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diff --git a/help/C/usage-mail.sgml b/help/C/usage-mail.sgml deleted file mode 100644 index 656fdb9a44..0000000000 --- a/help/C/usage-mail.sgml +++ /dev/null @@ -1,958 +0,0 @@ -<!-- uncomment the declaration during validation and debugging -<!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 recieve mail in HTML or as plain text, and - supports file attachments. - </para> - </listitem> - <listitem> - <para> - It supports multiple mail sources, including IMAP, POP3, - and local mbox files. - </para> - </listitem> - </itemizedlist> - </para> - <para> - However, <application>Evolution</application> has some important - differences. First, it's built to handle very large amounts of - mail without slowing down or crashing. Both the <link - linkend="usage-mail-organize-filters">filtering</link> and <link - linkend="usage-mail-organize-search">searching</link> functions - were built for speed and efficiency on gargantuan mail - volumes. There's also the <application>Evolution</application> - <link linkend="usage-mail-organize-vFolders">vFolder</link>, an - advanced organizational feature not found in other mail clients. - If you get a lot of mail, or if you keep every message you get - in case you need to refer to it later, you'll find that feature - especially useful. - </para> - - <para> - You can start reading email by clicking - <guibutton>Inbox</guibutton> in the shortcut bar. By - default, the <interface>Inbox</interface> is open when you - start <application>Evolution</application>, and the first - time you see your inbox, there's a message in it from Helix - Code welcoming you to the application. - </para> - </abstract> - - <sect1 id="usage-mail-getnsend"> - <title>Reading, Getting and Sending Mail</title> - <sect2 id="usage-mail-getnsend-read"> - <title>Reading a Message</title> - <para> - The first time you open your - <application>Evolution</application> - <guilabel>Inbox</guilabel>, you will see a window like the one - in <xref linkend="usage-mail-intro-fig">, with a message from - Helix Code in the <interface>message list</interface>. The - message is displayed below that, in the <interface>view - pane</interface>. If you find the <interface>view - pane</interface> too small, you can double-click on the - message in the <interface>message list</interface> to have it - open in a new window. As is the case with folders, you can - right-click on messages in the message list and get a menu of - possible actions. - </para> - <para> - Go ahead and click on the message in the <interface>message - list</interface>. That selects the message. Then click on - the <guibutton>Delete</guibutton> button in the tool bar. The - message now has a line through it, because you've marked it - for deletion. If you really want to get rid of it, choose - <guimenuitem>Expunge</guimenuitem> from the - <guimenu>Tools</guimenu> menu. That will delete it - permanently. If you want to keep it, click - <guibutton>Delete</guibutton> again, and it will no longer be - marked as deleted. At some point in the future, this feature - will change to something a little less counter-intuitive. - </para> - <!-- ==============Figure=================================== --> - - <figure id="usage-mail-intro-fig"> - <title>Evolution Mail</title> - <screenshot> - <screeninfo>Inbox</screeninfo> - <graphic fileref="fig/mail-pic" format="png" srccredit="Aaron Weber"> - </graphic> - </screenshot> - </figure> -<!-- ==============End of Figure============================== --> - - </sect2> - - <sect2 id="usage-mail-getnsend-get"> - <title>Getting Mail</title> - <para> - To check your email, just click <guibutton>Get - mail</guibutton> in the toolbar. If this is the first time - you've done so, the <interface>mail setup - assistant</interface> will ask you for the information it - needs to check your mail (see <xref - linkend="config-setupassist"> for more information). Then, - <application>Evolution</application> will download your mail. - New mail will appear in your <interface>Inbox</interface>. - <!-- FIXME: add mention of Today if Today feature appears --> - </para> - - <para> - If you get an error message instead of mail, you probably - need to change your network settings. To learn how to - do that, have a look at <xref - linkend="config-prefs-mail-network">, or ask your system - administrator. - </para> - - <sect3 id="usage-mail-getnsend-get-attach"> - <title>Attachments, HTML Mail, and Live Documents</title> - <para> - If you receive a file attached to an email, - <application>Evolution</application> will display it at the - bottom of the message to which it's attached. Text, HTML, - and most images will be displayed in the message itself. - For other files, <application>Evolution</application> will - provide a link and icon at the end of the message. Click on - that, and <application>Evolution</application> will ask you - where you want to put the file. Once you've chosen one and - saved the file, you can open, move, copy, or execute it just - like any other, using <application>Nautilus</application> or - your favorite shell or file manager. - </para> - - <para> - <application>Evolution</application> can also display - HTML-formatted mail, complete with graphics. HTML - formatting will display automatically, although you can - turn it off if you prefer. - </para> - -<!