<page xmlns="http://projectmallard.org/1.0/" xmlns:its="http://www.w3.org/2005/11/its"
      type="topic" id="mail-sorting-message-list">

  <info>
    <desc>Sorting the message list of a mail folder.</desc>

    <link type="guide" xref="mail-organizing"/>


    <revision pkgversion="2.32.1" version="0.2" date="2011-07-31" status="review"/>
    <credit type="author">
      <name>Andre Klapper</name>
      <email>ak-47@gmx.net</email>
    </credit>
    <credit type="author">
      <name>April Gonzales</name>
      <email>loonycookie@gmail.com</email>
    </credit>
 <credit type="author">
   <name>Novell, Inc</name> <!-- Content partially from http://library.gnome.org/users/evolution/2.32/usage-mail-organize-columns.html.en -->
 </credit>
    <license>
      <p>Creative Commons Share Alike 3.0</p>
    </license>    
    
  </info>

  <title>Sorting the message list</title>
  
<p>Evolution lets you organize your emails by letting you sort messages.</p>
<note><p>To view the complete headers for a message, click <guiseq><gui>View</gui><gui>All Message Headers</gui></guiseq>. This will display the complete header data on the viewing pane.</p> 
<p>To view the message data, click on <guiseq><gui>View</gui><gui>Message Source</gui></guiseq> or press <keyseq><key>Ctrl</key><key>U</key></keyseq>. This will display the message data in a pop-up window.</p></note>

<section id="email-threads">
<title>Sorting Mail in Email Threads</title>
<p>You can use a threaded message view to sort emails. To enable this feature, click on <guiseq><gui>View</gui><gui>Group By Threads</gui></guiseq> or press <keyseq><key>Ctrl</key><key>T</key></keyseq>.</p>
<p>This feature, when enabled, groups replies with the original email and allows you to follow the flow of the conversation from one message to the next.</p>
<p>When a new message arrives, it will be added below the parent message. Threads are sorted and displayed based on the date of the most recent message received.</p>
<note style="tip"><p>For Advanced Users: There is a GConf key that allows you to toggle between the collapsed and expanded state of the email threads. The collapsed state is enabled by default and may be modified at /apps/evolution/mail/display/thread_expand.</p>
</note>
</section>

<section id="column-headers">
<title>Sorting Mail with Column Headers</title>
<p>The message list displays columns that indicate whether a message has been read, whether it has attachments, how important the message is, the sender, date, and the subject. To change the columns used in the message list, you can do one of the following:</p>
<list>
<item><p>Drag and drop the column header bars</p></item>
<item><p>Right-click on the header.</p></item>
<item><p>Select the <gui>Remove This Column</gui> or <gui>Add a Column</gui> option.</p></item>
</list>

<p>Evolution allows you to sort your messages using these columns. Just click on the column label to sort the emails. The direction of the arrow next to the label indicates the direction of the sort.</p>
</section>

<section id="sort-options">
<title>Using Other Sorting Options</title>
<p>Evolution provides other ways for sorting email messages. You can use Sort By, Sort Ascending, Sort Descending, or Unsort.</p>
	<section id="sort-options-by">
	<title>Sort By</title>
		<p>You can also sort email messages using the <gui>Sort By</gui> list.</p>
		<steps>
		<item><p>Right-click on the message list column headers.</p></item>
		<item><p>Select the <gui>Sort By</gui> option.</p><p>This brings up this list of criteria for sorting email messages:</p>
			<list>
			<item><p>Subject - Trimmed</p></item>
			<item><p>Labels</p></item>
			<item><p>Recipients</p></item>
			<item><p>Sender</p></item>
			<item><p>Location</p></item>
			<item><p>Due By</p></item>
			<item><p><link xref="mail-follow-up-flag">Follow Up Flag</link></p></item>
			<item><p>Flag Status</p></item>
			<item><p>Size</p></item>
			<item><p>To</p></item>
			<item><p>Received</p></item>
			<item><p>Date</p></item>
			<item><p>Subject</p></item>
			<item><p>From</p></item>
			<item><p>Attachment</p></item>
			<item><p>Flagged</p></item>
			<item><p>Status</p></item>
			<item><p>Custom</p></item>
			</list>
		</item>
		<item><p>Select the option you wish to use in sorting email messages.</p></item>
		</steps>
	</section>

	<section id="sort-options-ascending">
	<title>Sort Ascending</title>
		<steps>
		<item><p>Right-click on the message list column headers.</p></item>
		<item><p>Select the <gui>Sort Ascending</gui> option.</p></item>
		</steps>
		<p>The messages will be displayed with the most recent at the bottom.</p>
	</section>

	<section id="sort-options-descending">
	<title>Sort Descending</title>
		<steps>
		<item><p>Right-click on the message list column headers.</p></item>
		<item><p>Select the <gui>Sort Descending</gui> option.</p></item>
		</steps>
		<p>The messages will be displayed with the most recent at the top.</p>
	</section>

	<section id="sort-options-unsort">
	<title>Unsort</title>
		<steps>
		<item><p>Right-click on the message list column headers.</p></item>
		<item><p>Select the <gui>Unsort</gui> option.</p></item>
		</steps>
		<p>This removes sorting from the column, reverting to the order of messages as they were added to the folder.</p>
	</section>
</section>

</page>


