Balsa User's Guide

Balsa User's Guide ! Peter ! Williams

--- 1,26 ---- ! ! ! ]> !

Balsa User's Guide + + + 2000 + Stuart Parameter + + + + 2000 + Jay Painter + + ! Peter Williams

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! 19 December 1999 ! Balsa is a graphical mail client. While it is still in ! active development, Balsa has many features such as: IMAP and ! POP3 support; sendmail or direct SMTP support; optional ! multithreaded retrieval and sending of messages; support for all configurations of local mail folders; automatic mail checking; mail printing; inline attachment viewing; and the proverbial much, much more. This document will introduce a person who understands ! email to using Balsa. However, it will not explain email to a ! confused individual. If you're looking for that, try asking a ! friend; they'll explain it best. Introduction ! Balsa is a graphical mail client similar to Eudora on ! Windows. It supports the standard features of any good reader and ! has new features added continually. See the abstract above for ! a quick feature rundown. ! ! Balsa is written using GTK+ and Gnome. It is based on libmutt, ! the backend code to Mutt, but expands far beyond being a graphical ! Mutt. ! ! If you want to learn more about Balsa, your best bet is the ! mailing list balsa-list@gnome.org, which can be ! subscribed to by sending a message with a subject of subscribe to balsa-list-request@gnome.org. Bugs can be reported via bug-buddy, gnome-bug or to submit@bugs.gnome.org. ! Getting Started with Balsa ! If you're starting Balsa for the first time, the first thing ! you'll see is a druid that will set up Balsa's basic settings. Balsa ! can guess most of what it needs to know about you. It will also ! create five standard local mailboxes: the Inbox, Outbox, Sentbox, Draftbox, ! and Trash. (These can be changed to be IMAP or POP3 mailboxes ! later.) ! ! Don't worry. Balsa cooperates with other MUA's very well. ! They share the same locking semantics for mailboxes. If Balsa shares ! the same mail directory as Pine or Mutt, ! it will detect new folders as they are created. So if you have to telnet in ! to your mail machine, you won't be stuck. ! ! There are many more settings in Balsa's ! preferences window, but most of ! them do not need to be changed. ! ! Once Balsa is configured, you will proceed on to the ! main window. The Main Window ! Balsa's main window has three major areas. To the left is the ! mailbox list. This displays all the mailboxes Balsa knows about; it will ! scan for ones in your local mail directory. (This means Balsa works well ! with procmail.) It will also list IMAP or ! POP3 mailboxes that you have configured. ! ! At the top-right is a notebook view of all the currently open ! mailboxes. You can browse messages, manipulate them, and switch between ! open mailboxes here. ! ! At the bottom-right of Balsa's main window is the message view. This ! displays the message selected in the message listing. You can save attachments, ! view attachments, and read incoming email here. ! ! The Mailbox List - The mailbox list in the main window lists all of your mailboxes. - Balsa will automatically detect your local mailboxes by searching - for mailboxes under your local mail directory (probably ~/mail). This - lets Balsa coexist with pine and - procmail well. - - Your mailboxes will be displayed as a tree view, with mailboxes - in subdirectories of your local mail directory initially hidden but - accessible by expanding the tree. POP3 and IMAP mailboxes will also - be displayed as being at the top level of the tree. - - Useful mailbox list menu items are: - ! MailboxesOpen ! Open the mailbox selected in the mailbox list. ! ! MailboxesClose ! Close the mailbox selected in the mailbox list. - MailboxesClose Current - Close the mailbox shown in the message index. - MailboxesCommit - Commit changes to the mailbox shown in the mailbox list. ! MailboxesCommit Current ! Commit changes to the mailbox shown in the message index. ! ! MailboxesAdd ! Create a new local mailbox. ! MailboxesEdit ! Edit the properties of the mailbox selected in the mailbox list. ! MailboxesDelete ! Remove the currently selected maibox -- delete its data as well as Balsa's record of it. ! - You can assign keybindings to these commands, and all menu items in GNOME, by - clicking and releasing on the menu, selecting the item, and pressing a key combination. The Message Index ! The message index displays the messages in the current folder, ! and lets you choose which folder's messages to view. Click on the ! notebook tabs, or double-click on a folder in the ! mailbox list to bring it to the ! front. ! ! From the message index you can do a lot. Clicking on a message ! will cause it to be displayed in the message view. Right-clicking on ! it will give a popup menu letting you reply to the message (or forward ! it, etc.) and move it to another folder (using the Transfer menu item). ! Double-clicking on a message will open it in a separate window. ! There are some useful hotkeys for the message index. ! nGo to the next message ! ! pGo to the previous message ! ! dDelete the current message ! ! uUndelete the current message ! ! rReply to the current message ! ! aReply-to-all the current message ! ! fForward the current message ! ! There are also menu items for many of the same functions. ! Mailboxes ! Close Current ! Close the currently displayed