User:Kirk202/User Guide - Communications

User Guide - Communications

Fedora can be used to send electronic mail and communicate in real time with people around the world. In GNOME, Evolution is used to send electronic mail (email), and Pidgin (previously Gaim) is used to send instant messages (IMs) by default.

Evolution can also be used as a personal information manager, or PIM. You can maintain a calendar, manage a list of tasks, and keep an address book of contacts, among other things, using Evolution.

Pidgin is an instant messaging client that can access Gmail, MSN, AOL, Yahoo!, Jabber, and other IM and chat networks.

In KDE, Kmail is used to send email and Kopete is used to send instant messages. While Kmail does not include calendaring functionality, a calendar application called KOrganizer is included in KDE as part of the KDE PIM suite. There is also an application called Kontact which groups KMail, Korganizer and other KDE PIM tools into a single interface (comparable with GNOME's Evolution).

Fedora does not register accounts
Pidgin requires an existing account on some of the IM networks, created via the normal account creation process. For example, Pidgin cannot be used to create a Yahoo Instant Messenger account. Instead, visit http://messenger.yahoo.com to set up the account, then access it using Pidgin. This is true for most types of instant messaging, although some protocols - like Bonjour, IRC, or SILC - do not require accounts at all, and Fedora can setup accounts for some types of IM networks.

Evolution

File:Docs DesktopUserGuide Tour redhat-email.png Evolution is a full featured email program. In addition to email it is a personal information manager(PIM), has a calendar, task manager and an address book for your contacts. More documentation for Evolution is available at: http://www.gnome.org/projects/evolution/documentation.shtml

Configuring Evolution

To configure an e-mail account:

• Start Evolution in GNOME, using the Applications > Internet > Email menu entry, or use the application launcher icon from the menu panel:
• Start Evolution in KDE, using KMenu > Applications > Internet > Email menu entry:
• Running the software for the first time displays the Evolution Setup Assistant wizard. Answer these questions using information provided by the ISP or e-mail provider.
• The Identity screen relates to personal information about the account, including Name, Organisation and Address. There is also a Reply-To field, which will allow you to specify that recipients of mail from this account reply to a different address.
• The Receiving Email and Sending Email screens both require information from the e-mail provider.
• To add a new account in the future, or to modify an existing account, launch the preferences dialog from the Edit > Preferences menu entry. In the dialog that appears, press the [Add] button to launch the Evolution Account Assistant again.

Using Evolution

Evolution allows you to create, store and send email by clicking the appropriate buttons located on the menu.

Button	How the button functions
Send/Receive	This will allow Evolution to send and receive all email.
New	Open a new email message dialog box.
Reply	Reply to the person who has sent you an email.
Reply to All	Replace to everyone who was included in the email that you have received.
Forward	Forward the email message to another person.
Print	Print the email.
Delete	Delete the email.
Junk	Mark the email as junk.
Cancel	Cancel whatever you are doing.
Previous	Move to the previous email in your folder.
Next	Move to the next email in your folder.

Kmail

File:Docs Drafts DesktopUserGuide Communications kmail.png Kmail is the standard email client used in KDE it is installed by default from the live-cd and is also included in the DVD. Loading Kmail in KDE is done by clicking on Kmenu > Applications > Internet > Mail Client menu entry or alternatively Applications > Internet > Kmail in GNOME. Image:Docs_Drafts_DesktopUserGuide_Communications_kmail.png This is the default icon associated with Kmail.

Configuring Kmail

• Running the software for the first time displays the main Kmail page with links to appropriate help locations.
• To configure your account you will need your email information from your internet service provider or your e-mail provider.
• Setting up your account requires you to open the Configure Kmail dialog box from the Settings > Configure Kmail menu entry.
• Selecting Accounts and pressing the [Add] button will launch a dialog that will ask you for the type of account you wish to configure.
• After selecting the appropriate account type you will be greeted with a dialog that shows the different settings available for your account. Add your personal email configuration information to Account Name, Login, Password, Host. The other default settings could be left alone.

