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<head>
<title>Using &brandShortName; Mail</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="helpFileLayout.css" type="text/css"/>
type="text/css"/>
</head>
<body>
<h1 id="reading_messages">Reading Messages</h1>
<div class="contentsBox">In this section:
<ul>
<li><a href="#getting_new_messages">Getting New Messages</a></li>
<li><a href="#choosing_how_you_view_the_mail_window">Choosing How You View
the Mail Window</a></li>
<li><a href="#sorting_and_threading_messages">Sorting and Threading
Messages</a></li>
<li><a href="#saving_and_printing_messages">Saving and Printing
Messages</a></li>
<li><a href="#controlling_images_scripts_and_plugins">Controlling Images,
Scripts, and Plugins</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h2 id="getting_new_messages">Getting New Messages</h2>
<p>For an IMAP account, you can retrieve new messages automatically and display
them in the Inbox by opening Mail & Newsgroups and selecting the Inbox
for the IMAP account.</p>
<p>For a POP account, you must select the Inbox and click Get Msgs to retrieve
your messages. By default, messages from your POP account are downloaded in
full and deleted from the POP server when you retrieve them. You can
<a href="mailnews_account_settings.xhtml#pop_server_settings">change your POP
server settings</a> to retrieve just the headers and/or store a copy of
messages on the server in addition to downloading them to your computer.</p>
<p>For news accounts, expanding the account newsgroups list will automatically
check for new items, as it will by just selecting one of the newsgroups.
While reading a newsgroup, you can force checking for new items by clicking
Get Msgs.</p>
<p>For blogs & feeds accounts, the first time you expand the account, it
will be checked for new items. Besides that, you can force checking for new
items at any time by clicking Get Msgs.</p>
<p>You can also set up Mail & Newsgroups to get new messages at startup and
to check for new messages at timed intervals.</p>
<table>
<tr>
<td colspan="2"><img src="images/task_mail.png" alt=""/></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 20px;"></td>
<td><strong>Mail & Newsgroups icon</strong></td>
</tr>
</table>
<p>The Mail & Newsgroups icon on the status bar displays a green arrow to
notify you when new messages have arrived.</p>
<table>
<tr>
<td colspan="2"><img src="images/task_newmail.png" alt=""/></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 20px;"></td>
<td><strong>New mail notification</strong></td>
</tr>
</table>
<p>To set up a mail account to automatically check for new messages, begin from
the Mail window:</p>
<ol>
<li>Open the Edit menu and choose Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings. You
see the Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings dialog box.</li>
<li>If you have multiple accounts, select an account and click the Server
Settings category for that account.</li>
<li>Select one or both of the following options in the Server Settings
section:
<ul>
<li><strong>Check for new mail at startup</strong>: Select this checkbox
if you want to check this account automatically for new messages
whenever you start Mail & Newsgroups. For POP accounts, Mail &
Newsgroups checks for new mail, but doesn't download new messages
until you click Get Msgs or unless you choose <q>Automatically download
any new messages</q>.</li>
<li><strong>Check for new messages every [__] minutes</strong>: Select
this checkbox if you want to specify the number of minutes between mail
checks. You can also check for new messages at any time by clicking Get
Msgs in the Mail window.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Click OK. Your settings take effect the next time you start
&brandShortName; Mail & Newsgroups.</li>
</ol>
<p>To set up &brandShortName; Mail & Newsgroups to play a sound or display
an alert when new mail arrives, see <a
href="mailnews_preferences.xhtml#notifications">Mail & Newsgroups
Preferences - Notifications</a>.</p>
<p>You can always retrieve messages manually at any time. To get new messages
for the selected account or newsgroup, do one of the following:</p>
<ul>
<li>Click Get Msgs on the Mail toolbar.</li>
<li>Open the File menu (in the Mail window) and choose Get New Messages.</li>
</ul>
<p>To get new messages for all your mail accounts, begin from the Mail
window:</p>
<ol>
<li>Click the triangle on the Get Msgs button in the Mail toolbar.</li>
<li>Choose Get All New Messages. &brandShortName; Mail & Newsgroups
retrieves new messages for all your mail accounts.
