path: root/help/C/usage-mail-org.sgml

<chapter id="usage-mail-organize">
    <title>Organizing and Managing your Email</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>Ximian Evolution</application> has the tools
      to help you do it.
    </para>

  <sect1 id="importing-mail-and-settings">
    <title>Importing Your Old Email and Settings</title>
    <para>
      <application>Evolution</application> allows you to import old
      email and data so that you don't need to worry about losing your
      old information.
    </para>
    <sect2 id="importing-mail">
      <title>Importing Email</title>
      <para>
        <application>Ximian Evolution</application> can import the
        following types of files:
        <variablelist>
          <varlistentry>
            <term>VCard (.vcf, gcrd):</term>
            <listitem>
              <para>
                The addressbook format used by the GNOME, KDE, and
                many other contact management applications. You
                should be able to export to VCard format from any
                address book application.
              </para>
            </listitem>
          </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term>iCalendar (.ics):</term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
        A format for storing calendar files.  iCalendar is used by 
        PalmOS based handhelds, Ximian
                <application>Evolution</application>, and Microsoft
        <application>Outlook</application>.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

          <varlistentry>
            <term>Microsoft Outlook Express 4 (.mbx):</term>
            <listitem>
              <para>
                Email file format used by Microsoft Outlook Express
                4. For other versions of Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express, see
                the workaround described in the note below.
              </para>
            </listitem>
          </varlistentry>

          <varlistentry>
            <term>MBox (mbox):</term>
            <listitem>
              <para>
                The email box format used by Mozilla, Netscape,
                Ximian Evolution, Eudora, and many other email clients.
              </para>
            </listitem>
          </varlistentry>
        </variablelist>
      </para>
      <para>
        To import your old email:
        <orderedlist numeration="arabic">
          <listitem>
            <para>
              Click <menuchoice><guimenu>File</guimenu><guimenuitem>Import</guimenuitem></menuchoice>.
            </para>
          </listitem>
          <listitem>
            <para>
              Click <guibutton>Next</guibutton> after reading the Welcome screen.
            </para>
          </listitem>
          <listitem>
            <para>
              Select <guibutton>Import a single file</guibutton>.
            </para>
          </listitem>
          <listitem>
            <para>
              Find the file that you wish to import into <application>Evolution</application>.
            </para>
          </listitem>
          <listitem>
            <para>
              Click <guibutton>Import</guibutton>
            </para>
          </listitem>
        </orderedlist>
      </para>
    </sect2>
    <sect2 id="importing-preferences">
      <title>Importing Preferences</title>
      <para>
        <application>Evolution</application> can import all your old
        mail, contacts, and other information from other applications,
        making your transition to <application>Evolution</application>
        easy.
      </para>
      <para>
        To import your old information:
        <orderedlist numeration="arabic">
          <listitem>
            <para>
              Click <menuchoice><guimenu>File</guimenu><guimenuitem>Import</guimenuitem></menuchoice>.
            </para>
          </listitem>
          <listitem>
            <para>
              Click <guibutton>Next</guibutton> after reading the Welcome screen.
            </para>
          </listitem>
          <listitem>
            <para>
              Select <guibutton>Import data and settings from older programs</guibutton>.
            </para>
          </listitem>
          <listitem>
            <para>
              The left-most column shows the application which your
              information will be imported from.  You then select
              checkboxes on each component to import different
              properties of each application.
            </para>
          </listitem>
          <listitem>
            <para>
              Click <guibutton>Next</guibutton>
            </para>
          </listitem>
          <listitem>
            <para>
              Click <guibutton>Import</guibutton>
            </para>
          </listitem>
        </orderedlist>
      </para>

      <para>
    <note>
      <title>Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express Users</title>
      <para>
        Microsoft Outlook, and versions of Outlook Express after
        version 4, use proprietary formats that <application>Ximian
          Evolution</application> cannot read or import.  For contacts,
        you may have to email them to yourself and import them that
        way.  For email, there is a simpler workaround:
        <orderedlist numeration="arabic">
          
