Getting Started with Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups

 

In this section:

Using the Mail Account Setup Wizard

Setting Up Additional Mail and News Accounts

Changing the Settings for an Account

 

Using the Mail Account Setup Wizard

The very first time you launch Mail & Newsgroups, if you have not already set up an account, Mail & Newsgroups displays the Account Wizard so you can create an account. Later, you can add additional mail and newsgroup accounts from the File menu of the Mail window by choosing New, then Account.

The Wizard asks you to provide required information, such as your user name and email address. If you do not know a setting, you can exit the Wizard and ask your Internet service provider (ISP) or help desk.

Setting Up Mail Accounts with an ISP or Email Provider

To set up a mail account with an ISP or email provider, you'll need to provide:

To set up a newsgroup account, you'll need to provide:

To set up a new mail or newsgroup account, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Open the Edit menu and choose Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings. You see the Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings dialog box.
  2. Click Add Account to start the Account wizard.
  3. Choose the type of account you want to set up, and click Next. The information the wizard asks you to provide depends on the type of account you are setting up. The rest of the steps in this section assume you are setting up an account with an ISP or email provider.
  4. In the Identity section, enter your name (as you would like it to appear in the "From" field of messages you send) and email address, and click Next.
  5. In the Server Information section, select the type of incoming mail server (IMAP or POP). Enter the incoming server name and the outgoing (SMTP) server name (this is the name of the mail server that sends your messages, and is also known as your SMTP host). Then click Next.
  6. Note: Only one outgoing mail server (SMTP) needs to be specified, even if you have several mail accounts. The name of your SMTP host may not have been reported to you in your ISP information or by your system administrator. Your SMTP host may be the same as your POP or IMAP host. If in doubt, contact your ISP or system administrator.

  7. In the User Name section, enter your user name and click Next.
  8. In the Account Name section, assign a name for this account (for example, "Work" or "Family"), and click Next.
  9. Verify that the information you entered is correct. If necessary, verify the information you entered with your ISP or system administrator.
  10. Click Finish to set up your account.

You are now ready to retrieve messages from your account.

You can add additional mail and newsgroup accounts from the File menu of the Mail window by choosing New, then Account.

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Setting Up Additional Mail and News Accounts

You use the Account Settings dialog box to add a new account or to change information for an existing account, including:

To add a new account or change settings for an existing account, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Open the Edit menu and choose Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings. You see the Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings dialog box.
  2. Click OK to save your changes.

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Changing the Settings for an Account

To view or change information for an existing mail or newsgroup account, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Open the Edit menu and choose Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings. You see the Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings dialog box.
  2. Click the account name in the left-hand side of the Account Settings dialog box. You see information about the account, such as your email address and signature file, in the right side of the dialog box.
  3. Click the Server Settings category (beneath the name of your account). You see the Server Settings section, where you can edit mail or newsgroup server settings. The settings available depend on the type of server (IMAP, POP, or newsgroup server). For more information, see Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings - Server Settings.

    Important: If you need to change the server type (for example, from POP to IMAP) you must first remove the existing account. Next, you must quit Mozilla and restart it. You can then reopen the Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings dialog box and recreate the account with the new server type by clicking Add Account.

  4. Click the Copies & Folders category. You see the Copies & Folders section, where you can specify whether to send automatic (blind carbon copies) messages and where you want to store copies of outgoing messages, message drafts, and message templates. For more information, see Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings - Copies & Folders.
  5. Click the Addressing category. You see the Addressing section, where you can choose addressing settings for this account that override the global directory server settings specified for all address books in the Preferences dialog box. For more information, see Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings - Addressing.
  6. Click the Offline & Disk Space category (IMAP and News accounts only). You see the Offline & Disk Space section, where you can specify settings that apply when you are working offline (disconnected from the Internet) or that save download time and conserve disk space. For more information, see Offline and Disk Space Settings (IMAP) or Offline and Disk Space Settings (News).
  7. Click the Disk Space category (POP accounts only). You see the Disk Space section, where you can prevent messages larger than a specified size from being downloaded to your hard disk. For more information, see Disk Space Settings (POP).
  8. Click the Security category. You see the Security section, where you can configure your mail account for signing and encrypting mail messages that you send. Digital Signing settings enable you to identify yourself to others in mail messages that you send. Encryption settings let you ensure that your mail messages remain private while they are in transit. For more information, see Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings - Security.

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Reading Messages

 

In this section:

Getting New Messages

Choosing How You View the Mail Window

Sorting and Threading Messages

Saving and Printing Messages

 

Getting New Messages

When you start Mail & Newsgroups, if your default account is an IMAP account, Mail & Newsgroups automatically gets new messages and displays them in the Inbox (the primary message folder). For a POP account, you must click Get Msgs to retrieve your messages. By default, when you retrieve messages from your POP account, the messages are deleted from the POP server. You can change your POP server settings to store a copy of messages on the server in addition to downloading them to your computer.

You can also set up Mail & Newsgroups to get new messages at startup and to check for new messages at timed intervals.

The Mail & Newsgroups icon on the status bar displays a green arrow to notify you when new messages have arrived.

  New mail notification

To set up Mail & Newsgroups to automatically check for new messages, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Open the Edit menu and choose Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings. You see the Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings dialog box.
  2. If you have multiple accounts, select an account and click the Server Settings category for that account.
  3. Select from the following options:
  4. Click OK. Your settings take affect the next time you start Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups.

You can always retrieve messages manually at any time. To get new messages for the selected account or newsgroup, do one of the following:

To get new messages for all your mail accounts, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Click the triangle on the Get Msgs button in the Mail toolbar.
  2. Choose Get All New Messages. Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups retrieves new messages for all your mail accounts. If you are not currently logged into one of your mail accounts, Mail & Newsgroups first prompts you to enter your user name and password before retrieving new messages for that account. (If you have already stored your user name and password using the Password Manager, Mail & Newsgroups doesn't prompt you for this information.)

Note: You can also open the File menu (in the Mail window) and choose "Get New Messages for".

To get new messages for a specific mail account, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Click the triangle on the Get Msgs button on the Mail toolbar.
  2. Choose the account for which you want to retrieve mail.
  Mail & Newsgroups icon

Note: Mail & Newsgroups prompts you for your password the first time you retrieve messages for an account. You can choose to have Mail & Newsgroups store your password in the Password Manager at that time.

Password Manager can save all your user names and passwords on your own computer in a file that's difficult, but not impossible, for an intruder to read.

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Choosing How You View the Mail Window

You can customize the layout of the Mail window (the window you see when you choose Mail & Newsgroups from the Tasks menu):

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Sorting and Threading Messages

To sort messages by categories such as subject, sender, date, or priority, begin from the Mail window:

To reorder column headings, begin from the Mail window:

To group messages by threading (subject), so each message is grouped with all its responses:

     
  Thread button

Tip: To help you identify unread messages in a collapsed thread where you've read the parent message, Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups underlines the parent message.

 

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Saving and Printing Messages

To save a mail message as a plain-text or HTML file:

  1. In the Mail window, select the message.
  2. Open the File menu and choose Save As, and then choose File.
  3. Choose a file name and location and click Save.

To print a selected message:

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Sending Messages

 

In this section:

Composing Mail and Newsgroup Messages

Using the Message Composition Window

Addressing a Message

Selecting Message Sending Options

Replying to a Message

Forwarding a Message

Saving and Editing a Message Draft

Creating and Using Templates

 

Composing Mail and Newsgroup Messages

You can address, compose, reply to, or send a new message by doing one of the following:

Tip: Use the Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings command on the Edit menu to specify the HTML text editor for composing messages. In the Account Settings dialog box, select the account, and check "Compose messages in HTML format" to use the HTML text editor for all messages. If you want to use the plain-text editor occasionally, you can hold down the Shift key while clicking the Compose or the Reply button to use the plain-text editor on an as-needed basis.

