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1 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
2 <section id="ch_starting">
3 <title>Getting started with Claws Mail</title>
5 <section id="start_wizard">
6 <title>The initial wizard</title>
7 <para>
8 The first time that you start Claws Mail, you will be asked a few
9 questions in order to set up an account. These questions are easy to
10 answer and grouped in several short pages.
11 </para><para>
12 First you will be asked to fill in your name, (<emphasis>usually
13 guessed from the operating system</emphasis>), your email address, and
14 the name of your organisation, (<emphasis>optional</emphasis>).
15 </para><para>
16 The following page will allow you to enter details of how to retrieve
17 your mail. The format of the page will be determined by the
18 <quote>Server type</quote>:
19 </para>
20 <blockquote>
21 <variablelist>
22 <varlistentry>
23 <term>POP3</term>
24 <listitem>
25 <para>
26 If you choose POP3, you will need to enter the server address,
27 username, and password. The password is optional, if you don't provide
28 it here then you will be prompted for it each time it is needed.
29 </para>
30 </listitem>
31 </varlistentry>
32 <varlistentry>
33 <term>IMAP</term>
34 <listitem>
35 <para>
36 If you choose IMAP, you will need to enter the server address,
37 username, password, and IMAP server directory. The password is
38 optional, if you don't provide it here then you will be prompted for it
39 each time it is needed. The IMAP server directory is also optional,
40 often it is not needed and can be left empty.
41 </para>
42 </listitem>
43 </varlistentry>
44 <varlistentry>
45 <term>Local mbox file</term>
46 <listitem>
47 <para>
48 If you choose Local mbox file, you will need to enter the location of
49 your local mailbox spool file. This location depends on your Operating
50 System, but values like <filename>/var/mail/username</filename> or
51 <filename>/var/spool/mail/username</filename> are common, where
52 <literal>username</literal> is your system login.
53 </para>
54 </listitem>
55 </varlistentry>
56 </variablelist>
57 </blockquote>
58 <para>
59 When you click the <quote>Auto-configure</quote> button, Claws Mail will
60 attempt to configure your account's servers based on your email address
61 and the type of account you have chosen.
62 </para>
63 <para>
64 On the next page you will enter the address of your SMTP server,
65 (<emphasis>sometimes referred to as
66 <quote>Outgoing server</quote></emphasis>). You will also be asked
67 whether to authenticate when sending mail; this is often not the case
68 if you're using an ISP to connect to Internet, and often the case if
69 you are configuring a professional account.
70 </para><para>
71 If you chose either POP3 or Local mbox file, the next page will ask
72 you where you want to save your mail on disk. The default,
73 <quote>Mail</quote>, is usually ok and will save your mails in a
74 directory called <filename>Mail</filename> in your home directory.
75 </para><para>
76 If Claws Mail is built with support for OpenSSL, you will next see
77 the <quote>Security</quote> page, here you will be able to choose to
78 use SSL encryption to send and receive your emails. Most ISPs do not
79 enable this, but many companies do; if you're unsure about it, you can
80 leave them unselected.
81 </para><para>
82 You can now click on the Save button, and start enjoying Claws Mail.
83 </para>
84 </section>
86 <section id="start_getting">
87 <title>Getting mail</title>
88 <para>
89 Retrieving your email can be done from the toolbar button named
90 <quote>Get mail</quote> or from the <quote>Receive</quote> submenu of
91 the <quote>Message</quote> menu.
92 </para><para>
93 If you want Claws Mail to check your mail automatically at regular
94 intervals, you can ask it to do so from the
95 <quote>Mail handling: Receiving</quote> preference page which you'll
96 find in the <quote>Configuration/Preferences...</quote> menu. Just
97 click the
98 <quote>Automatically check new mail every [...] minute(s)</quote>
99 checkbox, and set the interval to your liking.
100 </para>
101 </section>
103 <section id="start_reading">
104 <title>Reading your mail</title>
105 <para>
106 Once you have retrieved your emails, the Inbox folder will contain
107 them. The total number of emails in a folder is shown at the right of
108 the folder's name, along with the number of unread and new emails in
109 it. To see them, click on the folder row in the folder list, and the
110 list of emails in that folder will be displayed in the Message List
111 pane. You can then select an email using the mouse, or by using the Up
112 and Down keys to navigate through the list, and the Space bar to
113 display and scroll emails. You can use other keys to navigate through
114 emails, like P and N (previous and next).
115 </para>
116 </section>
118 <section id="start_writing">
119 <title>Writing your first mail</title>
120 <para>
121 When clicking on the <quote>Compose</quote> button of the toolbar, a
122 composition window will open. This window contains different fields
123 which you should be able to recognise easily: if you have multiple
124 accounts, the From field can be used to select which account you want
125 to use for this email; the To field is for recipient of the email. When
126 you fill it in, a second To field will appear, so that you can send the
127 email to multiple recipients. You can also change the To field to a Cc
128 field or other types of fields, by using its dropdown menu, or by
129 typing in the field that you require. After that, you will be able to
130 set the subject of your email, then type its body.
131 </para><para>
132 A little note about an email's subject: Claws Mail will ask you for
133 confirmation if you attempt to send an email with an empty subject.
134 This is because it can be annoying for the recipient to receive emails
135 without a subject, as it doesn't help in handling email.
136 </para>
137 </section>
139 <section id="start_sending">
140 <title>Sending your first mail</title>
141 <para>
142 When you have finished writing your first email, you can either click
143 the <quote>Send</quote> button to send your email immediately, or use
144 the <quote>Send later</quote> button to queue the message for later
145 sending. When using <quote>Send</quote>, the composition window will
146 close itself when the mail has been sent; it will stay open if there is
147 an error. When using <quote>Send later</quote>, the composition window
148 will immediately close, and your email will be stored in your Queue
149 folder. It will then be sent when you click the <quote>Send</quote>
150 button in the main window's toolbar.
151 </para><para>
152 The emails that you send are saved in the Sent folder of your mailbox,
153 so that you can recall what you wrote to whom, or use an already sent
154 email as a template to write another.
155 </para>
156 </section>
157 </section>