1 Claws Mail - a GTK+ based, lightweight, and fast e-mail client
3 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
5 Copyright(C) 1999-2008 Hiroyuki Yamamoto <hiro-y@kcn.ne.jp> and the
8 This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
9 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
10 the Free Software Foundation; either version 3, or (at your option)
13 This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
14 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
15 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
16 GNU General Public License for more details.
18 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
19 along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
20 Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.
22 For more details see the file COPYING.
24 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
28 1. What is Claws Mail?
34 7. Partial downloading of POP3 mails
38 11. How to request features
39 12. Installing Claws from CVS
44 1. What is Claws Mail?
45 --------------------------
47 Claws Mail (previously known as Sylpheed-Claws) is a lightweight and
48 highly configurable email client and news reader based on the GTK+
49 GUI toolkit, it runs on the X Window System.
51 Claws Mail is free software distributed under the GNU GPL.
53 To run Claws Mail use 'claws-mail' on the command line.
55 When claws-mail is executed for the first time a configuration
56 'Wizard' will appear prompting you for the minimum information
57 necessary to create a new account.
63 Claws Mail' capabilities are extended by plugins. It comes with
64 the following plugins included, all of which are built automatically
65 if the required libraries are present.
67 Plugins are installed in $PREFIX/lib/claws-mail/plugins/
68 and have a suffix of '.so'
69 To load a plugin go to '/Configuration/Plugins' and click
70 the 'Load Plugin' button.
71 Select the plugin that you want and click 'OK'
74 Enables the scanning of incoming mail received from a POP,
75 IMAP, or LOCAL account using Bogofilter. It can optionally
76 delete mail identified as spam or save it to a designated folder.
77 Bogofilter is a pure Bayesian filter, therefore it has better
78 speed performance than SpamAssassin but might catch less spam.
79 Bogofilter is available from http://bogofilter.sourceforge.net/
82 Enables the viewing of html messages using the Dillo web
83 browser, version 0.7.0 or newer. It uses Dillo's --local
84 option by default for safe browsing. Preferences can be
85 found in '/Configuration/Preferences/Plugins/Dillo Browser'.
86 Dillo is available from http://www.dillo.org/
89 Handles core PGP functions and is required by the PGP/Inline
91 Uses GnuPG/GPGME, <ftp://ftp.gnupg.org/gcrypt/gpgme/>
94 Handles inline PGP signed and/or encrypted mails. You can
95 decrypt mails, verify signatures or sign and encrypt your
96 own mails. Uses GnuPG/GPGME, <ftp://ftp.gnupg.org/gcrypt/gpgme/>
99 Handles PGP/MIME signed and/or encrypted mails. You can
100 decrypt mails, verify signatures or sign and encrypt your
101 own mails. Uses GnuPG/GPGME, <ftp://ftp.gnupg.org/gcrypt/gpgme/>
104 This plugin handles S/MIME signed and/or encrypted mails. You can
105 decrypt mails, verify signatures or sign and encrypt your own mails.
108 Enables the scanning of incoming mail received from a POP,
109 IMAP or LOCAL account using SpamAssassin. It can optionally
110 delete mail identified as spam or save it to a designated
111 folder. Preferences can be found in '/Configuration/
112 Preferences/Plugins/SpamAssassin'.
113 SpamAssassin is available from http://spamassassin.apache.org/.
116 Places an icon in the system tray that indicates whether
117 you have any new mail. A tooltip also shows the current
118 new, unread and total number of messages
120 Additonal plugins can be found here:
121 http://www.claws-mail.org/plugins.php
126 The "actions" feature is a convenient way for the user to launch external
127 commands to process a complete message file including headers and body or
128 just one of its parts. It allows also the use of an external command to
129 filter the whole text or just a selected part in the message window or in
130 the compose window. This is a generic tool that allows to do any uncommon
131 actions on the messages, and thus extends the possibilities of Claws Mail.