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Using the Message Composition Window

Use the Compose window to address, compose, and send mail and newsgroup messages. First specify whether you want to compose messages in plain text or HTML in the Account Settings Preferences panel (Open the Edit menu and choose Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings).

To view the Compose window, click on the Compose button on the Mail toolbar.

The Compose window contains the following:

If you've chosen to compose messages using the HTML editor, you see an additional toolbar with text formatting buttons similar to those in Mozilla Composer.

For help using the HTML editor, see the Composer online help.

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Addressing a Message

To address a mail message:

  1. Type the name in the address field.
  2. If you have address autocompletion enabled (it's enabled by default), simply type the first few letters of the recipient's name and wait for Mail & Newsgroups to complete the address. (Or you can type part of the name and immediately press Enter to have Mail & Newsgroups try to complete the address.)

  3. If multiple addresses are found, select an address and press Enter.
  4. Note: Use a comma to separate multiple addresses on the same line. Do not use a comma to separate first or last names. (example: emailaddress1@netscape.com, emailaddress2@netscape.com, emailaddress3@netscape.com)

  5. If you want this message to be sent from a different account, click the "From" field to select the account you want.
  6. If necessary, click "To" to choose a different recipient type:

Tip: You can quickly address a message by right-clicking the email address contained in a message you're reading, and then selecting Send Mail To from the pop-up menu.

Changing the Account From Which a Message is Sent

If you have multiple mail accounts, the account listed in the From field is based on the account (or server) you selected when you choose to create a new message. However, Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups also allows you to change the account a message is sent from while you're composing a message. Click the From field to view a list of your accounts and then select the account you want. A copy of the message is saved in the Sent folder of the account where you sent the message.

About Address Autocompletion

Address autocompletion allows you to address mail easily from the Compose window without having to search for names or type complete names. Mail & Newsgroups automatically checks your address books and an LDAP directory server (if available) and completes the name if it finds a unique match. It also prevents mistakes by showing all possible choices with additional information if it finds multiple matches. Address autocompletion is enabled by default.

If you don't want to use an address that Mail & Newsgroups provides, simply press Backspace or Delete to erase the address and then enter an alternate address.

To disable address autocompletion:

  1. Open the Edit menu and choose Preferences.
  2. Under the Mail & Newsgroups category, click Addressing. (If no options are visible in this category, double-click the category to expand the list).
  3. In the Address Autocompletion section, deselect "Local Address Books" and "Directory Server."
  4. Click OK.

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Selecting Message Sending Options

While you're composing a message, you can select these additional message sending options from the Options menu:

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Replying to a Message

To reply to a mail message:

To include the original message each time you reply to any message:

  1. Open the Edit menu and choose Preferences.
  2. Under the Mail & Newsgroups category, click Message Composition.
  3. Select "Automatically quote the original message when replying."
  4. Click OK.

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Forwarding a Message

When you forward a message, you can specify how to place new text relative to the original text: inline (in the body of the message; this is the default), or as an attachment.

To forward a message:

  1. Select the message and click Forward.
  2. Type the name or email address of the recipient.
  3. Click Send.

To set the default for forwarding messages:

  1. Open the Edit menu and choose Preferences.
  2. Under the Mail & Newsgroups category, click Message Composition. (If necessary, double-click the Mail & Newsgroups category to expand the list.)
  3. Click OK.

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Saving and Editing a Message Draft

To save a mail message as a draft so you can complete it later:

To edit or send a message draft:

  1. From the Mail & Newsgroups window, click the Drafts folder for the account where you created the message draft.
  2. Click the message that you want to edit.
  3. In the top-right corner of the message, click the Edit Draft button. (Alternatively, from the Edit menu, choose Edit Draft.)
  4. Edit the message as necessary.
  5. Click Send to send the message or click Save to save the message so you can complete it later.

Tip: You can also double-click the message to open it for editing. This is especially useful if the message pane is closed.

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Creating and Using Templates

Templates are useful for formatting messages that you send regularly, such as weekly status reports. You can save a message as a template from any window in which it is displayed, including from within a Mail compose window.

To save a message as a template:

To edit or use a template file:

  1. In the Mail window, select the Templates folder for the account where you created the message template.
  2. Double-click the message you want to edit.
  3. Edit the message, then save it or send it.

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Creating HTML Mail Messages

 

In this section:

Using HTML in Your Messages

Choosing HTML Message Sending Options

Specifying Recipients for HTML Messages

Viewing the Message Source for HTML Messages

Using the HTML Mail Question Dialog Box

 

Using HTML in Your Messages

HTML messages can include formatted text, links, images, and tables—just like a web page. However, some recipients may not be able to receive HTML messages. Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups allows you to compose mail and newsgroup messages using either the HTML (rich-text) formatting editor or the plain-text editor for each mail account you have. In addition, you can choose whether your addressees should receive HTML or plain-text messages by default, and how Mail & Newsgroups should handle messages when it's not known if an addressee can receive HTML formatted mail.

To specify whether to use the HTML editor as the default for composing messages, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Open the Edit menu and choose Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings. You see the Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings dialog box.
  2. Select the mail or newsgroup account you want to use.
  3. Select "Compose messages in HTML format." You see the Formatting toolbar in the Compose window. Leave this box unchecked to use the plain-text editor for this account.

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Choosing HTML Mail Sending Options

You can choose the default method Mail & Newsgroups uses to handle sending HTML messages when it's not known whether the recipient's mail program can display formatted messages.

To choose HTML sending options for mail messages, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Open the Edit menu and choose Preferences. (If no options are visible in this category, double-click the category to expand the list.)
  2. Under the Mail & Newsgroups category, click Send Format.

    Note: This preference applies only to mail messages, not to newsgroup messages.

  3. Select the option you want and then click OK.

If while composing a message you realize that one or more recipients may not be able to receive HTML-formatted mail, you can easily convert the message to a different format when you click Send:

  1. In the Compose window, open the Options menu and choose Format.
  2. Select the format you want to use for sending the message:
  3. When you've finished composing the message, click Send.

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Specifying Recipients for HTML Messages

You can save time by indicating whether individuals in your address books prefer to receive either HTML messages or plain text messages.

  1. Open the Tasks menu and choose Address Book.
  2. Select the address book on the left and then select the individual's card on the right.
  3. Click Properties to display the "Card for" dialog box.
  4. In the Name tab, use the "Prefers to receive messages formatted as" drop-down list to select HTML if you know this recipient can read HTML-formatted messages (such as messages that include links, images, or tables). If this recipient can only read messages sent as plain text (no formatting), then choose Plain Text. If you don't know or are not sure, choose Unknown. If you choose Unknown, Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups determines the sending format based on the Send Format settings for Mail & Newsgroups in the Preferences dialog box. If Mail & Newsgroups still can't determine the correct format, it will prompt you to choose a sending format when you send the message.
  5. Click OK.

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Viewing the Message Source for HTML Messages

You can quickly view the HTML and other code that generates an HTML message you've received:

  1. Open the message.
  2. Open the View menu and choose Message Source.

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Using the HTML Mail Question Dialog Box

The HTML Mail Question dialog box appears when you try to send a message to someone who does not want to receive HTML messages or when Mail & Newsgroups cannot determine whether your recipient can display HTML messages. If you are in doubt, send a plain-text message.

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Using Attachments

 

In this section:

Attaching a File or Web Page

Viewing and Opening Attachments

Saving Attachments

 

Attaching a File or Web Page

To attach a file to an outgoing mail message:

  1. In the Compose window, click Attach or open the File menu and choose Attach File. You see the "Enter file to attach" dialog box.
  2. Tip: You can also click inside the Attachments area to attach a file.

  3. Type the name of the file you want to attach, or select a file from your hard drive that you want to attach.
  4. Click Open. The file name appears in the Attachments area.

