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After you initially set up your mail, if you need to change any account settings for an existing account, you can go to Tools | Account Settings. To change settings for an account, you need to select that account. Within each account, a number of settings can be adjusted. The screenshots shown next pertain to a POP account, but the screens for an IMAP account are almost identical, with only a few slight variations. I will note the variations in the relevant sections. Mail Account SettingsFigure 10-11 shows the Main Account Settings screen, which is the area where you manage the creation and removal of your accounts. This screen also allows you to name your email account as well as configure your default identity, which is the information that people see when they read the messages you have sent. Figure 10-11. Main Mail screen with a default identity.Adding and Removing Accounts, Default AccountClick Add Account if you want to create a new email, RSS, or news account. Click Remove Account to remove any of your existing accounts. You will receive a confirmation dialog box asking if you are sure you want to do this.
Main Account SettingsDefault IdentityIn this section, you can make adjustments to your default identity:
Server SettingsThe Server Settings (see Figure 10-12) include the following: Figure 10-12. The Server Settings.
Probably the most important settings here are how often you want to check messages, whether you want Thunderbird to check mail on startup, and how you want to deal with trash. Note If you are using IMAP, you will not see the following three selections on the Server Settings screen because they are relevant for POP only:
Clicking the Advanced button leads you to a place where you manage the SMTP and IMAP parameters. Finally, this screen also lets you change the location of your local mail folders. If you click the Browse button, you can modify the local directory where your mail is stored.
Copies and FoldersIn Copies & Folders (see Figure 10-13), you can manage a number of preferences, including where you want copies of your "Sent" mail to be placed. You can also identify where you want copies of your draft messages and templates to be housed. Figure 10-13. The Copies & Folders screen.Composition and AddressingThe Composition & Addressing section (see Figure 10-14) allows you to set preferences as to how you want your emails to be composed and where you want your text to start when you are replying to a message, (my one pet peeveI always forget where this preference is, and I prefer to have my text appear above instead of below, which is the default). If you are using LDAP, there is also an option to select where you want Thunderbird to look for addresses. Figure 10-14. The Composition & Addressing screen of Account Settings.
Offline and Disk SpaceIf you need to use Thunderbird in offline mode, you can manage your offline settings in the Disk Space area (see Figure 10-15). You can also set how large messages should be before they are downloaded for offline use. Figure 10-15. The Disk Space area of Account Settings.Note If you are using IMAP, you see additional offline setting choices that don't pertain to POP under this category. Return ReceiptsIf you like to know that people have actually read the email you have sent, you can manage all your return receipt options on the Return Receipt screen shown in figure 10-16. Figure 10-16. The Return Receipts area of Account Settings.SecurityFigure 10-17 shows where you can manage your certificates as well as identify what kinds of encryption you want to use. There is also a certificate and security device manager. See Appendix F, "Security, Certificates, and Validation," to learn more about how to use certificates in Thunderbird. Figure 10-17. The Security area of Account Settings.
RSS Account SettingsIf you have an RSS Account, you can change the name and also specify how often you want to check for new articles. There is also a button for subscription management. By default, Thunderbird displays the entire web page. If you find you just want to see the article summary instead, make sure to check the preference in this area. Newsgroup Account SettingsYour newsgroup account has many of the same options as your mail account:
Reference the "Mail Account Settings" section to understand how to use these settings. |
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