From 9207094d8365c41ebe28a9a2bc7a435bfd8bacfa Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: nobody Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2001 19:34:27 +0000 Subject: This commit was manufactured by cvs2svn to create tag 'guikachu-0_1'. svn path=/tags/guikachu-0_1/; revision=8336 --- help/C/usage-mail.sgml | 1521 ------------------------------------------------ 1 file changed, 1521 deletions(-) delete mode 100644 help/C/usage-mail.sgml (limited to 'help/C/usage-mail.sgml') diff --git a/help/C/usage-mail.sgml b/help/C/usage-mail.sgml deleted file mode 100644 index ca4da49602..0000000000 --- a/help/C/usage-mail.sgml +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1521 +0,0 @@ - - - - Evolution Mail - - An Overview of the Evolution Mailer - - Evolution email is like other email - programs in all the ways you would hope: - - - - It can sort and organize your mail in a wide variety of ways with - folders, searches, and filters. - - - - - It can send and receive mail in HTML or as plain text, and - permits multiple file attachments. - - - - - It supports multiple mail sources, including IMAP, POP3, local - mbox and - mh files, and - even NNTP messages (newsgroups), which aren't technically - email. - - - - - - However, Evolution has some important - differences. First, it's built to handle very large amounts of - mail without slowing down or crashing. Both the filtering and searching functions - were built for speed and efficiency on gargantuan volumes of - mail. There's also the Evolution - Virtual - Folder, 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 this feature especially useful. - - - - - Reading, Getting and Sending Mail - - - Reading Mail - - You can start reading email by clicking - Inbox in the shortcut bar. The first - time you use Evolution, it will - start with the Inbox open and show you a - message from Ximian welcoming you to the application. - - - Your Evolution - Inbox will look something like the one in - . Just below the toolbar - is the message list, showing message - header information like Subject and - Date. The message itself appears below - that, in the view pane. If you find - the view pane too small, you can resize - the pane, enlarge the whole window, or double-click on the - message in the message list to have it - open in a new window. Just like with folders, you can - right-click on messages in the message list and get a menu of - possible actions. - - - - -
- Evolution Mail - - Inbox - - - -
- - - - Most of the mail-related actions you'll want to perform are - listed in the Message menu in the menu - bar. The most frequently used ones, like - Reply and - Forward, also appear as buttons in - the toolbar, and almost all of them are duplicated in the - right-click menu and as keyboard shortcuts, which tend to be - faster once you get the hang of them. You can choose - whichever way you like best; the idea is that the software - should work the way you want, rather than making you work the - way the it does. - - Take a look at the headers - - To look at the entire source of your email message, including - all the header information, select - ViewSource - - - - - - Sorting the message list - - One of the ways Evolution lets - you choose the way you work is the way it lets you sort your - message lists. To sort by sender, subject, or date, click - on the bars with those labels at the top of the message - list. The direction of the arrow next to the label indicates - the direction of the sort, and if you click again, you'll - sort them in reverse order. For example, click once on - Date to sort messages by date from - oldest to newest. Click again, and - Evolution sorts the list from - newest to oldest. You can also right-click on the message - header bars to get a set of sorting options, and add or - remove columns from the message list. You can find detailed - instructions on how to customize your message display - columns in . - - - You can also choose a threaded message view. Select - View - Threaded to turn - the threaded view on or off. When you select this option, - Evolution groups the replies to a - message with the original, so you can follow the thread of a - conversation from one message to the next. - - - - Deleting Mail - - Once you've read your mail, you may want to get rid of - it. To mark a message for deletion, select it in the the - message list by clicking on it once. - Then click on the Delete button in - the tool bar. Or, right-click on a message and choose - Delete from the right-click - menu. The message will appear with a line through it, to - show that you've marked it for deletion. - - - If you change your mind and decide you want to keep it, - select Message - Undelete. If you - really want to get rid of it, choose - Expunge from the - Folder menu. That will delete it - permanently. - - - - - - Checking Mail - - Now that you've had a look around the - Inbox, it's time to check for new mail. - Click Get mail in the toolbar to check - your mail. If it's the first time you've done so, the - mail setup assistant will ask you for - the information it needs to check your mail (see for more information). - - - Then, you need to enter your email - password. Evolution will remember - your password until until you select - Settings Forget - Passwords . - - - Once it's validated the password, - Evolution