Kontact uses KMail as its email component. You can also start it separately with the command kmail. To configure it, open the mail component then select + . KMail is a fully-featured email client that supports a number of protocols.
KMail can manage multiple email accounts (private or business). Creating separate identities for your different email accounts allows you to associate different sender addresses, cryptography settings and signatures with each of them. To create an identity, select
+ and choose + . Determine whether to create a new identity from scratch, use the control center settings , or whether to duplicate an existing identity.To create a new identity from scratch, enter the name of the new identity and enter your name, organization and email address in the
tab. You can also configure one or several of the following options:Set the keys to use for signing and encrypting messages. For the encryption to work, first create a key with KGpg, as described in Chapter 7, Encryption with KGpg.
Enter a default reply-to and a default blind carbon-copy address (usually empty), choose a dictionary, select the folders for draft, sent messages, and templates, and define by which sending account the messages should be sent.
Define custom templates to use for new messages, for default replies to senders and lists, and for forwarded messages. To use templates, activate
, first.Click
first to use it. Decide how your messages should be signed. Use the input field below to configure your signature or obtain it from a file or the output of a command.Use this tab to include a picture in the X-Face format in your messages. X-Face can only hold black and white images with a dimension of 48 × 48 pixels. You can obtain the picture from the input field below or from an external source.
Before you can send or receive emails, create one or several accounts. KMail allows both remote accounts and local mailboxes. The settings under
determine how Kontact receives and sends email. Many of these settings vary depending on the system and network in which your mail server is located. If you are not sure about the settings or items to select, consult your ISP or system administrator.To configure a remote account, proceed as follows:
Start Kontact and select
+ + .Create an incoming account by clicking on the
tab:Click
and choose the account type. Usually it is POP3, IMAP, or disconnected IMAP.Enter your account name (can be freely choosen), the incoming mail server, login and password.
Decide, if the following options are useful to your setup:
If you use KWallet, check
. This makes it a bit more convenient as you do not have to type in your passwords (it is taken once from KWallet, see Chapter Managing Passwords with KWallet Manager (↑KDE User Guide).)If you need to be up-to-date with your mails, check this option and enter the interval.
KMail can leave the original message on the server and receive a copy. Especially for POP3 accounts, this could be useful, if you need the mail on a different computer.
This option lets you choose your identity.
Proceed with
.Create an outgoing account by clicking on the
tab and click to choose either or :If you select SMTP (the default), enter an account name and the host name of the SMTP server. Should the server require login and password, also check
and enter the required credentials. Configure additional security settings using the tab.If you select Sendmail, no further configuration is required.
Apply your settings and leave the account configuration dialog with
.To configure a local mailbox, proceed as follows:
Start Kontact and select
+ + .Create an incoming account by clicking on the
tab:Click
and choose or .Enter your account name. Choose any name you like.
Decide which locking method you want. Usually you can leave it on
Proceed with
.Create an outgoing account as described in Step 3.
To compose new messages, select Section 5.2.1, “Configuring Identities”. Select + to show a popup menu. In , enter an email address or part of a name or address in your address book. If Kontact can match what you enter to something in the address book, a selection list opens. Click the desired contact or complete your input if none matches. To select directly from the address book, click the button next to the field.
+ or click the corresponding icon in the toolbar. To send messages from different email accounts, select one of the identities as described inTo attach files to your message, click the paper clip icon and select the file to attach. Conversely, drag a file from the desktop or another folder to the
window or select one of the options in the menu. Normally, the format of a file is recognized correctly. If the format is not recognized, right-click the icon. From the menu that appears, select . Set the format and filename in the next dialog and add a description. In addition, decide whether the attached file should be signed or encrypted.
When you are finished composing your message, send it immediately with
sent-mail
after having been sent successfully.
Messages moved to the outbox
can be edited or
deleted.
Message folders help organize your messages. By default, they are
located in the ~/.kde4/share/apps/kmail/mail
directory. When starting KMail for the first time, the program creates
several folders. If you are using IMAP, the IMAP folders are listed
below the local folders. Each incoming mail server has its folders in
the Folder list.
