b3d0e151a2
2000-08-09 Aaron Weber <aaron@helixcode.com> * C/evolution-guide.sgml: Fixed bugs in validation. Went home to sleep. svn path=/trunk/; revision=4654
421 lines
15 KiB
Plaintext
421 lines
15 KiB
Plaintext
<!--
|
|
<!DOCTYPE Chapter PUBLIC "-//GNOME//DTD DocBook PNG Variant V1.1//EN">
|
|
-->
|
|
<chapter id="usage-mainwindow">
|
|
|
|
<title>The Main Window: Evolution Basics</title>
|
|
<para>
|
|
Start <application>Evolution</application> by selecting
|
|
<guimenuitem>Evolution</guimenuitem> from the
|
|
<guisubmenu>Applications</guisubmenu> of the <guimenu>Main Panel
|
|
Menu</guimenu>, or by typing <command>evolution</command> at the
|
|
command-line. The first time you run the program, it will create
|
|
a directory called <filename>evolution</filename> in your home
|
|
directory, where it will keep all your
|
|
<application>Evolution</application>-related files.
|
|
</para>
|
|
<para>
|
|
After <application>Evolution</application> starts
|
|
up, you will see the <interface>main window</interface>, with the
|
|
<interface>Inbox</interface> open. It should look a lot like the
|
|
picture in <xref linkend="usage-mainwindow-fig">. On the left of
|
|
the <interface>main window</interface> is the <interface>shortcut
|
|
bar</interface>, with several buttons in it. Just underneath the
|
|
title bar is a series of menus in the <interface>menu
|
|
bar</interface>, and below that, the <interface>tool
|
|
bar</interface> with buttons for different functions. The largest
|
|
part of the <interface>main window</interface> is taken up by the
|
|
actual <interface>Inbox</interface>, where messages are listed
|
|
and displayed. If you're running the program for the first time,
|
|
you'll have just one message: a welcome from Helix Code.
|
|
|
|
|
|
<!-- ==============Figure=================================== -->
|
|
<figure id="usage-mainwindow-fig">
|
|
<title>Evolution Main Window and Inbox</title>
|
|
<screenshot>
|
|
<screeninfo>Evolution Main Window</screeninfo>
|
|
<graphic fileref="fig/mainwindow-pic" format="png" srccredit="Kevin Breit">
|
|
</graphic>
|
|
</screenshot>
|
|
</figure>
|
|
<!-- ==============End of Figure=================================== -->
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
<note>
|
|
<title>The Way Evolution Looks</title>
|
|
<para>
|
|
The appearance of both <application>Evolution</application>
|
|
and <application>GNOME</application> is very easy to
|
|
customize, so your screen might not look like this picture.
|
|
You might configure <application>Evolution</application> to
|
|
start with a different view, without the <interface>shortcut
|
|
bar</interface>, or with the <link
|
|
linkend="usage-mainwindow-folderbar">folder bar</link>
|
|
instead.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</note>
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<sect1 id="usage-mainwindow-shortcutbar">
|
|
<title>The Shortcut Bar</title>
|
|
<para>
|
|
<application>Evolution</application>'s most important job is
|
|
to give you access to your information and help you use it
|
|
quickly. One way it does that is through the
|
|
<interface>shortcut bar</interface>, the column on the left
|
|
hand side of the main window. The large buttons with names
|
|
like <guilabel>Inbox</guilabel> and
|
|
<guilabel>Contacts</guilabel> are the shortcuts, and you can
|
|
select different groups of shortcuts by clicking the
|
|
rectangular category buttons.
|
|
</para>
|
|
<para>
|
|
The category buttons are <guibutton>Evolution
|
|
Shortcuts</guibutton> and <guibutton>Internet
|
|
Directories</guibutton>. When you click on them, they'll slide
|
|
up and down to give you access to different sorts of shortcuts.