          <listitem>
        <para>
          While using Windows, import the files into Mozilla Mail (or
          another mailer, such as Netscape or Eudora, that uses the
          standard mbox format).
        </para>
          </listitem>
          
          <listitem>
        <para>
          Copy the files to the system or partition you use for
          <application>Ximian Evolution</application>.  
        </para>
          </listitem>
          
          <listitem>
        <para>
          Use the <application>Ximian Evolution</application> import
          tool to import the files.  There's more information about
          why this works, and how, at the Ximian support website.
        </para>
          </listitem>
        </orderedlist>
      </para>
    </note>     
    
    <note>
      <title>Netscape Users</title>
      <para>
        Before importing mail from Netscape, make sure you select
        <menuchoice><guimenu>File</guimenu><guimenuitem>Compact All
        Folders</guimenuitem></menuchoice>. If you don't,
        <application>Ximian Evolution</application> will import and undelete
        the messages in your Trash folders.
      </para>
    </note>     
    
      </para>
      
    </sect2>
  </sect1>
  <sect1 id="usage-mail-organize-columns">
    <title>Sorting Mail with Column Headers</title>
    <para>
      By default, the message list has columns with the following
      headings: an envelope icon indicating whether you have read
      or replied to a message, an exclamation point indicating priority, and the
      <guilabel>From</guilabel>, <guilabel>Subject</guilabel>, and
      <guilabel>Date</guilabel> fields. You can change their order
      and remove them by dragging and dropping them.  
      
      To add columns:
      <orderedlist numeration="arabic">
    <listitem>
      <para>
        Right click on the column header
      </para>
    </listitem>
    <listitem>
      <para>
        Click <guimenuitem>Add a Column</guimenuitem>
      </para>
    </listitem>
    <listitem>
      <para>
        Click and drag a column you want into a space between
        existing column headers.  A red arrow will show you where
        the column will be placed.
      </para>
    </listitem>
      </orderedlist>
      </para>
      <para>
    Right-click on one of the column headers to get a list of
    options:
    <variablelist>    
    <varlistentry>
      <term><guimenuitem>Sort Ascending</guimenuitem>:</term>
      <listitem><para>
          Sorts the messages top to bottom.
        </para></listitem>
    </varlistentry>
      
      <varlistentry>
        <term><guimenuitem>Sort Descending</guimenuitem>:</term>
        <listitem><para>
        Sorts the messages bottom to top.
          </para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      
      <varlistentry>
        <term><guimenuitem>Group By this Field</guimenuitem>:</term>
        <listitem><para>
          Groups messages instead of sorting them. This makes each contact
          with identical properties in the specified field to be placed in
          its own group and physically separated from others. 
        </para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      
    <varlistentry>
      <term><guimenuitem>Remove this
          Column</guimenuitem>:</term> 
      <listitem>
        <para>
          Remove this column from the display. You can also remove
          columns by dragging the header off the list and
          letting it drop.  
        </para>
      </listitem>
    </varlistentry>
      
      <varlistentry>
        <term><guimenuitem>Field
        Chooser</guimenuitem>:</term> <listitem><para> 
          When you choose this item, a list
          of column headers will appear; 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.  
          </para></listitem>
    </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>
      </para>
    </sect1>

    <sect1 id="usage-mail-organize-folders">
      <title>Getting Organized with Folders</title>
      <para>
    <application>Ximian Evolution</application> keeps mail, as well as
    address cards and calendars, in folders.  You start out with a
    few mail folders, such as <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>Ximian Evolution</application> will as you for the name
    and the type of the folder, and will provide you with a folder
    tree so you can pick where it goes.
      </para>
      <para>
        When you click <guibutton>OK</guibutton>, your new folder will
    appear in the <interface>folder view</interface>.  You can
    then put messages in it by dragging and dropping them, or by
    using the <guibutton>Move</guibutton> button in the
    toolbar. If you want to move several messages at once, click
    on the ones you want to move while holding down the
    <keycap>Ctrl</keycap> key, or use <keycap>Shift</keycap> to
    select a range of messages.  If you create a filter with the
    <interface>filter assistant</interface>, you can have mail
    filed automatically.
      </para>

