Horde - A Short User Guide
The Folder View
When you first enter IMP, the contents of your INBOX will
be displayed. (You will see this same "folder view" of IMP for every
email folder you open.) If a folder has more than one page of email messages,
it will open (by default) to the first page which contains a message you
haven't read yet. You can use the navigation arrows at the top-right of the
list to move from page to page.
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Sorting Messages in the Folder
You can sort your messages by date, who they are from,
size, subject, and thread. Click the heading (for example, "Date" or
"Subject") by which you wish to sort; the heading will change color
to indicate the current sort order. You can reverse the sorting direction
using the triangle icons ( 
and 
) next to the heading (for example, to show newest messages first instead of
oldest, when sorting by date).
Sometimes you may get several messages which are replies to
a previous message. A string of successive replies to the same original
message forms what is called a thread. It is often useful to view messages via
such a threaded view, so that you can read (or skip) all the messages of each
subject in sequence. This is especially useful if you want to reply to a
message, as threading lets you easily check if someone else has already
replied with the same information.
You can also change some default sorting options using the
IMP Options menu.
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Messages Flags
Message flags at the left side of the screen provide
information about each message. In addition, messages are color coded to
indicate their status. The colors may be changed via different themes which
are available, but don't worry as there is a color legend at the bottom of the
message list to help you identify the meaning of colors. The table below
explains the most common message flags, and shows the default color scheme for
messages.
Message
Flag
|
Message
Color Bar
|
What
It Means
|
|
|
blue |
Unseen
(new) message: one that you have not yet opened and read. |
| (no flag) |
white |
Seen
message: one that you have opened at least once. |
|
|
green |
Answered
message: one that you have replied to. |
|
|
pink |
Important
message: one that you have flagged as important. |
|
|
dark gray |
Deleted
message: one that you have marked for deletion. |
|
|
|
Personal:
the message was addressed to you as an individual rather than to you
as a member of an mail group. |
|
|
|
Draft
message: one that you have saved to work on and send
later. |
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How to set message flags
-
Select a message by clicking the checkbox to its
left.
-
Select the message flag you want to use from the Mark
as pop-up menu.
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Checking for New Mail
There are multiple ways to check for new (incoming) mail.
Some of these are listed below.
-
Click the 
Refresh icon (two green
arrows going in a circle) located at the upper left of the message
display.
-
Click your browser's Reload
or Refresh button.
-
Configure the applications options to automatically
check for new mail on a regular basis.
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Opening a Message
To open (display) a message, click the subject or sender
name for the message you want to view. A new window will open containing the
details of the message and a text menu of common actions.
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Email Messages
The Message View
You can use the navigation arrows at the top right (also
duplicated at the bottom right) to move to the previous or next message in the
folder. Just to the left of the arrows is a link to return to the Folder View
of your INBOX.
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Replying to the Message
To reply to the message you're reading, click the Reply,
Reply to All or Reply
to List link at the top of the message. Reply
replies only to the person who sent the original message. Reply
to All replies to the original sender plus
anyone else who was included in the original message. Reply
to List appears only if the message is from a compliant mailing
list, and using it will reply to the mailing list posting address only.
A new message window will open with the recipients and
subject already filled in for you. Optionally, the original message text will
be quoted in the body of the message. Enter your message text, and click the Send
Message button to send the reply. See the following section on
"Composing a Message" for more information on how to compose
replies.
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Forwarding the Message
To forward the message you're reading to another person,
click the Forward or Redirect
link at the top of the message. Forward
sends the message with your email address as the From address (so it will look
like it came from you). A new message window will open with the subject
already filled in for you. The original message text will be in the body of
the message, and you can add additional message text. When ready, click the Send
Message button to forward the message. See the following section on
"Composing a Message" for more information on how to compose
forwards.
Redirect
simply "bounces" the message to the new person with the original
From address intact (so it will look like it came from the original sender). Redirect
does not allow you to make changes or additions to the message. A new message
window will not open; you will simply be prompted for the email address you
wish to redirect the message to. Press the Redirect
Message button when ready to send the message.
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Deleting the Message
To delete the message you're reading, click the Delete
link at the top of the message to mark it for deletion.
Deleting can be configured to work in two different modes
-- delete mode and trash mode.
