KDE and Gnome Email Clients (5) Using K Mail
Dateline 08/23/99
Using K Mail is as easy (or as difficult?) as using any GUI email client. Find out how to do it.
"The materials of action are variable, but the use we make of them should be constant."
Epictetus
How Nobleness of Mind may be consistent with Prudence
Making Use of K Mail
We have already set up K Mail for our needs. Now let's have a look at a typical email session with K Mail, and how to make it as efficient as possible.
Checking Mail
The first command you probably need is the one that starts mail checking on your POP accounts. Even if you have interval checking turned on for one or more of your email accounts, it is nice to be able to see if new mail has arrived at any time.
To check mail from all your email accounts, use "File | Check Mail...". It's faster to press Ctrl-L, though (think of it as: "maiLLLL?"). If you want to see if new mail has arrived only for one of your email accounts, you have to use the menu: "File | Check Mail in... | [account name]".
Reading Mail
Once you got your incoming messages, it is a good idea to read them (although, for some strange reason, only too often it does not matter if you delete your mail without a single look at it).
The Three-pane View
K Mail comes with the standard three-paned look including a large and convenient pane for viewing messages.
To navigate between the messages, you can select whichever you like with your mouse. It's easier and faster to use your keyboard, however. To have the next message in the message list displayed, simply press `N', to go the the previous, use `P'. Could it be any more simple?
There is also a way to read the next unread message (i.e. the next one you have not already displayed): `+', or, via the menu: "Message | Next unread". Similarly, `-' shows the first unread message if you travel the list from the bottom to the top.
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The Message Window
The message "preview" in the three-pane view is nice, but it can only display one email at a time. If you need or want to open multiple messages, you can open them in message windows. (You can also create another main window with "File | New Mailreader".)
The message window is the simple-most window possible: it displays the message -- without any additional functionality. All you can do is close the window.
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Message as Plain Text
There is still another way to look at messages; this you will use even less (if at all) than the message window.
With "Message | View Source..." a window opens that displays the plain text of the message with no headers filtered out and all MIME codes and parts as they are, simply plain text.
You do not even need this window to see the full headers. These can easily be displayed in the preview pane with the menu command "View | All Headers"
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Writing Mail
To create a new message, use "File | New Composer", the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-N or the first item on the toolbar. This opens a message composer window.
The message composition should start with defining who gets the message in the "To:" field. The button with "..." pops up the address book (an unfortunate chapter of its own) from where you can insert email addresses. Similarly, you can fill in the "Cc:", "Bcc:", "Reply to", and "From:" (!) fields of your message, and eventually give it a "Subject:". If your composer window does not show all these header fields, you can select which to display in the "View" menu.
Then you can start typing your message. The included spell checker uses "ispell" and thus works quite well. You can check your message via "Options | Spellchecker..." or the toolbar item. To append a signature to your message, use "Attach | Append Signature"
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Attaching Files
The "Attach" menu leads us to attaching files to your message: this is done via "Attach | Attach...". This brings up a file selection box from which you select the file you wish to attach. K Mail then brings up the properties of the attachment you are about to make. Do not worry too much about Name, Encoding, and message part type. You can enter a short description of the file, however.
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Selecting OK lets the now attached file show up in a list of attachments at the bottom of the message.
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Sending the Message
To send the message, select "File | Send" from the menu, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-Ret or the appropriate (the first) toolbar item.
This will send the message at once. You can, however, also choose to put the message in the outbox until you connect to the Internet. For this, use "File | Send later". You can still edit messages in the outbox before they are sent.
Replying to Messages, Forwarding
Replying works like creating a new message, except that you start with some text, the recipient, and the subject already present.
If you want to reply to the current message in the main (three-pane) window of K Mail, simply press `R' or select "Message | Reply..." from the menu. This will send your reply to the originator of the message. If you want your answer to reach both the originator and all recipients (minus yourself) of the original message, use `A' or "Message | Reply All..."
To forward a message to another recipient while possibly adding some annotations yourself, use `F' or "Message | Forward...".