If you want to organize your messages in additional folders, select from your list your parent folder and create new folders by selecting
+ . This opens a window in which to specify the name and format of the new folder.Right-click the folder for a context menu offering several folder operations. Click
to specify the expiration date for read and unread messages, what should happen with them after expiration, and whether expired messages should be deleted or moved to a folder. If you intend to use the folder to store messages from a mailing list, set the necessary options under + .To move one or several messages from one folder to another, drag them from the upper window and drop them into the appropriate folder in the left window. Messages can also be moved by highlighting the messages then pressing M or selecting + . In the list of folders that appears, select the folder to which to move your messages.
Additionally, you can add folders to the
pane. This enables you to go quickly to your frequently used mail folders, especially if your folders are deeply structured. Choose the relevant folder and select .Email is an insecure medium, as anyone could theoretically read your emails or send some in your name. By signing your emails you enable the recipient of your emails to verify the sender of the messages as the key used to sign is only available to you. By encrypting the contents of your emails you ensure that they can only be read by the recipient. KMail supports both the signing and encryption of emails.
Prepare KMail for signing and encrypting emails:
Generate a key pair as described in Section 7.2, “Generating a New Key Pair” and export your public key as described in Section 7.3, “Exporting the Public Key”.
Configure the details of the encryption procedure in KMail:
Start KMail and go to
+ + .Select the identity under which to send encrypted and signed messages. Click
and proceed to .Change the
by clicking on and selecting your key from the dialog box.Change the
by clicking on and selecting your key from the dialog box.Change to
+ and check . With this option you can decrypt the message or file at any time.Apply your settings and leave the configuration dialog with
.Sign your emails to allow the recipient to verify whether these have really been sent by you. KMail uses your private key to sign your messages and the recipient can verify the signature using your public key available on key servers. To sign an email, proceed as follows:
Compose your email as usual.
Select
+ .If you know the recipient can download your public key from a key server, you can omit this step. For convenience reasons, select
+ to create an attachment to your email containing your public key.Send your message as usual via
+ and enter your key's passphrase when prompted. KMail signs your message using your private key and the recipient can verify the signature by the public key attached to your message.Use encryption on your emails whenever you want to make sure that only the recipient can read the contents. To be able to exchange encrypted emails with another party, get the appropriate public key and use it to encrypt your message. At the other end, the private key is then used to decrypt the contents of your message. Of course, you can use both signatures and encryption on your messages.
To send an encrypted email, proceed as follows:
Start KGpg with Alt+F2 and entering kgpg.
Get the recipient's public key:
If you get it directly from the recipient, import the key with KGpg via
+ .Access a public key server and import it from there. Select in KGpg
+ , and search for the key. Select the respective key and import it into your keyring.Compose a new message in KMail.
Select
+ . In the mail window a blue line is displayed.Send the mail. A dialog window opens and asks you for the correct key.
Check whether all keys are correct.
Enter your passphrase.
To import email from other applications, select kmailcvt.
+ from the mail view in Kontact. It currently features import filters for Outlook Express, the mbox format, email text format, Pegasus Mail, Opera, Evolution, and more. The import utility can also be started separately with the commandSelect the corresponding application and confirm with
. A file or a folder must be provided, depending on the selected type. KMail then completes the process.Filters are a convenient method of automatically processing incoming mail. They use aspects of the mail such as sender or size, to move mail to certain folders, delete unwanted mails, bounce mails back to the sender, or perform a number of other actions.
To create a filter based on an existing message, right-click the desired message then select
and the desired filter criteria. To create a filter from scratch, select + .Select the match method for filter criteria (all or any). Then select criteria that applies only to the desired messages. In
, set what the filter should do to the messages that meet the criteria. The tab provides control over whether the filter is applied for specific accounts only.Filters are applied in the order listed in the dialog accessed with
+ . Change the order by selecting a filter and clicking the arrow buttons. Filters are only applied to new incoming messages or sent messages as specified in the filter's advanced options. To apply filters to existing messages, right-click the desired messages and choose + and the desired filter.If your filters do not act as expected, monitor them with
+ . When logging is enabled in this dialog, it shows how messages are processed by your filters and can help locate the problem.