Message List

Your Message List contains summary information about each of the messages in your current Alpine folder and provides ways for you to take actions on those messages.

To compose a new message, resume a postponed one, or go to another folder, click the appropriate option in the far left column of your page. You will also see options to change your Alpine configuration and to manage your address book.

- Reading your mail
- Navigating your list
- Scrolling through messages
- Sorting your mail
- Deleting messages
- Removing deleted messages
- Saving messages to another folder
- Setting status flags
- Searching
- Jump Command (optional)
- Differences in Pine and PC-Pine

Reading your mail

After logging into Alpine, you will see your Message List INBOX. This is the default folder for new mail. To read a message, click its subject.

Click Folder List if you want to read mail within a different folder.

Navigating your list

In the column on the left side of your Message List page, you will see four navigation options: Previous, First, Next, Last.

| to display messages in the current folder before those currently listed
| to display messages in the current folder beginning with message 1
| to display messages in the current folder after those currently listed
| to display messages in the current folder at the end of the list

With most browsers and the usual settings, you also have the option of using keyboard controls for some of your navigation. You may, however, need to first click in your Alpine window to make sure that your system knows which screen is active.

The keyboard controls are:

n | next message
p | previous message
i | return to message index
c | compose new message
l | list folder
d | flag message as deleted
u | unflag message as deleted
a | go to address book
r | reply to current message
f | forward current message

Scrolling through messages

You have the option of scrolling, rather than paging using Next and Previous, through most of your messages in your Message List. Go to Configure on the left side of your Message List page, click the Message List tab and enter a higher number in the Message Lines Displayed field. Bear in mind that the higher number you choose, the longer it may take Alpine to open your folders.

Sorting your mail

To sort your mail, the List Headers Bar must first be displayed. Display the bar by clicking the icon near the top of the screen.

Using the Sort options, you can arrange your mail by Date, From, To, Size, Subject, Ordered Subject, and Thread. Click:

- Date to sort by the date your messages were sent.
- From to sort alphabetically by the email address of the sender of the message.
- To to sort alphabetically according to the "To:" line.
- Size to sort by the number of characters in the message.
- Subject to sort alphabetically according to the "Subject:" line.
- Ordered Subject to group messages with the same "Subject:" line and put them into date order.
- Thread to present messages as a continuous chain grouped by "Subject:" line. This sort is particularly helpful when viewing newsgroups.

Once you have sorted your mail, the name of that sort (i.e. the column heading) will be highlighted and an arrow will appear next to the name. To reverse the sort order, click the arrow. By default, your Message List is set to sort your mail by arrival time.

Deleting messages

- Click the checkboxes next to the appropriate messages
- Click . All messages with a mark in the checkbox will be flagged for deletion. (If you notice that some messages are mistakenly flagged for deletion, click their associated checkboxes and click )
- Click to permanently remove from your folder all the messages that have been flagged for deletion

If you want to delete several messages at once that share a similar attribute, you might want to first perform a search. See the Searching text for more information.

Note: if marking a message for deletion fails to work it may be because you recently used your browser's "Back" button. To avoid this, be sure to Alpine links and navigation options.

Removing deleted messages

Flagging messages for deletion is only half the process of actually removing the messages from the folder altogether. Click to permanently remove messages flagged for deletion. Because removed messages cannot be restored, you will be prompted to confirm your desire. At the prompting click:

to permanently remove the messages you have flagged for deletion. You will not be able to retrieve your messages once you have expunged them.

to return to your list of messages. The messages you previously flagged for deletion will remain in your folder, still flagged for deletion.

Saving messages to another folder

To save messages from your Message List, the Message Command Bar must first be displayed. Display the bar by clicking the icon near the top of the screen. Then, click the checkboxes next to the messages you want to save to another folder (or click just one checkbox if you are only saving that one message).

Save the chosen messages by choosing from the options in the dropdown menu next to the button. Among the Save options, you'll find:

- The name of the default folder to save to, typically saved-messages.
- Several, typically six, names of folders you have most recently saved messages to
- An option to type in directly the name of the folder you wish to save to (either a new folder you wish to create, or one already containing messages)
- An option to choose the folder from the list of all your folders

If Alpine does not act on your choice immediately, click the button to initiate saving. Once saved, the chosen messages will be marked for deletion.

Setting status flags

By default, the area immediately to the left of the message numbers is reserved for the following status flags:

+ | message has your address in the To: line [Note: this is a fixed value]
* | (Important) - You have previously set the status of this message to important
A | (answered) - You have replied to this message
N | (new) - You have not yet looked at the text of this message
D | (deleted) - You have marked this message for deletion, but not yet expunged it

To add or remove the status flags, the Message Command Bar must first be displayed. Display the bar by clicking the icon near the top of the screen. Then:

- Click the checkboxes next to the appropriate messages
- Choose the appropriate value from the dropdown menu
- Click

Searching

To search, the Message Command Bar must first be displayed. Display the bar by clicking the icon near the top of the screen.

Click to get to a page where you can find messages by text, date, or status.

After you specify your search criteria, you will be returned to your Message List. If matches were found, your Message List will display your found messages and those messages will be marked. (Be aware: by default Search will include messages marked before the search along with your search results.) Click to display your entire Message List.

Jump Command (optional)

Depending on your configuration, you may also see a text box next to a button on the left side of the page. Enter a message number into the text box and click the button to redisplay the Message List with the chosen message at the top of the page.

You may find message numbers on the Message List lines make this command more useful. If not displayed in the Message List, you can add message numbers to each line by going to Configure on the left of the Message List page, clicking the Message List tab and adjusting the Message Line Format accordingly.

Differences from Alpine and PC-Alpine

Alpine is designed primarily for easy access to email. It is not intended to replace any other heavy duty email programs. Accordingly, it is missing some of the more advanced features you will find in Pine and PC-Pine. As development continues, features will be added as long as they do not make a large impact on Alpine's speed or efficiency.

Some of the features you will not currently find in Alpine Message List:

- Go directly to a folder you type in (may be added soon)
- Export message