-- ######## Feature will probably not be implemented ****** - <para> - It can also display <glossterm>live - documents</glossterm>, which have scripted or - executable contents— for example, a working - spreadsheet page or a chess game. - </para> - ---> - - </sect3> - </sect2> - - <sect2 id="usage-mail-getnsend-send"> - <title>Writing and Sending Mail</title> - <para> - You can start writing a new email message by selecting - <guimenuitem>New Mail</guimenuitem> from the <guimenu>File - Menu</guimenu>, or by pressing the - <guibutton>Send</guibutton> in the Inbox toolbar. <!-- THIS - IS A BAD BUTTON NAME AND MUST BE FIXED --> When you do so, - the <interface>New Message</interface> window will open, as - shown in <xref linkend="usage-mail-newmsg-fig">. - </para> - - - -<!-- ==============Figure=================================== --> - <figure id="usage-mail-newmsg-fig"> - <title>New Message Window</title> - <screenshot> - <screeninfo>Evolution Main Window</screeninfo> - <graphic fileref="fig/newmsg-pic" format="png" srccredit="Aaron Weber"> - </graphic> - </screenshot> - </figure> -<!-- ==============End of Figure=================================== --> - - <!-- Check the alignment of the following paragraph in the PS and - HTML output: it's indented for no good reason --> - <para> - Enter an address in the <guilabel>To:</guilabel> field, a - subject in the <guilabel>Subject:</guilabel> and a message in - the big empty box at the bottom of the window, and press - <guibutton>Send</guibutton>. That's easy. It may even be - too easy, which is why I like to queue my messages up to be - sent a few minutes later. - - <tip id="usage-mail-getnsend-send-attach-tip"> - <title>Send Now, Send Later</title> - <para> - Evolution will send mail immediately unless you tell it to - do otherwise by selecting <guimenuitem>Send - Later</guimenuitem> from the <guimenu>MENU</guimenu> in - the message composition window. Then, when you press - <guibutton>Send</guibutton>, all your unsent messages will - go out at once. I like to use "Send Later" because it - gives me a chance to change my mind about a message before - it goes out. That way, I don't send anything I'll regret - the next day. - </para> - <para> - To learn more about how you can specify message queue - and filter behavior, see <xref linkend="config-prefs-mail">. - </para> - </tip> - </para> - - <para> - You can probably guess the purpose of the buttons labelled - <guilabel>Cut</guilabel>, <guilabel>Copy</guilabel>, - <guilabel>Paste</guilabel> and <guilabel>Undo</guilabel>, but - there's a bit more to sending mail that's less obvious. In - the next few sections, you'll see how - <application>Evolution</application> handles additional - features, including mailing lists, attachments, and - forwarding. - </para> - - - <sect3 id="usage-mail-getnsend-send-to"> - <title>Choosing Recipients</title> - <para> - If you have created address cards in the contact manager, - you can also enter nicknames or other portions of address - data, and <application>Evolution</application> will complete - the address for you. <!-- (INSERT description of UI for this - feature, once it is decided upon). --> If you enter a name or - nickname that can go with more than one card, Evolution will - open a dialog box to ask you which person you meant. - <!-- (QUESTION: will users be able to drag & drop address cards - to send email?). --> For more information about using email - together with the contact manager and the calendar, see - <xref linkend="usage-contact-automate"> and <xref - linkend="usage-calendar-apts-group">. - </para> - - <sect4 id="usage-mail-getnsend-send-to-mult"> - <title>Multiple Recipients</title> - <para> - In addition, you can mark recipients in three different - ways. The <guilabel>To:</guilabel> field is for the - primary recipients of the message you are going to send. - However, it is considered bad form to have more than a few - email addresses in this section. - </para> - <para> - If you're writing to one person, but want to keep a third - party up to date, you can use <guilabel>Cc:</guilabel>. - Hearkening back to the dark ages when people used - typewriters and there were no copy machines, "Cc" stands - for "Carbon Copy." Use it whenever you want to share a - message you've written to someone else. - <example> - <title>Using the Cc: field</title> - <para> - Say, for example, Susan sends an email to a client. - She puts her co-worker, Tim, in the in the - <guilabel>Cc:</guilabel> field, so that he know - what's going on. The client can see that Tim also - recieved the message, and know that they can talk to - Tim about the message as