mailbox. ! Mailboxes ! Commit Current ! Commits your changes the currently displayed mailbox. ! Message ! Reply ! Replies to the current message. ! Message ! Reply to All ! Replies-to-all the current message. ! Message ! Forward ! Forwards to the current message. ! ! Message ! Continue ! Continues the current message -- opens it unmodified in a composition ! window. This works for any message. ! ! Message ! Delete ! Deletes to the current message. ! ! Message ! Undelete ! Undeletes to the current message. ! ! ! The Message View ! The message view displays the message that is selected in message list. It ! will attempt to display images in the message. Balsa does not understand HTML. (Someday, ! maybe.) Attachments will be shown as blue links that look like "--APPLICATION--". ! Clicking on the link will let you save (but not view) it. ! You are not restricted to that pane. Double-click on a message in the message index ! to open it in a separate window. ! Balsa's message view is a little deficient. It will not line-wrap messages and ! cannot handle MIME data other than images. Hopefully this will be fixed one day. The Preferences Window</> ! <para>Balsa has many more options than the initial druid reveals. To access the configuration ! window, select <guimenu>Settings</><guimenuitem>preferences</>. You will see a notebook. The ! tabs and options are explained below.</> <sect2 id="cfgtab-identity"> <title>Identity</> ! <para>This page lets you specify how you present yourself to the rest of the world.</> <variablelist> ! <varlistentry><term>Your Name</><listitem><para>This doesn't <emphasis>have</> to be your ! name, I guess. But it's the word prefixing your email address in mail you send.</></></> ! <varlistentry><term>E-Mail address</><listitem><para>As you wish it to appear in your ! "From" header.</></></> ! <varlistentry><term>Reply-To address</><listitem><para>The address that you wish people ! to reply to your email with (if you have a home and a work address, for instance).</></></> ! <varlistentry><term>Signature file</><listitem><para>The file to append to all your messages. ! You also get to control when the signature is appended.</></></> ! </> ! </> ! <sect2 id="cfgtab-mail-servers"> ! <title>Mail Servers</> ! <para>This page lets you specify how you get remove POP3 mail, send mail, etc.</> ! <variablelist> ! <varlistentry><term>Remote Mailbox Servers</><listitem><para>These are POP3 servers that you recieve ! email from. The three buttons let you create, modify, and remove records. POP3 mailboxes ! will not show up in the mailbox list.</></></> ! <varlistentry><term>Local Mail Directrory</><listitem><para>This is the directory that Balsa ! will scan looking for mail folders.</></></> ! <varlistentry><term>Remote SMTP Server</><listitem><para>If your computer is not equipped with sendmail ! or you do not wish to use it, select this radio button and enter a hostname to contact via ! SMTP.</></></> ! <varlistentry><term>Local Mail User Agent</><listitem><para>Balsa will attempt to use sendmail to ! send mail. Unfortunately, you cannot specify the command to execute right now.</></></> ! <varlistentry><term>Check Mail Automatically Every...</><listitem><para>If selected, Balsa will connect ! to your POP3 servers at the given interval and check for mail. <note><para>Using "0" as ! an interval is a <emphasis>really</> bad idea.</></></></></> ! </> ! </> ! ! <sect2 id="cfgtab-display"> ! <title>Display ! This page controls how Balsa appears to you. ! ! ! Common Tasks with Balsa ! This section explains many of the things you might want to do ! with Balsa. ! Creating new mailboxes ! ! Moving messages around ! ! Making one of the main folders IMAP-based ! Creating New Mailboxes ! You can create new local and IMAP mailboxes by right-clicking in ! the mailbox list and selecting New Mailbox. This will start a dialog that ! will let you name the mailbox and specify its location. ! ! To create a new POP3 mailbox, go to the configuration dialog, select ! the Mailboxes section, and click Add in the POP3 area. A dialog will be ! displayed that will let you set up the new mailbox. ! ! Under Sawmill, this ! dialog may be obscured, causing the appearance that Balsa has locked up. Move ! the configuration dialog and see if the new dialog was hidden. ! ! The mailbox ! may not appear in the list immediately, or in the current session of Balsa at ! all, but it exists. Yes, this is a bug. Moving Messages ! The easiest way to move messages around is to select them in the ! message index and use the Transfer ! context menu. It will let you choose a mailbox in the ! mailbox list and the messages will ! be moved there. (Moving messages to the current folder used to be a coredump ! but is now a noop) --- 28,1662 ----

+ + + Matthew Guenther + +

+ mguenther@netcom.ca +

+ + + + + + Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this + manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are + preserved on all copies. + + + Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of + this manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that + the entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a + permission notice identical to this one. + + + Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this + manual into another language, under the above conditions for modified + versions, except that this permission notice may be stated in a + translation approved by the Free Software Foundation. + + + UNIX is a trademark of X/Open Group. + Linux is a trademark of Linus Torvalds. + X Window System is a trademark of X Consortium, Inc. + Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corp. + Macintosh and Apple are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. + All other trademarks are property of their respective owners. + + + + This is version 1.0 of the Balsa manual. + ! 19 March 2000 ! Balsa is a graphical mail ! client. While it is still in active development, ! Balsa has many features such as: ! IMAP and POP3 support; ! sendmail or direct SMTP support; optional ! multi-threaded retrieval and sending of messages; support for all configurations of local mail folders; automatic mail checking; mail printing; inline attachment viewing; and the proverbial much, much more. This document will introduce a person who understands ! email to using Balsa. However, it ! will not explain email to a confused individual. If you're ! looking for that, try asking a friend or visiting the Email ! FAQ Introduction + + ! Balsa is a graphical mail client ! similar to Eudora on Windows. It supports the standard features of ! any good reader and has new features added continually. See the ! abstract above for a quick feature rundown. ! ! Balsa is written using ! GTK+ and GNOME. It is based ! on libmutt, the back end code to Mutt, ! but expands far beyond being a graphical Mutt. ! ! If you want to learn more about ! Balsa, your best bet is the mailing ! list balsa-list@gnome.org, which can be subscribed ! to by sending a message with a subject of subscribe to balsa-list-request@gnome.org. Bugs can be reported via bug-buddy, gnome-bug or to submit@bugs.gnome.org. ! Getting Started with ! <application>Balsa</application> ! If you're starting Balsa for the ! first time, the first thing you'll see is a druid that will set up ! Balsa's basic ! settings. Balsa can guess most of what ! it needs to know about you. It will also create five standard ! local mailboxes: the Inbox, Outbox, Sentbox, Draftbox, and ! Trash. (These can be changed to be IMAP or ! POP3 mailboxes later.) ! ! Don't worry. Balsa cooperates ! with other MUA's very well. They share the same ! locking semantics for mailboxes. If ! Balsa shares the same mail directory as ! Pine or Mutt, it will detect new ! folders as they are created. So if you have to telnet in to your ! mail machine, you won't be stuck. ! ! There are many more settings in ! Balsa's preferences window, but most of them do ! not need to be changed. ! ! Once Balsa is configured, you ! will proceed on to the main ! window. The Main Window !

! Main Window ! ! Main Window ! ! ! ! ! Balsa's main window has three ! major areas. To the left is the mailbox ! list. This displays all the mailboxes ! Balsa knows about; it will scan for ! ones in your local mail directory. (This means ! Balsa works well with ! procmail.) It will also list ! IMAP or POP3 mailboxes that ! you have configured. If the Show Mailbox ! Info preference is set, two columns will also be ! displayed next to the mailbox names containing the number of ! unread and total messages for each. Also, any mailboxes that ! contain unread messages will be shown in a different font and ! colour. ! ! At the top-right is a notebook view of all the currently ! open mailboxes. You can browse messages, manipulate them, and ! switch between open mailboxes here. ! ! At the bottom-right of Balsa's ! main window is the message view. This displays the message ! selected in the message listing. You can save attachments, view ! attachments, and read incoming email here. ! ! ! Menu & Toolbar ! !

! Main Window Toolbar ! ! Main Window Toolbar ! ! ! ! The menu bar, located at the top of the Main ! Window provides the following commands: ! ! File ! ! This menu contains commands ! ! ! ! ! ! Ctrl-M ! ! File Get New ! Mail — This ! causes Balsa to attempt ! to retrieve any new messages from the ! POP3 server. ! ! ! ! ! B ! File ! Address Book ! ! — Open Balsa's ! address book. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Ctrl-I ! ! File ! Print ! ! — Print the current message. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Ctrl-Q ! ! File ! Exit ! ! — Exit the program. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Message ! ! This menu has commands for manipulating messages. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! N ! ! Message ! Next ! ! — Select the next message in the current ! mailbox. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! P ! ! Message ! Previous ! ! — Select the previous message in the current ! mailbox. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Ctrl-N ! ! Message ! Next Unread ! ! — Select the next unread message in the ! current mailbox. ! ! ! ! ! ! M ! Message ! New ! ! — Send a new message. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! R ! ! Message ! Reply ! ! — Reply to the current message. ! ! ! ! ! ! A ! Message ! Reply to All ! ! ! ! ! ! ! F ! Message ! Forward ! ! — Forward the currently selected message. ! ! ! ! ! ! C ! Message ! Continue ! ! — Continue a postponed menu. ! ! ! ! ! ! D ! Message ! Delete ! ! — Delete the currently selected message(s). ! ! ! ! ! ! U ! Message ! Undelete ! ! — Undelete the currently selected message. ! ! ! ! ! ! Message ! Wrap ! ! — If set, the message will be displayed with word wrap. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Message ! Show No Headers ! , ! ! ! ! Show Selected Headers ! , ! ! ! ! Show All Headers ! ! ! — Select the headers to display in the message. ! pane. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Mailbox ! ! For manipulating mailboxes. ! ! ! ! ! Mailbox ! Add ! ! — Create a new mailbox. ! ! ! ! ! ! Mailbox ! Edit ! ! — Edit mailbox properties. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Mailbox ! Delete ! ! — Delete a mailbox. ! ! ! ! ! ! Mailbox ! Commit Current ! ! — Synchronize changes between the currently selected ! mailbox and the file on disk. ! ! ! ! ! ! Mailbox ! Close ! ! — Close the currently selected mailbox. ! ! ! ! ! ! Mailbox ! Empty Trash ! ! — Delete all messages from the ! Trash mailbox. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Settings ! ! ! ! ! ! Settings ! Preferences... ! ! — Open the Preferences Dialog. ! ! ! ! ! ! Settings ! Show mailbox tree ! ! — Toggle the display of the mailbox tree in ! the main window. ! ! ! ! ! ! Settings ! Show mailbox tabs ! ! — Toggle the display of tabs for all open ! mailboxes. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! The Mailbox List ! The mailbox list in the main window lists all of your ! mailboxes. Balsa will automatically ! detect your local mailboxes by searching for mailboxes under ! your local mail directory (probably ~/mail). This lets ! Balsa coexist with ! pine and ! procmail well. ! ! Your mailboxes will be displayed as a tree view, with ! mailboxes in subdirectories of your local mail directory ! initially hidden but accessible by expanding the ! tree. POP3 and IMAP ! mailboxes will also be displayed as being at the top level of ! the tree. The Message Index ! The message index displays the messages in the current ! folder, and lets you choose which folders messages to ! view. Click on the notebook tabs, or click on a folder in the ! mailbox ! list to bring it to the front. ! ! From the message index you can do a lot. Clicking on a ! message will cause it to be displayed in the message ! view. Right-clicking on it will give a pop-up menu letting you ! reply to the message (or forward it, etc.) and move it to ! another folder (using the Transfer menu item). Double-clicking ! on a message will open it in a separate window. ! There are some useful hot-keys for the message ! index. ! nGo to the next ! message ! pGo to the previous ! message ! dDelete the current ! message ! uUndelete the ! current message ! rReply to the ! current message ! aReply-to-all the ! current message ! fForward the ! current message ! There are also pop up menu items for many of the same ! functions. ! ! New ! Compose a new message. ! ! Reply ! Replies to the currently selected message(s). ! ! Reply to ! All ! ! Replies-to-all the currently selected ! message(s). ! ! ! ! ! ! Forward ! ! Forwards the currently selected message(s). ! ! ! ! ! ! Delete ! ! Deletes the currently message(s). ! ! Undelete ! Undeletes the currently selected message(s). ! ! ! Transfer ! ! ! ! Transfer currently selected message(s) to another ! mailbox. When this menu item is selected a list of ! available mailboxes is displayed from which the ! destination should be selected. ! ! ! ! ! ! The Message View ! The message view displays the message that is selected in ! message list. It will attempt to display images in the ! message. Balsa does not understand ! HTML. (Someday, maybe.) Attachments will be shown as blue links ! that look like "--APPLICATION--". Clicking on the ! link will let you save (but not view) it. ! ! You are not restricted to that pane. Double-click on a ! message in the message index to open it in a separate ! window. ! ! Balsa's message view is a ! little deficient. It will not allow the message text to be ! selected, and cannot handle MIME data other than ! images. Hopefully this will be fixed one day. ! ! ! ! ! The Message Composer +

+ Message Composition Window + + Message Composition Window + + + + + When the New Message or + Reply or Forward + action is selected, the message to be sent is brought up in the + Message Composer. This window is where you + can type the text of the message, attach files, and specify + recipients. In the near future, it will also be possible to spell + check the message, as well as perform signing and encryption of + messages using GnuPG or + PGP. + + When the message window first opens, you will see the + several main sections: + + + + The menu bar + + + + Toolbar + + + + Mail headers + + + + The attachment box + + + + The message body + + + + These will each be covered in depth below: + + + Menu Bar + + This contains all of the available commands for acting on + the message, from selecting the headers to display to changing + the character set of the message. Some of the menu items are + not always available, depending on what state the message is + currently in. + + + + File + + The file menu contains commands for manipulating the + message as a whole. + + + + + File + Include File... + + &mdash Include a text file in the body of the + message; Only works for plain text files. + + + + + File + Attach File... + + — Attach any kind of file to the message. + + + + + File + Send + + — Send the message. (Using the method + specified in the Preferences + dialog) + + + + + File + Postpone + + — Save the message in the + Draftbox for later revision and + sending. You will be unable to postpone a message + that is