      <warning id="imap-subfolders">
        <title>Subfolders in IMAP</title>
        <para>
          The INBOX folder on most IMAP servers cannot contain both
          subfolders and messages. When you create additional folders
          on your IMAP mail server, branch them from the root of the
          IMAP account's folder, tree, not from INBOX. If you create
          subfolders in your INBOX folder, you will lose the ability
          to read messages that exist in your INBOX until you move the
          folders out of the way.
        </para>
      </warning>

  </sect1>    

  <sect1 id="usage-mail-organize-search">
    <title>Searching for Messages</title>
    <para>
      Most mail clients can search through your messages for you,
      but <application>Ximian Evolution</application> does it faster. You
      can search through just the message subjects, just the message
      body, or both body and subject.
    </para>
    <para>
      To start searching, enter a word or phrase in the text area
      right below the toolbar, and choose a search type:
      <variablelist>
    <varlistentry>
      <term><guilabel>Body or subject contains</guilabel>:</term>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          This will search message subjects and the messages
          themselves for the word or phrase you've entered in
          the search field.
        </para>
      </listitem>
    </varlistentry>
    <varlistentry>
      <term> <guilabel>Body contains</guilabel>:</term>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          This will search only in message text, not the subject
          lines.
        </para>
      </listitem>
    </varlistentry>
    <varlistentry>
      <term><guilabel>Subject contains:</guilabel></term>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          This will show you messages where the search text is
          in the subject line.  It will not search in the
          message body.
        </para>
      </listitem>
    </varlistentry>
    <varlistentry>
      <term><guilabel>Body does not contain:</guilabel></term>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          This finds every email message that does not have the
          search text in the message body.  It will still show
          messages that have the search text in the subject
          line, if it is not also in the body.
        </para>
      </listitem>
    </varlistentry>
    <varlistentry>
      <term><guilabel>Subject does not contain:</guilabel></term>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          This finds every mail whose subject does not contain
          the search text.
        </para>
      </listitem>
    </varlistentry>
      </variablelist>
      
      When you've entered your search phrase, press
      <keycap>Enter</keycap>.  <application>Ximian Evolution</application>
      will show your search results in the message list.
    </para>
    
    <para>
      If you think you'll want to return to a search again, you can
      save it as a virtual folder by selecting <guilabel>Store
    Search as vFolder</guilabel>.
    </para>

      <para>
         When you're done with the search, go back to seeing all your
         messages by choosing <guimenuitem>Show All</guimenuitem> from
         the <guilabel>Search</guilabel> 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.
      </para>

      <para>
        If you'd like to perform a more complex search, open the
        advanced search dialog by selecting
        <guilabel>Advanced...</guilabel> from the
        <guilabel>Search</guilabel> 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 <guibutton>Search</guibutton> to go and find
        those messages.
     </para>

     <para>
        You'll see a similar approach to sorting messages when you
        create filters and vFolders in the next few sections.
     </para>

    </sect1>

    <sect1 id="usage-mail-organize-filters">
      <title>Create Rules to Automatically Organize Mail</title>
      <para>
    Filters work very much like the mail room in a large company.
    Their purpose is to bundle, sort, and distribute mail to the
    various folders.  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 quickly. Of
    course, it's also faster and more flexible than an actual
    person with a pile of envelopes.
      </para>

      
      <tip id="easy-filter">
          <title>Quick Filter Creation</title>
          <para>
        There is an easy shortcut for fast filter or vFolder
                creation. Right-click on the message in the message
                list, and select one of the items under the
                <guimenuitem>Create Rule from Message</guimenuitem>
                submenu.
          </para>
        </tip>

