1 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
2 <section id="ch_advanced">
3 <title>Advanced features</title>
4 <section id="adv_actions">
7 Actions allow you to use all the power of the Unix command-line with
8 your emails. You can define various commands, taking parameters such
9 as the current email file, a list of emails, the currently selected
10 text, and so on. In this way, you'll be able to perform various tasks
11 such as editing a raw mail in your text editor,
12 <emphasis>hide</emphasis> what you mean using ROT-13, apply patches
13 contained in emails directly, and so on. The only limit is your
14 imagination. You can configure Actions via the <quote>Tools</quote>
19 <title>Simple <quote>Open With...</quote></title>
23 Menu name: <emphasis>Open with/kate</emphasis>
24 Command Line: <command>kate %p</command>
28 Opens the file of the selected decoded MIME part
29 (<emphasis>%p</emphasis>) with the <emphasis>kate</emphasis> text
37 <title>Spam management using <ulink
38 url="http://bogofilter.sourceforge.net/">Bogofilter</ulink>
43 Menu name: <emphasis>Bogofilter/Mark as Ham</emphasis>
44 Command Line: <command>bogofilter -n -v -B "%f"</command>
48 Marks the currently selected mails (<emphasis>%f</emphasis>) as
49 <quote>not spam</quote> using <emphasis>Bogofilter</emphasis>.
55 Menu name: <emphasis>Bogofilter/Mark as Spam</emphasis>
56 Command Line: <command>bogofilter -s -v -B "%f"</command>
60 Marks the currently selected mails (<emphasis>%f</emphasis>) as
61 <quote>spam</quote> using <emphasis>Bogofilter</emphasis>.
68 <title>Search Google using an external script</title>
72 Menu name: <emphasis>Search/Google</emphasis>
73 Command Line: <command>|/path/to/google_search.pl</command>
77 Searches Google for the currently selected text
78 (<emphasis>|</emphasis>) using the external script <emphasis><ulink
79 url="http://www.sylpheed-claws.net/tools.php"
80 >google_search.pl</ulink></emphasis>.
88 <section id="adv_templates">
89 <title>Templates</title>
91 Templates are used in composition windows, and act as a model for
92 emails. Templates can be filled with static text and dynamic parts,
93 such as the original sender's name (<quote>Dear %N, ...</quote>),
94 the date, etc. When applying a template, the dynamic fields will be
95 replaced with the relevant values. You can configure templates via
96 the <quote>Tools</quote> menu.
98 When applying a template, you will be asked to <quote>Insert</quote>
99 or <quote>Replace</quote>, the difference between replacing and
100 inserting is only concerned with the message body.
101 <quote>Replace</quote> will replace the current composition window
102 message body with the body defined in the template, clearing it if
103 the template body is empty. <quote>Insert</quote> will insert
104 the template's body, if set, at the current cursor position.
106 Whether you choose to Insert or Replace, any To, Cc or Bcc field
107 that is defined in the template will be appended to the compose
108 window's recipients list. If it is defined, the template's Subject
109 will always replace the compose window's Subject.
111 Symbols can be used in all parts of the templates and will be
112 substituted with their respective dynamic value if possible, otherwise
113 no value will be used. This often makes more sense if you apply a
114 template when replying or forwarding, otherwise most of the symbols
115 value will be undefined. There is no restriction on which symbols can
116 be used in template parts, even if inserting the body (%M or %Q) may
117 make no sense in common situations.
119 When applying a template, the body is processed first, then the To, Cc,
120 Bcc and Subject fields follow.
122 Further information and examples of usage can be found in the
123 user-contributed FAQ on the Sylpheed-Claws website <ulink
124 url="http://www.sylpheed-claws.net/faq/"
125 >http://www.sylpheed-claws.net/faq/</ulink>.