not currently valid. + + + + + File + Print + + — Print a hard-copy of the current message out + using the command specified in the Preferences + window. + + + + + File + Close + + — Close and discard the current message. + + + + + A message is considered valid (ready for sending) + if it contains only legal email addresses in the + To: field. + + + + + + + Edit + + The Edit menu contains commands which are used to + modify the body of the message. + + + + + + Ctrl-Z + + Edit + Wrap Body + + — Cause all the lines in the message to be + wrapped to the specified outgoing mail wrap + column. + + + + + + Ctrl-R + + Edit + Reflow Paragraph + + — Cause all the lines in the paragraph the + cursor is in to be wrapped to the specified outgoing + mail wrap column. + + + + + + Ctrl-Shift-R + + Edit + Reflow Message + + — Cause all the lines in the message to be + wrapped to the specified outgoing mail wrap + column. + + + + + + + Show + + The Show menu is used to control which headers are + displayed in the composer window for editing. + + + + + Show + From + + — Display the From header. + + + + + + Show + To + + — Display the To header. + + + + + + Show + Subject + + — Display the Subject header. + + + + + + Show + Cc + + — Display the Cc header. + + + + + + Show + Bcc + + — Display the Bcc header. + + + + + + Show + Fcc + + — Display the Fcc header. + + + + + + Show + Reply To + + — Display the Reply-To header. + + + + + + Show + Attachments + + — Display the Attachments box. + + + + + + Show + Comments + + — Display the Comments header. + + + + + + Show + Keywords + + — Display the Keywords header. + + + + + + + + + ISO Charset + + This menu provides a number of available character + sets to use when composing and sending the message. + Currently Balsa does not + support multiple character sets in a single + message. + + + ! ! ! ! Headers ! ! The headers area is where the information regarding where ! the message is being sent to and from, as well as comments and ! keywords can be entered. All of the available headers are not ! shown by default, but they can be turned on and off very quickly ! using the menu. ! ! ! ! ! From ! ! From is used to indicate the ! origin of the message, Balsa automatically fills this in ! for you if you have entered your name and email address in ! the Preferences ! window. ! ! ! ! ! To ! ! The To header is used to indicate ! the intended recipient of the message; Balsa automatically ! fills this in for you if you are replying to a ! message. ! ! ! ! ! Subject ! ! The Subject header is used to ! summarize the topic of the message. ! ! ! ! ! Cc ! ! The "Carbon Copy" header. A comma ! separated list of recipients other than the main recipient ! should go here. ! ! ! ! ! ! Bcc ! ! The Bcc, or "Blind Carbon ! Copy" header. Similar to the Cc header, except that ! email addresses placed in this header will not appear as ! recipients to readers of the message. Also known as a ! "silent" carbon copy. ! ! ! ! ! Fcc ! ! The Fcc header stands for ! "Folder Carbon Copy", and it is used to specify ! any folders that you want the message copied to after ! being sent. It is presented as a drop-down combo box with ! a list of all available mailboxes, simply select the ! destination. ! ! ! ! ! Reply-To ! ! The Reply-To header is for ! specifying what email address you want any replies to go ! to. ! ! ! ! ! Comments ! ! Although not widely used, the ! Comments header can be used to specify ! short comments for email's. ! ! ! ! ! ! Keywords ! ! Again, not a very widely used header, this can be ! used to embed general information about the content of the ! message in the email, to allow for easier searching or ! filtering at a later date. ! ! ! ! ! ! Specifying Addresses ! ! Balsa supports many different ! methods of selecting email addresss. All of the headers that ! can contain addresses have a small coloured book to the right ! of them that will open up Balsa's ! address book. ! ! However, Balsa will also ! attempt to guess what the headers should contain depending on ! what context the composition window is ! opened in, so it may not be neccessary to fill them in most of ! the time. ! ! ! Also, the composition window supports drag-and-drop ! of addresses from the GnomeCard ! application. ! ! ! ! ! Attachments ! !

! List of Attachments ! ! List of Attachments ! ! ! ! ! Immediately below the headers area is a large box that ! displays any files included as attachments to the message. They ! show up as small icons that look like a piece of paper, with the ! name of the file displayed beneath them. ! ! When there are attachments displayed, it is possible to ! right-click on the icon to access a menu to manipulate the menu. ! Currently it is only possible to remove it from the ! message. ! ! ! ! Message Body ! ! Finally, below the attachment list is the main area of the ! window where the text of the message is displayed. The text ! editing capabilities are very basic, but it supports cut, copy, ! and paste so it is possible to write a message in your favorite ! editor and simply paste it in. ! ! If the message is a reply or forward, the referenced ! message will be displayed in the body text widget, with the ! prefix specified in the Preferences dialog. ! + The Preferences Window</> ! <para><application>Balsa</application> has many more options than ! the initial <link linkend="glossary-druid">druid</link> ! reveals. To access the configuration window, select ! <menuchoice><guimenu>Settings</guimenu> ! <guimenuitem>Preferences</guimenuitem></menuchoice>. You will see ! a notebook. The tabs and options are explained below.