<p>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.)</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Note</strong>: You can also open the File menu (in the Mail window)
and choose <q>Get New Messages for</q>.</p>
<p>To get new messages for a specific mail account, begin from the Mail
window:</p>
<ol>
<li>Click the triangle on the Get Msgs button on the Mail toolbar.</li>
<li>Choose the account for which you want to retrieve mail.</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Note</strong>: 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.</p>
<p>Password Manager can save all your user names and passwords on your own
computer and enter them for you automatically. For more information, see
<a href="using_priv_help.xhtml#using_the_password_manager">Using the Password
Manager</a>.</p>
<p>[<a href="#reading_messages">Return to beginning of section</a>]</p>
<h2 id="choosing_how_you_view_the_mail_window">Choosing How You View the Mail
Window</h2>
<p>You can customize the layout of the Mail window (the window you see when you
choose Mail & Newsgroups from the Window menu):</p>
<ul>
<li>Open the View menu and choose Show/Hide to show or hide the Mail toolbar,
search bar, or the status bar.</li>
<li>Open the View menu and choose Layout to select the type of three-pane
window layout to use.</li>
<li>Expand and collapse any pane to switch between a three-pane or two-pane
view.</li>
</ul>
<p>[<a href="#reading_messages">Return to beginning of section</a>]</p>
<h2 id="sorting_and_threading_messages">Sorting and Threading Messages</h2>
<p>To sort messages by categories such as subject, sender, date, or priority,
begin from the Mail window:</p>
<ul>
<li>Click the appropriate column heading in the message list window. Or, open
the View menu, choose Sort by, and then select the column you want to sort
by.</li>
</ul>
<p>To reorder column headings, begin from the Mail window:</p>
<ul>
<li>Click and drag a column heading to the left or right to reposition the
column.</li>
</ul>
<p>To change which columns are displayed, begin from the Mail window:</p>
<ul>
<li>Click the Show/Hide Columns icon <img src="images/columns.png" alt=""/>
and select the column to be added/removed from the list.</li>
</ul>
<p>To group messages by threading (subject), so each message is grouped with
all its responses:</p>
<ul>
<li>Click the thread button to the left of the Subject, Sender, and Date
column headings. Or, open the View menu, choose Sort by, and then select
Threaded.</li>
</ul>
<table>
<tr>
<td colspan="2"><img src="images/threadbutton.png" alt=""/></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 20px;"></td>
<td><strong>Thread button</strong></td>
</tr>
</table>
<p><strong>Tip</strong>: The thread button automatically sorts the threads by
the age of their parent messages. If you want to use another sort criterion
for the threads, open the View menu and select the desired option from the
Sort by submenu.</p>
<p><strong>Tip</strong>: Select <q>Preserve threading when sorting messages</q>
in the <a href="mailnews_preferences.xhtml#mail_and_newsgroups">Mail &
Newsgroups Preferences</a> if you want &brandShortName; to preserve the
threaded message grouping when sorting messages with column header clicks. The
thread button just toggles between threaded and unthreaded message grouping in
this mode. If <q>Preserve threading when sorting messages</q> is not selected,
&brandShortName; automatically displays the messages unthreaded when you sort
them by clicking on a column header.</p>
<p><strong>Tip</strong>: To help you identify unread messages in a collapsed
thread where you've read the parent message, &brandShortName; Mail &
Newsgroups underlines the parent message.</p>
<p>[<a href="#reading_messages">Return to beginning of section</a>]</p>
<h2 id="saving_and_printing_messages">Saving and Printing Messages</h2>
<p>To save a mail message as a plain-text, HTML, or Outlook file:</p>
<ol>
<li>In the Mail window, select the message.</li>
<li>Open the File menu and choose Save As, and then choose File.</li>
<li>For <q>Save as type</q>, choose a file type (HTML, Text, or Mail file).
Choose Mail file if you want to save the message so it can be opened by
Microsoft Outlook.</li>
<li>Change the filename's extension to end in .html, .txt, or .eml,
depending on the file type you chose in step 3.</li>
<li>Choose a destination for the file and click Save.</li>
</ol>
<p>To print a selected message:</p>
<ul>
<li>Click Print.</li>
</ul>
<p>[<a href="#reading_messages">Return to beginning of section</a>]</p>
<h2 id="controlling_images_scripts_and_plugins">Controlling Images, Scripts,
and Plugins</h2>
<p>By default, images and other content, that is hosted remotely, will not
display in messages you receive, except from senders in your address books
whom you have allowed. To change these settings:</p>
<ol>
<li>Open the <span class="mac">&brandShortName;</span>
<span class="noMac">Edit</span> menu and choose Preferences.</li>
<li>Under the Mail & Newsgroups category, click Message Display. (If
no subcategories are visible, double-click Mail & Newsgroups to
expand the list.)</li>
<li>Uncheck <q>Block images and other content from remote sources</q>.</li>
<li>Click OK to have your change take effect.</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Note</strong>: See <q>Allow remote images in HTML mail</q> in <a
href="mailnews_addressbooks.xhtml#creating_a_new_address_book_card">Creating
a New Address Book Card</a> for details of how to change which senders can
show remote content.</p>
<p>By default, plugins are not enabled for mail messages you receive. To change
this setting:</p>
<ol>
<li>Open the <span class="mac">&brandShortName;</span>
<span class="noMac">Edit</span> menu and choose Preferences.</li>
<li>Under the Advanced category, click Scripts & Plugins. (If no
subcategories are visible, double-click Advanced to expand the
list.)
