Composing Messages

You can cut, copy, and paste the content of messages that you compose. You can search for text and replace that text. You can check the spelling of your message. You can also save drafts of your messages.

You can use the following formats for your messages:

• HTML format

  You can apply formatting to text in HTML format, as follows:

  Font formatting

  Bold, italic, underline, font size, font color, and other font formatting.

  Paragraph formatting

  Paragraph styles, including heading styles, bulleted list styles, and numbered list styles. You can also specify paragraph alignment and indentation.

  Page formatting

  Enables you to select a message template, to set a document, to specify a background image, and other page formatting.

  You can also insert emoticons into your messages. An emoticon is an icon that represents a facial expression.

• Plain text format

  You cannot apply any formatting to plain text messages.

Editing the Content of a Message

You can edit the content of a message when you work in the message composition window. You can edit the content of a message as follows:

• To select all the text in a message, choose Edit -> Select All.

• To remove text from a message and place the text on the clipboard, select the text in the message, then choose Edit -> Cut.

• To copy text from a message to the clipboard, select the text in the message, then choose Edit -> Copy.

• To paste text from the clipboard into a message, position the cursor in the message where you want to insert the text. Choose Edit -> Paste.

• To paste text from the clipboard into a message as a quotation, position the cursor in the message where you want to insert the text. Choose Edit -> Paste Quotation. The text is inserted into the message, with greater-than signs (>) before each line of the inserted text.

Using Undo

To undo the last edit action, choose Edit -> Undo.

If you later decide that you do not want to undo the action, choose Edit -> Redo.

Finding and Replacing Text in Message

When you compose a message, you can search for text in the message. You can also replace the text you search for.

To Find Text in a Message

To search for text in a message, perform the following steps:

1. Choose Edit -> Find. Type the text to search for in the text box of the Find dialog.

   Alternatively, you can use a regular expression to search for text. A regular expression is a way to specify a text pattern to search for. For example, the regular expression t*e finds the text the, time, table, and so on.

   To use a regular expression to search for text, choose Edit -> Find Regular Expression. Type the regular expression to search for in the text box of the Find Regular Expression dialog.

2. Select the Backward option to begin the search from the end of the message, or from the cursor location, and proceed towards the start of the message.

3. Select the Case sensitive option to find occurrences only of the text that match the case of the text that you type in the dialog.

4. Click on the Find button. If the text is found in the message, the first match is highlighted in the message.

5. To find the next occurrence of the text, choose Edit -> Find Again.

To Replace Text in a Message

To search for text, and replace the text with alternative text, perform the following steps:

1. Choose Edit -> Replace.

2. Type the text to search for in the Replace text box.

3. Type the text to use to replace the text that you find, in the With text box.

4. Select the Search backward option to begin the search from the end of the message, or from the cursor location, and proceed towards the start of the message.

5. Select the Case sensitive option to find occurrences only of the text that match the case of the text that you type in the dialog.

6. Click on the Find and Replace button. If the text is found in the message, a Replace confirmation dialog is displayed. Use the buttons on the Replace confirmation dialog to replace the text in the message, as described in the following table.

   Button	Function
   Replace all	Replaces all occurrences of the search text with the replacement text.
   Next	Skips the current occurrence of the search text, and finds the next occurrence.
   Close	Closes the Replace confirmation dialog, and does not replace any text.
   Replace	Replaces the current occurrences of the search text with the replacement text, and finds the next occurrence.

To Check the Spelling of a Message

To check the spelling in a message, choose Edit -> Spell Check Document.

When the spellchecker encounters a misspelled word, the Spell checker dialog displays a list of suggestions to replace the misspelled word. You can perform the following actions from the Spell checker dialog:

• To replace the misspelled word with one of the suggestions in the Spell checker dialog, select the suggestion, then click on the Replace button.

• To ignore the misspelled word, click on the Ignore button. The spellchecker no longer identifies the word as a misspelled word.

• To move to the next misspelled word and make no change to the current word, click on the Skip button.

• To return to the previous misspelled word and make no change to the current word, click on the Back button.