Tip: You can also drag and drop one or more files from your desktop into the Attachments area in the Compose window.

To attach a web page to an outgoing mail message:

  1. In the Compose window, open the File menu and choose Attach Web Page.
  2. In the dialog box, enter the URL of the page and then click OK. The web page URL appears in the Attachments area.

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Viewing and Opening Attachments

If you receive a mail attachment that consists of a file type that Mozilla can display (such as graphic files and HTML files), you see the attachment displayed inline (in the body of the message). For other file types, Mail & Newsgroups lets you open the attachment using another application, or you can save the attachment on your hard disk.

To open the attachment, make sure you have a program on your computer that can open files of the same type as the attachment's file format. For example, if you want to open a GIF file, make sure you have a program on your computer that can open GIF files.

To open an attachment:

  1. Double-click the attachment you want (if there is more than one).
  2. In the Downloading dialog box, choose what you want Mozilla to do with the attachment:
  3. Click OK.

Note: If you are viewing your mail using an IMAP mail server, all attachments remain on the server.

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Saving Attachments

To save an attachment:

  1. In the right side of the message envelope, select the attachment that you want to save.
  2. Right-click (Control + Click on Mac) the attachment and choose Save As from the pop-up menu.
  3. Choose a file name and location for the attachment on your hard disk and then click OK. Mail & Newsgroups downloads the attachment and saves it to the specified location.

Tip: To save all attachments, right-click the first one in the attachment list, and choose Save All. You can then specify the location where you want all the attachments to be saved.

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Deleting Messages

 

In this section:

Moving Messages to and from the Trash

 

How you delete messages depends on your mail server type: IMAP or POP. Deleted POP messages are automatically moved to the Trash folder. IMAP users can set different options for deleting messages.

To delete IMAP messages from your Inbox or other folders, begin from the Mail window:

  1. In the message list, select the messages and click Delete. By default, Mail & Newsgroups moves the selected messages to the Trash folder.
  2. To delete messages permanently, open the File menu and choose Empty Trash.

To set deletion preferences for IMAP messages:

  1. Open the Edit menu and choose Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings. You see the Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings dialog box.
  2. Locate the IMAP account you want, and then click the Server Settings category under the account name.
  3. Select the options you want for deleting messages and click OK.

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Moving Messages To and From the Trash

If you use a POP server to deliver your mail, or if you set up IMAP to use the Trash folder, follow these steps to delete messages from your Inbox or other folders:

  1. In the message list, select the messages you want to delete.
  2. Click Delete. Mail & Newsgroups moves the messages to the Trash folder.

To recover messages from the Trash:

  1. Click the Trash folder.
  2. Select the messages you want to recover, and drag them to another folder.

To delete messages permanently:

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Using Address Books

 

In this section:

About Address Books

Adding Entries to Your Address Books

Creating a New Address Book

Creating a New Address Book Card

Creating a Mailing List

Editing a Mailing List

Searching Address Books and Directories

Importing Address Books

Exporting Address Books

Syncing Entries with Your WebMail or AOL Address Book

Adding and Removing LDAP Directories

 

About Address Books

Address books store email addresses and contact information for people you typically send mail to, such as colleagues, friends, and family. Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups provides you with two address books: the Personal Address Book and the Collected Addresses Book—and you can create additional address books as well. The contents of these address books are stored locally on your hard disk. Your address book may also list email addresses from an LDAP directory, which is located on an LDAP directory server. The directory server stores email addresses of people that are not included in your locally-stored address books.

Personal Address Book

Use the Personal Address Book to add specific names of your choice, or to import address books from other mail programs and previous versions of Mozilla. You can create mailing lists, edit individual address entries, and create additional address books.

Collected Addresses

The Collected Addresses Book automatically collects the email addresses contained in incoming and outgoing messages, as well as the screen names for buddy lists migrated from Mozilla. For incoming mail messages, the Collected Addresses Book saves the sender's address in each message as soon as you open it. Addresses from outgoing messages are stored as soon as you click Send. You can choose which addresses you want to collect (only addresses from mail messages or addresses from both mail and newsgroup messages) by changing the preferences for email address collection.

LDAP Directory (if available)

An LDAP directory (also known as an address lookup service) stores email addresses of recipients who are not in your locally-stored address books. LDAP directories offer you access to large, centrally maintained databases of email addresses, which is especially useful with address autocompletion.

To enable automatic address collection, begin in the Mail window:

  1. Open the Edit menu and choose Preferences.
  2. Under the Mail & Newsgroups category, click Addressing. (If no options are visible in this category, double-click the category to expand the list.)
  3. Under Email Address Collection, choose whether you want to:
  4. Click OK.

Opening the Address Book Window

To open the Address Book window:

Changing the Address Book Window Display

To customize how the Address Book window and the cards are displayed:

  1. Open the Tasks menu and choose Address Book. You see the Address Book window.
  2. In the Address Book window, open the View menu and choose from the following display options:

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Adding Entries to Your Address Books

You can use any of the following ways to add entries to your address books:

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Creating a New Address Book

Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups provides a default personal address book, but you can create additional address books.

To create a new address book:

  1. Click the Address Book icon on the status bar or open the Tasks menu and choose Address Book. You see the Address Book window.
  2. Address Book icon

  3. In the Address Book window, open the File menu, choose New, and choose Address Book. You see the New Address Book dialog box.
  4. Type the name of the new address book, and click OK.

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Creating a New Address Book Card

Address book cards can be used to store names, postal addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, and information such as whether the addressee prefers to receive plain-text or HTML-formatted messages.

To create an address book card for an individual:

  1. Click the Address Book icon on the status bar or open the Tasks menu and choose Address Book.
  2. Click New Card. (If you have multiple address books, select the one to which you want to add a card.)
  3. Each New Card dialog box has four tabs:

Tip: To quickly add entries to your address book, right-click any mail address in messages you receive and select Add to Address Book from the drop-down list. The New Card dialog box appears where you can complete the information.

 

Viewing or Editing Card Properties

To view or edit the properties for an individual card:

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Creating a Mailing List

If you regularly send messages to a group of recipients, you can quickly address a message by using a mailing list that contains the names you want.

To create a mailing list and add it to your address book:

  1. In the Address Book window, click New List.
  2. Enter the following information in the Mailing List dialog box:
  3. Drag entries from the Address Book window into the list, or type in addresses.
  4. Click OK.
  5. The list appears in the left and right sides of the Address Book window.

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Editing a Mailing List

Mailing lists are stored in the address book in which you created them.

To remove a member from the list, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Open Tasks menu and choose Address Book.
  2. Expand the address book containing your mailing list by clicking the small triangle beside the address book title.
  3. Highlight the mailing list by clicking its name. The list members appear to the right of the mailing list name.
  4. Click the entry you wish to delete.
  5. Click the Delete button.

To add members to a mailing list:

  1. Open Tasks menu and choose Address Book.
  2. Expand the address book containing your mailing list by clicking the small triangle beside the address book title.
  3. Highlight the mailing list by clicking its name.
  4. Click Properties.
  5. Add or remove entries as necessary.
  6. Click OK when you are done.

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Searching Address Books and Directories

Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups lets you quickly search an address book or directory by subject or sender, or use a combination of criteria to perform a thorough search through an address book or directory.

To quickly search an address book or directory by subject or sender, begin from the Address Book window:

  1. In the Address Book window, in the list of address books, select the address book or directory that you want to search.
  2. To the right of "Subject or Sender contains:", type the subject text or sender name that you want to find. You can type only part of the subject or sender, or you can type the exact word or name that you want to find.
  3. As soon as you stop typing, Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups displays only those entries where the subject or sender contains the search text you entered.

