>Link</guilabel>, where
                 you should enter the actual web address (URL).
              </para>
        </listitem>
        <listitem>
          <para>
               <guilabel>Insert Image</guilabel>: 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.
              </para>
        </listitem>
      </itemizedlist>
          </para>
      <note>
        <title>A Technical note on HTML Tags</title>
        <para>
          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&mdash; say, <markup
          role="html">&lt;B&gt;Bold Text&lt;/B&gt</markup>, 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.
        </para>
      </note>
    </sect3>
    <sect3 id="usage-mail-getnsend-send-attach">
      <title>Attachments</title>
      <para>
        If you want to attach a file to your email message, just
        click the button with a paper clip on it, labelled
        <guibutton>Attach</guibutton>.
        <application>Evolution</application> 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.  
          </para>
    </sect3>

<!-- Function not implemented, 
possibly never will be due to security evil. -->
<!--
    <sect3 id="usage-mail-getnsend-send-live">
      <title>Live Documents</title>
      <para>
        Later versions of <application>Evolution</application>
        will allow you to enliven your email with almost any
        sort of document, and even with entire
        applications. At this point, however, this feature has not 
        yet been implemented.
      </para>
    </sect3>
-->

      <sect3 id="usage-getnsend-fwd">
    <title>Forwarding Mail</title>      
    <para>
      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 <guilabel>Forward</guilabel> 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 <glossterm>inline</glossterm> 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.
    </para>
    <para>
      To forward a message, first make sure it is selected by
      clicking it once in the message list.  Then, press
      <guibutton>Forward</guibutton> on the toolbar, or select
      SOMETHING.  To forward a message
      <glossterm>inline</glossterm> instead of attached, select
      <guimenuitem>Forward Inline </guimenuitem> from the
      <guimenu>Message</guimenu> menu.  Choose an addressee as you
      would when sending a new message; the subject will already
      be entered, but you can alter it.  Enter your comments on
      the message in the <interface>composition frame</interface>,
      and press <guibutton>Send</guibutton>.
    </para>
      </sect3>
      <sect3 id="usage-mail-getnsend-ettiquette">
    <title>Seven Tips for Email Usage</title>
    <para>
      I started with ten, but four were "Don't send
      <glossterm>spam</glossterm>."
      <itemizedlist>

        <listitem>
          <para>
         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 (&gt;) indicating multiple layers
         of careless inline forwarding.
          </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para>
        Always begin and close with a salutation. Say
        "please" and "thank you", just like you do in real
        life. You can keep your pleasantries short, but be pleasant!
          </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para>
        ALL CAPS MEANS YOU'RE SHOUTING!
          </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para>
         Never write anything in email you wouldn't say in
         public.  Old messages have a nasty habit of
         resurfacing when you least expect them to.
          </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para>
           Check your spelling and use complete sentences.
          </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para>
        Don't send nasty emails (flames).  If you get one,
        don't write back.
          </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para>
         When you reply or forward, include just enough of
         the previous message to provide context. Not too
         much, not too little.
           </para>
        </listitem>
      </itemizedlist>
    </para>
    <para> Happy mailing! </para>
      </sect3>
    </sect2>
  </sect1>

  <sect1 id="usage-mail-organize">
    <title>Organizing Your Mail</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>

    <sect2 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.
        <note>
      <title>Folders have Limits</title>
      <para>
            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.
          </para>
    </note>
      </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.  If you
    create a filter with the <interface>filter
    assistant</interface>, you can have mail moved to your folder
    automatically.
      </para>
    </sect2>    

    <sect2 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>

        Then, press <keycap>Enter</keycap>.
        <application>Evolution</application> will show your search
        results in the message list.

      </para>
    </sect2>

    <sect2 id="usage-mail-organize-filters">
      <title>Staying organized: Mail Filters in Evolution</title>
      <para>
    Filters sort your email for you.  People who subscribe to
    multiple mailing lists, or who often need to refer to messages
    they have sent, find filters especially helpful to seperate
    personal from list-related mail, but they're good for anybody
    who gets more than a few messages a day.  To create a filter,
    go to your <interface>Inbox</interface>.  Then select
    <guimenuitem>Filter Assistant</guimenuitem> from the
    <guimenu>Tools</guimenu> menu. This will bring up a window
    which will guide you through filter creation.  The
    <interface>filter assistant</interface> is shown in <xref
    linkend="usage-mail-filters-fig-new">


       <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> The <interface>filter assistant</interface> window
    contains a window listing rules, and an option to create a
    new rule.  To start filtering your mail, click
    <guibutton>Add</guibutton> to add a filtering rule.
    You'll decide when it should take place: 
      <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>
      
      <para>
       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.  
      </para>


      <note>
    <title>Two Notable Filter Features</title>
    <para>
      <itemizedlist>
        <listitem><para>Any incoming email that does not meet
        filter action criteria remains in the Inbox. </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem><para>If you move a folder, your filters
        will follow it.  </para></listitem>
      </itemizedlist>
    </para>
      </note>
    </sect2>