    <sect2 id="usage-mail-org-filters-new">
      <title>Making New Filters</title>
      <para>
    To create a new filter:
    <orderedlist numeration="arabic">
      <listitem>
        <para>
          Click 
          <menuchoice>
        <guimenu>Tools</guimenu>
        <guimenuitem>Filters</guimenuitem>
          </menuchoice>
        </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          Press the <guibutton>Add</guibutton> button.
        </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          Name your filter in the <guilabel>Rule name</guilabel> field.
          For each filter criterion, you must first select 
          which of the following parts of the message you want the filter to 
          examine:
          
          <itemizedlist>
        <listitem><para>
            Sender - The sender's address.
          </para></listitem>
        
        
        <listitem><para>
            Recipients - The recipients of the message.
          </para></listitem>
      
        <listitem><para>
            Subject - The subject line of the message.
          </para></listitem>
        
        <listitem><para>
            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.
        

      <note id="multiple-repeated-headers">
        <title>Repeated Headers</title>
         <para>
            If a message uses a header more than once, Evolution will
        pay attention only to the first instance, even if the
        message defines the header differently the second
        time. For example, if a message declares the Resent-From:
        header as "engineering@rupertcorp.com" and then restates
        it as "marketing@rupertcorp.com," Evolution will filter as
        though the second declaration had not occurred.  To filter
        on messages that use headers multiple times, use a regular
        expression.
         </para>
      </note>

          </para></listitem>
        
        <listitem><para>
            Message Body - Search in the actual text of the message.
          </para></listitem>
        
        <listitem>
          <para>
            Expression - For programmers only: match a message according to an
            expression you write in the Scheme language, used to
            define filters in <application>Ximian Evolution</application>.
          </para>

<para>

      <note id="lots-of-filters">
        <title>What if Multiple Filters Match One Message?</title>
         <para>
            If you have several filters that match a single message,
            they will all be applied to the message, in order, unless
            one of the filters has the action <guibutton>Stop
            Processing</guibutton>. If you use that action in a
            filter, the messages that it affects will not be touched
            by other filters.
         </para>
      </note>
</para>
        </listitem>
    

    
        <listitem><para> Date sent - Filter messages according to the date on
            which they were sent: First, choose the conditions you
            want a message to meet &mdash; <guilabel>before</guilabel>
            a given time, <guilabel>after</guilabel> 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.
          </para></listitem>
        
        <listitem><para>
            Date Received - This works the same way as the <guilabel>Date Sent</guilabel> 
            option, except that it compares the time you got the message 
            with the dates you specify.
          </para></listitem>
        
        <listitem><para>
            Score - Emails have a standard priority range from -3 (least
            important) to 3 (most important). You can have filters set the
            priority of messages you receive, and then have other filters 
            applied only to those messages which have a certain priority.
          </para></listitem>
        
        <listitem>
          <para>
            Size (kb) - Sorts based on the size of the message in kilobytes.
          </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para>
            Status - Filters according to the status of a message, such as
            'New'.
          </para>
        </listitem>
        
        <listitem>
          <para>
            Attachments - Create a filter based on whether or not you 
            have an attachment in the email.
          </para>
        </listitem>
        
        <listitem>
          <para>
            Mailing List - Filter based on the mailing list it came from.
          </para>
          <note>
            <title>How Does Filtering on Mailing Lists Work?</title>
            <para>
              Filtering on mailing list actually looks for a
              specific mailing-list header called the
              <computeroutput>X-BeenThere</computeroutput>
              header, used to identify mailing lists or other
              redistributors of mail.
            </para>
          </note>
        </listitem>
        
        <listitem>
          <para>
            Regex Match - If you know your way around a
            <glossterm
            linkend="regular-expression">regex</glossterm>, or
            regular expression, put your knowledge to use
            here.
          </para>
        </listitem>
        
        <listitem>
          <para>
            Source Account - 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.
          </para>
        </listitem>
          </itemizedlist>
        </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          Select the criterion for the condition.   If you want multiple
          criteria for this filter, press <guibutton>Add
        criterion</guibutton> and repeat the previous step.
        </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          Select the actions for the filter in the <guilabel>Then</guilabel>
          section.  You can select any of the following options.
          <itemizedlist>
        <listitem><para>
            Move to Folder - If you select this item, <application>Ximian Evolution</application>
            will put the messages into a folder you specify.  Click the 
            <guibutton>&lt;click here to select a folder&gt;</guibutton> button
            to select a folder. 
          </para></listitem>