  4. Click Clear to erase the search text and show all entries.

Searching for Specific Entries

You can search address books or directories for specific entries. If you are not already viewing the Advanced Address Book Search dialog box, begin from the Address Book window:

  1. Open the Search menu and choose Search Addresses. You see the Advanced Address Book Search dialog box.
  2. Next to "Search in", choose the address book or directory through which you want to search.
  3. Select the matching option Mail & Newsgroups uses to search for entries either that match all or at least one of the conditions (criteria) that you choose.
  4. Click More to add criteria and Fewer to remove them.
  5. Click Search to begin, or click Clear to reset your entries. The search results appear in lower part of the dialog box.
  6. To sort the entries in a different order, click the column that you want to sort by.
  7. To view the card for an entry, select the entry and click Properties.
  8. To compose a message to selected recipients, select one or more entries and click Compose.

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Importing Address Books

If you have a Mozilla address book from another user profile or computer, or if you have an address book from a previous version of Mozilla or another mail program, you can import its entries into the Address Book window as a new address book. You can import address book files that are in these formats: Communicator 4.x (pab.na2), Mozilla (.ldif), tab-delimited (.tab), comma-separated (.csv), or text (.txt) formats. When you import an address book, Mail & Newsgroups creates a new address book with the imported entries.

You can also import mail messages and settings from Netscape Communicator, Eudora, Outlook, and Outlook Express.

To import an address book into Mozilla, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Open the File menu, and choose Import. You see the Mozilla Mail Import Wizard.
  2. Follow the instructions to import address books.
  3. Tip: Communicator address book files (pab.na2) are stored in your user profile directory (for example, C:\Program Files\Mozilla\Users, where \Users contains the user profiles directories).

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Exporting Address Books

You can export a Mozilla address book if you later want to import it into another user profile, move it to another computer, or use it with another program that can import address books. You can export an address book to one of these file formats: Communicator 4.x or Mozilla (.ldif), tab-delimited (.tab), comma-separated (.csv), or text (.txt) formats.

To export an address book, begin from the Address Book window:

  1. Select the address book that you want to export.
  2. Open the File menu, and choose Export.
  3. In the Export Address Book dialog box, browse to the location where you want to save the address book file.
  4. Choose the file format for the exported address book (.ldif, comma-separated, or tab-delimited).
  5. Enter a name for the address book file. Be sure to include the appropriate file extension (.ldif, .csv, .tab, or .txt).
  6. Click Save.

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Adding and Removing LDAP Directories

In general, you add or remove directory servers using instructions provided by your system administrator. Check with your system administrator for the information you will need in order to add a new directory server.

To add a new directory server:

  1. Open the Edit menu, and choose Preferences. You see the Preferences dialog box.
  2. Under the Mail & Newsgroups category, select Addressing. (If no options are available in this category, double-click the category to expand the list.)
  3. Under Address Autocompletion on the right side of the dialog box, click Edit Directories.
  4. In the LDAP Directory Servers dialog box, click Add.
  5. Type the following information in the Directory Server Properties dialog box General tab:
  6. Click the Advanced tab to configure LDAP directory server settings.
  7. Type the following information:
  8. Click OK to close the Directory Server Properties dialog box.
  9. Click OK to close the LDAP Directory Servers dialog box.

To delete a directory server:

  1. Open the Edit menu, and choose Preferences. You see the Preferences dialog box.
  2. Under the Mail & Newsgroups category, select Addressing. (If no options are available in this category, double-click the category to expand the list.)
  3. Under Address Autocompletion on the right side of the dialog box, click Edit Directories.
  4. In the LDAP Directory Servers dialog box, select the directory that you want to delete and click Delete.
  5. Click OK, then click OK again to close the Preferences dialog box.

 

Directory Server Settings

If you are not already viewing the Directory Server Settings dialog box, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Open the Tasks menu, and choose Address Book.
  2. In the list of address books, select a directory.
  3. Click Properties.

General Tab

Advanced Tab

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Organizing Your Messages

 

In this section:

Creating a Folder

Renaming a Folder

Moving or Copying a Folder

Filing Messages in Folders

Labeling Messages

Marking or Flagging Messages

Creating Message Filters

Searching Through Messages

 

Creating a Folder

To create a message folder, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Open the File menu, choose New, and then Folder. You see the New Folder dialog box.
  2. Type the name of the folder.
  3. Click the drop-down list and choose a folder location and click OK. Your new folder appears in your Mail Folders list.

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Renaming a Folder

To rename an existing folder, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Select the folder you want to rename.
  2. Open the File menu and choose Rename Folder. You see the Rename Folder dialog box.
  3. Type the new name and click OK.

Note: If you rename a folder that you've been using to store filtered messages, the filter will automatically update to use the renamed folder.

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Moving or Copying a Folder

You can copy a folder and its contents to another mail account, or move a folder within the same mail account.

To move or copy a folder, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Select the folder you want to move or copy.
  2. Do one of the following:

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Filing Messages in Folders

You can move messages from one folder to another by using either of these methods:

To copy a message from one folder to another:

  1. Select the message and right-click to display the pop-up menu.
  2. Select "Copy To" and then select the destination account and folder from the drop-down list.

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Labeling Messages

You can apply labels to messages to help you organize and prioritize them. You can apply a standard color and text label to messages, or you can customize the label colors or label text to suit your needs.

One powerful way to use labels is to use a message filter to automatically label incoming messages. For example, you can set up a message filter so that incoming messages from your boss are labeled "Important" and appear in red. See Creating Message Filters for more information.

Applying a Label

To apply a label to a message, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Select the message you want to label.
  2. Open the Message menu, and choose Label.
  3. Choose the label you want to apply from the list.

The message header changes to the label color you chose. To see the label text, you must display the Label column in the Mail window.

To display the Label column, begin from the Mail window:

Note: Message labels apply on a per-account basis. For example, if you move or copy a labeled message to another mail account, the label is not preserved. Similarly, if you forward a labeled message to another recipient, the label is not preserved. For IMAP mail accounts, if your IMAP server supports user-defined keywords, message labels will persist when you log in to your mail account from a different location. In an AOL mail acount, when a labeled message is automatically moved from New Mail to the Old Mail folder, it loses its label.

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Customizing Labels

You can customize label colors or text to suit your needs.

To customize labels, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Open the Edit menu, and choose Preferences. You see the Preferences dialog box.
  2. Under the Mail & Newsgroups category, click Labels. (If no options are available in this category, double-click the category to expand the list.)
  3. Edit the label text, or replace it with your own label text. The label can be up to 32 characters long.
  4. To change the label color, click the color chip next to that label and select a new color.
  5. Click OK.

Your changes are immediately applied to all labeled messages in all your mail accounts.

Tip: To restore the default label text and colors, follow the steps above to display the label settings, and click Restore Defaults.

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Sorting Messages by Label

To sort messages by label, begin from the Mail window:

  1. To display the Label column if it is hidden, click the Show/Hide Columns icon and select Label from the list.
  2. Click the Label column to sort messages by color, and within each color, to sort messages alphabetically by label text.

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Removing Labels

To remove a message label, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Select one or more labeled messages.
  2. Open the Message menu, and choose Label.
  3. Choose "None" for the message label.

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Marking or Flagging Messages

You might want to mark a message you've read as unread if you later want to re-read the message or respond to it.

To mark a message as unread, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Select a Mail or Newsgroup folder to display its messages.
  2. Click in the Read column of each message you want to mark as unread. Messages marked as unread display a symbol in the Read column. Messages marked as read display a symbol in the Read column. If the Read column is not visible, click the Show/Hide Columns icon and select Read from the list.

Read column

You can flag messages that you later want to download for offline use.

To flag messages, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Select a Mail or Newsgroup folder to display its messages.
  2. Click in the Flag column of each message you want to download. A flag appears where you clicked to indicate that the message has been flagged. If the Flag column is not visible, click the Show/Hide Columns icon and select Flag from the list.

