claws-mail/manual/en/starting.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<section id="ch_starting">
<title>Getting started with Claws Mail</title>

  <section id="start_wizard">
    <title>The initial wizard</title>
    <para>
	The first time that you start Claws Mail, you will be asked a few 
	questions in order to set up an account. These questions are easy to 
	answer and grouped in several short pages.
    </para><para>
	First you will be asked to fill in your name, (<emphasis>usually 
	guessed from the operating system</emphasis>), your email address, and 
	the name of your organisation, (<emphasis>optional</emphasis>).
    </para><para>
	The following page will allow you to enter details of how to retrieve 
	your mail. The format of the page will be determined by the 
	<quote>Server type</quote>:
    </para>
    <blockquote>
      <variablelist>
	<varlistentry>
	  <term>POP3</term>
	  <listitem>
	    <para>
	If you choose POP3, you will need to enter the server address, 
	username, and password. The password is optional, if you don't provide 
	it here then you will be prompted for it each time it is needed.
	    </para>
	  </listitem>
	</varlistentry>
	<varlistentry>
	  <term>IMAP</term>
	  <listitem>
	    <para>
	If you choose IMAP, you will need to enter the server address, 
	username, password, and IMAP server directory. The password is 
	optional, if you don't provide it here then you will be prompted for it
	each time it is needed. The IMAP server directory is also optional, 
	often it is not needed and can be left empty.
	    </para>
	  </listitem>
	</varlistentry>
	<varlistentry>
	  <term>Local mbox file</term>
	  <listitem>
	    <para>
	If you choose Local mbox file, you will need to enter the location of 
	your local mailbox spool file. This location depends on your Operating
	System, but values like <filename>/var/mail/username</filename> or
	<filename>/var/spool/mail/username</filename> are common, where 
	<literal>username</literal> is your system login.
	    </para>
	  </listitem>
	</varlistentry>
      </variablelist>
    </blockquote>
    <para>
	When you click the <quote>Auto-configure</quote> button, Claws Mail will
	attempt to configure your account's servers based on your email address
	and the type of account you have chosen.
    </para>
    <para>
	On the next page you will enter the address of your SMTP server, 
	(<emphasis>sometimes referred to as 
	<quote>Outgoing server</quote></emphasis>). You will also be asked 
	whether to authenticate when sending mail; this is often not the case 
	if you're using an ISP to connect to Internet, and often the case if 
	you are configuring a professional account.
    </para><para>
	If you chose either POP3 or Local mbox file, the next page  will ask 
	you where you want to save your mail on disk. The default, 
	<quote>Mail</quote>, is usually ok and will save your mails in a 
	directory called <filename>Mail</filename> in your home directory.
    </para><para>
	If Claws Mail is built with support for OpenSSL, you will next see 
	the <quote>Security</quote> page, here you will be able to choose to 
	use SSL encryption to send and receive your emails. Most ISPs do not 
	enable this, but many companies do; if you're unsure about it, you can 
	leave them unselected.
    </para><para>
	You can now click on the Save button, and start enjoying Claws Mail.
    </para>
  </section>

  <section id="start_getting">
    <title>Getting mail</title>
    <para>
	Retrieving your email can be done from the toolbar button named 
	<quote>Get mail</quote> or from the <quote>Receive</quote> submenu of 
	the <quote>Message</quote> menu.
    </para><para>
	If you want Claws Mail to check your mail automatically at regular 
	intervals, you can ask it to do so from the 
	<quote>Mail handling: Receiving</quote> preference page which you'll 
	find in the <quote>Configuration/Preferences...</quote> menu. Just 
	click the 
	<quote>Automatically check new mail every [...] minute(s)</quote> 
	checkbox, and set the interval to your liking.
    </para>
  </section>

  <section id="start_reading">
    <title>Reading your mail</title>
    <para>
	Once you have retrieved your emails, the Inbox folder will contain 
	them. The total number of emails in a folder is shown at the right of 
	the folder's name, along with the number of unread and new emails in 
	it. To see them, click on the folder row in the folder list, and the 
	list of emails in that folder will be displayed in the Message List 
	pane. You can then select an email using the mouse, or by using the Up 
	and Down keys to navigate through the list, and the Space bar to 
	display and scroll emails. You can use other keys to navigate through 
	emails, like P and N (previous and next).
    </para>
  </section>

  <section id="start_writing">
    <title>Writing your first mail</title>
    <para>
	When clicking on the <quote>Compose</quote> button of the toolbar, a 
	composition window will open. This window contains different fields 
	which you should be able to recognise easily: if you have multiple 
	accounts, the From field can be used to select which account you want 
	to use for this email; the To field is for recipient of the email. When
	you fill it in, a second To field will appear, so that you can send the
	email to multiple recipients. You can also change the To field to a Cc 
	field or other types of fields, by using its dropdown menu, or by 
	typing in the field that you require. After that, you will be able to 
	set the subject of your email, then type its body.
    </para><para>
	A little note about an email's subject: Claws Mail will ask you for
	confirmation if you attempt to send an email with an empty subject. 
	This is because it can be annoying for the recipient to receive emails 
	without a subject, as it doesn't help in handling email.
    </para>
  </section>

  <section id="start_sending">
    <title>Sending your first mail</title>
    <para>
	When you have finished writing your first email, you can either click 
	the <quote>Send</quote> button to send your email immediately, or use 
	the <quote>Send later</quote> button to queue the message for later 
	sending. When using <quote>Send</quote>, the composition window will 
	close itself when the mail has been sent; it will stay open if there is
	an error. When using <quote>Send later</quote>, the composition window 
	will immediately close, and your email will be stored in your Queue 
	folder. It will then be sent when you click the <quote>Send</quote> 
	button in the main window's toolbar.
    </para><para>
	The emails that you send are saved in the Sent folder of your mailbox, 
	so that you can recall what you wrote to whom, or use an already sent 
	email as a template to write another.
    </para>
  </section>
</section>