    <sect2 id="usage-mail-organize-vFolders">
      <title>Getting Really Organized with Virtual Folders</title>
      <para>
    If you find that filters aren't flexible enough for you, or
    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
    <application>Evolution</application>.  If you get a lot of
    mail or often forget where you put messages, vFolders can help
    you stay on top of things.
      </para>
      <para>
    A vFolder 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.  Once you've set it up, you'll be
    able to open it and read the messages in it as though it were
    a normal mail folder.  It's not a folder, though, because when
    you open a vFolder, <application>Evolution</application>
    performs a search for you.  It's not a regular search, though,
    because you can build a vFolder with a very complicated set of
    criteria with multiple inclusions and exclusions, as though
    you were setting up a filter.
      </para>

<!-- potentially useful, but doesn't fit at the moment:
     <para>
       An important difference between a folder and a virtual folder
    is that a conventional folder actually contains messages, but
    a vFolder is a view of messages that may be in several
    different folders.  This means that while a message may fall
    into several vFolders, it can be in only one conventional
    folder.  Also, it means that you cannot remove a message from
    a vFolder unless you delete it, and you cannot add a message
    to a vFolder unless you change the vFolder's search criteria.
      </para>
-->

      <para>
    As messages that meet the vFolder criteria arrive or are
    deleted, <application>Evolution</application> will
    automatically place them in and and remove them from the
    vFolder contents list.  When you delete a message, it gets
    erased from the folder in which it actually exists, as well as
    any vFolders which include it.
      </para>
      <para>
    That's pretty complicated, but it can be useful. For example,
    if I have a folder for all the email from one person, and
    another folder for all the email on a given topic, I
    <emphasis>feel</emphasis> organized.  But when the person
    sends me mail about the topic, my whole email filing universe
    becomes chaotic, and I need vFolders to save the day for me.
      </para>
      <para>
    That sounds silly, but 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 larger the system, the less
    you can afford the sort of confusion that stems from an
    organizational system that's not flexible enough.  vFolders
    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 vFolders</title>
    <para>
       To organize my mail box, I can set up a vFolder
       for emails from my friend Vince, by doing (INSERT
       PROCESS HERE).  Then, whenever I want to see the
       messages Vince has sent me, I open the vFolder, and
       every message he's sent me shows up, no matter where
       I've actually filed it.  If I want, I can also create a
       vFolder containing any message from my list of
       co-workers which also has the name of the project in
       it.  That way, when Vince sends me mail about the
       project, I can see that message both in the "Vince"
       vFolder and in the "Project" vFolder.  That's because
       when I open up the "Vince" folder, I'm really
       performing a search for all the mail from Vince, and
       when I open the "Project" folder I'm really performing
       a search for all the mail about the project.

      (INSERT SCREENSHOT HERE)

    </para>
      </example>
      <para>
     To create a vFolder, select <guimenuitem>VFolder
     Assistant</guimenuitem> from the <guimenu>Tools</guimenu>
     menu in the <interface>main window</interface>.  This
     will bring up a dialog box that looks suspiciously like
     the Filter Assistant (for more information on filters, see
     <xref linkend="usage-mail-organize-filters">), and which
     presents you with a list of vFolders you have previously
     created. If you have already created vFolders, you can
     click on them in the frame labelled <guilabel>Select Rule
     Type</guilabel>, and edit or remove them.  If you have
     not created any, there will be only one available option:
     click <guibutton>Add</guibutton> to add a new vFolder.
      </para>
      <para>
     You'll be prompted to create a filtering rule. To do so,
     select one of the base rules, and click
     <guibutton>Next</guibutton> to customize it.  Your options are:
    <variablelist>
     <varlistentry>
        <term><guilabel>For matching messages:</guilabel></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
            You may select one or more search criteria; the
            vFolder you create will contain messages that match
            all of them.
         </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><guilabel>Messages from a certain person:</guilabel></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
         Enter an email address, and the vFolder will contain
         any messages from that address.
         </para>
       </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><guilabel>Messages to a certain address:</guilabel</term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
             Any messages sent directly to this address will be in
             the vFolder you create.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><guilabel>Messages with a given subject:</guilabel></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
        Enter a subject, and the vFolder will contain messages
        with that subject.
         </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>

    as 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>Selecting a vFolder Rule</screeninfo>
      <graphic fileref="fig/vfolder-createrule-fig" format="png" srccredit="Aaron Weber">
    </graphic>
    </screenshot>
      </figure>
      </para>
      <para>

    Once you click <guibutton>Next</guibutton>, you'll
    customize the vFolder rule.  This process is somewhat
    complicated, but promises to get much more simple in
    future versions of <application>Evolution</application>.
    As it stands now, try clicking different things to have
    the sentence in the bottom frame make sense.

      </para>
    </sect2>

  </sect1>
</chapter>