path: root/help/C/usage-mainwindow.sgml

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<chapter id="usage-mainwindow">

  <title>The Main Window: Evolution Basics</title>
  <para>
     Start <application>Evolution</application> by selecting
     <menuchoice><guimenu>Main Panel Menu</guimenu>
     <guisubmenu>Applications</guisubmenu>
     <guimenuitem>Evolution</guimenuitem></menuchoice> or by typing
     <command>evolution</command> at the command line.  The first time
     you run the program, it will create a directory called
     <filename>evolution</filename> in your home directory, where it
     will keep all your <application>Evolution</application>-related
     files.
   </para>
   <para>
     After <application>Evolution</application> starts
     up, you will see the <interface>main window</interface>, with the
     <interface>Inbox</interface> open.  It should look a lot like the
     picture in <xref linkend="usage-mainwindow-fig">. On the left of
     the <interface>main window</interface> is the <interface>shortcut
     bar</interface>, with several buttons in it.  Just underneath the
     title bar is a series of menus in the <interface>menu
     bar</interface>, and below that, the <interface>tool
     bar</interface> with buttons for different functions. The largest
     part of the <interface>main window</interface> is taken up by the
     actual <interface>Inbox</interface>, where messages are listed
     and displayed.  If you're running the program for the first time,
     you'll have just one message: a welcome from Helix Code.


<!-- ==============Figure=================================== -->
    <figure id="usage-mainwindow-fig">
    <title>Evolution Main Window and Inbox</title>
    <screenshot>
      <screeninfo>Evolution Main Window</screeninfo>
      <graphic fileref="fig/mainwindow-pic" format="png" srccredit="Kevin Breit">
    </graphic>
    </screenshot>
    </figure>
<!-- ==============End of Figure=================================== -->
</para>

   <para>
    <note>
      <title>The Way Evolution Looks</title>
      <para>
    The appearance of both <application>Evolution</application>
    and <application>GNOME</application> is very easy to
    customize, so your screen might not look like this picture.
    You might configure <application>Evolution</application> to
    start with a different view, without the <interface>shortcut
    bar</interface>, or with the <link
    linkend="usage-mainwindow-folderbar">folder bar</link>
    instead.
      </para>
    </note>
  </para>
  
  <sect1 id="usage-mainwindow-shortcutbar">
    <title>The Shortcut Bar</title>
    <para>
        <application>Evolution</application>'s most important job is
        to give you access to your information and help you use it
        quickly.  One way it does that is through the
        <interface>shortcut bar</interface>, the column on the left
        hand side of the main window.  The large buttons with names
        like <guilabel>Inbox</guilabel> and
        <guilabel>Contacts</guilabel> are the shortcuts, and you can
        select different groups of shortcuts by clicking the
        rectangular category buttons.
    </para>
    <para>
       The category buttons are <guibutton>Evolution
       Shortcuts</guibutton> and <guibutton>Internet
       Directories</guibutton>.  When you click on them, they'll slide
       up and down to give you access to different sorts of shortcuts.
       When you first start <application>Evolution</application>, you
       are looking at the <guilabel>Evolution Shortcuts</guilabel>
       category.  If you click <guilabel>Internet
       Directories</guilabel>, it will slide up and you'll see buttons
       for the <guilabel>Bigfoot</guilabel> and
       <guilabel>Netcenter</guilabel> directories, as well as any
       others you or your system administrator might have added.
       Internet directories behave a lot like the local contact
       manager, which is covered in <xref linkend="usage-contact">.
       </para>
    <para>
       Take a look at the <guilabel>Evolution Shortcuts</guilabel>
       again.  The shortcut buttons in that category are:

      <variablelist>

<!--  NOT IMPLEMENTED! 
    <varlistentry>
    <term> <guibutton>Today:</guibutton></term>
    <listitem>
      <para>
    This will bring up a summary of any new messages you've
    received, along with the tasks and appointments you have
    lined up for today.
      </para>
      </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
-->

    <varlistentry>
      <term> <guibutton>Inbox:</guibutton></term>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          The Inbox will show you all of your email.  Your Inbox
          is also where you can access Evolution's tools to
          filter, sort, organize, and search your mail.
        </para>
      </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
      <term><guibutton>Calendar:</guibutton></term>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          The Calendar can store your appointments and To do lists
          for you.  Connected to a network, you can use it to keep
          a group of people on schedule and up to date.
        </para>
      </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
      <term><guibutton>Contacts:</guibutton></term>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          The Contact Manager holds your addresses, phone numbers,
          and contact information.  Like calendar information,
          contact data can be synchronized with hand-held devices
          and shared over a network.
       </para>
      </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