Flag column

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Creating Message Filters

Message filters allow you to manage and organize your messages. You can create message filters that Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups uses to automatically perform certain actions on incoming messages based on criteria you specify. For example, you can create a message filter that automatically moves incoming messages to a particular folder. Message filters operate on a per-account basis.

If you are not already viewing the Message Filters dialog box, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Open the Edit menu and choose Message Filters. You see the Message Filters dialog box.
  2. If you have multiple mail accounts, choose the one to which you want to apply the filter.
  3. Click New. You use the Filter Rules dialog box to specify the types of messages to act on, and the action you want the filter to perform.
  4. Type a name for the filter.
  5. Select the matching option you want Mail & Newsgroups to use: "all of the following conditions" (criteria) you choose, or "at least one" of the conditions.
  6. Use the drop-down lists to choose the search criteria (for example, "Subject," "Sender," "contains," "doesn't contain") and then type the text or phrase you want to match.
  7. Tip: To search for messages that contain a header not listed in the first drop-down menu (for example, if you want to search for messages that include the header Resent-From), choose Customize and type the header you want to search for. Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups adds your custom header to the drop-down list, so you can then choose it to search for matching entries.

  8. To restrict your filter to messages that only match a certain priority, choose "Priority" from the drop-down list.
  9. Click More to add criteria and Fewer to remove them.
  10. Use the drop-down list to choose the action you want the filter to perform on the messages (for example, Move to Folder).
  11. Tip: To automatically label incoming messages, choose "Label the message" from the drop-down list.

  12. Choose a destination folder in which to store the messages, or create a new folder.
  13. Click OK to confirm your settings.
  14. Click OK in the Message Filters dialog box. The filter begins filtering incoming messages as soon as you click OK.

To manage your filters, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Open the Edit menu and choose Message Filters. You see the Message Filters dialog box.
  2. If you have multiple mail accounts, choose the one to which you want to apply the filter.
  3. Choose from the following:
  4. Click OK when you are done managing your filters. If you created a new filter, it begins filtering incoming messages as soon as you click OK.

Note: If you delete a folder that you've been using to store filtered messages, the filter will no longer work. Incoming messages that match the filter criteria will appear in your Inbox. If you rename or move the folder, the filter will automatically update to use the renamed or moved folder.

Tip: Filters don't apply to existing messages. If you have existing messages that you want to move to another folder, you can search for those messages and then file them into the other folder.

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Filtering Messages From a Specific Sender

Mozilla lets you quickly create a filter for messages from a particular sender. For example, if you want to automatically move all incoming messages from your child's teacher into a folder called "School", Mozilla lets you quickly set up a filter to do this.

To create a filter for messages from a specific sender, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Select a message from a specific sender.
  2. Open the Message menu, and choose Create Filter. You see the Filter Rules dialog box. Using the sender's email address, Mozilla prefills the filter name, the filter matching criteria, and the filter action (Move to folder).
  3. Choose a destination folder in which to store the incoming messages from the specified sender, or create a new folder.
  4. Click OK to confirm your settings. You see the Message Filters dialog box, where you can create, delete, or edit message filters.
  5. Click OK. The filter begins filtering incoming messages from the specified sender as soon as you click OK.

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Searching Through Messages

Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups lets you quickly find text in a single message, search messages by subject or sender, or use a combination of criteria to perform a thorough search through all messages in a specific mail folder, newsgroup, or account.

To locate text in a single message, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Select the message, open the Search menu, and choose Find in This Message.
  2. Type the text that you want to locate.
  3. Click Find to locate the first occurrence of the text.
  4. Continue clicking Find to locate additional occurrences, or click Cancel when you are done.
  5. Choose Find Again from the Search menu to continue searching for the text throughout the rest of the message.

To quickly search for messages by subject or sender, begin from the Mail window:

  1. To the right of "Subject or Sender contains:", type the subject text or sender name that you want to find. You can type only part of the subject or sender, or you can type the exact word or name that you want to find.
  2. As soon as you stop typing, Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups displays only those messages where the subject or sender contains the search text you entered.

  3. Click Clear to erase the search text and show all messages.

Searching for Specific Messages

You can search mail folders or newsgroups for specific messages. If you are not already viewing the Search Messages dialog box, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Open the Search menu and choose Search Messages. You see the Search Messages dialog box.
  2. Next to "Search for messages in", choose the account, newsgroup, or folder through which you want to search.
  3. Click "Search subfolders" to include all subfolders in the search.
  4. Select the matching option Mail & Newsgroups uses to search for messages either that match all or at least one of the conditions (criteria) that you choose.
  5. Use the drop-down lists to indicate the search criteria (for example, "Subject" and "contains") and then type the text or phrase that you want to match.
  6. Tip: To search for messages that contain a header not listed in the first drop-down menu (for example, if you want to search for messages that include the header Resent-From), choose Customize and type the header you want to search for. Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups adds your custom header to the drop-down list, so you can then choose it to search for matching entries.

  7. Click More to add criteria and Fewer to remove them.
  8. Click Search to begin, or click Clear to reset your entries. The search results appear in lower part of the Search Messages dialog box. To open a message so you can read it, select the message and click Open, or double-click the message.
  9. To sort the messages in a different order, click the column that you want to sort by.
  10. To move or copy a message in the Results area to another folder, select the message and then choose the destination folder from the File drop-down list. If the destination folder is within the same account, the message is moved to that folder. If the destination folder is within a different account, the message is copied to that folder.
  11. To delete a message in the Results area, select the message and then click Delete.
  12. To open the folder where the message is stored, select the message and click Open Message Folder.

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Importing Mail from Other Programs

This section describes how to import mail messages and settings from Netscape Communicator, Outlook, Outlook Express, and Eudora. To import address books from these programs, see Importing Address Books.

 

In this section:

Importing Mail Messages

Importing Mail Settings

 

Importing Mail Messages

To import mail messages from Netscape Communicator, Outlook, Outlook Express, or Eudora, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Open the File menu, and choose Import. You see the Mozilla Mail Import Wizard.
  2. Follow the instructions to import mail messages.

For Netscape Communicator, the wizard imports all Communicator mail folders included under Local Folders. Imported mail is added as a new folder under Local Folders in the Mozilla Mail window.

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Importing Mail Settings

To import mail settings from Outlook, Outlook Express, or Eudora, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Open the File menu, and choose Import. You see the Mozilla Mail Import Wizard.
  2. Follow the instructions to import mail settings.

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Getting Started With Newsgroups

 

In this section:

Subscribing to Newsgroups

Reading Newsgroup Messages

Posting Newsgroup Messages

Contributing to Ongoing Discussions

Monitoring Threads

Removing a Newsgroup

Adding a Newsgroup Server

 

Subscribing to Newsgroups

If you have set up an account on a newsgroup server, you can join (subscribe) to newsgroups (also called discussion groups).

To subscribe to a newsgroup, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Open the File menu and choose Subscribe. You see the Subscribe dialog box.
  2. If necessary, click the Account drop-down list to choose another newsgroup account.
  3. Select a newsgroup.
  4. Click Subscribe or click in the Subscribe column next to the newsgroup. You see a checkmark next to each newsgroup to which you subscribe. Click Unsubscribe to cancel a selection.
  5. Click OK. The list of your subscribed newsgroups appears in the Mail window.

If you are an IMAP mail user, you can also subscribe to message folders located on an IMAP server. (Your Inbox is a type of message folder.) Follow the instructions above for subscribing, but select a mail server from the Server drop-down list.

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Reading Newsgroup Messages

When you open your newsgroup server, you see the list of newsgroups to which you subscribe. The server downloads the headers of new messages in each newsgroup.

To read newsgroup messages, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Double-click a newsgroup server icon to see its newsgroups. (If there are no newsgroups, you may need to subscribe to one.)
  2. Click a newsgroup name to see its messages.
  3. Click a message to read it. Click the thread button to display all the responses below the original message. You can click any header to display its message. You can start a new thread or post a message in response.