128 <section id="adv_processing">
129 <title>Processing</title>
131 Processing rules are the same as Filtering rules, except that they are
132 applied when entering a folder and apply only to this folder. You can
133 use them to automatically move old mails into an archive folder, or for
134 further dispatching of emails, and more. You can set each folder's
135 Processing rules by right-clicking on it.
137 Processing rules are accompanied by Pre-processing and Post-processing
138 rules. Like Processing rules, they apply only when opening a folder,
139 but like Filtering rules, they are shared accross all folders. You can
140 configure them from the <quote>Tools</quote> menu. Pre-processing rules
141 are executed before the folder's specific Processing rules, while
142 Post-processing rules are executed afterwards.
145 <section id="adv_colour_labels">
146 <title>Colour Labels</title>
148 Colour labels can be used to denote a message as having a particular
149 significance. To set a colour label simply right-click a message in the
150 Message List and use the <quote>Color label</quote> submenu.
152 Colour labels are user-configurable. Both the colour and the label can
153 be set by the user. Preferences can be found on the
154 <quote>Configuration/Preferences/Display/Colors</quote> page.
157 <section id="adv_ml_support">
158 <title>Mailing-List support</title>
160 Sylpheed-Claws offers mailing-list support from the
161 <quote>Message/Mailing-List/</quote> submenu. When you have a
162 mailing-list message selected, the submenu allows you to quickly
163 initiate subscribing, unsubscribing, posting, getting help, contacting
164 the list owner, and viewing the list archive; either by opening a new
165 Compose window with the appropriate address pre-filled, or by opening
166 the URL in your web browser.
169 <section id="adv_plugins">
170 <title>Plugins</title>
172 Plugins are the mechanism for extending Sylpheed-Claws' capabilities.
173 For example, imagine that you want to store your mails in a remote
174 <acronym>SQL</acronym> database. In most mailers out there this is
175 simply impossible without reworking the internals of the mailer. With
176 Sylpheed-Claws you can simply write a plugin to achieve the task.
178 This is just an example of the possibilities. A good number of plugins
179 developed for Sylpheed-Claws already exist, and more are to come. The
180 <link linkend="ch_plugins">Extending Sylpheed-Claws section</link>
181 gives details of them.
184 <section id="deploying">
185 <title>Deploying Sylpheed-Claws</title>
187 The initial configuration wizard tries to guess various fields using
188 information gathered from the system, such as username, hostname, and
189 more. As it is oriented towards general use, the default values often
190 have to be fixed. However, this wizard is customisable, in a manner
191 designed to allow system administrators to deploy Sylpheed-Claws easily
192 over various users of one machine, or even over multiple machines
193 installed via some replication tool.
195 The first part consists of creating a wizard configuration template
196 and setting the various default parameters of a new Sylpheed-Claws
202 Start with a user who does not have a <filename class="directory"
203 >~/.sylpheed-claws</filename> directory, ideally a new user.
208 Start Sylpheed-Claws and go through the wizard. The values you fill in
209 will be of no use for the future deployment, so you can click
215 Once the wizard is finished and you have Sylpheed-Claws' main window
216 opened, configure the various defaults you want to have in the master.
217 You can load plugins, add people or LDAP servers in the addressbook,
218 create filtering rules, and so on.
223 If needed, and if the deployed Sylpheed-Claws will use MH folders, you
224 can create subdirectories in the mailbox.
229 Next, quit Sylpheed-Claws.
234 Now, edit the newly created wizard template file,
235 <filename>~/.sylpheed-claws/accountrc.tmpl</filename>. In this file,
236 you will see different variables, corresponding to the wizard's fields.
237 You can leave some commented, in which case the usual default will be
238 used, or specify values or variables. Not all fields can contain
239 variables; for example, <literal>smtpauth</literal>,
240 <literal>smtpssl</literal> and <literal>recvssl</literal> are booleans,
241 either 0 or 1, and <literal>recvtype</literal> is an integer value. The
242 other fields, like <literal>name</literal>, <literal>email</literal>,
243 or <literal>recvuser</literal>, are parsed by the wizard and the
244 variables they contain are replaced by values. This allows you to
245 specify everything as needed for your site, even if you have strange
246 server names or server logins.
