When KMail is run for the first time, a window pops up stating that the directory holding mail does not exist and it will be created. Press OK to create it. Only the minimum configuration steps will be explained, please feel free to explore the various configuration options.
Clicking on Identity, type your name and e-mail address as shown in figure 14-5.
-> will bring the configuration window. It is organized as a list of categories (on the left) and the configuration options for each of those categories (on the right). UnderTo configure the mail servers, select the Network category. In the Sending Mail tab, check the SMTP option and fill the SMTP server name or IP address of the outgoing mail server as shown in figure 14-6.
To receive mail, you need to create at least one mail account. At the moment of this writing, KMail supports the following types of mail accounts:
POP3 (Post Office Protocol V3);
IMAP (Internet Mail Access Protocol);
Local Mailbox (mail is not retrieved from the Internet, but from some local directory).
To add a mail account, click on Add... and select POP3. Your ISP should have provided you with an e-mail user name and password which you need to fill into the Login: and Password: fields. In the Host: field, enter the POP3 server name or IP address and check the Store POP password in configuration file option as shown in figure 14-7. If you want KMail to handle more than one mail account repeat the above procedure for each of them.
Once you are satisfied with your settings, click on OK to accept those settings. KMail is ready to read/send mail on the Internet.
Table 14-1. KMail's Tool-Bar Buttons
![]() | Press on this button (or Ctrl-N) to compose a new message. You will need to fill the To: and Subject: fields in the message-compose window. |
![]() | Press on this button (or Ctrl-L) to check for new e-mail messages on all defined e-mail accounts. |
![]() | Select the message you want to reply to and press this button (or R) to reply to the author of the message. |
![]() | Select the message you want to reply and press this button (or A) to reply to all the original recipients of that message. |
![]() | Select the message you want to forward (send to a third party) and press this button (or F). You will need to fill the To: field in the message-compose window. |
![]() | Select the messages you want to delete and press this button (or D) to move them to the trash folder. If you want to delete messages permanently, open the trash folder, select the message(s) and press D again. Please note that deletion from the trash folder cannot be undone! |
Click on the blank part of the window and type your message. If you want to attach a file to your e-mail message (a picture, for example), press the clip button (or select OK.
-> from the menu) and a standard file dialog will pop up. Select the file(s) you want to attach and click onTable 14-2. Message Send Button
![]() | Click on this button to send the message immediately (you need to be connected to the Internet). A copy of the message will be kept in the sent-messages folder. |
![]() | Click on this button to queue the message in order to send it later. The message will be saved in the outbox folder and will be sent the next time you request mail to be sent. |
You can sort mail in different folders according to specified criteria (sender, subject, date, etc.) using filters in order to organize incoming e-mail. Filters are very powerful. However, we will speak about simple filter rules. Feel free to explore the filters tool (
-> ).Let's assume you want to filter incoming messages according to the sender and you have at least one message from that sender in your inbox folder. You want all incoming e-mail from someuser@somecompany.net to go directly into the SomeUser folder. First, you need to create a new folder to store the messages.
To create a new folder select Name: field, enter the name for the new folder (SomeUser in our example). The Belongs to: pull-down list specifies if this is a sub-folder or not (Top Level). Press OK to create the folder.
-> from the main menu. In theAll that is left is to create the filter. Select the message from the sender you want to filter and right click on it. From the contextual menu, select Filter Actions and accepta that rule pressing OK. You can create as many filtering rules as you want.
-> and the filter rule will be automatically created for you. You just have to select the destination folder in