In delete mode, the messages are marked for deletion. Note
that they are only marked for deletion, and not physically deleted, until you
"purge" your deleted messages. Until purged, they will still appear
in message listings, and you can still revisit them and in some cases even
"undelete" them. If you don't want to see the deleted messages in
your message lists, you can use the Hide
Deleted link to conceal them from view.
In trash mode, the messages are moved to a trash folder
when deleted. Again, they are not actually deleted, only moved to the trash
folder, until you empty your trash folder. You can "undelete" them
by moving them out of the trash folder and into another folder, if desired.
You can manually empty the trash folder, or you can schedule it to be emptied
automatically at scheduled times.
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Printing a Message
When viewing a message, you can easily print the contents
of the message using the Print
link. You should print the message this way rather than using the browser
print function, as the browser's print function will print the entire web page
rather than just the message contents.
-
Open the message you want to print.
-
Click the Print
link in the text menu at the top of the message.
-
The message will open in a new window so you can print
it.
Depending on the web browser and operating system you
use, your browser's print dialog box may automatically open for you. If it
does not, pull down the browser's File
menu and choose Print.
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Basic Navigation in Message
View
In the text menu at the top and bottom of the message are
three navigational links. One link is used to return you to the folder which
contains the current message. For example, if you are reading a message from
your INBOX, then the link would read Back
to INBOX and using it would return you to the folder view of your
INBOX.
The other two links are small arrow icons. Clicking the 
left facing arrow will take you back to the previous message in the current
folder. Clicking the 
right facing arrow will take forward to the next message in the current
folder. What the previous and next messages are will of course depend on the
current sorting scheme for the folder.
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Composing a Message
Click the Compose menu icon in the top menu bar to open a new
message composition window.
A new message composition window will open. Use this window
to compose new messages.
At the top of the message composition window are the
"header" fields. This is where you set your identity, who you are
sending the message to, what the subject of the message is, and what character
set your email will be encoded in. If sending to multiple people in the To, Cc,
or Bcc fields, separate the addresses with commas (not semi-colons or spaces --
these will not work properly).
Next are some utility buttons and checkboxes. Here you can
access utilities like the address book, spell checker, and so on. Also you can
specify options like requesting a read receipt, delivery confirmation, sending
attachments as links rather than attachments, and saving a local copy of the
messages you send. All of these are optional, and can be ignored or the default
value used.
In the main, center section of the window is the message
composition area. Enter the text of your message in the space provided. When
finished click on the Send Message
button to send your message.
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About the Header Fields
There are several addressing fields which contain email
addresses for the message recipients. These fields differ in logical
importance and in concealment purposes, but otherwise function the same. The
fields are:
- To:
-
The To:
field specifies direct recipients of the message. These are people to
whom the message is directed. All the recipients will see these
addresses in the To: field of the message.
- Cc:
-
The Cc:
field specifies recipients who should receive a "carbon copy"
of the message. All recipients will see these addresses listed in the
Cc: field of the message.
- Bcc:
-
The Bcc:
field specifies recipients who should receive a "blind carbon
copy" of the message. This is similar to the Cc:
field, except that these addresses will not show up in the other
recipients messages. In this way, you can send a copy to someone without
the other recipients knowledge.
The next header field is the Subject:
field. While a subject line is not required. A subject line allows the
recipient to know what the message is about without having to open and read
the message. It also allows for easy recognition, threading, searching or
filtering of messages. Good subjects are as short and concise as possible,
conveying the contents of the message in as few words as possible.
The last header field is the Charset
field. This allows you to set the character set your message will be encoded
in. If you don't know what this means, you should use the default setting
provided there by your system administrator.
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Saving a Message as a Draft
You can save a message you are composing as a draft, so you
can finish and send the message at another time. The message is saved in your Drafts
folder, ready for you to resume at your convenience.
Tip: If you specify a meaningful subject on messages before you
save them as a draft, it will be much easier to find the correct message
later when you want to resume it.
-
Begin composing your message. When you are ready to
stop, click the Save Draft
button.
-
From the folders pop-up menu in the upper left corner
of the folder view, select the Drafts
folder.
-
The Drafts
folder will open. To open the draft message, click its subject or sender.
-
To resume working on the message, click on the Resume
link.
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