<ul>
<li>Under <q>Enable Plugins for</q>, check <q>Mail & Newsgroups</q>
to enable plugins.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Click OK to have your changes take effect.</li>
</ol>
<p>[<a href="#reading_messages">Return to beginning of section</a>]</p>
<h1 id="sending_messages">Sending Messages</h1>
<div class="contentsBox">In this section:
<ul>
<li><a href="#composing_mail_and_newsgroup_messages">Composing Mail and
Newsgroup Messages</a></li>
<li><a href="#using_the_message_composition_window">Using the Message
Composition Window</a></li>
<li><a href="#addressing_a_message">Addressing a Message</a></li>
<li><a href="#selecting_message_sending_options">Selecting Message
Sending Options</a></li>
<li><a href="#replying_to_a_message">Replying to a Message</a></li>
<li><a href="#forwarding_a_message">Forwarding a Message</a></li>
<li><a href="#confirming_that_your_message_was_opened">Confirming That Your
Message Was Opened</a></li>
<li><a href="#saving_and_editing_a_draft_message">Saving and Editing a
Draft Message</a></li>
<li><a href="#creating_and_using_templates">Creating and Using
Templates</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h2 id="composing_mail_and_newsgroup_messages">Composing Mail and Newsgroup
Messages</h2>
<p>You can address, compose, reply to, or send a new message by doing one of
the following:</p>
<ul>
<li>In any &brandShortName; window, open the File menu and choose New, then
Message.</li>
<li>Click Compose on the Mail toolbar.</li>
<li>While displaying a message, click Reply, Forward, or Reply All on the
Mail toolbar.</li>
<li>From the Address Book window, select an address and click Compose on the
Address Book.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Tip</strong>: Use the Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings -
<a href="mailnews_account_settings.xhtml#addressing">Composition &
Addressing</a> dialog box to specify the HTML text editor to use for
composing messages sent from this account. (You can specify a different
editor for each of your accounts.) See
<a href="mailnews_getting_started.xhtml#changing_the_settings_for_an_account">Changing
the Settings for an Account</a> for more information.</p>
<p><strong>Note</strong>: It is generally not possible to compose messages for
them to be published in blogs & news feeds accounts. If you want to
publish posts in a blog (and you have the appropiate rights to do it), you
will need to use the mechanisms provided by the specific blog system. In some
cases, this can even include sending a mail message to a specific address.</p>
<p>Composing messages in HTML format allows you to use different fonts, text
styles (such as bold or italic) and text colors, tables, numbered or bulleted
lists, and pictures in your messages. However, some recipients may only be
able to read messages composed in plain text format. 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.</p>
<p>[<a href="#sending_messages">Return to beginning of section</a>]</p>
<h2 id="using_the_message_composition_window">Using the Message Composition
Window</h2>
<p>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 by default in the <a
href="mailnews_account_settings.xhtml#addressing">Composition &
Addressing</a> Preferences panel (open the Edit menu and choose Mail &
Newsgroups Account Settings).</p>
<p>To view the Compose window, click the Compose button on the Mail
toolbar.</p>
<p>The Compose window contains the following:</p>
<ul>
<li>Mail Toolbar
<p>You can click the following buttons:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Send</strong>: To send a completed message.</li>
<li><strong>Address</strong>: To search for names in your address
books.</li>
<li><strong>Attach</strong>: To attach a file to a message. See
<a href="#using_attachments">Using Attachments</a> for more
information.</li>
<li><strong>Spell</strong>: To check the spelling of your message
text.</li>
<li><strong>Security</strong>: To display information about whether
your message will be sent encrypted or digitally signed (or
both).</li>
<li><strong>Save</strong>: To save the message as a draft.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Addressing area: Where you enter the email addresses of recipients.</li>
<li>Attachments area: When you attach files to a message (by clicking in this
area or by clicking the Attach button), the filenames will be listed in the
Attachments area to the right of the Addressing area.</li>
<li>Message body area: Where you type the contents of your message.</li>
</ul>
<p>If you've chosen to compose messages using the HTML editor, you see an
additional toolbar with text formatting buttons similar to those in
&brandShortName; Composer.</p>
<p>For help using the HTML editor, see
<a href="composer_help.xhtml#formatting_your_web_pages">Formatting Your Web
Pages</a>.</p>
<p>[<a href="#sending_messages">Return to beginning of section</a>]</p>
<h2 id="addressing_a_message">Addressing a Message</h2>
<p>To address a mail message:</p>
<ol>
<li>Type the name in the addressing area.
<p>If you have <a
href="mailnews_preferences.xhtml#address_autocompletion">address
autocompletion</a> enabled (it's enabled by default), 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 <kbd class="mac">Return</kbd><kbd
class="noMac">Enter</kbd> to have Mail & Newsgroups try to complete
the address.)</p>
</li>
<li>If multiple addresses are displayed, select an address and press
<kbd class="mac">Return</kbd><kbd class="noMac">Enter</kbd>.