132 For example, Claws Mail does not include the rot13 cyphering algorithm
133 popular in some newsgroups. It does not support uuencoded messages. As
134 all these features can be handled by external programs, the actions
135 provide a convenient way to use them from the menu bar.
140 To create a new action, go to Configuration -> Actions.... The "Action
141 Creation" dialog offers to enter the Menu name that will trigger the
142 command. The created menu will be found in the Tools -> Actions submenu.
143 By inserting a slash / in the menu name, you create a submenu.
145 The command is entered in the Command line entry. Note that Claws Mail
146 stores every single email in a separate file. This allows to use the
147 following syntax for the command:
149 * %f denotes the file name of the selected message. If you selected more
150 than one, then the command will be launched for each message with
151 the appropriate file name
152 * %F denotes the list of the file names of the selected message. If only
153 one message is selected, this amounts to %f, but if more messages
154 are selected, then the command will be launched only once with the
155 list of the file names. (You can use both %f and %F in one command:
156 then the command will be launched for each selected message with
157 the name of this message and with the list of all selected
158 messages. I did not find a practical example for this.)
159 * %p denotes the current selected message part of a multipart message.
160 The part is decoded accordingly. If the message is not a multipart
161 message, it denotes the message body.
162 * Prepending >: this will allow you to send to the command's standard
163 input a text that you will enter in a dialog window.
164 * Prepending *: this will allow you to send to the command's standard
165 input a text that you will enter in a dialog window. But in
166 contrast to prepending >, the entered text is hidden (useful when
168 * Appending an ampersand &: this will run the command asynchronously.
169 That means "fire and forget". Claws Mail won't wait for the
170 command to finish, nor will it catch its output or its error
172 * Prepending the vertical bar | (pipe-in): this will send the current
173 displayed text or the current selected text from the message view
174 or the compose window to the command standard input. The command
175 will silently fail if more than one message is selected.
176 * Appending the vertical bar | (pipe-out): this will replace the current
177 displayed text or the current selected text from the message window
178 or the compose window by the command standard output. The command
179 will silently fail if more than one message is selected.
181 Note: It is not possible to use actions containing %f, %F or %p from the
184 When a command is run, and unless it is run asynchronously, Claws Mail
185 will be insensitive to any interaction and it will wait for the command to
186 finish. If the command takes too long (5 seconds), it will popup a dialog
187 window allowing to stop it. This dialog will also be displayed as soon as
188 the command has some output: error messages or even its standard output
189 when the command is not a "pipe-out" command. When multiple commands are
190 being run, they are run in parallel and each command output is separated
191 from the outputs of the others.
196 Here are some examples that are listed in the same syntax as used for
197 storing the actions list. You can copy and past the definition in your
198 ~/.claws-mail/actionsrc file (exit Claws Mail before). The syntax
199 is very simple: one line per action, each action contains the menu name
200 and the command line separated by a colon and a space ": "
202 Purpose: rot13 cyphering
203 Definition: Rot13: |tr a-zA-Z n-za-mN-ZA-M|
204 Details: This will apply the rot13 cyphering algorithm to the
205 (selected) text in the message/compose view.
207 Purpose: Decoding uuencoded messages
208 Definition: UUdeview: xdeview %F&
209 Details: xdeview comes with uudeview. If an encoded file is split in
210 multiple messages, just select them all and run the command.
212 Purpose: Display uuencoded image
213 Definition: Display uuencoded: uudec %f&
214 Details: Displays uuencoded files. The uudec[1] script can be found in
215 the 'tools' directory of the distribution package.
217 Purpose: Alter messages
218 Definition: Edit message: gvim -f %F
219 Details: Allows editing of any received message. Can be used to remove
220 unneeded message parts, etc.