|
|
When you first start <application>Evolution</application>, you
|
|
are looking at the <guilabel>Evolution Shortcuts</guilabel>
|
|
category. If you click <guilabel>Internet
|
|
Directories</guilabel>, it will slide up and you'll see buttons
|
|
for the <guilabel>Bigfoot</guilabel> and
|
|
<guilabel>Netcenter</guilabel> directories, as well as any
|
|
others you or your system administrator might have added.
|
|
Internet directories behave a lot like the local contact
|
|
manager, which is covered in <xref linkend="usage-contact">.
|
|
</para>
|
|
<para>
|
|
Take a look at the <guilabel>Evolution Shortcuts</guilabel>
|
|
again. They are:
|
|
|
|
<variablelist>
|
|
|
|
<!-- NOT IMPLEMENTED!
|
|
<varlistentry>
|
|
<term> <guibutton>Today:</guibutton></term>
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para>
|
|
This will bring up a summary of any new messages you've
|
|
received, along with the tasks and appointments you have
|
|
lined up for today.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
</varlistentry>
|
|
-->
|
|
|
|
<varlistentry>
|
|
<term> <guibutton>Inbox:</guibutton></term>
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para>
|
|
The Inbox will show you all of your email. Your Inbox
|
|
is also where you can access Evolution's tools to
|
|
filter, sort, organize, and search your mail.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
</varlistentry>
|
|
|
|
<varlistentry>
|
|
<term><guibutton>Calendar:</guibutton></term>
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para>
|
|
The Calendar can store your appointments and To do lists
|
|
for you. Connected to a network, you can use it to keep
|
|
a group of people on schedule and up to date.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
</varlistentry>
|
|
|
|
<varlistentry>
|
|
<term><guibutton>Contacts:</guibutton></term>
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para>
|
|
The Contact Manager holds your addresses, phone numbers,
|
|
and contact information. Like calendar information,
|
|
contact data can be synchronized with hand-held devices
|
|
and shared over a network.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
</varlistentry>
|
|
|
|
<!-- NOT IMPLEMENTED YET
|
|
<varlistentry>
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para>
|
|
The <guibutton>Tasks:</guibutton> tool combines a "to
|
|
do" list with reminders to help you keep track of
|
|
daily events.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
</varlistentry>
|
|
-->
|
|
<varlistentry>
|
|
<term> <guibutton>Notes:</guibutton></term>
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para> The note pad is your catch-all tool: use it to take
|
|
messages from phone conversations, keep small things
|
|
organized, write <glossterm>haiku</glossterm>, or whatever
|
|
you like. This feature is not yet implemented, but will be
|
|
soon. See <xref linkend="usage-notes"> for more
|
|
information.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
</varlistentry>
|
|
</variablelist>
|
|
</para>
|
|
<para>
|
|
If you prefer to use a keyboard shortcut, or <glossterm>hot
|
|
key</glossterm>, you can use those instead. They're shown next
|
|
to their equivalent menu items in the menu bar. You can also set
|
|
your own hot keys for functions that don't have any; this is
|
|
covered in <xref linkend="config">. If you're using the
|
|
keyboard shortcuts you may also want to hide the
|
|
<interface>shortcut bar</interface> by selecting
|
|
<menuchoice> <guimenu>View</guimenu> <guimenuitem>Show Shortcut
|
|
Bar</guimenuitem> </menuchoice>.