<p><strong>Note</strong>: Use a comma to separate multiple addresses on the
same line. Do not use a comma to separate first or last names. For
example, multiple entries might be:</p>
<p><tt>user1@netscape.net,user2@netscape.net</tt></p>
</li>
<li>If you want this message to be sent from a different account, click the
<q>From</q> field to select the account you want. See
<a href="#changing_the_account_from_which_a_message_is_sent">Changing the
Account From Which a Message is Sent</a> for more information.</li>
<li>If necessary, click <q>To</q> to choose a different recipient type:
<ul>
<li><strong>To</strong>: For primary recipients of your message.</li>
<li><strong>Cc</strong>: For secondary recipients (carbon copy).</li>
<li><strong>Bcc</strong>: For secondary recipients not identified to the
other recipients, including those in the cc list (blind carbon
copy).</li>
<li><strong>Reply-To</strong>: For recipients to reply to a different
email address other than the one the message is sent from.</li>
<li><strong>Newsgroup</strong>: For posting to a newsgroup.</li>
<li><strong>Followup-To</strong>: For redirecting a newsgroup posting, so
that subsequent replies go directly to the redirected newsgroup instead
of the original newsgroup.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Tip</strong>: You can quickly address a message by clicking the
email address contained in a message you're reading, and then selecting
Compose Mail To from the pop-up menu.</p>
<p id="changing_the_account_from_which_a_message_is_sent"><strong>Changing the
Account From Which a Message is Sent</strong></p>
<p>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, &brandShortName; 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 from.</p>
<p><strong>About Address Autocompletion</strong></p>
<p>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
<a href="glossary.xhtml#ldap">LDAP</a> 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.</p>
<p>If you don't want to use an address that Mail & Newsgroups
provides, press Backspace or Delete to remove characters and then enter an
alternate address.</p>
<p>To disable address autocompletion:</p>
<ol>
<li>Open the <span class="mac">&brandShortName;</span>
<span class="noMac">Edit</span> menu and choose Preferences.</li>
<li>Under the Mail & Newsgroups category, click Addressing. (If no
subcategories are visible, double-click Mail & Newsgroups to expand
the list).</li>
<li>In the Address Autocompletion section, deselect <q>Local Address
Books</q> and <q>Directory Server</q>.</li>
<li>Click OK.</li>
</ol>
<p>[<a href="#sending_messages">Return to beginning of section</a>]</p>
<h2 id="selecting_message_sending_options">Selecting Message Sending
Options</h2>
<p>While you're composing a message, you can select these additional
message sending options from the Options menu:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Select Addresses</strong>: The Select Addresses option lets you
choose the recipient's email address from your Address Books or a
remote directory. To look up an address in an address book or directory,
enter the first few letters of the recipient's first or last name to
start the search. Select an address and then click To:, Cc:, or Bcc: to
address your message.</li>
<li><strong>Quote Message</strong>: Choose this option to have the selection
of the message text shown as quoted text.</li>
<li><strong>Return Receipt</strong>: Choose this option to request a
confirmation message when the recipient displays (opens) the message. Keep
in mind that the recipient may choose not to send you a return receipt.
This option lets you enable or disable return receipt requests on a
per-message basis. To automatically request return receipts for all
messages you send, use the return receipts preferences. See
<a href="mailnews_preferences.xhtml#return_receipts_preferences">Mail &
Newsgroups Preferences - Return Receipts</a> for more information.</li>
<li><strong>Format</strong>: Send the message as plain text, or HTML
(formatted), or both. If you choose <q>Auto-Detect</q>, Mail &
Newsgroups prompts you for the format to use if it's unknown whether
the recipient's mail program can display an HTML message. The format
you choose here overrides the send format you specified using the
Preferences command on the <span class="mac">&brandShortName;</span>
<span class="noMac">Edit</span> menu.</li>
<li><strong>Priority</strong>: Choose a priority to indicate whether the
message has lowest, low, normal, high, or highest priority.</li>
<li><strong>Text Encoding</strong>: Choose a text encoding used for this
message.</li>
<li><strong>Send a Copy To</strong>: Choose this if you want to file an
additional copy of the sent message in a different folder than your default
Sent folder. Then select the folder you want.</li>
<li><strong>Encrypt This Message</strong>: Choose this to have &brandShortName;
encrypt this message (without changing the default).</li>
<li><strong>Digitally Sign This Message</strong>: Choose this to have
&brandShortName; digitally sign this message (without changing the
default).</li>
</ul>
<p>Additionally, the following options are available from the Edit menu:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Rewrap</strong>: If you are composing a message using the
plain-text editor, you can use the Rewrap command to rewrap long lines of
quoted text to fit the Compose window. This command rewraps selected quoted
text to the number of characters specified by the
<a href="mailnews_preferences.xhtml#composition">Composition</a>
preferences. This command is primarily useful when you are replying to a
message where the original message is quoted in your reply, and the original
message contains long lines.
<p>You use the Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings command on the Edit
menu to specify that you want to use the plain-text editor for composing
messages. Select the Composition & Addressing panel of the account
and uncheck <q>Compose messages in HTML format</q> to use the plain-text
editor for all messages. If you only 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.</p>
</li>
<li><strong>Check Spelling</strong>: Checks the spelling of the message text
before you send it. You can also click Spell.</li>
<li><strong>Spellcheck As You Type</strong>: Choose this option to have the
spelling of the message text checked as you type.</li>
</ul>
<p>[<a href="#sending_messages">Return to beginning of section</a>]</p>
<h2 id="replying_to_a_message">Replying to a Message</h2>
<p>To reply to a mail message:</p>
<ul>
<li>Select the message.</li>
<li>Click Reply to respond to the sender alone.</li>
<li>Click Reply All to respond to all addressees in the message.</li>
</ul>
<p>To include the original message each time you reply to any message, and to
specify how to place the original message in the reply:</p>
<ol>
<li>Open the Edit menu and choose Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings.
You see the Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings dialog box.</li>
<li>If you have multiple accounts, select an account and click the
<a href="mailnews_account_settings.xhtml#addressing">Composition &
Addressing</a> category for that account.</li>
<li>Select <q>Automatically quote the original message when
replying</q>.</li>
<li>Specify where in the message to place your reply. <q>Start my reply below
the quote</q> is the default.</li>
<li>If you have decided to <a
href="mailnews_account_settings.xhtml#account_settings">attach a
signature</a> to every outgoing message and selected to start your reply
above the quote here, you can additionally configure where your signature
is placed:
<ul>
<li>Select <q>below the quote (recommended)</q> to place your signature
at the very end of the message below the quoted text.</li>
<li>Select <q>below my reply (above the quote)</q> to place your
signature between your reply and the quoted text.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Note</strong>: If you have created a signature, you can
optionally <a href="mailnews_account_settings.xhtml#addressing">omit
it</a> when replying to a message.</p>
</li>
<li>Click OK.</li>
</ol>
<p>[<a href="#sending_messages">Return to beginning of section</a>]</p>
<h2 id="forwarding_a_message">Forwarding a Message</h2>
<p>When you forward a message, you can specify how its contents are included
in the new message: <em>inline</em> (in the body of the message), or as an
<em>attachment</em>.</p>
<p>To forward a message:</p>
<ol>
<li>Select the message and click Forward.</li>
<li>Type the name or email address of the recipient.</li>
<li>Click Send.</li>
</ol>
<p>To set the default for forwarding messages:</p>
<ol>
<li>Open the <span class="mac">&brandShortName;</span>
<span class="noMac">Edit</span> menu and choose Preferences.</li>
<li>Under the Mail & Newsgroups category, click
<a href="mailnews_preferences.xhtml#composition">Composition</a>. (If no
subcategories are visible, double-click Mail & Newsgroups to expand the
list.)</li>
<li>For forwarding messages, choose Inline (in the message body) or As
Attachment.
<p><strong>Note</strong>: If you have created a signature and forward
inline, its placement depends on the respective reply setting. You can
optionally <a href="mailnews_account_settings.xhtml#addressing">omit the
signature</a> when forwarding a message.</p>
</li>
<li>Click OK.</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Tip</strong>: To override the default for forwarding a message,
select the message, open the Message menu, and choose Forward As, then
choose Inline or Attachment.</p>
<p>[<a href="#sending_messages">Return to beginning of section</a>]</p>
<h2 id="confirming_that_your_message_was_opened">Confirming That Your Message
Was Opened</h2>
<p>You can use return receipts to notify you when a recipient has displayed
(opened) your message. The recipient must be using a mail program that
supports the Message Disposition Notification (MDN) standard. Keep in mind
that the recipient may choose not to send you a return receipt, even if
you've requested one. Messages you send to a newsgroup address will not
include a return receipt request, since news servers don't support this
feature.</p>
<p>To request return receipts for all messages you send, you can use the global
<a href="mailnews_preferences.xhtml#return_receipts_preferences">Return
Receipt</a> preferences to specify how to manage requests you receive for
return receipts. You can override these global preferences for individual
accounts.</p>
<p>To request a return receipt on a per-message basis:</p>
<ul>
<li>From a Mail Compose window, open the Options menu, and choose Return
Receipt.</li>
</ul>
<p>To automatically request return receipts when sending messages from each of
your mail accounts:</p>
<ol>
<li>Open the <span class="mac">&brandShortName;</span>
<span class="noMac">Edit</span> menu and choose Preferences.</li>
<li>Under the Mail & Newsgroups category, click
<a href="mailnews_preferences.xhtml#return_receipts_preferences">Return
Receipts</a>. (If no subcategories are visible, double-click Mail &
Newsgroups to expand the list.)</li>
<li>Select <q>When sending messages, always request a return receipt</q>.</li>
<li>Click OK.</li>
</ol>
<p>For more information on setting return receipt preferences, see
<a href="mailnews_preferences.xhtml#return_receipts_preferences">Mail &
Newsgroups Preferences - Return Receipts</a>.</p>
<p>[<a href="#sending_messages">Return to beginning of section</a>]</p>
<h2 id="saving_and_editing_a_draft_message">Saving and Editing a Draft
Message</h2>
<p>To save a mail message as a draft so you can complete it later:</p>
<ul>
<li>In the Compose window, click Save, or open the File menu and choose Save
as Draft. By default, the message is saved in the Drafts folder for the
current account.