222 Purpose: Pretty format
223 Definition: Par: |par 72Tbgjqw74bEe B=._A_a 72bg|
224 Details: par is a utility that can pretty format any text. It does a
225 very good job in indenting quoted messages, and justifying
226 text. Used when composing a message
229 Definition: Part/Dillo: dillo %p&
230 Details: Browse the selected message part in Dillo.
233 [1] The uudec script can be found in the 'tools' directory of the
234 distribution package. It needs uudecode and ImageMagick's display. The
235 latter can be replaced by any image viewer that can get input from
236 standard input. The script could also be modified to use temporary files
237 instead of standard input.
242 Claws has support for different icon sets. Several icon sets can be
243 downloaded from http://www.claws-mail.org/themes.php
244 You will need to create a directory called 'themes' in your config
245 directory, unpack them into this directory, and then use the interface
246 to select them, /Configuration/Preferences/Display/Themes
248 This interface can also be used to install new themes.
251 5. Quick Search with extended search
252 ------------------------------------
253 Quick Search, with its powerful Extended search function,
254 enables searching through folder's messages.
256 Extended Search allows one to define criteria that messages must
257 have in order to match and be displayed in the summary view pane.
258 Search types titled From, Subject and To are self explanatory.
259 Search type extended allows one to use Claws Mail's powerful
260 filtering engine to select messages. Examples:
261 from regexpcase "foo"
262 subject regexp "Bug" & to regexp "claws-mail"
264 Additionally, it is possible to use simpler yet equally
265 powerfull patterns for message selections. Mutt users will
266 immediately recognise most of the available patterns:
268 Pattern Parameter Selects
269 ----------------------------------------------------
271 ag # messages whose age is greater than #
272 al # messages whose age is lower than #
273 b S messages which contain S in the message body
274 B S messages which contain S in the whole message
275 c S messages carbon-copied to S
276 C S message is either to: or cc: to S
278 e S messages which contain S in the Sender field
279 E S true if execute "S" succeeds
280 f S messages originating from user S
282 h S messages which contain header S
283 i S messages which contain S in Message-Id header
284 I S messages which contain S in inreplyto header
285 k # messages which are marked with color #
287 n S messages which are in newsgroup S
290 r messages which have been replied to
292 s S messages which contain S in subject
293 se # messages whose score is equal to #
294 sg # messages whose score is greater than #
295 sl # messages whose score is lower than #
296 Se # messages whose size is equal to #
297 Sg # messages whose size is greater than #
298 Ss # messages whose size is smaller than #
299 t S messages which have been sent to S
300 tg S messages with tags containing S
301 tagged messages which are tagged
304 x S messages which contain S in References header
305 x "cmd args" messages returning 0 when passed to command
307 y S messages which contain S in X-Label header
309 & logical AND operator
310 | logical OR operator
311 ! or ~ logical NOT operator
312 % case sensitive search
314 all filtering expressions are allowed
317 S means regexp string
319 It is possible to use logical operators AND (&), OR (|) and
320 NOT (! or ~). Case sensitive search is achieved with %.
324 f "john beavis" messages from john beavis
325 %f "John Beavis" messages from John Beavis (case sensitive)
326 ~s foo messages which do not have foo in the subject
327 f foo & ~s bar messages from foo that do not have bar in thesubject
333 /Configuration/Preferences/Customize Toolbars lets you define the
334 toolbar you want. The configuration dialog enables you to set an icon,
335 an appropriate text, and map an action to it. Actions to choose
336 from are predefined. You can also have your "Claws Mail Actions"
337 (refer to "Actions" above) on your toolbar.
340 * Configuration->Actions
341 - add an entry "Dillo: dillo %p&"
342 * Configuration->Custom toolbar
343 - select Claws Mail Actions Feature
344 - select "Dillo: dillo %p&" from drop down list
345 - choose an icon and click ok
349 7. Partial downloading of POP3 mails
350 ------------------------------------
351 Messages over the configured size limit, (/[Account preferences]/
352 Receive/Message size limit), will be partially retrieved. These
353 messages will have a Notice View displayed (above the Message View),
354 informing of the partially retrieved state and the total size of the
355 message. The Notice View will also contain two buttons, 'Mark for
356 download' and 'Mark for deletion'. If the user clicks 'Mark for
357 download', the message will be downloaded in full at the next message
358 retrieval, (and the partial one deleted); if the user checks 'Mark for
359 deletion' it will be removed from the server after the normal delay
360 as specified in the POP3 account's 'Receive' preferences.
