<!-- <!DOCTYPE Chapter PUBLIC "-//GNOME//DTD DocBook PNG Variant V1.1//EN"> --> <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 decide to have <application>Evolution</application> start with the calendar and a folder bar, or with the contact manager occupying the entire window. </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 group buttons. </para> <para> The shortcut group 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. You can add more groups by right-clicking on the background of the shortcut bar and selecting <guimenuitem>Menu Group</guimenuitem>. 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 linkend="haiku">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 linkend="hot-key">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 empty space on the shortcut bar. From the menu that appears, you can select icon sizes. </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 linkend="filetree">file tree</glossterm>— it starts small at the top, and branches downwards. On most computers, there will be three folders at the base. At the top are your <guilabel>vFolders</guilabel>, or virtual folders, discussed in <xref linkend="usage-mail-organize-vfolders">. After that come any <glossterm linkend="imap">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 linkend="ldap">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> <tip id="foldertips"> <title>Navigating without the Folder Bar</title> <para> You don't need the folder bar or the shortcut bar to move around the main window. You can use <keycap>Tab</keycap> to switch from one part of the window to another, and the folder menu on the right side of the window just below the toolbar to move about the folder tree. </para> </tip> <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 will support 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 drag-and-drop. 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>