<!-- NOT IMPLEMENTED YET
       <varlistentry>
    <listitem>
      <para>
         The <guibutton>Tasks:</guibutton> tool combines a "to
         do" list with reminders to help you keep track of
         daily events.
      </para>
    </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
-->
    <varlistentry>
      <term> <guibutton>Notes:</guibutton></term>
    <listitem>
      <para> The note pad is your catch-all tool: use it to take
        messages from phone conversations, keep small things
        organized, write <glossterm>haiku</glossterm>, or whatever
        you like. This feature is not yet implemented, but will be
        soon. See <xref linkend="usage-notes"> for more
        information.
      </para>
    </listitem>
    </varlistentry>
      </variablelist>
    </para>
    <para>
      If you don't like the shortcut bar, you can use the menu bar, or
      keyboard shortcuts, also called <glossterm>hot keys</glossterm>.
      They're shown next to their equivalent menu items in the menu
      bar. You can also set your own hot keys for functions that don't
      have any; this is covered in <xref linkend="config">.  If you're
      using the keyboard shortcuts you may also want to hide the
      <interface>shortcut bar</interface> by selecting <menuchoice>
      <guimenu>View</guimenu> <guimenuitem>Show Shortcut
      Bar</guimenuitem> </menuchoice>.
    </para>

    <tip>
       <title>Shortcut Bar Tricks</title>
       <para>
         To remove a shortcut from the shortcut bar, right-click on it
         and select <guimenuitem>Remove</guimenuitem>.  To add one,
         select <menuchoice> <guimenu>File</guimenu>
         <guisubmenu>New</guisubmenu> <guimenuitem>Evolution Bar
         Shortcut</guimenuitem> </menuchoice>. </para>
       <para>
         To change the way the shortcut bar looks, right-click in an
         empoy space on the shortcut bar.  From the menu that appears,
         you can select icon sizes.
       </para>
       <para>
         You don't need the folder bar to move between folders. You
         can use <menuchoice> <guimenu>File</guimenu> <guimenuitem>Go
         to Folder...</guimenuitem> </menuchoice> to move to a
         particular foder.  It's faster, however, to click on the
         <guilabel>Inbox</guilabel> label just below the toolbar, to
         the right of the shortcut bar, and select a folder from
         there.  The <guilabel>Inbox</guilabel> label will change to
         reflect your location in the folder tree.
       </para>
    </tip>
  </sect1>

  <sect1 id="usage-mainwindow-folderbar">
    <title>The Folder Bar</title>
    <para>
      The <interface>folder bar</interface> is a more comprehensive
      way to view the information you've stored with
      <application>Evolution</application>. It displays all your
      appointments, address cards, and email in a tree that's a lot
      like a <glossterm>file tree</glossterm>&mdash; it starts small
      at the top, and branches downwards. On most computers, there
      will be three folders at the base.  The first one is
      <guilabel>VFolders</guilabel>, for virtual folders (discussed in
      <xref linkend="usage-mail-organize-vfolders">.  After that come
      any <glossterm>IMAP</glossterm> mail folders you might have
      available to you over your network.  The next folder is called
      <guilabel>External Directories</guilabel>, and holds
      <glossterm>LDAP</glossterm> contact directories stored on a
      network.  The most important one is probably
      <guilabel>Local</guilabel>, which you can use to access all the
      data that's stored on your computer.  If you click on the plus
      sign plus sign next to the <guilabel>Local</guilabel> folder,
      you'll see the contents:
      <itemizedlist>
     <listitem>
        <para>
         <guilabel>Calendar</guilabel>, for appointments and
         event listings.
       </para>
     </listitem> 
     <listitem>
        <para>
        <guilabel>Contacts</guilabel>, for address cards.
       </para>
     </listitem>
     <listitem>
        <para>
      <guilabel>Directories</guilabel>, for Internet contact directories.
       </para>
     </listitem>
     <listitem>
        <para>
         <guilabel>Inbox</guilabel>, for incoming mail.
       </para>
     </listitem>
    <listitem>
        <para>
        <guilabel>Outbox</guilabel>, which is for drafts of
        messages and mail that's already been sent.
       </para>
     </listitem>
      </itemizedlist>

    </para>

    <para>
       To create a new folder, select <menuchoice>
       <guimenu>File</guimenu> <guisubmenu>New</guisubmenu>
       <guimenuitem>Folder</guimenuitem></menuchoice>.  You'll be asked where you want to
       put it, and what kind of folder it should be.  You can choose
       from three types: <guilabel>Mail</guilabel>, for storing mail,
       <guilabel>Calendar</guilabel> for storing calendars, and
       <guilabel>Contacts</guilabel> for storing contacts.
    </para>