361 If a user moves a partially retrieved message to the Trash folder
362 it will be deleted on the server at the next retrieval after the
363 Trash folder has been emptied.
369 It is recommnede that you use Clawsker to edit these options,
370 http://www.claws-mail.org/clawsker
372 addressbook_use_editaddress_dialog (default: 1)
373 Use a separate dialogue to edit a person's details. '0'
374 will use a form embedded in the addressbook's main
377 bold_unread (default: 1)
378 show unread messages using bold font in summary view
381 cache_max_mem_usage (default: 4096)
382 the maximum kB of memory Claws Mail should use.
383 It will try to keep the memory usage below this
384 value, but it will always use the assigned
385 amount of memory for speed gain.
387 cache_min_keep_time (default: 15)
388 the minimum time in minutes Claws Mail will keep
389 the folder cache in memory. If a cache is more
390 recent than this time it will not be freed even
391 if the memory usage is above the maximum. You
392 should probably set this value higher than your
393 mail check interval. Otherwise the cache will
394 always be freed between checks even if the folder
395 is accessed on every check, which will cause much
398 compose_no_markup (default: 0)
399 prevent italic and bold text in the Compose dialog
401 0: normal (markup) 1: no markup
403 emphasis_color (default: #0000CF)
404 The colour used for the X-Mailer line when its value is
407 enable_dotted_lines (default: 0)
408 Use the old dotted line look in the main window
409 GtkTreeView components, (Folder List and Message List),
410 instead of the modern lineless look.
412 enable_hscrollbar (default: 1)
413 enable horizontal scroll bar in summary view
416 enable_swap_from (default: 0)
417 display sender's email address in To column in Sent
418 folder instead of recipient's
421 folderview_vscrollbar_policy (default: 0)
422 specify the policy of vertical scroll bar of folder view
423 0: always 1: automatic 2: never
425 hover_timeout (default: 500)
426 time in milliseconds that will cause a folder tree to
427 expand during drag n drop when the mouse cover is held
430 live_dangerously (default: 0)
431 Don't ask for confirmation before definitive deletion of
434 log_error_color, log_in_color, log_msg_color, log_out_color,
436 The colours used in the log window.
438 outgoing_fallback_to_ascii (default: 1)
439 0 or 1. The outgoing encoding of a message will use 7bit
440 US-ASCII whenever it is suitable for the message
441 content, ignoring the "Outgoing encoding" option unless
442 it is necessary. Turning this option off forces the
443 user-defined encoding to be used, regardless of message
444 content. Default is 1, turned on.
446 respect_flowed_format (default: 0)
447 Respect format=flowed on text/plain message parts. This will
448 cause some mails to have long lines, but will fix some URLs
449 that would otherwise be wrapped.
451 save_parts_readwrite (default: 0)
452 Saves temporary files when opening attachment with write
455 skip_ssl_cert_check (default: 0)
456 Disables the verification of SSL certificates.
458 statusbar_update_step (default: 10)
459 update stepping in progress bars
461 stripes_color_offset (default: 4000)
462 Specify the value to use when creating alternately coloured
463 lines in GtkTreeView components. The smaller the value, the
464 less visible the difference in the alternating colours of the
467 textview_cursor_visible (default: 0)
468 display the cursor in the message view
471 thread_by_subject_max_age (default: 10)
472 number of days to include a message in a thread when using
473 'Thread using subject in addition to standard headers'
475 toolbar_detachable (default: 0)
476 hide handles in the toolbar
479 two_line_vertical (default: 1)
480 Spread message list information over two lines when
481 using the three column layout.