</> <sect2 id="cfgtab-identity"> <title>Identity</> ! <para>This page lets you specify how you present yourself to the ! rest of the world.</> <variablelist> ! <varlistentry><term><guilabel>Your ! Name</guilabel></><listitem><para>This doesn't ! <emphasis>have</> to be your name, I guess. But it's the word ! prefixing your email address in mail you send.</></></> ! ! <varlistentry><term><guilabel>E-Mail ! address</guilabel></><listitem><para>As you wish it to appear ! in your "From" header.</></></> ! ! <varlistentry><term><guilabel>Reply-To ! address</guilabel></><listitem><para>The address that you wish ! people to reply to your email with (if you have a home and a ! work address, for instance).</></></> ! </> ! </> ! ! <sect2 id="cfgtab-signature"> ! <title>Signature ! ! Use this page to set up signature files and how ! Balsa will use them in your ! messages ! ! ! ! Use Signature File When ! ! ! ! Sending Mail ! ! Include the signature file when sending ! email. ! ! ! ! ! Replying to Mail ! ! Include the signature file when replying to ! mail ! ! ! ! ! Forwarding Mail ! ! Include the signature file when forwarding ! mail ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Signature file ! ! The file to append to all your messages. You also ! get to control when the signature is appended. ! ! ! ! ! Reply Prefix ! ! The character sequence to prefix quoted lines in a ! reply with ! ! ! ! ! Enable Signature Separator ! ! When checked, this has ! Balsa insert the standard ! signature separator before your signature. ! ! ! ! ! ! Mail Servers</> ! <para>This page lets you specify how you get remove POP3 mail, ! send mail, etc.</> ! <variablelist> ! <varlistentry><term><guilabel>Remote Mailbox ! Servers</guilabel></><listitem><para>These are ! <acronym>POP3</acronym> servers that you receive email ! from. The three buttons let you create, modify, and remove ! records. <acronym>POP3</acronym> mailboxes will not show up in ! the mailbox list.</></></> ! ! <varlistentry><term><guilabel>Local Mail ! Directory</guilabel></><listitem><para>This is the directory ! that <application>Balsa</application> will scan looking for ! mail folders.</></></> ! ! <varlistentry><term><guilabel>Remote SMTP ! Server</guilabel></><listitem><para>If your computer is not ! equipped with sendmail or you do not wish to use it, select ! this radio button and enter a host name to contact via ! SMTP.</></></> ! ! <varlistentry><term><guilabel>Local Mail User ! Agent</guilabel></><listitem><para><application>Balsa</application> ! will attempt to use sendmail to send mail. Unfortunately, you ! cannot specify the command to execute right now.</></></> ! </> ! </> ! ! <sect2 id="cfgtab-mailoptions"> ! <title>Mail Options ! ! Use this page to set the ! Balsa's behaviour regarding incoming ! and outgoing messages. ! ! ! Incoming ! ! ! ! Check Mail Automatically ! ! If selected, Balsa will ! connect to your POP3 servers at the ! given interval and check for mail. ! ! ! Using "0" as an interval is a ! really bad idea. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Outgoing ! ! ! ! Wrap Outgoing Text ! ! Have Balsa wrap all ! outgoing mail at the specified column. ! ! ! ! ! Default Bcc ! ! An address to Blind Carbon Copy to on all ! emails. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Display ! ! This page controls how Balsa ! appears to you. ! ! ! ! Use Preview Pane ! ! Set whether to use the preview pane to display ! messages, or rely on the separate mail viewing ! window. ! ! ! ! ! Show Mailbox Info ! ! If Balsa was compiled ! with --enable-info, this will allow the ! number of total and unread messages for each mailbox to be ! shown in the left pane of the ! Balsa main window. ! ! ! ! ! Toolbars ! ! Use this to determine whether ! Balsa's toolbars display only ! text, only icons, or both text and icons. ! ! ! ! ! Display Progress ! ! This sets the behaviour of the dialog that is shown ! when Balsa retrieves messages ! from it's specified POP3 servers. The ! dialog can be shown only while the messages are being ! retrieved, automatically closing after ! Balsa is finished. Or it can ! be set to stay active until manually closed. Finally, the ! dialog can not be displayed at all. ! ! ! ! ! ! Date Encoding ! ! Set the format used to display dates in ! Balsa. This uses the same ! format string as strftime, a summary ! which is provided below: ! ! ! ! ! %a — The abbreviated ! weekday name. ! ! ! ! %A — The full weekday ! name. ! ! ! ! %b — The abbreviated ! month name. ! ! ! ! %B — The full month ! name. ! ! ! ! %d — The day of the ! month. ! ! ! ! %R — The time using a ! 24-hour clock. (HH:MM) ! ! ! ! %r — The time using a ! 12-hour clock (HH:MM AM/PM). ! ! ! ! %T — The time using a ! 24-hour clock, with seconds (HH:MM:SS). ! ! ! ! ! ! See the strftime manual ! page for a full listing of conversion ! specifiers. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Displayed Headers ! ! A space-separated list of the headers to display in ! the message window. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Printing ! ! ! Print Command ! ! The command executed when the print button is ! pressed. The message text in the command is signified by ! "%s". ! ! ! ! ! Break Line ! ! Whether to break the output line at a specified ! column, or to let the printing program do the wrapping to ! the page. ! ! ! ! ! ! Encoding ! Set Balsa's character set ! encoding. ! ! ! Charset ! ! A string representing the character set for ! Balsa to use to use by ! default. ! ! ! ! ! Encoding ! ! Set the character encoding method to either 7 bit, 8 ! bit, or what the quoted message is using. ! ! ! ! ! ! Misc ! ! ! ! Debug ! ! Set the display of debugging output to the ! console. ! ! ! ! ! Empty Trash on Exit ! ! Set ! Balsa ! to delete all messages in the Trash ! mailbox when ! Balsa ! exits. ! ! ! ! ! Preview Pane Font ! ! The font used to display the text of the message in ! the preview pane. ! ! ! ! ! Unread Mailbox Colour ! ! Set the colour of mailboxes that contain unread ! messages. ! ! ! ! ! ! Startup ! ! ! Check Mail at Startup ! ! If set, Balsa will ! automatically attempt to download mail from the ! POP3 mail server upon startup. ! ! ! ! ! ! Common Tasks with ! <productname><application>Balsa</application></productname> ! This section explains many of the things you might want to ! do with Balsa. ! Creating new ! mailboxes ! Moving messages ! around ! Making one ! of the main folders IMAP-based Creating New Mailboxes ! You can create new local and IMAP mailboxes by ! right-clicking in the mailbox list and selecting New ! Mailbox. This will start a dialog that will let you name the ! mailbox and specify its location. ! ! To create a new POP3 mailbox, go to the ! configuration dialog, select the Mailboxes section, and click ! Add in the POP3 area. A dialog will be displayed that will let ! you set up the new mailbox. ! ! Under Sawmill, this ! dialog may be obscured, causing the appearance that ! Balsa has locked up. Move the ! configuration dialog and see if the new dialog was ! hidden. ! ! The mailbox may not appear in the list immediately, ! or in the current session of Balsa at ! all, but it exists. Yes, this is a bug. The best workaround is ! to make the mailboxes outside of ! Balsa, using touch ! or maildirmake Moving Messages ! The easiest way to move messages around is to select them ! in the message index and ! use the Transfer context menu. It will let you choose a mailbox ! in the mailbox list and the ! messages will be moved there. *************** *** 358,448 **** This can be done. It's ugly, but possible. ! First, create the IMAP folder as you want it configured. It will appear as ! something like "INBOX on host.domain.org". Exit Balsa. (I told you this ! was bad.) ! ! Open up ~/.balsarc in your favorite editor. There will be a visible organization ! to the file; find the place called "Accounts". There will be at least five ! definitions that look like "Inbox = {Type = local;Name = (etc.)". There will ! also be one that says something like "m1 = {Type = IMAP;Name = (etc.)". Edit ! the file to replace "m1" (or whatever number) with "Inbox", and ! it would be wise to change the "Name" field to "Inbox". Change the ! Inbox entry to be the opposite; Inbox becomes m1 and Name becomes Local Inbox (for ! example). ! ! Close the .balsarc and restart Balsa. Your Inbox ! will now be an IMAP mailbox. Hopefully you can figure out how to make your other mailboxes ! IMAP-based from these instructions. It's not Working!!! ! This is a FAQ for when Balsa appears to lock up, or other things ! that you think should be happening aren't. If you can't figure out how ! to do something but Balsa lets you do it, that's a bug. Report it ! I want one of the main folders to be IMAP ! ! Balsa's frozen! It won't print! ! I though I deleted that message! ! ! What's that window that flashed on the screen? ! ! I want a basic mailbox to use IMAP ! See this section. ! Balsa's frozen! Odds are it isn't. Watch out for: ! If you don't have threading, Balsa will stop responding ! when it sends and receives email. Use threading, if possible. ! ! Balsa is opening or closing a large mailbox. This could ! take a while, especially when this file is accessed via NFS. ! ! A dialog box is being displayed but it is obscured by ! another one. This seems to happen under Sawmill. Try moving the windows ! around and see if there's a hidden dialog somewhere. It won't print! ! Your print command is probably wrong. It defaults to ! "a2ps -d -q %s". Use the configuration window to change ! it to something that works. I thought I deleted that message! ! There are some problems with libmutt and deleting messages. We believe ! them to be solved now, but they may be lingering. Known causes of messages ! seeming to be deleted but not really are: ! Mail arrives in the folder before the deletion is committed. ! This is believed to be solved. ! ! Many messages were deleted and the folder was closed and reopened ! quickly. This is also believed to be solved. --- 1664,1771 ---- This can be done. It's ugly, but possible. ! First, create the IMAP folder as you want it ! configured. It will appear as something like "INBOX on ! host.domain.org". Exit Balsa. (I ! told you this was bad.) ! ! Open up ~/.balsarc in your favorite editor. There will be ! a visible organization to the file; find the place called ! "Accounts". There will be at least five definitions ! that look like "Inbox = {Type = local;Name = ! (etc.)". There will also be one that says something like ! "m1 = {Type = IMAP;Name = (etc.)". Edit the file to ! replace "m1" (or whatever number) with ! "Inbox", and it would be wise