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<tip>
|
|
<title>Two Shortcut Bar Tricks</title>
|
|
<para>
|
|
To remove a shortcut from the shortcut bar, right-click on it
|
|
and select <guimenuitem>Remove</guimenuitem>. </para>
|
|
<para>
|
|
To change the way the shortcut bar looks, right-click in an
|
|
empoy space on the shortcut bar. From the menu that appears,
|
|
you can select icon sizes.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</tip>
|
|
</sect1>
|
|
|
|
<sect1 id="usage-mainwindow-folderbar">
|
|
<title>The Folder Bar</title>
|
|
<para>
|
|
The <interface>folder bar</interface> is a more comprehensive
|
|
way to view the information you've stored with
|
|
<application>Evolution</application>. It displays all your
|
|
appointments, address cards, and email in a tree that's a lot
|
|
like a <glossterm>file tree</glossterm>— it starts small
|
|
at the top, and branches downwards. On most computers, there
|
|
will be three folders at the base. The first one is
|
|
<guilabel>VFolders</guilabel>, for virtual folders (discussed in
|
|
<xref linkend="usage-mail-organize-vfolders">. The next one is
|
|
<guilabel>External Directories</guilabel>, for contact
|
|
directories stored on a network. The most important one is
|
|
probably <guilabel>Local</guilabel>, which you can use to access
|
|
all the data that's stored on your computer. If you click on
|
|
the plus sign plus sign next to the <guilabel>Local</guilabel>
|
|
folder, you'll see the contents:
|
|
<itemizedlist>
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para>
|
|
<guilabel>Calendar</guilabel>, for appointments and
|
|
event listings.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para>
|
|
<guilabel>Contacts</guilabel>, for address cards.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para>
|
|
<guilabel>Directories</guilabel>, for Internet contact directories.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para>
|
|
<guilabel>Inbox</guilabel>, for incoming mail.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
<listitem>
|
|
<para>
|
|
<guilabel>Outbox</guilabel>, which is for drafts of
|
|
messages and mail that's already been sent.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</listitem>
|
|
</itemizedlist>
|
|
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
To create a new folder, select <menuchoice>
|
|
<guimenu>File</guimenu> <guisubmenu>New</guisubmenu>
|
|
<guimenuitem>Folder</guimenuitem></menuchoice>. You'll be asked where you want to
|
|
put it, and what kind of folder it should be. You can choose
|
|
from three types: <guilabel>Mail</guilabel>, for storing mail,
|
|
<guilabel>Calendar</guilabel> for storing calendars, and
|
|
<guilabel>Contacts</guilabel> for storing contacts.
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<note>
|
|
<title>Folders Have Limits</title>
|
|
<para>
|
|
You can always place a folder inside other folders,
|
|
regardless of folder type. However, calendars,
|
|
contacts, and mail can't go into the same
|
|
folder. Calendars have to go in calendar folders, mail
|
|
in mail folders, and contacts in contact folders.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</note>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
Right-clicking will bring up a menu for just about anything
|
|
in GNOME, and <application>Evolution</application> is no
|
|
exception. If you right-click on a folder, you'll have a
|
|
menu with the following options:
|
|
<itemizedlist>
|
|
<listitem><para><guimenuitem>View</guimenuitem>, to view a message.</para></listitem>
|
|
<listitem><para><guimenuitem>Something else</guimenuitem>, for another purpose. </para></listitem>
|
|
<listitem><para><guimenuitem>Something else</guimenuitem>, for another purpose. </para></listitem>
|
|
</itemizedlist>.
|
|
</para>
|
|
|
|
<tip>
|
|
<title>Context-Sensitive Help</title>
|
|
<para>
|
|
GNOME 2.0 supports context-sensitive help, which means you can
|
|
almost always get help on an item by right-clicking it. If
|
|
you're not sure what something is, or don't know what you can
|
|
do with it, choosing <guimenuitem>Help</guimenuitem> from the
|
|
right-click menu is a good way to find out.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</tip>
|
|
|
|
<para>
|
|
Any time new information arrives in a folder, that folder label
|
|
is displayed as bold text.
|
|
</para>
|
|
<para>
|
|
To delete a folder, right-click it and select
|
|
<guimenuitem>Delete</guimenuitem> from the menu that pops up.