will check your mail. - New mail will appear in the local Inbox - if you're using a POP account, and in - your IMAP folders if you use IMAP. - - - - Can't Check Mail? - - 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 , or - ask your system administrator. - - - - - Using Evolution for News - - Newsgroups are so similar to email that there's no reason not - to read them side by side. If you want to do that, add a - news source to your configuration (see ). The news server will - appear as a remote server, and will look quite similar to an - IMAP folder. When you click Get Mail, - Evolution will also check for news - messages. - - - - - Attachments and HTML Mail - - If someone sends you an attachment, a - file attached to an email, - Evolution will display the file - at the bottom of the message to which it's attached. Text, - HTML, and most images will be displayed within the message - itself. For other files, - Evolution will show an icon at - the end of the message. Right-click on the icon to get a - list of options which will vary depending on the type of - attachment. You will have the option to display most files - as part of the message, export them to a different - application (images to Eye of GNOME, spreadsheets to - Gnumeric, and so forth), or save them to disk. - - - - Evolution can also display - HTML-formatted mail, complete with graphics. HTML - formatting will display automatically, although you can - turn it off if you prefer. - - - - - - Writing and Sending Mail - - You can start writing a new email message by selecting - File - New - Mail Message, or by pressing the - Compose button in the Inbox toolbar. - When you do so, the New Message window - will open, as shown in . - - - -
- New Message Window - - Evolution Main Window - - - -
- - - - - Enter an address in the To: field, a - subject in the Subject: and a message in - the big empty box at the bottom of the window, and press - Send. - - - - Saving Messages for Later - - Evolution will send mail immediately unless you tell it to - do otherwise by selecting - File Send - Later. This will add your - messages to the Outbox queue. Then, - when you press Send in another - message, or Get Mail in the main - mail window, 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. - - - To learn more about how you can specify message queue and - filter behavior, see . - - - - You can also choose to save messages as drafts or as text - files. Choose - - File - Save - - or Save As to save your message - as a text file. If you prefer to keep your message in a - folder (the Drafts folder would be the - obvious place), you can select - File Save In - Folder . - - - - Advanced Mail Composition - - You can probably guess the purpose of the buttons labelled - Cut, Copy, - Paste, Undo - and Redo, but there's a bit more to - sending mail that's less obvious. In the next few sections, - you'll see how Evolution handles - additional features, including large recipient lists, - attachments, and forwarding. - - - Attachments - - 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 Attach. If you click the - Attach button, - Evolution will open a file - selection dialog box to ask you which file you want to - send. Select the file and click OK. - - - To hide the display of files you've attached to the - message, select - View Hide - Attachments ; to show them - again, choose Show Attachments. - - - When you send the message, a copy of the attached file - will go with it. Be aware that big attachments can take a - long time to download. - - - - Types of Recipients - - Evolution, like most email - programs recognizes three types of addressee: primary - recipients, secondary recipients, and hidden ("blind") - recipients. - - - The simplest way to direct a message is to put the email - address or addresses in the To: - field, which denotes primary recipients. To send mail to - more than one or two people, you can use the the - Cc: field. - - - 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. - - Using the Cc: field - - When Susan sends an email to a client, she puts her - co-worker, Tim, in the in the - Cc: 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. - - - - - 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 - Bcc:. "Bcc" stands for "Blind Carbon - Copy", and it sends messages discreetly. In other words, - the people in the Bcc: field get the - message, but nobody sees that they got it. Note that the - contents of the To: and - Cc: fields are visible to all - recipients, even to people on the - Bcc: list. - - - Using the Bcc: field - - 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 - Bcc: field here. If he puts - every address from his address book's "Clients" - category into the To: or - Cc: fields, he'll make the - company's entire client list - public. It seems like a small difference, but it can - make a huge difference in some situations. - - - - - - - Choosing Recipients Quickly - - If you have created address cards in the contact manager, - you can also enter nicknames or other portions of address - data, and Evolution will complete - the address for you. 