to change the ! "Name" field to "Inbox". Change the Inbox ! entry to be the opposite; Inbox becomes m1 and Name becomes ! Local Inbox (for example). ! ! Close the .balsarc and restart ! Balsa. Your Inbox will now be an IMAP ! mailbox. Hopefully you can figure out how to make your other ! mailboxes IMAP-based from these instructions. It's not Working!!! ! This is a FAQ for when Balsa ! appears to lock up, or other things that you think should be ! happening aren't. If you can't figure out how to do something but ! Balsa lets you do it, that's a ! bug. Report it ! I want one of ! the main folders to be IMAP ! Balsa's frozen! It won't print! ! I though I ! deleted that message! ! What's that ! window that flashed on the screen? ! I want a basic mailbox to use IMAP See ! this section. ! <application>Balsa</application>'s frozen! Odds are it isn't. Watch out for: ! If you don't have threading, ! Balsa will stop responding when it ! sends and receives email. Use threading, if ! possible. ! ! Balsa is opening or ! closing a large mailbox. This could take a while, especially ! when this file is accessed via ! NFS. ! ! A dialog box is being displayed but it is ! obscured by another one. This seems to happen under ! Sawmill. Try moving the windows around and see if there's a ! hidden dialog somewhere. It won't print! ! Your print command is probably wrong. It defaults to ! "a2ps -d -q %s". Use the ! configuration window to change it to something that ! works. I thought I deleted that message! ! There are some problems with libmutt and deleting ! messages. We believe them to be solved now, but they may be ! lingering. Known causes of messages seeming to be deleted but ! not really are: ! Mail arrives in the folder before the deletion ! is committed. This is believed to be ! solved. ! ! Many messages were deleted and the folder was ! closed and reopened quickly. This is also believed to be ! solved. *************** *** 450,485 **** What's that window that flashed on the screen?</> ! <para>Were you checking your mail? Probably. This is the window that displays ! progress for retrieving POP3 mail. If you don't have any POP3 accounts, it will ! still appear -- but it'll disappear almost instantly.</> </> </sect1> ! <sect1 id="deadend"> ! <title>Unfinished Documentation ! This is a reference to something that doesn't exist yet. Oops. ! ! ! libmutt ! The library based on Mutt's code used by Balsa to handle local mail. ! ! ! mailbox list ! The list of mailboxes found in Balsa's lefthand pane. ! ! message index ! The list of messages in Balsa's upper-righthand pane. ! ! message view ! The message display in Balsa's lower-righthand pane. --- 1773,1878 ---- What's that window that flashed on the screen?</> ! <para>Were you checking your mail? Probably. This is the window ! that displays progress for retrieving <acronym>POP3</acronym> ! mail. If you don't have any <acronym>POP3</acronym> accounts, it ! will still appear -- but it'll disappear almost instantly.</> </> </sect1> + + <sect1 id="authours"> + <title>Authours + + + Balsa was written by + many people, including: + + + + Stuart Parameter (pavlov@pavlov.net) + + + + Jay Painter (jpaint@gimp.org) + + + + Peter Williams (peter@newton.cx) + + + + David Pickens (dpickens@iaesthetic.com) + + + + Hector Garcia Alvarez (hector@scouts-es.org) + + + + Bruno Pires Marinho + (bapm@camoes.rnl.ist.utl.pt) + ! ! To find more information about it, please visit the ! Balsa Web page. Please ! send all comments, suggestions, and bug reports to the GNOME bug tracking ! database. Instructions for submitting bug reports can be ! found on-line at ! http://bugs.gnome.org/Reporting.html. If you are using ! GNOME 1.1 or later, you can also use command ! bug-buddy for submitting bug reports. ! ! ! This manual was written by Peter Williams ! (peter@newton.cx) & Matthew Guenther ! (mguenther@netcom.ca). ! ! Please send all comments and suggestions regarding the manual to ! the GNOME Documentation Project at docs@gnome.org ! and the Balsa Discussion List ! balsa-list@gnome.org. You can also add your ! comments online by using GNOME Documentation ! Status Table. ! + + + + druid + + The GNOME equivalent to Microsoft + Windows Wizards, a step by step dialog to guide the user + through a setup procedure. + + ! ! libmutt The library based ! on Mutt's code used by Balsa to ! handle local mail. ! ! ! mailbox list The list of ! mailboxes found in Balsa's left hand ! pane. ! ! message index The list of ! messages in Balsa's upper-right hand ! pane. ! ! message view The message ! display in Balsa's lower-right hand ! pane. Index: topic.dat =================================================================== RCS file: /cvs/gnome/balsa/help/C/topic.dat,v retrieving revision 1.4 diff -c -r1.4 topic.dat *** topic.dat 1999/12/28 02:53:37 1.4 --- topic.dat 2000/03/31 00:03:15 *************** *** 1,7 **** ! balsa.html Introduction getting-started.html Getting Started win-main.html The Main Window win-config.html The Preferences Window common-tasks.html Common Tasks (How do I...) its-not-working.html It's not Working! ! g327.htm Glossary --- 1,8 ---- ! index.html Introduction getting-started.html Getting Started win-main.html The Main Window + win-composer.html The Composition Window win-config.html The Preferences Window common-tasks.html Common Tasks (How do I...) its-not-working.html It's not Working! ! glossary.htm Glossary === Exit status: 1