|
|
To change the order of folders, or put one inside another, use
|
|
<glossterm>drag-and-drop</glossterm>. To move individual
|
|
messages, appointments, and address cards between folders, you
|
|
can do the same thing: drag them where you want them, and
|
|
they'll go.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</sect1>
|
|
<sect1 id="usage-mainwindow-menubar">
|
|
<title>The Menu Bar</title>
|
|
<para>
|
|
The <interface>menu bar</interface>'s contents will always
|
|
provide all the possible actions for any given view of your
|
|
data. That means that, depending on the context, menu bar items
|
|
will change. If you're looking at your Inbox, most of the menu
|
|
items will relate to mail; some will relate to other components
|
|
of <application>Evolution</application> and some, especially
|
|
those in the <guimenu>File Menu</guimenu> will relate to the
|
|
application as a whole. This section describes those items that
|
|
cover the application as a whole; items specific to mailer are
|
|
discussed in the mail chapter, calendar items in the calendar
|
|
chapter, and so forth.
|
|
</para>
|
|
<para>
|
|
<variablelist>
|
|
<varlistentry>
|
|
<term> <guimenu>File</guimenu> Menu</term>
|
|
|
|
<listitem><para>
|
|
Anything related to a file falls under this
|
|
menu:
|
|
<itemizedlist>
|
|
<listitem><para>
|
|
<guisubmenu>New... — </guisubmenu> If you
|
|
want to create a new folder, calendar,
|
|
appointment, address card, or message, this is
|
|
where you should look.
|
|
</para></listitem>
|
|
|
|
<listitem><para>
|
|
<guimenuitem>Go to Folder — </guimenuitem>
|
|
Select this item, then choose which folder you'd
|
|
like to view.
|
|
</para></listitem>
|
|
<listitem><para>
|
|
<guimenuitem>Exit — </guimenuitem> Quits the application.
|
|
</para></listitem>
|
|
|
|
<listitem><para>
|
|
<guimenuitem>Print... — </guimenuitem> Opens the printing
|
|
dialog box so you can print items from the view pane of
|
|
<application>Evolution</application>.
|
|
</para></listitem>
|
|
</itemizedlist>
|
|
</para></listitem>
|
|
</varlistentry>
|
|
|
|
<varlistentry>
|
|
<term> <guimenu>Edit</guimenu> Menu </term>
|
|
<listitem><para>
|
|
Although it doesn't contain anything at first,
|
|
the <guimenu>Edit</guimenu> menu fills up with
|
|
useful editing tools when you're... editing.
|
|
</para></listitem>
|
|
</varlistentry>
|
|
|
|
<varlistentry>
|
|
<term> <guimenu>Tools</guimenu> Menu </term>
|
|
<listitem><para> All of your assistants and configuration
|
|
tools go here. For the <interface>Inbox</interface>, that
|
|
means things like <guimenuitem>Mail
|
|
Configuration</guimenuitem> and the <guimenuitem>vFolder
|
|
Editor</guimenuitem>. For the
|
|
<interface>Calendar</interface> and the <interface>Contact
|
|
Manager</interface> </para></listitem>
|
|
</varlistentry>
|
|
|
|
<varlistentry>
|
|
<term> <guimenu>Actions</guimenu> Menu </term>
|
|
<listitem><para>
|
|
This menu contains a list of actions you can perform on
|
|
the information you've stored with
|
|
<application>Evolution</application>. The contents vary
|
|
depending on the view, but for the
|
|
<interface>Inbox</interface>, it contains items like
|
|
<guimenuitem>Mark All Messages Read</guimenuitem> and
|
|
<guimenuitem>Expunge</guimenuitem>, to erase all the
|
|
messages you've marked for deletion.
|
|
</para></listitem>
|
|
</varlistentry>
|
|
|
|
<varlistentry>
|
|
<term> <guimenu>Help</guimenu> Menu</term>
|
|
<listitem><para>
|
|
Select among these items to open the
|
|
<application>Help Browser</application> to the appropriate section.
|
|
</para></listitem>
|
|
</varlistentry>
|
|
</variablelist>
|
|
</para>
|
|
<para>
|
|
Once you've familiarized yourself with the <interface>main
|
|
window</interface> you can start doing things with it. We'lql
|
|
start with your email inbox: you've got a letter waiting for you
|
|
already.
|
|
</para>
|
|
</sect1>
|
|
</chapter>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|