    <note>
      <title>Folders Have Limits</title>
      <para>
          You can always place a folder inside other folders,
          regardless of folder type.  However, calendars,
          contacts, and mail can't go into the same
          folder. Calendars have to go in calendar folders, mail
          in mail folders, and contacts in contact folders.
           </para>
    </note>

    <para>
      Right-clicking will bring up a menu for just about anything
      in GNOME, and <application>Evolution</application> is no
      exception.  If you right-click on a folder, you'll have a
      menu with the following options:
      <itemizedlist>
    <listitem><para><guimenuitem>View</guimenuitem>, to view a message.</para></listitem>
    <listitem><para><guimenuitem>Something else</guimenuitem>, for another purpose. </para></listitem>
    <listitem><para><guimenuitem>Something else</guimenuitem>, for another purpose. </para></listitem>
      </itemizedlist>.
    </para>

    <tip>
     <title>Context-Sensitive Help</title>
      <para>
    GNOME 2.0 supports context-sensitive help, which means you can
    almost always get help on an item by right-clicking it.  If
    you're not sure what something is, or don't know what you can
    do with it, choosing <guimenuitem>Help</guimenuitem> from the
    right-click menu is a good way to find out.
      </para>
    </tip>

    <para>
      Any time new information arrives in a folder, that folder label
      is displayed in bold text.
    </para>
    <para>
      To delete a folder, right-click it and select
      <guimenuitem>Delete</guimenuitem> from the menu that pops up.
      To change the order of folders, or put one inside another, use
      <glossterm>drag-and-drop</glossterm>.  To move individual
      messages, appointments, and address cards between folders, you
      can do the same thing: drag them where you want them, and
      they'll go.
    </para>
  </sect1>
  <sect1 id="usage-mainwindow-menubar">
    <title>The Menu Bar</title>
    <para>
      The <interface>menu bar</interface>'s contents will always
      provide all the possible actions for any given view of your
      data.  That means that, depending on the context, menu bar items
      will change.  If you're looking at your Inbox, most of the menu
      items will relate to mail; some will relate to other components
      of <application>Evolution</application> and some, especially
      those in the <guimenu>File Menu</guimenu> will relate to the
      application as a whole. The contents of the menu bar are
      described in <xref linkend="menuref">.
   </para>
   <para>
      <variablelist>
        <varlistentry>
          <term> <guimenu>File</guimenu> Menu</term>

          <listitem><para> 
            Anything even related to a file or to the operations
            of the application generally  falls under this
            menu: creating things, saving them to disk, 
            printing them, and quitting the program itself.  

            </para></listitem>
        </varlistentry>

       <varlistentry>
          <term> <guimenu>Edit</guimenu> Menu </term>
          <listitem><para>
              Although it doesn't contain anything at first,
              the <guimenu>Edit</guimenu> menu fills up with 
              useful tools that help you edit text and move it around.
          </para></listitem>
        </varlistentry>

       <varlistentry>
          <term> <guimenu>View</guimenu> Menu </term>
          <listitem><para>
            This menu lets you decide how <application>Evolution</application> 
            should look. Some of the features control the appearance of 
            <application>Evolution</application> as a whole, and others 
            the way a particular kind of information appears.
          </para></listitem>
        </varlistentry>

        <varlistentry>
          <term> <guimenu>Settings</guimenu> Menu </term>
          <listitem><para> Tools for configuring, changing, and
          setting up go here.  For mail, that means things like
          <guimenuitem>Mail Configuration</guimenuitem> and the
          <guimenuitem>vFolder Editor</guimenuitem>.  For the
          <interface>Calendar</interface> and the <interface>Contact
          Manager</interface>, it's color, network, and layout
          configuration. </para></listitem>
        </varlistentry>

       <varlistentry>
          <term> <guimenu>Help</guimenu> Menu</term>
          <listitem><para>
             Select among these items to open the 
             <application>Help Browser</application> 
             and read the <application>Evolution</application> manual.
          </para></listitem>
        </varlistentry>
      </variablelist>
   </para>
   <para>
     Other menus, like <guilabel>Folder</guilabel>,
     <guilabel>Message</guilabel>, and <guilabel>Actions</guilabel>,
     appear only occasionally.  <guilabel>Message</guilabel> and
     <guilabel>Folder</guilabel>, for example, have commands that only
     relate to email, so they're only available when you're looking at
     email.
   </para>
   <para>
      Once you've familiarized yourself with the <interface>main
      window</interface> you can start doing things with it.  We'll
      start with your email inbox, since you've got a letter waiting
      for you already.
    </para>
  </sect1>
</chapter>