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. - - - - Alternately, you can click on the - To:, Cc:, or - Bcc: buttons to get a list — - potentially a very long one — of the email addresses - in your contact manager. Select addresses and click on - the arrows to move them into the appropriate address - columns. - - - For more information about using email together with the - contact manager and the calendar, see and . - - - - - - Replying to Messages - - To reply to a message, press the - Reply button while it is selected, - or choose Reply to Sender from - the message's right-click menu. That will open the - message composer. The - To: and Subject - fields will already be filled, although you can alter them - if you wish. In addition, the full text of the old message - is inserted into the new message, either in italics (for - HTML display) or with the > character before each line - (in plain text mode), to indicate that it's part of the - previous message. People often intersperse their message - with the quoted material as shown in . - - - -
- Reply Message Window - - Evolution Main Window - - - -
- - - - - If you're reading a message with several recipients, you may - wish to use Reply to All instead of - Reply. If there are large numbers - of people in the Cc: or - To: fields, this can save substantial - amounts of time. - - Using the Reply to All feature - - 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 for all of them to read, - he uses Reply to All, but if he - just wants to tell Susan that he agrees with her, he - uses Reply. Note that his reply - will not reach anyone that Susan put on her - Bcc list, since that list is not - shared with anyone. - - - - - - Searching and Replacing with the Composer - - You're probably familiar with search and replace features, - and if you come from a Linux or Unix background, you - probably know what Find Regex - does. If you aren't among the lucky who already know, - here's a quick rundown of an important section of the - Edit menu. - - - - - Find - Enter a word or phrase, and - Evolution will find it - in your message. - - - - - Find Regex - - - Find a regex, also called a - regular - expression, in your composer window. - - - - - - Find Again - - Select this item to repeat the last search you performed. - - - - - Replace - - Find a word or phrase, and replace it with - something else. - - - - - - - For all of these menu items, you can choose whether or not - to Search Backwards in the document - from the point where your cursor is. For all but the - regular expression search (which doesn't need it), you are - offered a check box to determine whether the search is to - be Case Sensitive when it determines - a match. - - - - Embellish your email with HTML - - Normally, you can't set text styles or insert pictures in - emails, which is why you've probably seen people use far - too many exclamation points for emphasis, or use - emoticons to - convey their feelings. However, most newer email programs - can display images and text styles as well as basic - alignment and paragraph formatting. They do this with - HTML, just like web - pages do. - - - HTML Mail is not a Default Setting - - 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. Some - people refer to HTML mail as "the root of all evil" and - get very angry if you send them HTML mail, which is why - Evolution sends plain text - unless you explicitly ask for HTML. To send HTML mail, - you will need to select - Format - HTML. Alternately, you can set - your default mail format preferences in the mail - configuration dialog. See for more information. - - - - HTML formatting tools are located in the toolbar just above - the space where you'll actually compose the message, and - they also appear in the Insert and - Format menus. - - - 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: - - - Headers and lists - - - At the left edge of the toolbar, you can choose - Normal for a default text style - or Header 1 through - Header 6 for varying sizes of - header from large (1) to tiny (6). Other styles - include pre, to use the HTML - tag for preformatted blocks of text, and three types - of List Item for the highly - organized. - - - - - Text style - - - Use these buttons to determine the way your letters - look. If you have text selected, the style will - apply to the selected text. If you do not have text - selected, the style will apply to whatever you type - next. The buttons are: - - Push B for bold text - Push I for italics - Push U to underline - Push S for a strikethrough. - - - - - - Alignment - - - 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 aligned to the left, the center - button, centered, and the right hand button, - aligned on the right side. - - - - - - Indentation rules - - - The button with the arrow pointing left will reduce - a paragraph's indentation, and the right arrow will - increase its indentation. - - - - - - Color Selection - - - At the far right is the color section tool. The - colored box displays the current text color; to - choose a new one, click the arrow button just to the - right. If you have text selected, the color will - apply to the selected text. If you do not have text - selected, the color will apply to whatever you type - next. - - - - - - - - - There are three tools that you can find only in the - Insert menu. - - - Insert Link: - - - Use this tool to put hyperlinks in your HTML - messages. When you select it, - Evolution will prompt you - for the Text that will appear, - and the Link, where you should - enter the actual