well. - </para> - </example> - </para> - <para> - If you have a large number of recipients, or if you want - to send mail to several people without sharing the - recipient list, you should use - <guilabel>Bcc:</guilabel>. "Bcc" stands for "Blind Carbon - Copy", and means that people you put in the - <guilabel>Bcc:</guilabel> field get the message, but - nobody else sees their email address. They will still see - the list of addresses from the <guilabel>To:</guilabel> - and <guilabel>Cc:</guilabel> fields. - - <example id="ex-mail-bcc"> - <title>Using the Bcc: field</title> - <para> - Tim is sending out a message to all of his company's - clients, some of whom are in competition with each - other, and all of whom value their privacy. If he - puts every address from his address book's "Clients" - category into the <guilabel>To:</guilabel> or - <guilabel>Cc:</guilabel> fields, he'll have made the - <emphasis>entire</emphasis> client list public. - Don't assume it won't happen to you; I got careless - one day and did it myself. - </para> - </example> - </para> - </sect4> - </sect3> - - <sect3 id="usage-mail-getnsend-send-reply"> - <title>Replying to Messages</title> - <para> - In order to reply to a message, click on it once in the - message list to select it. Then press the - <guibutton>Reply</guibutton> button. A window like the - <interface>New Message</interface> window will appear, but - the subject will already be present— 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. It will - do the same thing for any individuals in your address book - whom you have marked as preferring not to receive HTML. - </para> - </note> - <para> - HTML formatting tools are located just above the - composition frame, and in the <guimenu>Insert</guimenu> and - <guimenu>Format</guimenu> menus. Your message text will - appear formatted in the composer window, and the message - will be sent as HTML. - </para> - <para> - The icons in the toolbar are explained in tool-tips, which - appear when you hold your mouse over the buttons. The - buttons fall into four categories: - <itemizedlist> - <listitem> - <para> - Headers and lists: Choose - <guilabel>Normal</guilabel> for your default text - style, or <guilabel>Header 1</guilabel> through - <guilabel>Header 6</guilabel> for varying sizes of - header. You can also select - <guilabel>pre</guilabel> for preformatted text - blocks, and three types of <guilabel>List - Item</guilabel>. - </para> - </listitem> - - <listitem> - <para> - Text style: <guilabel>B</guilabel> is for bold text, - <guilabel>I</guilabel> for italics, - <guilabel>U</guilabel> for an underline, and - <guilabel>S</guilabel> for a strikethrough. - </para> - </listitem> - - <listitem> - <para> - 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 left-justified, - the center button, centered, and the right hand - button, right-justified. - </para> - </listitem> - - <listitem> - <para> - Indentation rules: The button with the arrow - pointing left will reduce a paragraph's indentation, - and the right arrow will increase its indentation. - </para> - </listitem> - </itemizedlist> - </para> - <para> - There are two tools that you can find only in the - <guimenu>Insert</guimenu> menu. - <itemizedlist> - <listitem> - <para> - <guilabel>Insert Link</guilabel>: Use this tool to - put hyperlinks in your HTML messages. When you - select it, <application>Evolution</application> will - prompt you for the <guilabel>Text</guilabel> that - will appear, and the <guilabel>Link</guilabel>, where - you should enter the actual web address (URL). - </para> - </listitem> - <listitem> - <para> - <guilabel>Insert Image</guilabel>: Select this item to - embed image into your email, as was done in the welcome - message. Images will appear at the location of the - cursor. - </para> - </listitem> - </itemizedlist> - </para> - <note> - <title>A Technical note on HTML Tags</title> - <para> - The composer is a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) - editor for HTML. That means that if you enter HTML - directly into the composer— 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, just - click the button with a paper clip on it, labelled - <guibutton>Attach</guibutton>. - <application>Evolution</application> will then ask you to - select the file. Do so, and then send the message. Be - aware that big attachments can take a long time to - download. - </para> - </sect3> - -<!-- Function not implemented, -possibly never will be due to security evil. --> -<!