Creating a Mailbox

Creating a Mail Folder
Creating a Mailbox Within a Folder

To create a new mailbox, select New... from the Mailbox menu. The New Mailbox Dialog is displayed.

Type in the new mailbox name and click OK. The mailbox is created and added to the Mailbox and Transfer menus.

You can also create mailboxes using the Mailboxes window under the Windows menu (see the "Mailboxes Window" section). The Mailboxes window is most useful if you want to create several mailboxes at one time.

Creating a Mail Folder

Eudora allows you to create mail folders in which you may keep one or more mailboxes and even other subfolders that hold additional mailboxes. In other words, not only can mailboxes be organized into folders, but folders can be contained one within another.

To create a new mail folder, select New... from the Mailbox menu. The New Mailbox Dialog is displayed. Type the name of the new mail folder and check the Make it a Folder option. Click OK to create the folder.

The new folder name is displayed at the bottom of the list of mailbox names under the Mailbox and Transfer menus. There is an arrow next to the name designating it as a folder and not as a mailbox. You cannot transfer messages into this folder, however, since messages must be in mailboxes and you have not yet created a mailbox within the folder. Therefore, the New Mailbox Dialog is displayed again. Now, type the name of the mailbox you want to create within the newly-created folder and click OK.

Creating a Mailbox Within a Folder

To create a new mailbox within a particular folder, select that folder from under the Mailbox menu and choose New... from the submenu that is displayed.

The New Mailbox Dialog is displayed. Type in the new mailbox name and click OK. The mailbox is created and added to the Mailbox and Transfer menus. You can also create subfolders in the same manner. Just check the Make it a Folder option.

Opening a Mailbox

To open a mailbox, select the desired mailbox from the list of mailboxes under the Mailbox menu. The mailbox window is then displayed.

To open a "nested" mailbox (one that is contained within a mail folder), select the outermost folder from the Mailbox menu (folders are designated by an arrow next to their names). This displays the submenu of mailboxes and/or folders within the outer folder. Select the desired mailbox (or continue selecting subfolders until the mailbox can be selected).

If any messages are stored in the mailbox, they are listed as individual message summaries. Each message summary is divided into eight columns: Status (S), Priority (P), Attachment (A), Label, Sender (Who), Date, Size (K), and Subject. See the "Anatomy of a Mailbox Window" section for descriptions of these columns.

Anatomy of a Mailbox Window

Mailbox windows consist of a title bar and list of message summaries.

Title Bar
The title bar provides the mailbox name.

Message Summaries
Each line in a mailbox window represents one message and is called a message summary. To select a message summary, single-click on it. There are several ways to select more than one summary. You can select a summary and drag through the ones you want to select. You can select one summary, hold down the [Shift] key, and select another summary to select both summaries and all the summaries between them. Finally, you can hold down the [Ctrl] key and select individual summaries. This allows you to make "disjoint" selections.

Message Summary Columns
Each message summary is divided into eight columns: Status (S), Priority (P), Sender/Recipient (Who), Date, Size (K), and Subject.

The Status column displays the message status, which is one of the following:

Bullet (· )
The message has not been read (all mailboxes except Out), or is queueable but has not been queued (Out mailbox only).

<blank>
The message has been read (all mailboxes except Out), or is not yet able to be queued because it has no recipients (Out mailbox only).

R
Reply has been chosen for the message.

F
Forward has been chosen for the message.

D
Redirect has been chosen for the message.

S
The message has been sent (outgoing messages only).

-
The message was transferred from the Out mailbox before being sent.

The Priority column displays the message priority, which is one of the following:

Highest priority
High priority
Normal priority
Low priority
Lowest priority

For more information on message priorities, see the "Message Priorities" section.

The Sender/Recipient column shows the sender of the message (for incoming messages) or the recipient or intended recipient (for outgoing messages).

Note: Bugs in some POP servers/mail transport systems cause Eudora to display the sender of incoming messages as ???@???. This is because the required From: header is missing.

The Date column displays the date and time the message was sent, or, for timed messages, the date and time the message is scheduled to be sent.

The Size column displays the size of the message in K (K = 1024 bytes).

The Subject column displays the subject of the message. The sender originally typed this information into the message header, but it can be modified by you (see the "Editing Message Subjects" section).