483 unsafe_ssl_certs (default: 0)
484 Allows Claws to remember multiple SSL certificates for a
487 use_networkmanager (default: 1)
488 Use NetworkManager to switch offline automatically.
490 use_stripes_everywhere (default: 1)
491 Enable alternately coloured lines in GtkTreeView components.
493 use_stripes_in_summaries (default: 1)
494 Enable alternately coloured lines in the main window
495 GtkTreeView components, (Folder List and Message List). The
496 only useful way to use this option is to set it to 0 when
497 use_stripes_everywhere is set to 1.
499 utf8_instead_of_locale_for_broken_mail (default: 0)
500 use UTF-8 encoding for broken mails instead of current
504 warn_dnd (default: 1)
505 display a confirmation dialog on drag n drop of folders
510 You will find all of these tools in the 'tools' directory:
512 acroread2claws-mail.pl
513 send PDFs from Adobe Reader 7
515 import mbox files exported by calypso
516 claws-mail-compose-insert-files.pl
517 insert files into a new Compose window
519 convert mbox format to MH format
521 import Becky, Thunderbird, Kmail, Gmail and Fox Mail
524 convert a Eudora (v.3?) addressbook to vCard
527 convert sylpheed main's filter rules, (< 0.9.99),
528 into Claws' filtering format
530 convert sylpheed main's filter rules, (>= 0.9.99),
531 into Claws' filtering format
533 Replace/Add a message's Date field
535 Actions script to lookup the selected text on
536 Freshmeat www.freshmeat.net using the configured
539 convert a gif file to an xface
541 Actions script to lookup selected message-id on
542 google using mozilla.
544 Actions script to lookup up the selected text on
545 google using the configured browser
547 Service Menus for Konqueror to allow sending
550 convert a Kmail addressbook to a Claws Mail
552 kmail2claws-mail_v2.pl
553 new version of the address book conversion script
554 for newer versions of Kmail/Kaddressbook
555 kmail-mailbox2claws-mail.pl
556 convert a Kmail mailbox into a Claws mail mailbox
558 a wrapper to mairix, to enable global searches in mail
561 import a Mew address book
563 search any searchable website for the selected text
564 nautilus2claws-mail.sh
565 enables sending files from the Nautilus file manager
568 enable OpenOffice to send documents through
570 outlook2claws-mail.pl
571 convert an Outlook contacts list to a Claws Mail
574 open messages in POPFile control center to edit their status
576 process a Claws Mail message and print it using enscript
577 if available or lpr if not
579 convert an addressbook exported from The Bat! into
580 a Claws Mail addressbook
582 integrate a Thunderbird folder tree into Claws Mail
584 Display various attachments as text
586 attempt to view an attachment as plain text
587 thunderbird-filters-convertor.pl
588 convert Thunderbird filtering rules
590 translators' tool that eases the creation of
593 decode UUencoded mails, for use with Actions
595 Decode uuencoded attachments and open them with OpenOffice
597 import an Evolution vCard
600 10. How to contribute
601 ---------------------
603 You are encourged to send patches via the Claws Mail bugzilla at
604 http://www.thewildbeast.co.uk/claws-mail/bugzilla/index.cgi
605 But please first read the patch guidelines here:
606 http://www.claws-mail.org/devel.php
608 If that's too troublesome, either contact Paul Mangan
609 <paul@claws-mail.org> or consider posting to the
610 Claws Mail-users mailing list.
611 http://www.claws-mail.org/MLs.php
613 Bugs can be reported with Claws' bugzilla at:
614 http://www.thewildbeast.co.uk/claws-mail/bugzilla/index.cgi
616 Of course, you can also post to the Claws Mail-users mailing list.
618 Also, we really try to incorporate good contributions, but sometimes we
619 don't have enough time. If the contribution is really big, or requires
620 a long time to stabilise, send a mail to Paul Mangan
621 <paul@claws-mail.org>. We can probably arrange access to the
626 11. How to request features
627 ---------------------------
629 Ask around in Claws Mail-users ML. Note that some developers may
630 have already thought about your feature and may, perhaps, be implementing
631 it, or the feature was already discussed and rejected for whatever reason.