-- - <sect3 id="usage-mail-getnsend-send-live"> - <title>Live Documents</title> - <para> - Later versions of <application>Evolution</application> - will allow you to enliven your email with almost any - sort of document, and even with entire - applications. At this point, however, this feature has not - yet been implemented. - </para> - </sect3> ---> - - <sect3 id="usage-getnsend-fwd"> - <title>Forwarding Mail</title> - <para> - The post office forwards your mail for you when you change - addresses, and you can forward mail when you get a letter by - mistake. The email <guilabel>Forward</guilabel> command - works in much the same way. It's particularly useful if you - have received a message and you think someone else would - like to see it. You can forward a message as an attachment - to a new message (this is the default way of forwarding) or - you can send it <glossterm>inline</glossterm> as a quoted - portion of the message you are sending. Attachment - forwarding is best if you want to send the full, unaltered - message on to someone else. Inline forwarding is best if - you want to send portions of a message, or if you have a - large number of comments on different sections of the - message you are forwarding. Remember to note from whom the - message came, and where, if at all, you have removed or - altered content. - </para> - <para> - To forward a message, first make sure it is selected by - clicking it once in the message list. Then, press - <guibutton>Forward</guibutton> on the toolbar, or select - SOMETHING. To forward a message - <glossterm>inline</glossterm> instead of attached, select - <guimenuitem>Forward Inline </guimenuitem> from the - <guimenu>Message</guimenu> menu. Choose an addressee as you - would when sending a new message; the subject will already - be entered, but you can alter it. Enter your comments on - the message in the <interface>composition frame</interface>, - and press <guibutton>Send</guibutton>. - </para> - </sect3> - <sect3 id="usage-mail-getnsend-ettiquette"> - <title>Seven Tips for Email Usage</title> - <para> - I started with ten, but four were "Don't send - <glossterm>spam</glossterm>." - <itemizedlist> - - <listitem> - <para> - Don't send spam or forward chain mail. If you must, - watch out for hoaxes and urban legends, and make sure - the message doesn't have multiple layers of email - quotation symbols (>) indicating multiple layers - of careless inline forwarding. - </para> - </listitem> - - <listitem> - <para> - Always begin and close with a salutation. Say - "please" and "thank you", just like you do in real - life. You can keep your pleasantries short, but be pleasant! - </para> - </listitem> - - <listitem> - <para> - ALL CAPS MEANS YOU'RE SHOUTING! - </para> - </listitem> - - <listitem> - <para> - Never write anything in email you wouldn't say in - public. Old messages have a nasty habit of - resurfacing when you least expect them to. - </para> - </listitem> - - <listitem> - <para> - Check your spelling and use complete sentences. - </para> - </listitem> - - <listitem> - <para> - Don't send nasty emails (flames). If you get one, - don't write back. - </para> - </listitem> - - <listitem> - <para> - When you reply or forward, include just enough of - the previous message to provide context. Not too - much, not too little. - </para> - </listitem> - </itemizedlist> - </para> - <para> Happy mailing! </para> - </sect3> - </sect2> - </sect1> - - <sect1 id="usage-mail-organize"> - <title>Organizing Your Mail</title> - <para> - Even if you only get a few email messages a day, you probably - want to sort and organize them. When you get a hundred a day - and you want to refer to a message you received six weeks ago, - you <emphasis>need</emphasis> to sort and organize them. - Fortunately, <application>Evolution</application> has the tools - to help you do it. - </para> - - <sect2 id="usage-mail-organize-folders"> - <title>Getting Organized with Folders</title> - <para> - <application>Evolution</application> keeps mail, as well as - address cards and calendars, in folders. You start out with a - few, like <guilabel>Inbox</guilabel>, - <guilabel>Outbox</guilabel>, and <guilabel>Drafts</guilabel>, - but you can create as many as you like. Create new folders by - selecting <guisubmenu>New</guisubmenu> and then - <guimenuitem>Folder</guimenuitem> from the - <guimenu>File</guimenu> menu. - <application>Evolution</application> will as you for the name - and the type of the folder, and will provide you with a folder - tree so you can pick where it goes. - <note> - <title>Folders have Limits</title> - <para> - A folder can hold mail, calendars, or address cards, but - you can't mix them up. Also, an email message can be in - only one folder at a time, just like real mail in real - folders. If you need more flexibility, try vFolders. - </para> - </note> - </para> - <para> - When you click <guibutton>OK</guibutton>, your new folder will - appear in the <interface>folder view</interface>. You can - then put messages in it by dragging and dropping them. If you - create a filter with the <interface>filter - assistant</interface>, you can have mail moved to your folder - automatically. - </para> - </sect2> - - <sect2 id="usage-mail-organize-search"> - <title>Searching for Messages</title> - <para> - Most mail clients can search through your messages for you, - but <application>Evolution</application> does it faster. You - can search through just the message subjects, just the message - body, or both body and subject. - </para> - <para> - To