When we open our mail, we can choose to show our mail in different ways. For example we might select to show the preview pane or we might also want to show only unread memos. In this section we will explore these different options.
We can preview mail using the preview pane, which saves us from having to open and close each message. Previewing allows us to see the document's contents without having to open the actual document.
To access the preview pane options, click the Show button at the top of the inbox. From here we can preview mail on the bottom or from the side. To turn off the preview pane, select the Hide Preview option.
Tip
I enable the preference Mark documents as read when opened in the preview pane, which is available in Preferences on the Basics Notes Client Configuration tab in the Additional Options area—it is the first choice in the list. As the preference name implies, when I click on an e-mail to preview it, the e-mail is marked as being read. I have selected this option as I predominately preview e-mails, so it assists me in keeping track of what I have read.
The preview pane is a separate frame that opens in the view or folder we are in, exposing a part of the document that is selected.
To resize the preview pane, select the bar that separates the two panes and drag to our preferred size.
We can view a message grouped with all of its replies so that we can read the message and replies at the same time. A message grouped with all of its replies is called a conversation and conversations save us the trouble of looking through our mail to find individual replies.
We can also act on all of the messages in a conversation at one time. For example, we could move all of the messages in a conversation to a folder by simply moving the conversation to the folder.
The following is an example of a conversation. In this conversation, there are two messages. The first message listed is the original, it is from Joanne, and the subject is request for information. Currently it is located in the inbox.
The second e-mail is the reply to Joanne from Karen Hooper that reads: Thank you. Hope you enjoyed. This was written in the body of the memo. This is because in conversations all replies listed show the first line of the reply, not the subject. This message is in the Sent folder.
To view conversations, switch from Individual Messages (in which messages and replies are displayed and sorted individually) to Conversations (in which messages and their replies are grouped together). These options are available under the Show button—the same place you selected the preview options.
We can switch to conversations mode in our inbox, All Documents and our personal folders.
Once in conversations mode, the most recent reply in a conversation is displayed, and any other replies and the original message are collapsed below the most recent reply.
Following is an example of a conversation that has not been expanded; we can see that there are two messages in this conversation. We would click on the arrow head icon, which is called a Twistie, to expand or open the conversation:
When we expand the conversation, each message displays on one line. The original message displays its subject and each reply displays the first line of text in the body of the memo. When we expand the conversation the rest of our inbox is grayed out, to close the conversation click in an area in the inbox. The conversation will collapse and the inbox will no longer be grayed out.
We can stay in Conversation mode if we wish to. When a new message is received that belongs to a particular conversation, that message appears at the top or bottom of the inbox (depending on how we choose to show new messages). The message shows as being unread and the number of messages in the conversation is increased; we can also see who sent the reply, including the date and time.
Note
Note: Conversations can be viewed and sorted only by Date. Sorting by another column such as Sender automatically switches the view or folder back to individual mode.
The following table explains different actions one can perform with conversation.
|
Task |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Act on all messages in a collapsed conversation |
Click the conversation to select it and then perform the action. For example, to delete all messages in a conversation, click the conversation and then right-click the conversation and select Delete. |
|
Act on all messages in an expanded conversation |
If all of the conversation's messages are not selected, click the conversation header to select all of the messages and then perform the action. |
|
Act on one message in a conversation |
If necessary, expand the conversation. Then click the message to select it, and perform the action. For example, to delete a message in a conversation, click the message to select it, then right-click the message and select Delete. |
When we delete a conversation, we will be prompted as shown in the following screenshot, confirming that the individual is aware of his/her actions of deleting all messages within that conversation.
To turn off Conversation mode, simply go to the Show button and select Individual Messages. Or alternatively, when we are in Conversations mode, we will see at the top of the inbox, an information bar that tells us that we are seeing messages in conversation mode. To return to the original format of the inbox, click the Clear button; this will take us back to Individual messages.
Often it is useful if we can show only our unread e-mails. To do this in Lotus Notes, we can go to the Show button and select Unread Only.
To return to showing both read and unread, go to the Show button and select Unread Only, or alternatively when you are viewing Unread Only you will see at the top of the inbox an information bar that tells you that you are seeing messages in unread messages. There is a Clear button that will also take you back to read and unread messages.
Once you have read a message you can mark it as being unread or select several messages and mark them as unread.