251 Save this file, and delete both
252 <filename>~/.sylpheed-claws/accountrc</filename>, (which contains your
254 <filename>~/.sylpheed-claws/folderlist.xml</filename>, (so that the
255 folder tree will be correctly parsed for new users). Recursively copy
256 <filename class="directory">.sylpheed-claws</filename> to
257 <filename class="directory">/etc/skel/</filename>; if the deployed
258 Sylpheed-Claws will use MH folders, also copy the created
259 <filename class="directory">Mail</filename> directory. chown all of
260 <filename class="directory">/etc/skel/.sylpheed-claws</filename>
261 and <filename class="directory">/etc/skel/Mail</filename> to
262 <literal>root:root</literal> for security reasons.
267 Test! Create a new user, login as that user, run Sylpheed-Claws. If you
268 filled everything as you wanted, this user will just have to fill in
274 Now, if you're creating a master for a site-wide deployment, you can
275 continue with this process. If you were just doing it for one machine,
281 Here are the different variables of the <filename>accountrc.tmpl</filename>
286 <term><literal>domain</literal></term>
289 Your domain name (example.com). If not set, it'll be extracted from the
295 <term><literal>name</literal></term>
298 The user's name. If not set, it'll be extracted from Unix login
299 information, which is usually ok.
304 <term><literal>email</literal></term>
307 The user's email. If not set, it'll be extracted from
308 <literal>$name</literal> and <literal>$domain</literal>.
313 <term><literal>organization</literal></term>
316 Your organization. If not set, it'll be empty.
321 <term><literal>smtpserver</literal></term>
324 The SMTP server to use. If not set, it'll be
325 <literal>smtp.$domain</literal>.
330 <term><literal>smtpauth</literal></term>
333 0 or 1. Whether to authenticate on the SMTP server. If not set, it'll
339 <term><literal>smtpuser</literal></term>
342 The login on the SMTP server. If not set, it'll be empty (same login as
343 for reception will be used).
348 <term><literal>smtppass</literal></term>
351 The password on the SMTP server. If not set, it'll be empty (if
352 <literal>smtppass</literal> is empty but <literal>smtpuser</literal> is
353 not, the user will be asked for the password).
358 <term><literal>recvtype</literal></term>
361 The type of server to receive from. 0 for POP3, 3 for IMAP4, 5 for a
362 local MBOX file. If not set, it'll be 0 (POP3).
367 <term><literal>recvserver</literal></term>
370 The reception server. If not set, it'll be
371 <literal>(pop|imap).$domain</literal>, depending on
372 <literal>$recvtype</literal>.
377 <term><literal>recvuser</literal></term>
380 The login on the reception server. If not set, it'll be extracted from
381 the Unix login information.
386 <term><literal>recvpass</literal></term>
389 The password on the reception server. If not set, it'll be empty (the
390 user will be asked for it once per session).
395 <term><literal>imapdir</literal></term>
398 The IMAP subdirectory. If not set, it'll be empty, which is often
404 <term><literal>mboxfile</literal></term>
407 The MBOX file to receive from if <literal>$recvtype</literal> is 5.
408 If not set, <literal>/var/mail/$LOGIN</literal>.
413 <term><literal>mailbox</literal></term>
416 The MH mailbox to store mail in (for <literal>$recvtype</literal> 0 or
417 5). If not set, it'll be <quote>Mail</quote>.
422 <term><literal>smtpssl</literal></term>
425 0 or 1. Whether to use SSL for sending mail. If not set, it'll be 0.
430 <term><literal>recvssl</literal></term>
433 0 or 1. Whether to use SSL for receiving mail. If not set, it'll be 0.
439 Here are the different variables you can use in the
440 <literal>domain</literal>, <literal>name</literal>,
441 <literal>email</literal>, <literal>organization</literal>,
442 <literal>smtpserver</literal>, <literal>smtpuser</literal>,
443 <literal>smtppass</literal>, <literal>recvserver</literal>,
444 <literal>recvuser</literal>, <literal>recvpass</literal>,
445 <literal>imapdir</literal>, <literal>mboxfile</literal> and
446 <literal>mailbox</literal> fields:
450 <term><literal>$DEFAULTDOMAIN</literal></term>
453 The domain name as extracted from Unix hostname information.
459 <term><literal>$DOMAIN</literal></term>
462 The domain name as set in the domain variable, the first of the
468 <term><literal>$USERNAME</literal></term>
470 <para>The user's real name.</para>
474 <term><literal>$LOGIN</literal></term>
476 <para>The user's Unix login.</para>
480 <term><literal>$NAME_MAIL</literal></term>
483 The user's real name as set in the name variable of the template field,
484 in lowercase and with spaces replaced by dots.
485 <quote>Colin Leroy</quote> becomes <quote>colin.leroy</quote>.
490 <term><literal>$EMAIL</literal></term>
493 The email address as set in the email variable of the template field.
499 Be sure not to use a variable before defining it.
502 <section id="adv_hidden">
503 <title>Hidden preferences</title>
505 There are a number of hidden preferences in Sylpheed-Claws, preferences
506 that some users who we wanted to please couldn't live without, but
507 which did not have a place in the GUI in our opinion. You can find the
508 following, and change them while Sylpheed-Claws is not running, in
509 <filename>~/.sylpheed-claws/sylpheedrc</filename>.
513 <term><literal>bold_unread</literal></term>
516 Show unread messages in the Message List using a bold font.
521 <term><literal>cache_max_mem_usage</literal></term>
524 The maximum amount of memory to use to cache messages, in kB.
529 <term><literal>cache_min_keep_time</literal></term>
532 The minimum time in minutes to keep a cache in memory. Caches more
533 recent than this time will not be freed, even if the memory usage is
539 <term><literal>compose_no_markup</literal></term>
542 Don't use bold and italic text in Compose dialogue's account selector.
547 <term><literal>enable_dotted_lines</literal></term>
550 Use the <emphasis>old</emphasis> dotted line look in the main window
551 GtkTreeView components, (Folder List and Message List), instead of the
552 <emphasis>modern</emphasis> lineless look.
557 <term><literal>enable_hscrollbar</literal></term>
560 Enable the horizontal scrollbar in the Message List.
565 <term><literal>enable_swap_from</literal></term>
568 Display the sender's email address in the To column of the
569 Sent folder instead of the recipient's.
574 <term><literal>folderview_vscrollbar_policy</literal></term>
577 Specify the policy of vertical scrollbar of Folder List.
578 '0' is always shown, '1' is automatic, '2' is always hidden.
583 <term><literal>hover_timeout</literal></term>
586 Time in milliseconds that will cause a folder tree to expand
587 when the mouse cursor is held over it during drag 'n' drop.
592 <term><literal>live_dangerously</literal></term>
595 Don't ask for confirmation before definitive deletion of emails.
600 <term><literal>log_error_color</literal></term>
601 <term><literal>log_in_color</literal></term>
602 <term><literal>log_msg_color</literal></term>
603 <term><literal>log_out_color</literal></term>
604 <term><literal>log_warn_color</literal></term>
607 The colours used in the log window.
612 <term><literal>mark_as_read_delay</literal></term>
615 Number of seconds to wait before marking an opened mail as read.
620 <term><literal>skip_ssl_cert_check</literal></term>
623 Disables the verification of SSL certificates.
628 <term><literal>statusbar_update_step</literal></term>
631 Update stepping in progress bars.
636 <term><literal>stripes_color_offset</literal></term>
639 Specify the value to use when creating alternately coloured lines in
640 GtkTreeView components. The smaller the value, the less visible the
641 difference in the alternating colours of the lines.
646 <term><literal>textview_cursor_visible</literal></term>
649 Display the cursor in the message view.
654 <term><literal>thread_by_subject_max_age</literal></term>
657 Number of days to include a message in a thread when using
658 <quote>Thread using subject in addition to standard headers</quote>.
663 <term><literal>toolbar_detachable</literal></term>
666 Show handles in the toolbars.
671 <term><literal>use_stripes_everywhere</literal></term>
674 Enable alternately coloured lines in GtkTreeView components.
679 <term><literal>use_stripes_in_summaries</literal></term>
682 Enable alternately coloured lines in the main window GtkTreeView
683 components, (Folder List and Message List). The only useful way to
684 use this option is to set it to 0 when use_stripes_everywhere is set
690 <term><literal>utf8_instead_of_locale_for_broken_mail</literal></term>
693 Use UTF-8 encoding for broken mails instead of current locale.
698 <term><literal>warn_dnd</literal></term>
701 Display a confirmation dialogue on drag 'n' drop of folders.