1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590
591
592
593
594
595
596
597
598
599
600
601
602
603
604
605
606
607
608
609
610
611
612
613
614
615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622
623
624
625
626
627
628
629
630
631
632
633
634
635
636
637
638
639
640
641
642
643
644
645
646
647
648
649
650
651
652
653
654
655
656
657
658
659
660
661
662
663
664
665
666
667
668
669
670
671
672
673
674
675
676
677
678
679
680
681
682
683
684
685
686
687
688
689
690
691
692
693
694
695
696
697
698
699
700
701
702
703
704
705
706
707
708
709
710
711
712
713
714
715
716
717
718
719
720
721
722
723
724
725
726
727
728
729
730
731
732
733
734
735
736
737
738
739
740
741
742
743
744
745
746
747
748
749
750
751
752
753
754
755
756
757
758
759
760
761
762
763
764
765
766
767
768
769
770
771
772
773
774
775
776
777
778
779
780
781
782
783
784
785
786
787
788
789
790
791
792
793
794
795
796
797
798
799
800
801
802
803
804
805
806
807
808
809
810
811
812
813
814
815
816
817
818
819
820
821
822
823
824
825
826
827
828
829
830
831
832
833
834
835
836
837
838
839
840
841
842
843
844
845
846
847
848
849
850
851
852
853
854
855
856
857
858
859
860
861
862
863
864
865
866
867
868
869
870
871
872
873
874
875
876
877
878
879
880
881
882
883
884
885
886
887
888
889
890
891
892
893
894
895
896
897
898
899
900
901
902
903
904
905
906
907
908
909
910
911
912
913
914
915
916
917
918
919
920
921
922
923
924
925
926
927
928
929
930
931
932
933
934
935
936
937
938
939
940
941
942
943
944
945
946
947
948
949
950
951
952
953
954
955
956
957
958
959
960
961
962
963
964
965
966
967
968
969
970
971
972
973
974
975
976
977
978
979
980
981
982
983
984
985
986
987
988
989
990
991
992
993
994
995
996
997
998
999
1000
1001
1002
1003
1004
1005
1006
1007
1008
1009
1010
1011
1012
1013
1014
1015
1016
1017
1018
1019
1020
1021
1022
1023
1024
1025
1026
1027
1028
1029
1030
1031
1032
1033
1034
1035
1036
1037
1038
1039
1040
1041
|
<!--
<!DOCTYPE Chapter PUBLIC "-//GNOME//DTD DocBook PNG Variant V1.1//EN">
-->
<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 receive 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 <filename>mbox</filename> 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>Checking 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). If
you're checking mail over a network (instead of from local
<filename>mbox</filename> files), you'll need to enter your
email password. Type it in, click <guibutton>OK</guibutton> and
<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>
Once you've entered your password,
<application>Evolution</application> will hold it in memory so
that you don't have to retype it every time you want to check
mail. It will only remember the password until you quit the
application; each time you run
<application>Evolution</application>, you need to re-enter
your password. If you'd like
<application>Evolution</application> to forget your password
sooner, select
<menuchoice><guimenu>Actions</guimenu><guimenuitem>Forget
Passwords</guimenuitem></menuchoice>, and it will do so
immediately.
</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 someone sends you a file attached to an email (an
"attachment"), <application>Evolution</application> will
display the file 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 a location 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— 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
<menuchoice> <guimenu>File</guimenu>
<guisubmenu>New</guisubmenu> <guimenuitem>
Mail</guimenuitem></menuchoice>, or by pressing the
<guibutton>Compose</guibutton> button in the Inbox toolbar.
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="Kevin Breit">
</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.
</para>
<para>
Alternately, you can click on the
<guibutton>To:</guibutton>, <guibutton>Cc:</guibutton>, or
<guibutton>Bcc:</guibutton> buttons to get a list of email
addresses. Click the check-boxes next to the addresses, then
click <guibutton>OK</guibutton>, and the address will be
added to the appropriate form field.
</para>
<para>
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">.
</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>
When 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
received the message, and knows that he 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, though.