<p><strong>Note</strong>: Your mail message will stay open after you save
it as a draft.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>To edit or send a draft message, begin from the Mail window:</p>
<ol>
<li>Click the Drafts folder for the account where you created the draft
message.</li>
<li>Click the message that you want to edit.</li>
<li>In the top-right corner of the message, click the Edit Draft
button.</li>
<li>Edit the message as necessary.</li>
<li>Click Send to send the message or click Save to save the message so you
can complete it later.
<p><strong>Note</strong>: Sending the message removes it from the Drafts
folder.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Tip</strong>: You can also double-click the message to open it for
editing. This is especially useful if the message pane is closed.</p>
<p>To delete one or more unwanted draft messages, begin from the Mail
window:</p>
<ol>
<li>Click the Drafts folder for the account where you created the draft
messages.</li>
<li>Select the draft messages that you want to delete.</li>
<li>Click Delete in the Mail toolbar.</li>
</ol>
<p>[<a href="#sending_messages">Return to beginning of section</a>]</p>
<h2 id="creating_and_using_templates">Creating and Using Templates</h2>
<p>Templates are useful for setting the default format for 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.</p>
<p>To save a message to use as a template:</p>
<ol>
<li>In the Mail window, click Compose to create a new message and then set
the default font, text size, text color, background color, and any other
default formatting you want.
<p>Alternatively, open an existing message that already has the formatting
you want.</p>
</li>
<li>While displaying the message, open the File menu, choose Save As, then
choose Template. The message is stored as a template in the Templates
folder for the current mail account.</li>
</ol>
<p>To compose a message using a template:</p>
<ol>
<li>In the Mail window, select the Templates folder for the account where you
created the message template.</li>
<li>Double-click the message template to open it.</li>
<li>Edit the message, then save it (to put it in the Drafts folder) or send
it.
<p><strong>Note</strong>: Sending the message does not remove the template
from the Templates folder. The template is preserved for future use.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>To delete one or more unwanted message templates, begin from the Mail
window:</p>
<ol>
<li>Click the Templates folder for the account where you created the message
templates.</li>
<li>Select the message templates that you want to delete.</li>
<li>Click Delete in the Mail toolbar.</li>
</ol>
<p>[<a href="#sending_messages">Return to beginning of section</a>]</p>
<h1 id="creating_html_mail_messages">Creating HTML Mail Messages</h1>
<div class="contentsBox">In this section:
<ul>
<li><a href="#using_html_in_your_messages">Using HTML in Your
Messages</a></li>
<li><a href="#choosing_html_mail_sending_options">Choosing HTML Message
Sending Options</a></li>
<li><a href="#specifying_recipients_for_html_messages">Specifying
Recipients for HTML Messages</a></li>
<li><a href="#viewing_the_message_source_for_html_messages">Viewing the
Message Source for HTML Messages</a></li>
<li><a href="#using_the_html_mail_question_dialog_box">Using the HTML Mail
Question Dialog Box</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h2 id="using_html_in_your_messages">Using HTML in Your Messages</h2>
<p>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. &brandShortName; 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.</p>
<p>To specify whether to use the HTML editor as the default for composing
messages, begin from the Mail window:</p>
<ol>
<li>Open the Edit menu and choose Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings. You
see the Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings dialog box.</li>
<li>Select the mail or newsgroup account you want to use.</li>
<li>Go to the Composition & Addressing panel and select <q>Compose
messages in HTML format</q>. You see the Formatting toolbar in the Compose
window. Leave this box unchecked to use the plain-text editor for this
account.</li>
</ol>
<p>[<a href="#creating_html_mail_messages">Return to beginning of
section</a>]</p>
<h3 id="editing_or_inserting_html_elements">Editing or Inserting HTML
Elements</h3>
<p>If you understand how to work with HTML source code, you can edit or insert
additional HTML tags, style attributes, and JavaScript in your mail message.
