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# The First Time you Start Ximian Evolution

To start Ximian Evolution, do either of the following:

- Select Programs->Evolution from your menu panel.

- Type evolution at the command line.

The first time you run the program, it will create a directory called `evolution` in your home directory, where it will store all of its local data. Then, it will open a first-run assistant to help you set up mail accounts and import data from other applications.

Using the first-run assistant will take approximately two to five minutes.

## Defining Your Identity

The Identity window is the first of four steps in the assistant. The identity step will ask you to enter your basic personal information. You can define multiple identities later on with the Tools->Mail Settings tool.

- Full Name: Your full name (Example: John Doe).

- Email Address: Your email address (Example: john@doe.com)

- Organization: The company where you work (optional).

- Signature file: If you'd like to use an email signature, select your signature file here. Normally, the signature will be the contents of the `.signature` file in your home directory.

## Recieving Email

The Recieving Email step lets you configure receving email people have sent you.

- Server Type: There are numerous types of servers from which Ximian Evolution can fetch your mail. Ask your system administrator if you're not sure which of the following are available to you:

  - POP: Downloads your email to your hard disk for permanent storage.

  - IMAP: Keeps the email on your server so you can access your email from multiple systems.

  - Unix mail spool file: If you run a mail server on your desktop computer, choose this option.

  - Standard Unix .mbox file: If you want Ximian Evolution to read mail from a specific file, or if you download mail with another application, choose this option.

  - Qmail maildir format files: If you download your mail using qmail, you'll want to use this.

  - None: Select this if you do not plan to check mail with this account.

  > What's an IMAP Namespace?: For IMAP mail servers, your sysadmin may provide you with a specific namespace, the path on the IMAP server where you check for mail. If you check your IMAP mail and your folder list includes files that don't look like mail folders, you probably need to change your mail namespace. Typical values are "mail" and "Mail." If you prefer, you can choose to subscribe to individual mail folders one at a time. For more information about how to use IMAP mail, see the section called Subscription Management in Chapter 3.

- Email Server: This is the address of the server you're downloading from.

- Username: The username that you login to your email. That is often the part before the @ in your email.

  Authentication Type: Chances are you are using Password. Ask your administrator for more details. You can have Ximian Evolution make sure you've chosen correctly by clicking Check for supported types.

  Remember Password: If you prefer to not enter your password every time you check email, press this button.

> Can Ximian Evolution Talk to Exchange?: Ximian Evolution can work with the Microsoft Exchange server over standard protocols such as POP or IMAP. Check with your system administrator to see if you can get POP or IMAP access to your email server.

## Sending Email

The Sending Email step lets you configure sending email.

- Server Type: There are numerous server types that Ximian Evolution supports for sending your mail.

  - SMTP: Downloads mail into your mailbox file.

  - Sendmail: Uses another program to download your mail to your mailbox files.

- Host: If you chose SMTP, enter the server's name or IP address here.

- Server requires authentication: If your server requires you to enter a password to send mail, check this box.

- Authentication Type: Chances are you are using Password. If you're not sure, ask your system administrator or ISP, or have Ximian Evolution check for you by clicking Check for supported types.

- Username: The account name you use when you login to check your email. Normally, this is the part of your email address before the '@' character.

- Remember Password: If you prefer to not enter your password every time you check email, press this button.

## Importing Mail (Optional)

If Ximian Evolution finds mail or address files from another application, it will offer to import them. If you're not sure which file format your mail program uses, ask your system administrator. If you want, you can skip this step and return to it at a later time by selecting File->Import.

Ximian Evolution can import the following types of files:

VCard (.vcf, gcrd):

  The addressbook format used by the GNOME, KDE, and many other contact management applications. You should be able to export to VCard format from any address book application.

Microsoft Outlook Express 4 (.mbx):

  Email file format used by Microsoft Outlook Express 4. For other versions of Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express, see the workaround described in the note below.

MBox (mbox):

  The email box format used by Mozilla, Netscape, Ximian Evolution, Eudora, and many other email clients.

> Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express Users: Microsoft Outlook, and versions of Outlook Express after version 4, use proprietary formats that Ximian Evolution cannot read or import. For contacts, you may have to email them to yourself and import them that way. For email, there is a simpler workaround:

> 1. While using Windows, import the files into Mozilla Mail (or another mailer, such as Netscape or Eudora, that uses the standard mbox format).

> 2. Copy the files to the system or partition you use for Ximian Evolution.

> 3. Use the Ximian Evolution import tool to import the files. There's more information about why this works, and how, at the Ximian support website.

> Netscape Users: Before importing mail from Netscape, make sure you select File->Compact All Folders. If you don't, Ximian Evolution will import and undelete the messages in your Trash folders.

> Exporting Files From Ximian Evolution: Ximian Evolution uses standard file types for all its information, so you should have no trouble taking your information elsewhere if you want.

> For mail, that's `mbox`, for calendar, `iCal`, and for the address book, vCards in a `.db3` database.

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