14.3. Internet Mail: KMail

There are many GUI mail clients for Linux: KMail, Evolution, Netscape Messenger, etc. This section will speak about configuring and using KMail to compose/read/organize your e-mail messages.

14.3.1. Configuring KMail

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 Settings->Configure KMail 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). Under Identity, type your name and e-mail address as shown in figure 14-5.

Figure 14-5. Setting User Parameters

To 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.

Figure 14-6. Setting The Outgoing Mail Server

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:

Most mail servers use the POP3 protocol: that is the one shown here. If you want to set an IMAP account, the configuration will differ slightly.

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.

Figure 14-7. Configuring a POP3 Mail Account

Once you are satisfied with your settings, click on OK to accept those settings. KMail is ready to read/send mail on the Internet.

 

 

 

 

14.3.2. Using KMail

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!

Figure 14-8. The Message-Compose Window

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 Attach->Attach from the menu) and a standard file dialog will pop up. Select the file(s) you want to attach and click on OK.

Table 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.

14.3.3. Folders and Filters

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 ( Settings->Configure Filters ).

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 Folder->Create from the main menu. In the 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.

All 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 Create Filter->Filter on From... and the filter rule will be automatically created for you. You just have to select the destination folder in Filter Actions and accepta that rule pressing OK. You can create as many filtering rules as you want.


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