        <listitem><para>
            Copy to Folder - If you select this item, <application>Ximian Evolution</application>
            will put the messages into a folder you specify.  Click the 
            <guibutton>&lt;click here to select a folder&gt;</guibutton> button
            to select a folder. 
          </para></listitem>
        
        <listitem><para>
            Forward to Address - Select this, enter an address, and the addressee will
            get a copy of the message.
          </para></listitem>

        <listitem><para>
            Delete - Marks the message for deletion.  You can still get the message
            back, at least until you <guimenuitem>Expunge</guimenuitem> your
            mail yourself.
          </para></listitem>
        
        <listitem><para>
            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.
          </para></listitem>
        
        <listitem><para>
            Assign Color - Select this item, and <application>Ximian Evolution</application>
            will mark the message with whatever color you please.
          </para></listitem>
        
        <listitem><para> 
            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.
          </para></listitem>
          </itemizedlist>
        </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          Set Status - If you want to add multiple actions for this filter, press
          <guibutton>Add action</guibutton> and repeat the previous step.
        </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          Press <guibutton>OK</guibutton>.
        </para>
      </listitem>
    </orderedlist>
      </para>
      
      <note id="when-filters-go-wrong">
        <title>When Are Filters Applied?</title>
         <para>
           If you move mail from your server into your local system
           using POP mail, filters are applied to incoming mail every
           time you check for mail.
        </para>
        <para>
           If you store your mail on the mail server and check your
           mail with IMAP, filters are applied to the INBOX when you
           open it. In some cases, you will see a number of unread
           messages in the INBOX, click the INBOX, and then have the
           messages move elsewhere as they are filtered out.
         </para>
         <para>
           If you use Ximian Connector to store your mail on an
           Exchange server, filters are not applied until you open
           your INBOX folder and select
           <menuchoice><guimenu>Actions</guimenu><guimenuitem>Apply
           Filters</guimenuitem></menuchoice> or press
           <keycombo><keycap>Ctrl</keycap><keycap>Y</keycap></keycombo>
         </para>
      </note>
      <example id="filter-example">
         <title>Using a Filter to Avoid Spam</title>
         <para>
           A good deal of bulk mail is eventually tagged with the
           <computeroutput>Precedence: Bulk</computeroutput> header at
           one point or another.  Not all of it is, of course, and
           there are "good" messages (mailing lists you subscribe to,
           for example) that are also considered "Bulk" mail.
           However, if you filter out all the mail with that header,
           you'll catch a lot of the mail you don't want to get.
         </para>


         <para>
           To catch them and automatically mark them for deletion, do
           the following:
            <orderedlist>

             <listitem><para>
                 Select <menuchoice><guimenu>Tools</guimenu><guimenuitem>Filters</guimenuitem></menuchoice>.
             </para></listitem>

             <listitem><para>
                 Click <guibutton>New</guibutton>.
             </para></listitem>

             <listitem><para>
               Set the first part of your search criteria to look in a <guilabel>Specific header</guilabel>.
             </para></listitem>

             <listitem><para>
               Enter <userinput>Precedence</userinput> as the name of the header.
             </para></listitem>

             <listitem><para>
               Choose <guilabel>contains</guilabel> at the second drop-down box.
             </para></listitem>

             <listitem><para>
               Enter <userinput>Bulk</userinput> as the content to search for. 
               You're now working with all email that has the word "Bulk" in the 
               "Precedence" header.
             </para></listitem>

             <listitem><para>
               For actions, select "Move to Folder" and choose the
               folder where you'd like to place bulk mail.
             </para></listitem>

             <listitem><para> If you like, add another action and
               choose <guilabel>Delete</guilabel>.
               </para></listitem>

