Balsa User's Guide
Prev |  | Next

# The Main Window

Figure 1. Main Window

Balsa's main window has three major areas. To the left is the mailbox list. This displays all the mailboxes Balsa knows about; it will scan for ones in your local mail directory. (This means Balsa works well with procmail.) It will also list IMAP or POP3 mailboxes that you have configured. If the Show Mailbox Info preference is set, two columns will also be displayed next to the mailbox names containing the number of unread and total messages in each mailbox that has unread messages. (The other mailboxes will not have their contents probed.) Also, any mailboxes that contain unread messages will be shown in a different font and colour.

At the top-right is a view of the currently open mailbox. You can browse messages and manipulate them here.

At the bottom-right of Balsa's main window is the message view. This displays the message selected in the message listing. You can save attachments, view attachments, and read incoming email here.

## Menu & Toolbar

Figure 2. Main Window Toolbar

The menu bar, located at the top of the Main Window provides the following commands:

File

  This menu contains basic commands

  - File->Get New Mail (Ctrl-M) — This causes Balsa to attempt to retrieve any new messages from the POP3 server.

  - File->Address Book (B) — Open Balsa's address book.

  - File->Print (Ctrl-I) — Print the current message.

  - File->Exit (Ctrl-Q) — Exit the program.

Message

  This menu has commands for manipulating messages.

  - Message->Next (N) — Select the next message in the current mailbox.

  - Message->Previous (P) — Select the previous message in the current mailbox.

  - Message->Next Unread (Ctrl-N) — Select the next unread message in the current mailbox.

  - Message->New (M) — Send a new message.

  - Message->Reply (R) — Reply to the current message.

  - Message->Reply to All (A)

  - Message->Forward (F) — Forward the currently selected message.

  - Message->Continue (C) — Continue a postponed menu.

  - Message->Delete (D) — Delete the currently selected message(s).

  - Message->Undelete (U) — Undelete the currently selected message.

  - Message->Wrap — If set, the message will be displayed with word wrap.

  - Message->Show No Headers, Show Selected Headers, Show All Headers — Select the headers to display in the message. pane.

Mailbox

  For manipulating mailboxes.

  - Mailbox->Add — Create a new mailbox.

  - Mailbox->Edit — Edit mailbox properties.

  - Mailbox->Delete — Delete a mailbox.

  - Mailbox->Commit Current — Synchronize changes between the currently selected mailbox and the file on disk.

  - Mailbox->Close — Close the currently selected mailbox.

  - Mailbox->Empty Trash — Delete all messages from the Trash mailbox.

Settings

  - Settings->Preferences... — Open the Preferences Dialog.

  - Settings->Show mailbox tree — Toggle the display of the mailbox tree in the main window.

  - Settings->Show mailbox tabs — Toggle the display of tabs for all open mailboxes.

## The Mailbox List

The mailbox list in the main window lists all of your mailboxes. Balsa will automatically detect your local mailboxes by searching for mailboxes under your local mail directory (probably ~/mail). This lets Balsa coexist with pine and procmail well.

Your mailboxes will be displayed as a tree view, with mailboxes in subdirectories of your local mail directory initially hidden but accessible by expanding the tree. IMAP mailboxes will also be displayed as being at the top level of the tree. POP3 mailboxes are not displayed.

## The Message Index

The message index displays the messages in the current folder, and lets you choose which folders messages to view. Click on the notebook tabs, or click on a folder in the mailbox list to bring it to the front.

From the message index you can do a lot. Clicking on a message will cause it to be displayed in the message view. Right-clicking on it will give a pop-up menu letting you reply to the message (or forward it, etc.) and move it to another folder (using the Transfer menu item). Double-clicking on a message will open it in a separate window.

There are some useful hot-keys for the message index.

n

  Go to the next message

p

  Go to the previous message

d

  Delete the current message

u

  Undelete the current message

r

  Reply to the current message

a

  Reply-to-all the current message

f

  Forward the current message

There are also pop up menu items for many of the same functions.

New

  Compose a new message.

Reply

  Replies to the currently selected message(s).

Reply to All

  Replies-to-all the currently selected message(s).

Forward

  Forwards the currently selected message(s).

Delete

  Deletes the currently message(s).

Undelete

  Undeletes the currently selected message(s).

Transfer

  Transfer currently selected message(s) to another mailbox. When this menu item is selected a list of available mailboxes is displayed from which the destination should be selected.

## The Message View

The message view displays the message that is selected in message list. It will attempt to display images in the message. Balsa does not understand HTML. (Someday, maybe.) Attachments will be shown as blue links that look like "--APPLICATION--". Clicking on the link will let you save (but not view) it. Right-click on a body of text to save it.

You are not restricted to that pane. Double-click on a message in the message index to open it in a separate window.

Balsa's message view is a little deficient. It will not allow the message text to be selected, and cannot handle MIME data other than images. Hopefully this will be fixed one day.

Prev | Home | Next
Getting Started with Balsa |  | The Message Composer