632 You might want to go ahead and hack a patch for it. (That would be very
633 cool!) Another possibility is to add a request to our bugzilla, (severity:
635 http://www.thewildbeast.co.uk/claws-mail/bugzilla/index.cgi
638 12. Installing Claws Mail from CVS
639 --------------------------------------
644 To download the latest cvs cd to the directory where you wish to download
645 to and type the following information:
648 cvs -z3 -d:ext:cvs@scm.dotsrc.org:/srv/cvs/claws-mail co -r gtk2 claws
650 Later, when you want to update your local repository, you'll just have to
651 go back to the 'claws' directory, and type:
659 To compile and install use the following commands:
661 ./autogen.sh [add configure options as required]
663 make install [as root]
665 You will need a full set of development tools installed to be able to run
666 autogen.sh. See also ac/README.
694 2006-12-04 2.6.1 [first release as Claws Mail]
735 2004-05-31 0.9.11claws
736 2004-03-08 0.9.10claws
737 2004-02-06 0.9.9claws
738 2003-12-19 0.9.8claws
739 2003-11-26 0.9.7claws
740 2003-10-02 0.9.6claws
741 2003-09-10 0.9.5claws
742 2003-08-04 0.9.4claws
743 2003-07-12 0.9.3claws
744 2003-05-24 0.9.0claws
745 2003-03-12 0.8.11claws
746 2003-02-12 0.8.10claws
747 2003-01-24 0.8.9claws
748 2002-12-26 0.8.8claws
749 2002-12-23 0.8.7claws
750 2002-11-25 0.8.6claws
751 2002-10-07 0.8.5claws
752 2002-09-22 0.8.3claws
753 2002-08-28 0.8.2claws
754 2002-07-30 0.8.1claws
755 2002-07-23 0.8.0claws
756 2002-06-15 0.7.8claws
757 2002-05-18 0.7.6claws
758 2002-04-28 0.7.5claws
759 2002-03-11 0.7.4claws
760 2002-02-19 0.7.2claws
761 2002-02-14 0.7.1claws
762 2002-01-14 0.7.0claws
763 2001-12-16 0.6.6claws
764 2001-10-16 0.6.5claws8
765 2001-09-30 0.6.2claws
766 2001-08-14 0.6.1claws
767 2001-07-13 0.5.1claws
768 2001-07-01 0.5.0claws3
769 2001-06-16 0.4.99claws
770 2001-05-29 0.4.99claws3
771 2001-05-11 0.4.67claws1
778 http://www.claws-mail.org/
780 http://www.claws-mail.org/faq/
782 http://sourceforge.net/projects/sylpheed-claws/
784 http://www.claws-mail.org/downloads.php
786 http://www.claws-mail.org/plugins.php
788 http://www.claws-mail.org/themes.php
790 http://scm.dotsrc.org/viewvc.cgi/claws-mail/claws/?pathrev=gtk2
792 http://www.claws-mail.org/MLs.php
793 Users Mailing List archive
794 http://lists.sunsite.dk/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi/28
795 Commits Announcement List archive
796 http://lists.sunsite.dk/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi/27
797 Bug/Patch/Feature Request Tracker
798 http://www.thewildbeast.co.uk/claws-mail/bugzilla/index.cgi
799 Internationalisation Status
800 http://www.claws-mail.org/i18n.php
802 http://www.claws-mail.org/sponsors.php
804 http://planet.claws-mail.org/
805 Claws Mail for Windows homepage
806 http://www.claws-mail.org/win32/