             <listitem><para>
                Click OK. You're done.
             </para></listitem>
       </orderedlist>
         </para>
      </example>
    </sect2>


    
    <sect2 id="filters-edit">
      <title>Editing Filters</title>
      <para>
    To edit a filter:
    <orderedlist numeration="arabic">
      <listitem>
        <para>
          Select
          <menuchoice>
        <guimenu>Tools</guimenu>
        <guimenuitem>Filters</guimenuitem>
          </menuchoice>
        </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          Select the filter in the <guilabel>Filter Rules</guilabel> section
          and press <guibutton>Edit</guibutton>.
        </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          Change the desired settings.
        </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          Press <guibutton>OK</guibutton> in the filter editor window.
        </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          Press <guibutton>OK</guibutton> in the filter manager window.
        </para>
      </listitem>
    </orderedlist>
      </para>
    </sect2>
    
    <sect2 id="filters-deleting">
      <title>Deleting Filters</title>
      <para>
    To delete a filter:
    <orderedlist numeration="arabic">
      <listitem>
        <para>
          Select
          <menuchoice>
        <guimenu>Tools</guimenu>
        <guimenu>Filters</guimenu>
        </menuchoice>
        </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          Select the filter and press <guibutton>Delete</guibutton>.
        </para>
      </listitem>
    </orderedlist>
      </para>
      <para>
    <note>
      <title>Changing Folder Names and Filters</title>
      <para>
        <itemizedlist>
          <listitem>
        <para>
          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.  So be sure to change
          the filters that go with it.
        </para>
          </listitem>
        </itemizedlist>
      </para>
    </note>
      </para>
    </sect2>
  </sect1>
    
    <sect1 id="usage-mail-organize-vfolders">
      <title>Getting Really Organized with vFolders</title>
      <para>
    If filters aren't flexible enough for you, or you find
    yourself performing the same search again and again, consider
    a vFolder. vFolders, or virtual folders, are an advanced way
    of viewing your email messages within
    <application>Ximian 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.  In other words, while a conventional
    folder actually contains messages, a vFolder 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.
      </para>

      <para>
    As messages that meet the vFolder criteria arrive or are
    deleted, <application>Ximian Evolution</application> will
    automatically place them in 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 display it.
      </para>

      <para>
    Imagine a business trying to keep track of mail from hundreds
    of vendors and clients, or a university with overlapping and
    changing groups of faculty, staff, administrators and
    students.  The more mail you need to organize, the less you
    can afford the sort of confusion that stems from an
    organizational system that's not flexible enough.  vFolders
    make for better organization because they can accept
    overlapping groups in a way that regular folders and filing
    systems can't.
      </para>


    <note id="unmatched-vfolder">
      <title>The "Unmatched" vFolder</title>
      <para>
     The Unmatched vFolder is the mirror of all your other
         vFolders: it displays whatever messages are not matched by
         other vFolders.
      </para>
      <para>
        If you use remote email storage like IMAP or Microsoft
        Exchange, and have created vFolders to search through them,
        the Unmatched vFolder will follow your lead, and search the
        remote folders as well. If you do not create any vFolders that
        search in remote mail stores, the Unmatched vFolder will not
        search in them either.
      </para>
    </note>


    <example id="usage-mail-organize-vFolders-ex">
      <title>Using Folders, Searches, and vFolders</title>
      <para>
    To organize his mailbox, Jim sets up a virtual folder for emails from
    his friend and co-worker Anna.  He has another one for messages that
    have ximian.com in the address and <application>Ximian Evolution</application> in the subject line, so he
    can keep a record of what people from work send him about
    <application>evolution</application>.  If Anna sends him a message about
    anything other than <application>Ximian Evolution</application>, it only shows up in the "Anna" folder.
    When Anna sends him mail about the user interface for
    <application>evolution</application>, he can see that message both in
    the "Anna" vFolder and in the "Internal Evolution Discussion"
    vFolder.
       </para>
      </example>

    <!--  (INSERT SCREENSHOT HERE: vFolders in action) -->

    <sect2 id="vfolder-create">
      <title>Creating vFolders</title>
      <para>
    To create a vFolder:
    <orderedlist numeration="arabic">
      <listitem>
        <para>
        <menuchoice>
          <guimenu>Tools</guimenu>
          <guimenuitem>vFolder Editor</guimenuitem>
        </menuchoice>
        </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          Click <guibutton>Add</guibutton>
        </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          Name your vFolder in the <guilabel>Rule name</guilabel> field.