Incoming Message Window

To open a message, double-click on its message summary, or, if the message summary is current (highlighted), press the [Enter] key. The incoming message window is then displayed. It consists of the title bar, the icon bar, and the message body.

Title Bar
The title bar provides information about the message, including the name of the sender, the time and date the message was delivered, and the message subject.

Icon Bar
The icon bar is displayed just under the title bar and includes the priority popup and the Subject field.

Priority Popup
For most messages, this is just an empty box (normal priority). If you want to indicate that this message is of higher or lower priority than a normal message, use this popup. Priorities are discussed in the "Message Priorities" section.

Subject:
This is the message subject that was assigned by the sender. It can be edited directly on the icon bar (see the "Editing Message Subjects" section).

Message Body
The message body contains the message header and text information, as well as descriptions of any attachments.

Deleting a Message

As a safeguard against inadvertent deletions, two steps are required to delete a message in Eudora. For any current message, choose Delete from the Message menu. This does not actually delete the message, but transfers it to the Trash mailbox. To delete messages from the Trash mailbox, select Empty Trash from the Special menu. Quitting the program also empties the contents of the Trash mailbox when the Empty Trash when exiting option in the Settings dialog (Miscellaneous) is turned on. Finally, if you want to delete just a few messages from the Trash mailbox, highlight them and select Delete from the Message menu or hit the Trash Button on the toolbar. Deleting a message that's already in the Trash removes it from Eudora completely.

Also, if the Require confirmation for deletes option in the Settings dialog (Miscellaneous) is turned on, any attempt to delete a message that you have never opened (or a Queued message that hasn't been sent) results in Eudora asking for confirmation before proceeding with the deletion.

Compacting Mailboxes: Recovering Storage Space

Even after a message has been deleted with the two-step process described above, the storage space which that message originally required is still taken. Normally, Eudora recovers this space automatically when it becomes troublesome. However, if disk space is very tight, you can force this to happen earlier than usual. In order to reclaim the wasted storage space in all mailboxes, select the Compact Mailboxes from the Special menu.

Mailboxes can also be compacted individually using the Mailbox Size button in the the lower left corner of the mailbox window. To force Eudora to recover wasted space for a current mailbox, click on this button.

Note: Eudora compacts mailboxes automatically when you close them under either of two conditions. Mailboxes are compacted if the amount of wasted space in the mailbox is greater than the amount of space the messages in the mailbox use, or if the amount of space wasted in the mailbox is greater than 5% of the free space on the drive that contains it.

Transferring a Message to a Different Mailbox

Messages may be transferred between any two mailboxes. For any current message, select the mailbox to which the message should be transferred from the Transfer menu. The message is transferred from its previous location to the selected mailbox.

If you hold down the [Shift] key while transferring a message, the message is copied into the new mailbox instead of transferred. This is useful if you want to file a message in more than one mailbox.

Creating a Mailbox During Transfer

To create a mailbox and transfer the current message into it at the same time, select New... from the Transfer menu instead of the name of a mailbox. The New Mailbox Dialog is displayed.

Type in the new mailbox name and click OK. The mailbox is created and added to the Mailbox and Transfer menus. The current message is also transferred into the new mailbox. However, if you check the Don't transfer, just create mailbox option, the mailbox is created but the message isn't transferred into it.

You can also create mailboxes using the Mailboxes dialog under the Window menu (see the "Mailboxes Window" section) or using the Mailbox menu (see the "Creating a New Mailbox" section). The Mailboxes window is most useful if you want to create several mailboxes at one time.

Creating a Mailbox Folder During Transfer

Eudora allows you to create mail folders in which you may keep one or more mailboxes and even other subfolders that hold additional mailboxes. In other words, not only can mailboxes be organized into folders, but folders can be contained one within another.

To create a new mail folder during message transfer, select New... from the Transfer menu instead of the name of a mailbox. The new mailbox dialog is displayed. Type the name of the new mail folder and check the Make it a Folder option. Click OK to create the folder.

Your message can't be transferred, however, since messages must be in mailboxes and you have not yet created a mailbox. Therefore, the new mailbox dialog is displayed again. Now, type the name of the mailbox you want to create within the newly-created folder and click OK to complete the transfer.

The new folder name is displayed at the bottom of the list of mailbox names under the Mailbox and Transfer menus. There is an arrow next to the name designating it as a folder and not as a mailbox.