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Posting Newsgroup Messages

To start new threads (discussions):

  1. From the list of your subscribed newsgroups in the Mail window, select a newsgroup.
  2. Click Compose.
  3. Compose your message, and click Send to post it.
  4. Click Get Msgs to see your posting on the newsgroup.

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Contributing to Ongoing Discussions

To post a response to the newsgroup:

  1. In the message list, select a message to reply to.
  2. Click Reply.
  3. Compose your message, and click Send to post it.

To reply to an individual as well as post a response to the group:

  1. In the message list, select a message to reply to.
  2. Click Reply All.
  3. Compose your message, and click Send to post it.

To redirect a posting to another newsgroup:

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Monitoring Threads

To monitor unread messages in threads that are of interest to you:

  1. Select a message in a thread.
  2. Open the Message menu, and choose Watch Thread.
  3. If you want to monitor additional threads, repeat steps 1 and 2 for messages in additional threads.
  4. When you're ready to monitor messages in these threads, Open the View menu, choose Messages, and then choose Watched Threads with Unread. Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups only displays the watched threads that contain unread messages.
  5. Open the View menu, choose Messages, and then choose All to return to viewing all messages in the newsgroup.

To ignore a message thread:

  1. Select a message in the thread.
  2. Open the Message menu, and choose Ignore Thread. Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups marks all messages in the thread as read, and new replies posted to the thread will appear as read.
  3. To view ignored threads, open the View menu, choose Messages, and then choose Ignored Threads.

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Removing a Newsgroup

To remove a newsgroup from your list:

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Adding a Newsgroup Server

If the newsgroup you want to subscribe to is on a different server, you must first set up access to that server.

To set up an additional newsgroup server, open the File menu in the Mail window and choose New, then Account.

Once you've set up access to the new server, you can subscribe to newsgroups on that server. In the Mail window, open the File menu, and choose Subscribe.

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Working Offline

 

In this section:

Setting Up Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups to Work Offline

Downloading Your Inbox for Offline Use

Downloading an Individual Folder for Offline Use

Downloading Selected or Flagged Messages for Offline Use

Setting Up Your Accounts for Working Offline

Selecting Accounts, Folders, and Newsgroups for Offline Viewing

Downloading and Synchronizing Your Messages

Working Offline and Reconnecting Later

 

Setting Up Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups to Work Offline

Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups' offline feature lets you download your mail and read it offline (while disconnected from the Internet). If you use a dial-up (modem) connection to access your mail and you want to reduce the time you are connected, or, if you need to temporarily disconnect from your company's network while traveling or switching locations, you can download your mail so that you can read it offline. The offline feature can automatically download incoming messages and then later send all your outgoing messages when you reconnect.

If you occasionally want to work offline, Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups lets you easily:

If you frequently work offline, Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups also lets you:

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Downloading Your Inbox for Offline Use

Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups can automate the offline process for your Inbox messages. You can tell Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups to automatically download your Inbox messages for offline use. Later, when you go back online, Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups automatically synchronizes your Inbox messages with the server.

To automatically download your Inbox for offline use, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Open the Edit menu and choose Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings. You see the Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings dialog box.
  2. In the left side of the dialog box, choose the account you want to use offline, and select Offline & Disk Space. (This category is not available for POP accounts.)
  3. Check the box labeled "Make the messages in my Inbox available when I am working offline."
  4. Click OK.
  5. Open the File menu, choose Offline, and then choose Work Offline.
  6. In the Work Offline dialog box, click Download.

Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups automatically downloads all messages in your Inbox so you can read and respond to them while working offline. After disconnecting, Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups remains open so you can continue to work with your messages.

To reconnect to the Internet so you can work online:

When you go back online, Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups automatically synchronizes your Inbox messages with the server, by replicating any changes you made while working offline.

Tip: Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups saves any messages that you send while working offline in the Unsent Messages folder under Local Folders. When you reconnect, choose Send Unsent Messages from the File menu to send all your saved messages at once. To have Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups automatically send your unsent messages when you reconnect, use the Preferences command on the Edit menu to change your offline preferences.

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Downloading an Individual Folder for Offline Use

To download a specific folder for offline use, begin from the Mail window:

  1. In the left side of the Mail window, select the folder that you want to download for offline use.
  2. Open the Edit menu, and choose Properties.
  3. Click the Offline tab.
  4. Check "Select this folder for offline use".
  5. Click Download Now if you want to immediately begin downloading the folder's messages. Alternatively, you can continue working, and when you are ready to go offline, proceed to the next step.
  6. From the File menu, choose Offline, and then choose Work Offline.
  7. In the Work Offline dialog box, click Download.

Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups automatically downloads all messages in the selected folder so you can read and respond to them while working offline. After disconnecting, Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups remains open so you can continue to work with your messages.

Note: Message headers that have been downloaded for reading offline display a darker gray envelope or newsgroup icon.

To reconnect to the Internet so you can work online:

  1. Open the File menu, choose Offline, and then choose Work Online.
  2. Open the File menu, choose Offline, and then "Download/Sync Now," from the submenu.
  3. Click OK.

Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups automatically synchronizes the offline folders with the server, by replicating any changes you made while working offline.

Tip: Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups saves any messages that you sent while working offline in the Unsent Messages folder under Local Folders. When you reconnect, choose Send Unsent Messages from the File menu to send all your saved messages at once. To have Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups automatically send your unsent messages when you reconnect, use the Preferences command on the Edit menu to change your offline preferences.

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Downloading Selected or Flagged Messages for Offline Use

To download selected messages for offline use, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Select a Mail or Newsgroup folder to display its messages.
  2. Select the messages you want to download, as follows:
  3. Open the File menu, choose Offline, and then choose Get Selected Messages from the submenu. Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups downloads the selected messages.
  4. Open the File menu, choose Offline, and then choose Work Offline from the submenu.
  5. In the Work Offline dialog box, click Download.

To download flagged messages for offline use, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Select a Mail or Newsgroup folder to display its messages.
  2. Click in the flag column of each message you want to download. A flag appears where you clicked to indicate that the message has been marked. If the flag column is not visible, click the Show/Hide Columns icon and select Flag from the list.
  3. Open the File menu, choose Offline, and then choose Get Flagged Messages. Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups downloads the flagged messages.
  4. Open the File menu, choose Offline, and then choose Work Offline from the submenu.
  5. In the Work Offline dialog box, click Download.

After you disconnect, Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups remains open so you can continue to work with your messages.

Note: Message headers that have been downloaded for reading offline display a darker gray envelope or newsgroup icon.

To reconnect to the Internet so you can work online:

Tip: Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups saves any messages that you sent while working offline in the Unsent Messages folder under Local Folders. When you reconnect, choose Send Unsent Messages from the File menu to send all your saved messages at once. To have Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups automatically send your unsent messages when you reconnect, use the Preferences command on the Edit menu to change your offline preferences.

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Setting Up Your Accounts for Working Offline

To set up one or more accounts for working offline, you use the Offline and Disk Space preferences in the Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings dialog box. Once set, you don't need to change these preferences each time you want to work offline. The offline and disk space preferences you can set for an account depend on the type of account (IMAP, POP, or Newsgroup).

Here's a summary of the steps you will follow to set up your accounts for offline use:

  1. For each account that you want to work with while offline, use the Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings dialog box to set the Offline & Disk Space preferences for that account. You must select the items (accounts, folders, newsgroups) that you want to download for offline use. See Selecting Accounts, Folders, and Newsgroups for Offline Viewing for more information.

    Once set, you don't need to change these settings. See the sections below for information on setting offline and disk space preferences for IMAP, POP, and Newsgroup accounts.

    Tip: To set the Offline & Disk Space preferences for the current account, open the File menu, choose Offline, and then choose Offline Settings.

  2. Open the File menu, choose Offline, and then choose Download/Sync Now from the submenu.
  3. Select the type of messages (mail or newsgroup or both) that you want to download.