start searching, enter a word or phrase in the text area - right below the toolbar, and choose a search type: - <itemizedlist> - <listitem> - <para> - <guilabel>Body or subject contains:</guilabel> This - will search message subjects and the messages - themselves for the word or phrase you've entered in - the search field. - </para> - </listitem> - - <listitem> - <para> - <guilabel>Body contains:</guilabel> This will search - only in message text, not the subject lines. - </para> - </listitem> - - <listitem> - <para> - <guilabel>Subject contains:</guilabel> This will - show you messages where the search text is in the - subject line. It will not search in the message body. - </para> - </listitem> - - <listitem> - <para> - <guilabel>Body does not contain:</guilabel> 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> - - <listitem> - <para> - <guilabel>Subject does not contain:</guilabel>This - finds every mail whose subject does not - contain the search text. - </para> - </listitem> - </itemizedlist> - - Then, press <keycap>Enter</keycap>. - <application>Evolution</application> will show your search - results in the message list. - - </para> - </sect2> - - <sect2 id="usage-mail-organize-filters"> - <title>Staying organized: Mail Filters in Evolution</title> - <para> - Filters sort your email for you. People who subscribe to - multiple mailing lists, or who often need to refer to messages - they have sent, find filters especially helpful to seperate - personal from list-related mail, but they're good for anybody - who gets more than a few messages a day. To create a filter, - go to your <interface>Inbox</interface>. Then select - <guimenuitem>Filter Assistant</guimenuitem> from the - <guimenu>Tools</guimenu> menu. This will bring up a window - which will guide you through filter creation. The - <interface>filter assistant</interface> is shown in <xref - linkend="usage-mail-filters-fig-new"> - - - <figure id="usage-mail-filters-fig-new"> - <title>Creating a new Filter</title> - <screenshot> - <screeninfo>Creating a new Filter</screeninfo> - <graphic fileref="fig/filter-new-fig" format="png" srccredit="Aaron Weber"> - </graphic> - </screenshot> - </figure> - - </para> - - <para> The <interface>filter assistant</interface> window - contains a window listing rules, and an option to create a - new rule. To start filtering your mail, click - <guibutton>Add</guibutton> to add a filtering rule. - You'll decide when it should take place: - <itemizedlist> - <listitem> - <para> - <guilabel>When mail arrives:</guilabel> Select - this option to have messages filtered as they - arrive. - </para> - </listitem> - <listitem> - <para> - <guilabel>When mail is sent:</guilabel> Select - this option to filter your outgoing mail. You - can use this feature to keep your - <interface>Outbox</interface> as organized as - your <interface>Inbox</interface>. - </para> - </listitem> - </itemizedlist> - </para> - - <para> - Then, the filter assistant will ask you which emails it should - act upon. You can set criteria based on message size, the - sender, primary addressee or cc: list, or words in the subject - or body of the message. Once you've decided which messages to - filter, the assistant will ask you the sort of action you wish - to take. You can file, delete, or forward the message, and you - can also have it be exempted from other filters which would - otherwise have acted upon it. - </para> - - - <note> - <title>Two Notable Filter Features</title> - <para> - <itemizedlist> - <listitem><para>Any incoming email that does not meet - filter action criteria remains in the Inbox. </para> - </listitem> - - <listitem><para>If you move a folder, your filters - will follow it. </para></listitem> - </itemizedlist> - </para> - </note> - </sect2> - - - - <sect2 id="usage-mail-organize-vFolders"> - <title>Getting Really Organized with Virtual Folders</title> - <para> - If you find that filters aren't flexible enough for you, or - end up performing the same search again and again, consider a - virtual folder. Virtual folders, or vFolders, are an advanced - way of viewing your email messages within - <application>Evolution</application>. If you get a lot of - mail or often forget where you put messages, vFolders can help - you stay on top of things. - </para> - <para> - A vFolder is really a hybrid of all the other organizational - tools: it looks like a folder, it acts like a search, and you - set it up like a filter. Once you've set it up, you'll be - able to open it and read the messages in it as though it were - a normal mail folder. It's not a folder, though, because when - you open a vFolder, <application>Evolution</application> - performs a search for you. It's not a regular search, though, - because you can build a vFolder with a very complicated set of - criteria with multiple inclusions and exclusions, as though - you were setting up a filter. - </para> - -<!