web address (URL). If you don't - want special link text, you can just enter the address - directly, and Evolution - will recognize it as a link. - - - - - Insert Image: - - - 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. This is different from - attaching them to a message, but not very different. - - - - - Insert Rule: - - 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. - - - - - - A Technical note on HTML Tags - - 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, <B>Bold Text</B>, 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. - - - - - - - - - - Forwarding Mail - - 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 Forward 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 inline 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. - - - To forward a message you are reading, press - Forward on the toolbar, or select - Message - Forward . If you - prefer to forward the message inline - instead of attached, select - Message Forward - Inline 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 - composition frame, and press - Send. - - - - Seven Tips for Email Courtesy - - I started with ten, but four were "Don't send - spam." - - - - - 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 - greater-than signs, (>) indicating multiple layers - of careless in-line forwarding. - - - - - - 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! - - - - - - ALL CAPS MEANS YOU'RE SHOUTING! Don't write a whole - message in capital letters. It hurts people's ears. - - - - - - Never write anything in email you wouldn't say in - public. Old messages have a nasty habit of - resurfacing when you least expect. - - - - - - Check your spelling and use complete sentences. - - - - - - Don't send nasty emails (flames). If you get one, - don't write back. - - - - - - When you reply or forward, include just enough of - the previous message to provide context: not too - much, not too little. - - - - - Happy mailing! - - - - - - Organizing Your Mail - - 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 need to sort and organize them. - Fortunately, Evolution has the tools - to help you do it. - - - Sorting Mail with Column Headers - - By default, the message list has columns with the following - headings: an envelope icon indicating whether you have read - or replied to a message (closed for unread, open for read, - and open with an arrow on it to indicate you've sent a - reply), an exclamation point indicating priority, and the - From, Subject, and - Date fields. You can change their order - and remove them by dragging and dropping them. You can add - new ones with the Field Chooser - item in the right click menu for the column headings. - - - Right-click on one of the column headers to get a list of - options: - - - - Sort Ascending, - Sort Descending, and - Unsort - Which should be pretty obvious. You - can also set these sorts by just clicking on the - column headers. - - - - Group By this Field - - Groups messages instead of sorting them. (FIXME: Explain further) - - - - - Remove this - Column Remove - this column from the display. You can also remove - columns by dragging the header off the list and - letting it drop. - - - - Field - Chooser A list - of column headers; just drag and drop them into - place between two existing headers. A red arrow will - appear to show you where you're about to put the - column. - - - - - - - Getting Organized with Folders - - Evolution keeps mail, as well as - address cards and calendars, in folders. You start out with a - few, like Inbox, - Outbox, and Drafts, - but you can create as many as you like. Create new folders by - selecting New and then - Folder from the - File menu. - Evolution 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. - - - When you click OK, your new folder will - appear in the folder view. You can - then put messages in it by dragging and dropping them, or by - using the Move button in the - toolbar. If you want to move several messages at once, click - on the ones you want to move while holding down the - CTRL key, or use Shift to - select a range of messages. If you create a filter with the - filter assistant, you can have mail - moved to your folder automatically. - - - - - Searching for Messages - - Most mail clients can search through your messages for you, - but Evolution does it faster. You - can search through just the message subjects, just the message - body, or both body and subject. - - - To start searching, enter a word or phrase in the text area - right below the toolbar, and choose a search type: - - - Body or subject contains: - - - This will search message subjects and the messages - themselves for the word or phrase you've entered in - the search field. - - - - - Body contains: - - - This will search only in message text, not the subject - lines. - - - - - Subject contains: - - - This will show you messages where the search text is - in the subject line. It will not search in the - message body. - - - - - Body does not contain: - - - 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. - - - - - Subject does not contain: - - - This finds every mail whose subject does not contain - the search text. - - - - - - When you've entered your search phrase, press - Enter. Evolution - will show your search results in the message list. - - - - If you think you'll want