    Important: You must select at least one category (Mail messages, Newsgroup messages) in order for the download to work.

  4. In the Download/Sync Now dialog box, click OK to download the selected items. See Downloading and Synchronizing Your Messages for more information.
  5. Open the File menu, choose Offline, and then choose Work Offline.
  6. In the Work Offline dialog box, click Download.

For subsequent offline sessions, you can skip step 1.

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Selecting Accounts, Folders, and Newsgroups for Offline Viewing

Before you can read mail and newsgroup messages while offline, you must first select them for downloading. You can set up an entire account for offline use. You can also choose which folders and newsgroups that you want to use offline.

Note: Keep in mind that selecting more items may increase download time and disk space used.

To select accounts, folders, and newsgroups for offline viewing, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Open the Edit menu, choose Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings. You see the Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings dialog box.
  2. Choose the Offline & Disk Space category for the account you want to change.
  3. Click Select. You see your accounts, mail folders, and subscribed newsgroups.

    Note: You see only the newsgroups and folders that you've already subscribed to.

  4. Select the items (folders, newsgroups) that you want to make available for offline use.

    Note: POP accounts and local mail folders don't appear in the list. Your AOL account is not included in the list because working offline with your AOL account is not available.

  5. Click OK.

Once set, you don't need to change these settings each time you want to go offline. However, if you do want to change them, you can easily do so before going offline, since the same Select button is available when using the Download and Sync command.

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Downloading and Synchronizing Your Messages

If you have already selected mail folders and newsgroups for offline use, you are now ready to download and synchronize them. If you haven't yet selected items to download, you can choose them before you go offline.

If you are not already viewing the Download/Sync Now dialog box, follow these steps:

To download and synchronize your messages, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Open the File menu, choose Offline, and then choose Download/Sync Now.
  2. Select the categories (mail messages or newsgroup messages) that you want to download.

    Important: You must select at least one category (Mail messages, Newsgroup messages) in order for the download to work. If the checkboxes are disabled, it means that you haven't yet selected items to download. Use the Select button to select items to download.

  3. To send messages in your Unsent Messages folder before going offline, check "Send Unsent Messages".
  4. To go offline immediately after Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups finishes downloading, select "Work offline once download and/or sync is complete".
  5. To set or change the items to download, click Select. See Selecting Accounts, Folders, and Newsgroups for Offline Viewing for more information. You can skip this step if you've already selected items for download.
  6. Click OK. Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups begins downloading the selected items.

If you chose to work offline once the download completes, then Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups immediately switches to offline mode. Otherwise, when you are ready to go offline, open the File menu, choose Offline, and then choose Work Offline.

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Working Offline and Reconnecting Later

To work offline and reconnect later, begin from the Mail window.

When you are ready to work offline:

  1. Open the File menu, choose Offline, and then choose Work Offline. Mail & Newsgroups prompts you to download messages, if you want, before going offline.
  2. Click Download to download messages before going offline. If you want to work offline without downloading messages, click Don't Download.

Note: Message headers that have been downloaded for reading offline display a darker gray envelope or newsgroup icon.

Tip: To set Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups' download behavior when going offline, open the Edit menu, choose Preferences, and then choose the Offline & Disk Space category. You can choose to have Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups prompt you to download messages when going offline, to automatically download messages, or to not download any messages.

To reconnect and synchronize your messages:

  1. Open the File menu, choose Offline, and then choose Work Online.
  2. Open the File menu, choose Offline, and then choose Download/Sync Now.

Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups synchronizes your messages with the server by replicating any changes you made while working offline.

Tip: To set Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups' behavior when going online, open the Edit menu, choose Preferences, and then choose the Offline & Disk Space category. You can choose to have Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups prompt you to send unsent messages, to automatically send unsent messages, or to not send unsent messages.

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Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings

This section describes the settings in the Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings dialog box. This dialog box lets you specify settings for each individual account. Unlike the Preferences dialog box, which applies settings to all accounts, the Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings dialog box lets you specify settings on a per-account basis. If you are not currently viewing the Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings dialog box, follow these steps:

  1. Begin from the Mail window.
  2. Open the Edit menu and choose Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings.
  3. Select the name of the account whose settings you want to view or change.

 

In this section:

Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings - Account Settings

Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings - Server Settings

Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings - Copies & Folders

Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings - Addressing

Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings - Offline & Disk Space

Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings - Security

Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings - Local Folders

Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings - Outgoing Server (SMTP)

 

Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings - Account Settings

This section describes how to view or change your Account Settings, such as your user name, reply-to address, and signature file. If you are not already viewing the Account Settings, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Open the Edit menu and choose Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings. You see the Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings dialog box.
  2. Select the name of the account to display the Account Settings panel.

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Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings - Server Settings

Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups can work with two types of mail servers: IMAP and POP. If you are not sure which server type your Internet service provider supports, ask your service provider. If your Internet service provider supports both, the following descriptions may help you choose which one to use.

 

In this section:

About Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP)

About Internet Post Office Protocol (POP)

IMAP Server Settings

Advanced IMAP Server Settings

POP Server Settings

News Server Settings

 

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About Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP)

Advantages: Your messages and any changes to them stay on your server, saving local disk space. Also, you always have access to an updated mailbox, and you can get your mail from multiple locations. Performance on a modem is faster, since you initially download message headers only.

Disadvantages: Not all ISPs support IMAP.

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About Post Office Protocol (POP)

Advantages: Your messages are downloaded to your local computer all at once, but you can also specify whether to keep copies of the messages on the server. Most ISPs currently support POP.

Disadvantages: You must synchronize your local Inbox with your server's mailbox. This can result in downloading new messages over and over each time you connect. If you use more than one computer, messages might reside on one or the other, but not both. POP doesn't work as well as IMAP over a slow link connection. Also, you can't access all mail folders from multiple locations.

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IMAP Server Settings

If you are not already viewing the IMAP server settings, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Open the Edit menu and choose Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings. You see the Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings dialog box.
  2. Select the account name and click the Server Settings category name. (If you chose an IMAP server when you set up this account, you see your IMAP server settings.)

Advanced IMAP Server Settings

In most cases, advanced IMAP server settings are automatically supplied by the server. If you are unsure about the settings for this dialog box, contact your ISP or system administrator.

If you are not already viewing the advanced IMAP server settings, begin from the Mail window.

  1. Open the Edit menu and choose Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings. You see the Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings dialog box.
  2. Select the account name and click the Server Settings category.
  3. If the mail server type is an IMAP server, you can click Advanced to set additional IMAP options, such as:

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POP Server Settings

If you are not already viewing the POP server settings, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Open the Edit menu and choose Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings. You see the Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings dialog box.
  2. Select the account name and click the Server Settings category name. (If you chose a POP server when you set up this account, you see your POP server settings.)

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News Server Settings

This section describes how to change news server settings. If you are not already viewing news server settings, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Open the Edit menu and choose Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings. You see the Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings dialog box.
  2. Select the account name and click the Server Settings category. (If you chose a newsgroup server when you set up this account, you see your newsgroup server settings.)

Note: The path to the newsrc file is displayed for your information. The newsrc file stores information about the newsgroups to which you are subscribed, and the messages you have read in each newsgroup.

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Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings - Copies & Folders

This section describes the settings for sending automatic copies, and for storing copies of outgoing messages, message drafts, and message templates.

By default, Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups stores copies of your outgoing messages in the Sent folder for the current account. Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups also stores message drafts in the Drafts folder and message templates in the Templates folder for the current account.

If you are not already viewing the settings for Copies & Folders, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Open the Edit menu and choose Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings. You see the Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings dialog box.
  2. Select the account, and click Copies & Folders. You see the Copies & Folders section.

