Opera

Writing and Sending Messages

There are various tools and features to make writing and sending messages simple and quick.

Write a message

To write a message, you can either:

• click Compose in the Mail panel
• click Compose on the Mail toolbar
• use Mail > Compose, or
• press Ctrl+M.

Opera Mail does not compose in HTML, which means that you can't choose font colours, styles like bold or italics, or sizes. It also uses format=flowed formatting for messages. This is an Internet standard for sending text formats text with returns only at the ends of paragraphs, to improve readability and to make it easier to quote or trim (in a reply).

Compose tools

The tools in the Compose window allow you to:

• send messages
• add attachments
• discard drafts
• check spelling - if the Spell Checker is installed. See Spell checker.
• add smileys
• alter view settings

Compose context menu

There is also a context menu for multiple options, when you select and right-click on a message, as outlined in the table below.

Context menu header	Use this option to...
Reply	answer a message.
Reply All	answer selected message and include all recipients.
Forward	pass a message to a third party, with you as the sender in the From field.
Redirect	send a message to a third party, keeping original sender in the From field.
Mark »	mark a message as read, unread, spam, and so on.
Label As »	mark a message as Important, Funny, and so on, so that you can view them under the Labels header in the Mail panel.
Show In »	make a message available in other views.
Go To »	navigate messages
Copy	mark a message (copy to clipboard) and paste to other views.
Paste	show copied (clipboard) messages in the active view.
Remove from view	hide a message from active view (move to clipboard).
Delete	move a message to the Trash (Deleted).
Delete Permanently	delete a message permanently, without moving to the Trash (Deleted).
Cancel post	request all news servers to delete a posting (use in Sent view).
Edit	continue editing an outgoing message.
Add contact	add the sender of a message to contacts.
View All Messages and Headers	show all messages with headers.

Address a message

Opera helps you fill in e-mail addresses automatically as you type. The auto-complete feature in Opera Mail is based on your contact list, Opera's built-in address book. Because this feature is based on names, you don't have to remember e-mail addresses, making it quick and easy to use.

To use auto-complete to fill in the To field:

1. Create a new e-mail.
2. In the To field, start typing the first name, last name or e-mail address or of someone registered in Contacts. Select from the listed matching names.

You can also click To and either:

• select contacts from your list, or
• click Add All Contacts in Folder to add all contacts as message recipients (not for nested contact folders). For more information, see Use Contact folders.

Message drafts

While you are composing a message, Opera Mail saves it for you automatically in the Drafts view. After you send the message, it moves from the Drafts view to the Sent view. If you decide not to send the message, delete the draft by clicking Delete Draft on the toolbar.

Reply to, forward or redirect a message

Besides composing a message from scratch, you can also reply to, forward or redirect a message.

Reply to or forward a message

Opera Mail offers standard e-mail reply and forward options on the Mail toolbar: Reply, Reply All and Forward. It also offers a unique Quick Reply feature, which is useful for brief, chat-like correspondence.

To use Quick Reply:

1. Type a short reply in the Quick Reply field at the bottom of the Mail window.
2. Click Quick Reply to send it.

The original message is quoted in the reply, with your reply added underneath and is sent to all recipients of the original message. Opera Mail removes text that has been quoted more than twice. For a news message, your reply is sent to the message sender's e-mail address.

To disable Quick Reply:

1. Click View on the Mail toolbar.
2. Check Show Quick Reply.

Redirect a message

You can also redirect a message so that it looks as though it is coming from the original sender. When redirecting a message, the original sender, date, and message-id headers are maintained and additional message headers identify the message redirector (Resent-Date, Resent-To, and Resent-From). Opera Mail inserts the original message body, but does not quote it.

To redirect a message:

1. Click Forward on the mail window toolbar.
2. Select Redirect from the drop-down menu.

Customize composition settings

You can also customize composition settings by enabling automatic completion of reply-to, cc and bcc fields, changing fonts and more. See Edit mail and news accounts.