<example id="ex-mail-bcc">
<title>Using the Bcc: field</title>
<para>
Tim is sending an email announcement to all of his
company's clients, some of whom are in competition
with each other, and all of whom value their
privacy. He needs to use the
<guilabel>Bcc:</guilabel> field here. If he puts
every address from his address book's "Clients"
category into the <guilabel>To:</guilabel> or
<guilabel>Cc:</guilabel> fields, he'll make the
company's <emphasis>entire</emphasis> client list
public. Don't assume it won't happen to you!
</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— 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
> 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. The
same is true for individuals in your address book whom you
have not marked as wanting to receive HTML mail.
</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 a 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><guibutton>B</guibutton> is for bold text</para></listitem>
<listitem><para><guibutton>I</guibutton> for italics</para></listitem>
<listitem><para><guibutton>U</guibutton> to underline</para></listitem>
<listitem><para><guibutton>S</guibutton> 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 three tools that you can find only in the
<guimenu>Insert</guimenu> menu.
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><guimenuitem>Insert Link</guimenuitem>:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
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>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term> <guimenuitem>Insert Image</guimenuitem>:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<guimenuitem>Insert Image</guimenuitem>: Select this item to
embed an image into your email, as was done in the welcome
message. Images will appear at the location of the
cursor.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guimenuitem>Insert Rule</guimenuitem>:</term>
<listitem><para>
This will insert a horizontal line, or rule, into your document.
You'll be presented with a dialog box which gives you
the choice of size, percentage of screen, shading, and
alignment; if you leave everything at the default
values you'll get a thin black rule all the way across
the screen.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</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— say, <markup
role="html"><B>Bold Text</B></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, you
can drag it from your desktop into the message window, or
click the button in the toolbar with a paper clip on it,
labelled <guibutton>Attach</guibutton>. If you click the
<guibutton>Attach</guibutton> button,
<application>Evolution</application> will open a file
selection dialog box, to ask you which file you want to
send. Select the file and click <guilabel>OK</guilabel>.
</para>
<para>
When you send the message, a copy of the file will
go with it. 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> button
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) 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 you are reading, press
<guibutton>Forward</guibutton> on the toolbar, or select
<menuchoice> <guimenu>Message</guimenu>
<guimenuitem>Forward</guimenuitem> </menuchoice>. If you
prefer to forward the message <glossterm>inline</glossterm>
instead of attached, select <menuchoice>
<guimenu>Message</guimenu> <guimenuitem>Forward
Inline</guimenuitem> </menuchoice> from the 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 (>) 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.
</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.
</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, or by
using the <guibutton>Move</guibutton> button in the toolbar.
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 as it arrives. Most often,
you'll want to have <application>Evolution</application> put
mail into different folders, but you can have it do anything
you like. People who subscribe to multiple mailing lists, or
who often need to refer to messages they have sent, find
filters especially helpful to separate personal from
list-related mail, but they're good for anybody who gets more
than a few messages a day. To create a filter, select
<menuchoice>
<guimenu>Tools</guimenu> <guimenuitem>Filter
Assistant</guimenuitem> </menuchoice>. 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, words in the subject or
body of the message, or any combination of criteria. Check the
boxes next to each criterion you would like to use.
</para>
<para>
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 filters aren't flexible enough for you, or you find
yourself 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 more mail you need to organize, 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. 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: vFolders in action) -->
</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. You can build
your own from the ground up, or select one of several base
rules to customize. Your options are:
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>For matching messages:</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Choose this to create your own set of rules for the
vFolder. 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>
The remaining three rules are simpler. Select this
one to create a vFolder that will contain only
messages from an address you enter.
</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. This vFolder is an absolute
must for people with multiple email addresses.
</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>
The selection window 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. The rules for the vFolder you're creating
will appear as phrases in the bottom pane of the window. You
can click on the blue underlined text in the phrase to alter
it to your liking. For example, when I create a vFolder to
contain all messages from <email>rupert@helixcode.com</email>
that have the word "evolution" in the message body, the bottom
frame says: <computeroutput>The From address matches
rupert@helixcode.com and the body contains
"evolution".</computeroutput>.
</para>
</sect2>
</sect1>
</chapter>
|