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Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings - Addressing

You use Addressing settings to override the global LDAP server settings specified for all address books in the Preferences dialog box. LDAP server settings affect the behavior of address autocompletion, and you can change these settings for each account if necessary. Address autocompletion uses your address books to find matching entries when you type email addresses in the addressing area of the Compose window.

If you are not already viewing the Addressing settings, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Open the Edit menu and choose Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings. You see the Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings dialog box.
  2. Select the account and click the Addressing category.

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Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings - Offline & Disk Space

Offline & Disk Space settings let you conserve disk space or set up an account so that you can use it while offline (disconnected from the Internet). The settings available depend on the mail server type (IMAP, POP, or News) associated with the account.

 

In this section:

Offline and Disk Space Settings (IMAP)

Disk Space Settings (POP)

Offline and Disk Space Settings (News)

 

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Offline and Disk Space Settings (IMAP)

If you are not already viewing the offline and disk space preferences for an IMAP account, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Open the Edit menu, choose Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings. You see the Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings dialog box.
  2. Choose the Offline & Disk Space category for an IMAP account.

 

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Disk Space Settings (POP)

Messages from POP accounts are always downloaded to your local machine. This section describes how you can save disk space for a POP account. If you are not already viewing the Disk Space preferences for a POP account, follow these steps:

Begin from the Mail window.

  1. Open the Edit menu, choose Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings. You see the Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings dialog box.
  2. Click the Disk Space category for a POP account.

 

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Offline and Disk Space Settings (News)

If you are not already viewing the offline and disk space settings for a News account, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Open the Edit menu, and choose Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings. You see the Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings dialog box.
  2. Choose the Offline & Disk Space category for a News account.

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Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings - Security

This section describes how to configure the Mail & Newsgroup Account Settings that control message security. Before you do so, however, you must obtain one or more email certificates. For details, see Signing & Encrypting Messages.

If you are not already viewing the Security settings for your mail account, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Open the Edit menu and choose Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings.
  2. Click Security under the name of the mail account whose security settings you want to configure.

 

In this section:

About Certificates

Digital Signing

Encryption

 

About Certificates

The main purpose of the Security panel is to select two certificates:

Depending on the policies of the certificate authority (CA) that issues your certificate(s), you can use one certificate for both purposes or two different certificates. Even if you use just one, you must specify it twice, once for digital signing and once for encryption.

The certificates you select here are included with every signed message you send. These certificates allow your recipients to verify your digital signature and to encrypt messages that they send to you.

 

Digital Signing

If you have an email certificate intended for signing messages, you can use it to sign either email messages or newsgroup messages.

You use the Digital Signing area in the Security panel to specify how you want to sign your messages:

Regardless of whether the "Digitally sign messages" checkbox is selected here, you can change your mind before you send an individual message.

 

Encryption

You use the Encryption area in the Security panel to specify how you routinely want to use encryption when sending your messages:

Regardless of which encryption option you select, you can change your mind before you send an individual message.

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Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings - Local Folders

Local Folders is the account where Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups saves any messages that you send while working offline. Messages you send while working offline are saved in the Unsent Messages folder under Local Folders. Any folders you create under the Local Folders account reside on your hard disk, so Local Folders is a good place to save messages that you want to keep.

If you are not already viewing the Local Folders settings, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Open the Edit menu and choose Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings. You see the Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings dialog box.
  2. Select the Local Folders category.

 

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Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings - Outgoing Server (SMTP)

Even if you have multiple mail or news accounts, you generally need to specify only one outgoing (SMTP) server to handle the delivery of your outgoing mail.

If you are not already viewing the Outgoing Server (SMTP) settings, begin from the Mail window:

  1. Open the Edit menu and choose Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings. You see the Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings dialog box.
  2. Select the Outgoing Server (SMTP) category.

 

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Mail & Newsgroup Preferences

This section describes the settings in the Mail & Newsgroups preferences panel. If you are not currently viewing the panel, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Edit menu and choose Preferences.
  2. Double-click the Mail & Newsgroups category to expand the list.

 

In this section:

Mail & Newsgroups Preferences - Mail & Newsgroups

Mail & Newsgroups Preferences - Message Display

Mail & Newsgroups Preferences - Composition

Mail & Newsgroups Preferences - Send Format

Mail & Newsgroups Preferences - Addressing

Mail & Newsgroups Preferences - Labels

Offline & Disk Space Preferences

 

Mail & Newsgroups Preferences - Mail & Newsgroups

Mail & Newsgroups preferences allows you to set general preferences that apply to all accounts. If you are not already viewing the Mail & Newsgroups preferences, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Edit menu and choose Preferences. You see the Preferences dialog box.
  2. Click the Mail & Newsgroups category.

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Mail & Newsgroups Preferences - Message Display

Message Display preferences allow you to choose how messages are displayed (for example, font style and color) in all accounts. If you are not already viewing the Message Display settings, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Edit menu and choose Preferences. You see the Preferences dialog box.
  2. Under the Mail & Newsgroups category, click Message Display. (If no options are available in this category, double-click the category to expand the list.)

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Mail & Newsgroups Preferences - Composition

Composition preferences affect how you create messages (for example, forwarding options and address autocompletion) in all accounts. If you are not already viewing the Composition settings, follow these steps::

  1. Open the Edit menu and choose Preferences.
  2. Under the Mail & Newsgroups category, select Composition. (If no options are available in this category, double-click the category to expand the list.)

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Mail & Newsgroups Preferences - Send Format

Send Format preferences allow you to specify how you want to format your outgoing messages. If you are not already viewing the Send Format settings, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Edit menu and choose Preferences. You see the Preferences dialog box.
  2. Under the Mail & Newsgroups category, click Send Format. (If no options are available in this category, double-click the category to expand the list.)

For example, if you typically send mail to multiple recipients that have the same domain name (for example, your colleagues all have email addresses that end in "netscape.net"), and you know that this domain name is capable of displaying HTML messages, then you can add the netscape.net domain to the list of HTML Domains so that Mail & Newsgroups will automatically send messages in HTML format to these recipients. Similarly, if you typically send mail to recipients at a domain that you know can only receive Plain Text messages, you can add that domain name to the list of Plain Text domains, so that Mail & Newsgroups automatically sends messages to that domain in plain-text format.

Note: If you regularly compose HTML (formatted) mail messages, keep in mind that sometimes not all recipients use mail programs that can display HTML formatting properly. Send Format preferences allow you to specify how you want to format messages that go to recipients who cannot display HTML-formatted mail. You can convert messages to plain text, format them only as HTML, or format them as both HTML and plain text. These preferences apply to all your mail accounts, but only to mail messages and not to newsgroup messages.

Whenever you add a person or address card to your address book, you can specify whether that addressee can receive HTML-formatted messages. However, when this information is unknown, you can set Send Format preferences for how Mail & Newsgroups formats these messages.

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Mail & Newsgroups Preferences - Addressing

Addressing preferences allow you to control the settings for Mozilla Mail & Newsgroups address books (for example, email address collection and address autocompletion). If you are not already viewing the Addressing settings, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Edit menu, and choose Preferences. You see the Preferences dialog box.
  2. Under the Mail & Newsgroups category, select Addressing. (If no options are available in this category, double-click the category to expand the list.)

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Mail & Newsgroups Preferences - Labels

This section describes how to use the Labels preferences panel. You use the Labels preferences to define the label text and colors for message labels. If you are not currently viewing the panel, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Edit menu and choose Preferences.
  2. Under the Mail & Newsgroups category, select Labels. (If no options are available in this category, double-click the category to expand the list.)

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Offline & Disk Space Preferences

This section describes how to use the Offline & Disk Space preferences panel. If you are not currently viewing the panel, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Edit menu and choose Preferences.
  2. Click Offline & Disk Space.

The Offline & Disk Space preferences allow you to set preferences for startup mode, working offline, going online, and disk space.

See Working Offline for information on working offline.

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20 March 2002