To add a new account in the future, or to modify an existing account, launch the configure Kmail from the Settings > Configure Kmail menu entry. In the dialog that appears, select Accounts press the [Add] button to launch the Kmail Account Assistant again.

Using Kmail

Kmail allows you to create, store and send email by clicking the appropriate buttons located on the menu.

Button	How the button functions
New Message	Open a new email message dialog box.
Save as	Save the email.
Print	Print the email.
Check Mail in	Sends the email.
Reply	Replace to the email.
Forward	Forward the email message to another person.
Previous	Move to the previous unread email in your folder.
Next	Move to the next unread email in your folder.
Trash	Delete the email.
Find Message	Search for a specific email.
Create Task	Creates a new task in KOrganizer.

Additional Options
Kmail has additional options with the green arrow pointing down. While not covered specifically in this topic clicking the button and holding it down for a few seconds will show additional options.

Pidgin

Pigdin is an Internet Messager (IM) included in Fedora. For further information please refer to: http://www.pidgin.im

Configuring Pidgin

To start and configure Pidgin, select Applications > Internet > Internet Messenger from

File:Docs Drafts DesktopUserGuide Communications Gaim accounts 2.png

The Add Account dialog in Pidgin.

the menu panel in GNOME or KMenu > Applications > Internet > Pidgin in KDE.

Starting Pidgin for the first time goes directly into the Accounts dialog. To configure a new account follow these steps:

• Click on the [Add] button to bring up the Add Account dialog.
• In the Add Account window, under Login Options, click on the right side of the Protocol dropdown menu to show the available protocols and select the network appropriate for the account being created.
• Enter details for the selected account, including Screen name, Password, and Alias. Select Remember password if desired. Click on the [Save] button to add the account to the account list.
• Once the account is added, the Accounts window displays the new account.
• New accounts can be added in the future by navigating to the Accounts > Add/Edit menu entry in the main Pidgin window.

Using Pidgin

Select one of the enabled accounts to see the Buddy List window. These Menus allow you to add additional IM contacts.

All 16 supported protocols are available at the same time within Pidgin. If you have setup several accounts in Pidgin, such as Yahoo, Google Talk, and AIM accounts, then all of your contacts for each of these accounts will be available to chat with at the same time, in the same contact list.

For more information see: http://developer.pidgin.im/wiki/Using%20Pidgin

Not all features supported
Pidgin does not support features of all included protocols. Pidgin is useful for chatting via text across 16 different IM protocols, but not all the features in each IM system are supported. For example, video is not supported at this time.

Kopete

Kopete is the Internet Messenger that is installed in KDE by default.

In KDE Kopete can be found in Kmenu > Applications > Internet > Instant Messenger

In GNOME Kopete can be found in Applications > Internet > Kopete This is the default icon associated with Kopete.

Configuring Kopete

For further documentation on Kopete, refer to: http://kopete.kde.org/

To start and configure Kopete, select Applications > Internet > Kopete from the menu panel in GNOME or KMenu > Applications > Internet > Kopete in KDE. Starting Kopete for the first time takes you directly to the creating accounts dialog. To configure a new account:

• Click the selected messaging service you desire.
• In the Account Information window, enter your details that you are using to connect to the services.
• Make sure to fill out the details on the other tabs.
• Once the account is added, click [Next] and choose the option to connect to the service and then click [Finish].
• New accounts can be added in the future by navigating to the Settings > Configure > menu entry in the main Kopete window then clicking the [Accounts] button after it has loaded.

Kopete comes with a wide range of messaging services such as:

• AIM
• GroupWise
• ICQ
• IRC
• Jabber
• Meanwhile
• MSN Messenger
• Testbed
• WinPopup
• Yahoo

Accounts for these services can be added to Kopete using the steps above.

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