Mailboxes Window

Finding the Mailbox or Folder
Removing a Mailbox or Folder
Renaming a Mailbox or Folder
Creating a New Mailbox or Folder
Moving a Mailbox from one Folder to Another

Mailboxes and mail folders provide a structured way for Eudora users to organize received messages. The Mailboxes window allows you to create new mailboxes and folders and to remove and rename them. You may also want to move mailboxes and folders from one folder to another one.

To accomplish any of these tasks, choose Mailboxes from the Window menu. The Mailboxes window is displayed.

The window has two identical listings with scroll bars. These list the names of the mailboxes and folders you have created (folders are identified by a folder icon to the left of the folder name). This list is similar to that displayed under the Mailbox and Transfer menus, except that the In, Out, and Trash mailboxes aren't included. Underneath each of the lists are buttons labeled Rename, New, and Remove. Between the lists are two additional buttons labeled Move, each pointing from one list to the other.

Double-clicking on any of the mailboxes in a list opens that mailbox window on the screen. Individual messages can be selected, opened, and otherwise manipulated from there.

Finding the Mailbox or Folder

If the Mailbox window isn't big enough to display all of your created mailboxes and folders, use the scroll bar on the right side of either list to view the rest of the mailboxes and folders.

Double-clicking on a folder (denoted with an icon of a folder to the left of its name) changes the current title of the list from Eudora to that of the chosen folder. The contents of the list also change to the names of mailboxes and subfolders contained in the chosen folder.

To move back out of the subfolder to the folder that contains it, select the folder from the list title popup.

Removing a Mailbox or Folder

With the Mailboxes window open, use the scroll bar and selection tool to locate the name of the mailbox or folder that you want to remove.

Note: You can perform this function using either of the two lists in the Mailboxes window. It is not necessary to locate a mailbox or folder in both lists before deleting it.

Once the desired mailbox/folder is found, click on it once to select it. Then, click on the Remove button that is located below the list.

If the mailbox has any messages in it, a dialog is displayed asking you to confirm the mailbox removal. Click on the Remove It button to remove the mailbox.

If you press the [Ctrl] key while selecting from a list of mailboxes/folders, you can select more than one mailbox or folder simultaneously. When you click on the Remove button, the mailbox removal dialog is displayed to verify the removal. The dialog contains the name of the first mailbox you have selected. If you click on Remove it, Eudora removes that mailbox, and then displays another dialog for the next mailbox. If you click on Remove all, all of the selected items are removed without any further prompts.

Note: If you remove a mailbox in which messages are stored, or a folder in which other mailboxes or folders are stored, all messages/mailboxes/folders contained within the selected mailbox are also removed.

Renaming a Mailbox or Folder

With the Mailboxes window open, use the scroll bar and mouse pointer to locate the name of the mailbox/folder that you want to rename.

Note: You can perform this function using either of the two lists in the Mailboxes window. It is not necessary to locate a mailbox or folder in both lists before renaming it.

Once the desired mailbox/folder is found, click on it once to select it. Then, click on the Rename button that is located below the list.

A dialog is then displayed requesting the new name. Type in the new name and click on Rename to rename the mailbox/folder.

Creating a New Mailbox or Folder

New mailboxes and folders can be created using the Transfer menu, as described in the "Creating a Mailbox During Transfer" section, or they can be created using the Mailboxes window.

With the Mailboxes window open, double-click on the folder in which the new mailbox/folder is to be created to open it. Its name is displayed above the list, and its contents are displayed therein.

Note: You can perform this function using either of the two lists in the Mailboxes window. It is not necessary to locate a folder in both lists before creating a new mailbox or folder inside it.

Click on the New button that is located below the list. A dialog is displayed requesting the name of the new mailbox.

Type in the new name, check the Make it a Folder option if you want to do so, and click OK. The new mailbox/folder is displayed in the designated folder's listing. The newly created mailbox/folder is also added to the Mailbox and Transfer menus.

Moving a Mailbox from one Folder to Another

The Mailboxes window provides the only means for moving mailboxes to other folder locations. This is why there are two lists in the window.

To begin, locate in one of the lists the mailbox you want to move. In the other list, find and open (by double-clicking on the name) the destination folder so that its name is displayed above the list and its contents are displayed. Then, select the mailbox you want to move. Click on the Move button that points from the list containing the item you want to move to the list displaying the destination folder. The chosen mailbox is moved to its new location.