The bottom right corner indicates that only 45% of the message is shown.
Mutt is a console based email client. It has built in support for multiple mail folders, POP and IMAP, PGP, aliases, mailing lists, powerful search capabilities and a pile of other stuff. Essentially it can handle a lot of email.
This is optional but will make Mutt a lot nicer to use.
Copy the following into your shell:
cat << "EOF" >> $HOME/.muttrc
set sort=threads
set pager_index_lines=5 #You might want to increase this
set pager_context=1
set index_format='%4C %Z %{%b %d} %-15.15F (%4l) %s'
#Different colors for different levels of quoting
color quoted magenta black
color quoted1 blue black
color quoted2 red black
color quoted3 yellow black
color quoted4 cyan black
color quoted5 blue black
color quoted6 magenta black
color quoted7 red black
color quoted8 yellow black
color quoted9 cyan black
color signature blue default
EOF
Note that by default all email to your netsoc address isautomatically forwarded to your tcd.ie address (MyMail). To stop this run rm ~/.forward
When you join netsoc you get an email address. Mine is bbrazil@netsoc.tcd.ie. The chances are if you have never checked it there are a few emails in there.
To start Mutt type
muttin the shell. This will bring up something like
To quit press 'q'.
You are now in the index where all the messages in a folder are listed. Pressing '?'(question mark) will generally display all valid keys for a given screen. In the screenshot above you can see a full page of messages.
The arrow keys as well as page up and page down work but shouldn't be depended on.
Having selected a message pressing <Enter> or <Space> will open the message.
The bottom right corner indicates that only 45% of the message is shown.
Pressing <Space> will page froward while '-' (hyphen, dash or minus) will go back. 'j', 'k' and Tab work as above. 'q' or 'i' will go back to the index view.
You will note that some of the index view is shown - this is caused by the 'set pager_index_lines=5' in your Muttrc.
If you have a message selected as above pressing 'r' will reply to the sender. Mutt will verify the recipient and subject. You will then be dropped in an editor. Once you have finished creating your message and exited you will come to the compose screen:
Pressing 'y' will send the message. 'a' will allow you to attach files. 'e' edits the message. 'q' cancels sending the message.
If you want to reply to all recipients of a mail use 'g' instead of 'r'. It is considered bad practise to use 'g' on a mailing list - unless a CC is requested.
From the pager or index menu pressing 'm' will allow you to send a new mail.
Alternatively from the command line you could type
mutt bbrazil@netsoc.tcd.ieto send me a mail.
From the pager or index menu pressing 'f' will allow you to forward a mail. It will drop you in a n editor and allow you to make any changes necessary.
Another way(but a bit more advanced) is to use bounce ('b'). This will send an exact copy of a message to someone else.
Tired of having to remember difficult email addresses? Aliases can help. In your Muttrc:
alias brian bbrazil@netsoc.tcd.ie alias brazil bbrazil@netsoc.tcd.ie (Brian Brazil) #With full nameYou can also specify multiple addresses:
alias lads joe@netsoc.tcd.ie, mick@tcd.ie, frank@netsoc.tcd.ie
Now any time Mutt asks you for an email address you can use brian, brazil or lads.
In the index or pager view:
Note that you will be asked if you really want to delete the messages when you leave the folder or quit.
For this you use IMAPS. If you run
mutt -f imaps://brazilb@mail.tcd.ie #Change as appropriateyou can read your Trinity E-mail address. Remember though that all you mail remains on tcd.ie servers.
If you would like to transfer all tcd.ie mail to your Matrix account use fetchmail(1).
If you have followed the Procmail Guide and have multiple mailboxes life can be a bit easier for you. Put the following in your Muttrc:
mailboxes imaps://brazilb@mail.tcd.ie set imap_pass="my password" #Can be used without procmail. Also: See warning below
Be very careful about putting your password in files. If you are sure you want to do this make sure your Muttrc is not world-readable or everyone will be able to see your password.
Mutt has very good features for handling mailing lists. To enable them you must specify all the lists you are on. In you muttrc:
subscribe ilug@linux.ie #I'm on this list #Can have more than one on a line subscribe social@linux.ie southeast@linux.ie #I know these lists exist but I'm not on them list @lists.debian.org tech@netsoc.tcd.ie
Now all mailing lists will be marked by an 'L' which can be seen in the first screenshot.
Now if you want to reply to a list press 'L'. This will avoid sending copies to previous senders which is considered bad form. If a CC is requested use 'g' instead.
If you get a lot of mail from mailing lists you might want to look at my Procmail on Matrix guide.