        </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          Select your search criteria. For each criterion, you
          must first select which of the following parts of the
          message you want the search to examine:
          <itemizedlist>
        <listitem><para>
            Sender - The sender's address.
          </para></listitem>
        
        
        <listitem><para>
            Recipients - The recipients of the message.
          </para></listitem>
      
        <listitem><para>
            Subject - The subject line of the message.
          </para></listitem>
        
        <listitem><para>
            Specific Header - The vFolder 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.
          </para></listitem>
        
        <listitem><para>
            Message Body - Search in the actual text of the message.
          </para></listitem>
        
        <listitem>
          <para>
            Expression - For programmers only: match a message according to an
            expression you write in the Scheme language, used to
            define vFolders in <application>Ximian Evolution</application>.
          </para>
        </listitem>
        
        <listitem><para> Date sent - Search messages according to the date on
            which they were sent: First, choose the conditions you
            want a message to meet &mdash; <guilabel>before</guilabel>
            a given time, <guilabel>after</guilabel> it, and so forth.
            Then, choose the time. The vFolder 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.
          </para></listitem>
        
        <listitem><para>
            Date Received - This works the same way as the <guilabel>Date Sent</guilabel> 
            option, except that it compares the time you got the message 
            with the dates you specify.
          </para></listitem>
        
        <listitem><para>
            Score - Emails have a standard priority range from -3 (least
            important) to 3 (most important). You can have vFolders set the
            priority of messages you receive, and then have other
            vFolders 
            applied only to those messages which have a certain priority.
          </para></listitem>
        
        <listitem>
          <para>
            Size (kb) - Sorts based on the size of the message in kilobytes.
          </para>
        </listitem>
        
        <listitem>
          <para>
            Status - Searches according to the status of a message, such as
            'New'.
          </para>
        </listitem>
        
        <listitem>
          <para>
            Attachments - Create a vFolder based on  whether or not you have an
            attachment in the email.
          </para>
        </listitem>
        
        <listitem>
          <para>
            Mailing List - Search based on the mailing list it came from.
          </para>
        </listitem>
        
        <listitem>
          <para>
            Source Account - Search 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.
          </para>
        </listitem>
          </itemizedlist>
        </para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>
          Select the folder sources.  You can select:
          <itemizedlist>
        <listitem>
          <para>
            Specific folders only
            <note>
              <para>
            If you select specific folders only, you need to specify the
            source folders in the box below.
              </para>
            </note>
          </para>
        </listitem>
        <listitem>
          <para>
            All local folders
          </para>
        </listitem>
        <listitem>
          <para>
            With all active remote folders
          </para>
        </listitem>
        <listitem>
          <para>
            With all local and active folders
          </para>
        </listitem>
          </itemizedlist>
          
        </para>
      </listitem>
    </orderedlist>
      </para>
      <para>
    Remote folders are considered active if you are connected to the
    server; you must be connected to your mail server for the vFolder to
    include any messages from that source.
      </para>
      <para>
      <figure id="usage-mail-vfolder-fig-createrule">
    <title>Selecting a vFolder Rule</title>
    <screenshot>
      <screeninfo>Creating a vFolder Rule</screeninfo>
        <mediaobject>
          <imageobject>
        <imagedata fileref="figures/vfolder-createrule-fig" format="PNG"
               srccredit="Aaron Weber">
          </imageobject>
        </mediaobject>
      </screenshot>
    </figure>
      </para>
    </sect2>
  </sect1>
</chapter>