to return to a search again, you can - save it as a virtual folder by selecting Store - Search as Virtual Folder. - - - - When you're done with the search, go back to seeing all your - messages by choosing Show All from - the Search drop-down box. If you're - sneaky, just enter a blank search: since every message has at - least one space in it, you'll see every message in the - folder. - - - - If you'd like to perform a more complex search, open the - advanced search dialog by selecting - Advanced... from the - Search drop-down menu. Then, create your - search criteria (each with the same options you saw in the - regular search bar), and decide whether you want to find - messages that match all of them, or messages that match even - one. Then, click Search to go and find - those messages. - - - - You'll see a similar approach to sorting messages when you - create filters and virtual folders in the next few sections. - - - - - - Staying organized: Mail Filters in Evolution - - I once worked in the mail room of a large company, where my - job was to bundle, sort, and distribute mail to the various - mail boxes and desks throughout the building. Filters do that - same job with email, but they lose much less mail than I did. - In addition, you can have multiple filters performing multiple - actions that may effect the same message in several ways. For - example, your filters could put copies of one message into - multiple folders, or keep a copy and send one to another - person as well, and it can do that in under a second. Which is - to say, it's faster and more flexible than an actual person - with a pile of envelopes. - - - Most often, you'll want to have - Evolution put mail into different - folders, but you can have it do almost anything you like. - People who get lots of mail, or who often need to refer to old - messages, find filters especially helpful, but they're good - for anybody who gets more than a few messages a day. To - create a filter, open the filter - assistant by selecting - - Settings - Mail Filters - . - - -
- The Filter Assistant - - The Filter Assistant - - - -
- - - The filter assistant window contains a - list of your current filters, sorted by the order in which - they are used. From the drop-down box at the top of the - window, choose Incoming to display - filters for incoming mail, and Outgoing - for those which sort only outgoing mail. - - - The filter assistant also has a set of - buttons: - - - - Add — Create a new filter. - - - - Edit — Edit an existing filter. - - - - Delete — Delete the selected filter. - - - Up — Move the - selected filter up in the list so it gets applied first. - - - - Down — Move the selected filter down - in the list, so it comes into play later. - - - - If you don't have any filters set up, the only one of those - buttons you can click is Add, which - will open a dialog to let you add a filter rule. If you do - have filters, you can either add a new filter rule, or select - one from your list and click Edit. - - - The filter rule editor, shown in , is where you'll - actually create your filtering rule. - -
- Creating a new Filter - - Creating a new Filter - - - -
- - - Enter a name for your filter in the Rule - Name field, and then begin choosing the criteria - you'd like to use as you sort your mail. Choose how many - criteria you'd like by pressing Add - Criterion and Remove - Criterion. If you have multiple criteria, you - should then decide whether to have the filter do its job only - if all criteria are met, or if - any criteria are met. - - - For each filter criterion, you must first select what - part of the message you want the filter to examine: - - - Sender - - The sender's address. - - - - - Recipients - - The recipients of the message. - - - - - Subject - - The subject line of the message. - - - - - - Specific Header - - The filter can look at any header you - want, even obscure or custom ones. Enter the header name - in the first text box, and put your search text in the - second one. - - - - - Message Body - - Search in the actual text of the message. - - - - - Expression - - - Enter a regular - expression, and - Evolution will search the - entire message, including headers, to match it for you. - - - - - - - Date Sent - Filter messages by when they were sent: - First, choose the conditions you want a message to - meet— before a given time, - after it, and so forth. Then, choose - the time. The filter will compare the message's time-stamp - to the system clock when the filter is run, or to a - specific time and date you choose from a calendar. You - can even have it look for messages within a range of time - relative to the filter&mdash perhaps you're looking for - messages less than two days old. - - - - Date Recieved - - This works the same way as the Date Sent - option, except that it compares the time you got the message - with the dates you specify. - - - - - Priority - - Emails have a standard priority range from -3 (least - important) to 3 (most important). You can have filters set the - priority of messages you recieve, and then have other filters - applied only to those messages which have a certain priority. - - - - - Regex Match - - - If you know your way around a regex, or - regular expression, put your knowledge to use here. - - - - - - Source - - - Filter messages according the server