To start up Mozilla Mail, start Mozilla and from the main menu bar at the top select, Window --> Mail & Newsgroups
Click to view screen shot Fig 9.12 Mozilla Mail Startup Screen
The default startup screen has three main sections:
- left panel displaying mail boxes and folders
- right main mail display panel
- top panel containing the main menu bar and buttons
The left panel displays in a tree-directory format the email accounts that have been configured for the system and the mailboxes under it. The Local section contains the folders and messages that are not from any of the accounts created and associated with an Internet email account and thus considered local to the system. Note that this includes any unsent mail messages.
Reading Mail
To read any email in your inbox, select the Inbox folder under the desired mail account in the left panel. A list of the messages in your Inbox will be displayed in the top part of the right panel showing the email sender and subject header. To view the mail content click on the desired message in the top right panel and the message body will be displayed in the bottom right panel. Scroll as required to read the entire message.
Composing Mail
To compose a new email click on the Compose button at the top menu. Alternatively you can also click on the "Compose a new message" link in the right display panel. (Ensure that you have selected the appropriate email account on the system by clicking on the appropriate account name in the left display panel.)
Click to view screen shot Fig 9.13 Composing Mail in Mozilla Mail
The From field is automatically filled in for you from the email address you provided in the setup for the account currently being used.
The To field has to be filled in with the email address (es) of the recipient(s). If there is more than one recipient, separate the addresses by commas or you can fill them in one line at a time by entering the RETURN key after each address.
The other email header fields like Cc and Bcc can be selected by clicking on the To field button. The Subject field should also be filled in with an appropriate subject header. You should avoid being too verbose for the subject header.
The mail message body can be entered in the right bottom panel provided and any file attachments can be added by clicking on the Attach button at the top and then selecting the file.
Sending Mail
After composing the email, you can either send it off immediately if you are already online, send it later or keep it as a draft to be edited later.
To send it off immediately select the Send button. If the message was sent successfully it will be stored in the Sent folder.
To send it later, select from the main menu at the top,
File --> Send Later
The message will be stored under the Unsent Messages in the Local Folders section. In this way you can compose all the emails first and store them before sending them all in one go. Later on you can send all the unsent messages by selecting from the main menu at the top,
File --> Send Unsent Messages
This method of sending is especially useful if you are on a dial-up Internet connection where you can compose the messages offline and then dial-up later to send the messages.
To save it as a draft select from the main menu at the top,
File --> Save As --> Draft
The email message will be saved in the Drafts folder under the current account section. Later to edit the saved draft, select the Drafts folder under the account, click on the draft message to edit that is being displayed in the top right panel and select from the top menu,
Message --> Edit Message As New
After editing the message you can send it off as discussed above.
Receiving Mail
To receive mail, click on the Get Msgs button at the top, enter your email password (POP3 password) when asked and the email will be downloaded from your Internet mailbox and stored into the Inbox folder. Of course you will have to be online to perform this.