-- potentially useful, but doesn't fit at the moment: - <para> - An important difference between a folder and a virtual folder - is that a conventional folder actually contains messages, but - a vFolder is a view of messages that may be in several - different folders. This means that while a message may fall - into several vFolders, it can be in only one conventional - folder. Also, it means that you cannot remove a message from - a vFolder unless you delete it, and you cannot add a message - to a vFolder unless you change the vFolder's search criteria. - </para> ---> - - <para> - As messages that meet the vFolder criteria arrive or are - deleted, <application>Evolution</application> will - automatically place them in and and remove them from the - vFolder contents list. When you delete a message, it gets - erased from the folder in which it actually exists, as well as - any vFolders which include it. - </para> - <para> - That's pretty complicated, but it can be useful. For example, - if I have a folder for all the email from one person, and - another folder for all the email on a given topic, I - <emphasis>feel</emphasis> organized. But when the person - sends me mail about the topic, my whole email filing universe - becomes chaotic, and I need vFolders to save the day for me. - </para> - <para> - That sounds silly, but imagine a business trying to keep track - of mail from hundreds of vendors and clients, or a university - with overlapping and changing groups of faculty, staff, - administrators and students. The larger the system, the less - you can afford the sort of confusion that stems from an - organizational system that's not flexible enough. vFolders - make for better organization because they can accept - overlapping groups in a way that regular folders and filing - systems can't. - </para> - - <example id="usage-mail-organize-vFolders-ex"> - <title>Using Folders, Searches, and vFolders</title> - <para> - To organize my mail box, I can set up a vFolder - for emails from my friend Vince, by doing (INSERT - PROCESS HERE). Then, whenever I want to see the - messages Vince has sent me, I open the vFolder, and - every message he's sent me shows up, no matter where - I've actually filed it. If I want, I can also create a - vFolder containing any message from my list of - co-workers which also has the name of the project in - it. That way, when Vince sends me mail about the - project, I can see that message both in the "Vince" - vFolder and in the "Project" vFolder. That's because - when I open up the "Vince" folder, I'm really - performing a search for all the mail from Vince, and - when I open the "Project" folder I'm really performing - a search for all the mail about the project. - - (INSERT SCREENSHOT HERE) - - </para> - </example> - <para> - To create a vFolder, select <guimenuitem>VFolder - Assistant</guimenuitem> from the <guimenu>Tools</guimenu> - menu in the <interface>main window</interface>. This - will bring up a dialog box that looks suspiciously like - the Filter Assistant (for more information on filters, see - <xref linkend="usage-mail-organize-filters">), and which - presents you with a list of vFolders you have previously - created. If you have already created vFolders, you can - click on them in the frame labelled <guilabel>Select Rule - Type</guilabel>, and edit or remove them. If you have - not created any, there will be only one available option: - click <guibutton>Add</guibutton> to add a new vFolder. - </para> - <para> - You'll be prompted to create a filtering rule. To do so, - select one of the base rules, and click - <guibutton>Next</guibutton> to customize it. Your options are: - <itemizedlist> - <listitem> - <para> - For matching messages: you may select one or more - search criteria; the vFolder you create will - contain messages that match all of - them. - </para> - </listitem> - <listitem> - <para> - Messages from a certain person: you enter an email - address, and the vFolder will contain any messages - from that address. - </para> - </listitem> - <listitem> - <para> - Messages to a certain address: any messages sent - directly to this address will be in the vFolder you create. - </para> - </listitem> - <listitem> - <para> - Messages with a given subject: enter a subject, - and the vFolder will contain messages with that - subject. - </para> - </listitem> - </itemizedlist> - as is shown in <xref linkend="usage-mail-vfolder-fig-createrule"> - - <figure id="usage-mail-vfolder-fig-createrule"> - <title>Selecting a vFolder Rule</title> - <screenshot> - <screeninfo>Selecting a vFolder Rule</screeninfo> - <graphic fileref="fig/vfolder-createrule-fig" format="png" srccredit="Aaron Weber"> - </graphic> - </screenshot> - </figure> - </para> - <para> - - Once you click <guibutton>Next</guibutton>, you'll - customize the vFolder rule. This process is somewhat - complicated, but promises to get much more simple in - future versions of <application>Evolution</application>. - As it stands now, try clicking different things to have - the sentence in the bottom frame make sense. - - </para> - </sect2> - - </sect1> -</chapter> |