If you are not sure how to work with HTML source code, it's best not to
change it. To work with HTML code, use one of these methods:</p>
<ul>
<li>Place the insertion point where you want to insert the HTML code, then
open the Insert menu and choose HTML. In the Insert HTML dialog box, enter
HTML tags and text, and then click Insert to insert your changes.</li>
<li>Select the HTML source code that you want to edit, then open the Insert
menu and choose HTML. In the Insert HTML dialog box, edit HTML tags and
text, and then click Insert to insert your changes.</li>
<li>Select an element such as a table, named anchor, image, link, or
horizontal line. Double-click the element to open the associated properties
dialog box for that item. Click Advanced Edit to open the Advanced Property
Editor. You can use the Advanced Property Editor to add HTML attributes and
JavaScript to objects.</li>
</ul>
<p>For more information on editing HTML source code, see
<a href="composer_help.xhtml#using_the_advanced_property_editor">Using the
Advanced Property Editor</a>.</p>
<p>[<a href="#creating_html_mail_messages">Return to beginning of
section</a>]</p>
<h2 id="choosing_html_mail_sending_options">Choosing HTML Mail Sending
Options</h2>
<p>By default, Mail & Newsgroups prompts you before sending HTML messages
when it's not known whether the recipient's mail program can
display HTML-formatted messages.</p>
<p>To choose sending-format options for mail messages, begin from the Mail
window:</p>
<ol>
<li>Open the <span class="mac">&brandShortName;</span>
<span class="noMac">Edit</span> menu and choose Preferences.</li>
<li>Under the Mail & Newsgroups category, click
<a href="mailnews_preferences.xhtml#send_format">Send Format</a>. (If no
subcategories are visible, double-click Mail & Newsgroups to expand the
list).
<p><strong>Note</strong>: This preference applies only to mail messages,
not to newsgroup messages.</p>
</li>
<li>Select the option you want and then click OK.</li>
</ol>
<p>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:</p>
<ol>
<li>In the Compose window, open the Options menu and choose Format.</li>
<li>Select the format you want to use for sending the message from the
submenu:
<ul>
<li><strong>Auto Detect</strong>: Mail & Newsgroups chooses the
appropriate format for the message text. If it can't determine the
format, it asks you to choose a format.</li>
<li><strong>Plain Text Only</strong>: The message may not display
formatting such as bold text, but all mail programs will be able to
display the message.</li>
<li><strong>Rich Text (HTML) Only</strong>: Some mail programs may have
trouble displaying an HTML-formatted message. Choose this option only
if you are sure the recipient's mail program can display
HTML-formatted mail.</li>
<li><strong>Plain and Rich (HTML) Text</strong>: This uses more disk
space, but may be the best choice if you are not sure whether the
recipient's mail program can display HTML-formatted mail.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>When you've finished composing the message, click Send.</li>
</ol>
<p>[<a href="#creating_html_mail_messages">Return to beginning of
section</a>]</p>
<h2 id="specifying_recipients_for_html_messages">Specifying Recipients for HTML
Messages</h2>
<p>You can save time by indicating whether individuals in your address books
prefer to receive either HTML messages or plain text messages.</p>
<ol>
<li>Open the Window menu and choose Address Book.</li>
<li>Select the address book on the left and then select the individual's
card on the right.</li>
<li>Click Properties to display the <q>Card for</q> dialog box.</li>
<li>In the Contact tab, use the <q>Prefers to receive messages formatted
as</q> 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).
<p>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.</p>
<p>If you choose Unknown, &brandShortName; 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.</p>
</li>
<li>Click OK.</li>
</ol>
<p>[<a href="#creating_html_mail_messages">Return to beginning of
section</a>]</p>
<h2 id="viewing_the_message_source_for_html_messages">Viewing the Message
Source for HTML Messages</h2>
<p>You can quickly view the HTML and other code that generates an HTML message
you've received:</p>
<ol>
<li>In the message list window, open the message.</li>
<li>Open the View menu and choose Message Source.</li>
</ol>
<p>[<a href="#creating_html_mail_messages">Return to beginning of
section</a>]</p>
<h2 id="using_the_html_mail_question_dialog_box">Using the HTML Mail Question
Dialog Box</h2>
<p>The HTML Mail Question dialog box appears when you try to send a message to
someone whose mail program may not be able to display HTML messages or when
Mail & Newsgroups cannot determine whether your recipient can display
HTML messages. If you are in doubt, send the message in both HTML and
plain-text formats.</p>
<p>[<a href="#creating_html_mail_messages">Return to beginning of
section</a>]</p>
<h1 id="using_attachments">Using Attachments</h1>
<div class="contentsBox">In this section:
<ul>
<li><a href="#attaching_a_file_or_web_page">Attaching a File or Web
Page</a></li>
<li><a href="#viewing_and_opening_attachments">Viewing and Opening
Attachments</a></li>
<li><a href="#saving_attachments">Saving Attachments</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h2 id="attaching_a_file_or_web_page">Attaching a File or Web Page</h2>
<p>To attach a file to an outgoing mail message:</p>
<ol>
<li>In the Compose window, click Attach or open the File menu and choose
Attach File. You see the <q>Enter file to attach</q> dialog box.