you got them from. - You can enter a URL or choose one from the drop-down - list. This ability is only relevant if you use more - than one mail source. - - - - - - - Now, tell it what to do with those messages. If you want more - actions, click Add Action; if you want - fewer, click Remove Action. And choose - again: - - - - Copy to Folder - - If you select this item, Evolution - will put the messages into a folder you specify. Click the - <click here to select a folder> button - to select a folder. - - - - - Move to Folder - - If you select this item, Evolution - will put the messages into a folder you specify. Click the - <click here to select a folder> button - to select a folder. - - - - - Forward to Address - - Select this, enter an address, and the addressee will - get a copy of the message. - - - - - Delete - - Marks the message for deletion. You can still get the message - back, at least until you Expunge your - mail yourself. - - - - - Stop Processing - - Select this if you want to tell all other filters to ignore - this message, because whatever you've done with it so far - is plenty. - - - - - Assign Color - - Select this item, and Evolution - will mark the message with whatever color you please. - - - - - Assign Score - If you know that all mail with - "important" somewhere in the message body line is - important, you can give it a high priority score. In a subsequent filter you can - then arrange your messages by their priority score. - - - - - - - You're done. Click OK to use this - filter, or Cancel to close the window - without saving any changes. - - - - - - - - Two Notable Filter Features - - - - Incoming email that your filters don't move goes into the Inbox; - outgoing mail that they don't move ends up in the Sent folder. - - - - If you move a folder, your filters - will follow it. - - - - - - - - - Getting Really Organized with Virtual Folders - - 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 - Evolution. If you get a lot of - mail or often forget where you put messages, virtual folders can help - you stay on top of things. - - - A virtual folder 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. In other words, while a conventional - folder actually contains messages, a virtual folder is a view of - messages that may be in several different folders. The - messages it contains are determined on the fly using a set of - criteria you choose in advance. - - - - As messages that meet the virtual folder criteria arrive or are - deleted, Evolution will - automatically place them in and remove them from the - virtual folder contents list. When you delete a message, it gets - erased from the folder in which it actually exists, as well as - any virtual folders which display it. - - - - 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. Virtual folders - make for better organization because they can accept - overlapping groups in a way that regular folders and filing - systems can't. - - - - Using Folders, Searches, and Virtual Folders - - To organize my mail box, I set up a virtual folder for - emails from my friend and co-worker Anna. I have another - one for messages that have "ximian.com" in the address and - "Evolution" in the subject line, so I can keep a record of - what people from work send me about - Evolution. If Anna sends me a - message about anything other than Evolution, it only shows - up in the "Anna" folder. When Anna sends me mail about the - user interface for Evolution, I - can see that message both in the "Anna" virtual folder and - in the "Internal Evolution Discussion" virtual folder. - - - - - - - To create a virtual folder, select - Settings Virtual Folder - Editor . This will bring up a - dialog box that looks suspiciously like the filter window - (for more information on filters, see ), and which - presents you with a list of virtual folders you have previously - created. If you have created any virtual folders, they are listed - here, and you can select, edit or remove them if you wish. - If you have not created any, there will be only one available - option: click Add to add a new - Virtual Folder. - - - You can enter a name for your virtual folder in the - Name. Then, tell - Evolution what messages to look - for. This process is exactly like filter creation: decide - between Match all parts and - Match any part, then choose what part of - the message to look in, what sort of matching to perform, and - specify exactly what it is that you want to find, be it a - line of text, a score, a regular expression, or a particular date or - range of dates. - - - The second part, however, is slightly different. In the - section of the window labelled Virtual Folder Sources - is a list of folders in which - Evolution will search for the - contents of your vFolder. Click Add - to add a folder, or Remove to remove - one. That way, you can have your vFolder search in - newsgroups, or just in one of your mailboxes, or just in a - select few folders you've already screened with filters. - - - The vFolder creation window is shown in - -
- Selecting a vFolder Rule - - Creating a vFolder Rule - - - -
- - - - Subscription Management - - Evolution lets you handle your - IMAP and newsgroup subscriptions with the same tool: the - subscriptions manager. To start using it, choose - Settings Manage - Subscriptions . - - - - - - -- cgit