for creating messages (Templates), messages you have sent (Sent), and messages that you
have discarded (Trash). You can also specify that Thunderbird use a global Inbox where
messages from all accounts get placed in the same Inbox folder.
Sort messages -- Messages are sorted by date for the folder you select, in the upper-right
corner of the display. Click the headings over the messages to sort by subject, sender, or
priority.
Read messages -- When you select a message, it appears in the lower-right corner of the
display. Click the e-mail address from the sender, and a menu enables you to add that
address to your address book, compose mail to that address, copy mail to that address, or
create a filter from that message.
Filter mail -- When Thunderbird grabs your e-mail from the mail server, it drops it into
the Inbox associated with your mail account by default. Thunderbird provides some nice
features for checking each message for information you choose, and then acting on that
message to move it to another folder, label it, or change its priority. See the section "Filtering
Mail and Catching Spam" later in this chapter for details.
Search messages -- You can use the search feature to retrieve messages that are in one of
your mail folders. With the folder you want to search being the current folder, type a word
to search on into the Subject or Sender Contains box. Messages with sender names or
subject lines that don't contain that string will disappear from the list of messages. To do
more detailed searches, choose Edit Find Search Messages.
Composing and Sending E-Mail
To compose e-mail messages, you can either start from scratch or respond to an existing e-mail
message. The following are some quick descriptions of how to create outgoing mail:
New messages -- To create a new message, choose Message New Message (or click
Write on the toolbar).
Reply to messages -- To reply to a mail message, click the message on the right side of
your screen and then choose Message Reply (to reply only to the author of the mes-
sage) or Message Reply to All (to reply to everyone listed as a recipient of the message).
Forward messages -- To forward a mail message, click the message on the right side of
your screen and then choose Message Forward. You can also forward a message and
have it appear in the text (Message Forward As Inline) or as an attachment
(Message Forward As Attachment).
In each case, a Compose window appears, in which you compose your e-mail message. As you
compose your message in the Compose window, you can use the following:
Address book -- Add e-mail addresses from your personal address book (or from one of
several different directory servers) by selecting Tools Address Book. Click the Contacts
button to select recipients for your missive.
Attachments -- Add attachments such as a word processing file, image, or executable
program by choosing File Attach File and then selecting a file from your file system
600
Running Applications
Part IV