<p><strong>Tip</strong>: You can also click inside the Attachments area to
attach a file.</p>
</li>
<li>Type the name of the file you want to attach, or select a file from your
hard drive that you want to attach.</li>
<li>Click Open. The filename appears in the Attachments area.</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Tip</strong>: You can also drag and drop one or more files from your
desktop into the Attachments area in the Compose window.</p>
<p>To attach a web page to an outgoing mail message:</p>
<ol>
<li>In the Compose window, open the File menu and choose Attach Web Page.</li>
<li>In the dialog box, enter the URL of the page and then click OK. The web
page URL appears in the Attachments area.</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Tip</strong>: When you are viewing a page in the browser,
you can send the page to someone by opening the File menu and choosing Send
Page.</p>
<p>[<a href="#using_attachments">Return to beginning of section</a>]</p>
<h2 id="viewing_and_opening_attachments">Viewing and Opening Attachments</h2>
<p>If you receive a mail attachment that consists of a file type that
&brandShortName; 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.</p>
<p>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 .DOC file, make sure you have a program on
your computer that can open .DOC files.</p>
<p>To open an attachment:</p>
<ol>
<li>Double-click the attachment you want (if there is more than one).</li>
<li>In the Downloading dialog box, choose what you want &brandShortName; to
do with the attachment:
<ul>
<li>If &brandShortName; finds an application on your hard disk that can
open the attachment, you can open the attachment using that
application. Click <q>Choose</q> to use a different application to open
the attachment.</li>
<li>If &brandShortName; can't find an application on your hard disk
that can open the attachment, you can save the attachment. You
won't be able to open the attachment, but at least you can save
it on your hard disk until you can install an application that can open
it.</li>
<li>Click <q>Advanced</q> to add a new file type to the list of helper
applications. &brandShortName; uses helper applications to determine
how different file types are opened by other applications from within
&brandShortName;. For more information, see
<a href="nav_help.xhtml#plugins_and_downloads">Plugins and
Downloads</a>.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Click OK.</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Note</strong>: If you are viewing your mail using an IMAP mail
server, all attachments remain on the server.</p>
<p>[<a href="#using_attachments">Return to beginning of section</a>]</p>
<h2 id="saving_attachments">Saving Attachments</h2>
<p>To save an attachment:</p>
<ol>
<li>In the right side of the message envelope, under <q>Attachments</q>,
select the attachment that you want to save.</li>
<li>Right-click <span class="mac">or, if you have a one-button mouse,
<kbd>Ctrl</kbd>-click</span>the attachment and choose Save As from the
pop-up menu.</li>
<li>Choose a filename 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.</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Tip</strong>: To save all attachments, right-click
<span class="mac">or, if you have a one-button mouse,
<kbd>Ctrl</kbd>-click</span>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.</p>
<p>[<a href="#using_attachments">Return to beginning of section</a>]</p>
<h1 id="deleting_messages">Deleting Messages</h1>
<div class="contentsBox">In this section:
<ul>
<li><a href="#deleting_pop_or_imap_messages">Deleting POP or IMAP
Messages</a></li>
<li><a href="#moving_messages_to_and_from_the_trash">Moving Messages to and
from the Trash</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h2 id="deleting_pop_or_imap_messages">Deleting POP or IMAP Messages</h2>
<p>How you delete messages depends on your mail server type: POP or IMAP.
Deleted POP messages are automatically moved to the Trash folder. IMAP users
can set different options for deleting messages.</p>
<p>To delete messages from your Inbox or other folders, begin from the Mail
window:</p>
<ol>
<li>In the message list, select the messages and click Delete. By default,
Mail & Newsgroups moves the selected messages to the Trash folder.</li>
<li>To delete messages permanently, open the File menu and choose Empty
Trash.</li>
</ol>
<p>To delete messages without opening them, begin from the Mail window:</p>
<ol>
<li>Open the View menu and choose Layout, and then uncheck Message Pane.
<p>Alternatively, click the Message Pane handle (the ridged area centered
at the bottom of the message list) to close the message pane.</p>
</li>
<li>In the message list, select the messages and click Delete.</li>
</ol>
<p>To set deletion preferences for IMAP messages:</p>
<ol>
<li>Open the Edit menu and choose Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings. You
see the Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings dialog box.</li>
<li>Locate the IMAP account you want, and then click the Server Settings
category under the account name.</li>
<li>Select the <a
href="mailnews_account_settings.xhtml#when_i_delete_a_message">options</a>
you want for deleting messages and click OK.</li>
</ol>
<p>[<a href="#deleting_messages">Return to beginning of section</a>]</p>
<h2 id="moving_messages_to_and_from_the_trash">Moving Messages To and From the
Trash</h2>
<p>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:</p>
<ol>
<li>In the message list, select the messages you want to delete.</li>
<li>Click Delete. Mail & Newsgroups moves the messages to the Trash
folder.</li>
</ol>
<p>To recover messages from the Trash:</p>
<ol>
<li>Click the Trash folder.</li>
<li>Select the messages you want to recover and drag them to another
folder.</li>
</ol>
<p>To delete messages permanently:</p>
<ul>
<li>Open the File menu and choose Empty Trash.</li>
</ul>
<p>[<a href="#deleting_messages">Return to beginning of section</a>]</p>
</body>
</html>