• To add the misspelled word to a dictionary, select the dictionary from the Add to dictionary drop-down list, then click on the Add word button.

Evolution checks the spelling of your messages against the languages that you have enabled in your Evolution preferences. To use another language to check the spelling of your message, choose Edit -> Current Languages, then select the language you require.

For information on how to modify the default spellchecker languages, see Setting Composer Preferences.

To Save a Draft of a Message

If you want to save a message that you do not want to send yet, you can save a draft of the message. To save a draft of a message that you are composing, choose File -> Save Draft. The message is saved in your local Drafts folder.

To continue to compose a draft message, open the message from your local Drafts folder, then complete

To send a draft message, open the message from your local Drafts folder. Complete the message in the composition window, then choose File -> Send.

To Create a Message in HTML Format

To create a message in HTML format, choose File -> New -> Mail Message. In the Compose a message window, choose Format -> HTML so that the HTML menu item is selected.

To Apply Font Formatting to Messages in HTML Format

To apply font formatting, perform the following steps:

1. Select the text that you want to format.

2. To format the selected text, perform one or more of the following actions:

   Format	Action
   Plain text	Choose Format -> Style -> Plain text.
   Bold	Choose Format -> Style -> Bold.
   Italic	Choose Format -> Style -> Italic.
   Underline	Choose Format -> Style -> Underline.
   Strikethrough	Choose Format -> Style -> Strikeout.
   Font size	Choose Format -> Font Size, then select the font size from the submenu. You must specify the size of the text in relation to the size of normal text. The options that you can select include +2, +1, -1, -2, and so on.
   Font color	Choose Format -> Text. Click on the arrow in the Color drop-down list. Select a color from the color table. Alternatively, to specify a custom color, click on the Custom Color color selector button. Use the color wheel or the spin boxes to select the color. Click OK to add the new color to the color table. Click OK to apply the font color formatting, and close the dialog.

   You can also use the format toolbar to format text. To use the format toolbar to format text, click on the button that represents the format that you want to apply.

To Apply Paragraph Formatting to Messages in HTML Format

To apply paragraph formatting, perform the following steps:

1. Click in the paragraph that you want to format.

2. To format the selected paragraph, perform one or more of the following actions:

   Format	Action
   Style	Choose Format -> Paragraph. Select the style that you want from the Style drop-down list. The styles that you can select include the following: Normal Preformatted text Heading styles Address style Bulleted lists Ordered lists Click OK to apply the style and close the Properties: Paragraph dialog.
   Alignment	Choose Format -> Paragraph. Select the alignment from the Left, Center, or Right options. Click OK to apply the alignment and close the Properties: Paragraph dialog.
   Indentation	To increase the indent in the paragraph, choose Format -> Increase Indent. To decrease the indent in the paragraph, choose Format -> Decrease Indent.

   You can also use the format toolbar to format paragraphs. To use the format toolbar to format paragraphs, click on the button that represents the format that you want to apply.

To Apply Page Formatting to Messages in HTML Format

To apply page formatting, perform the following steps:

1. Choose Format -> Page.

2. Select a template for the page from the Template drop-down list in the Properties: Page dialog.

3. Type a name for the page in the Document Title text box.

4. Enter the name of the image file that you want to use for the message background in the Background Image drop-down combination box.

   Alternatively, click Browse to display a Background Image dialog. Use the dialog to specify the image file that you want to use.

5. To select a color for the text, links, or message background, click on the arrow in the appropriate drop-down list in the Colors group. Select a color from the color table.

   Alternatively, to specify a custom color, click on the Custom Color color selector button. Use the color wheel or the sliders to select the color. Click OK to add the new color to the color table. Click OK to apply the color and close the dialog.

6. Click OK to apply the formatting to the message and close the Properties: Page dialog.

To Insert an Emoticon Into a Message

To insert an emoticon into a message, choose Insert -> Smiley, then choose the emoticon that you require.

Customizing the Message Composition Window

You can customize which message elements are displayed in a message composition window. The following table describes how to display message elements in a message composition window: