Buttons Option

The Buttons ... option enables you to select a large number of shortcut function buttons to display in Ishmail's primary windows-Main window, Composition window, Reading window, and Comment on Application window. These buttons help streamline your use of the mail interface. Instead of possibly navigating through several menu layers to get to the function you want to perform, you simply click the associated shortcut button.

Specifying Custom Buttons

You can specify the location of shortcut buttons by selecting options in the Button placement section at the bottom of the Edit Custom Buttons window.

NOTE:
The custom buttons option operates exactly the same way in all of Ishmail's primary windows. The only difference is the type of shortcut functions you can select for a particular window. To see the available shortcut functions for either the Composition window, Reading window, or Comment on Application window, click the Buttons ... option in that window's Options pull-down menu.

To specify shortcut buttons, click the Buttons ... option. The Edit Custom Buttons window appears.

Figure: Edit Custom Buttons Window

The Edit Custom Buttons selections are arranged in two lists as follows:

Available buttons list
This list contains all possible functions for which you can assign a shortcut button. The names correspond to menu or option names, separated by slashes.

NOTE:
If you select a shortcut button to display, its widget name is added to your .ishmailrc resource file. The widget name is neither the button name nor the button label. It is an internal variable name.

Selected buttons list
This list contains the names of buttons you have selected, or activated.

NOTE:
When you activate a button, its button name is removed from the Available buttons list and added to the Selected buttons list.

To create (activate) a button:

  1. Single-click on the name of a button in the Available buttons list. Note that with drag-select or Ctrl-click you can highlight more than one name.

  2. Click the down-arrow button, which moves the highlighted name(s) to the Selected buttons list.

    Or, use the middle mouse button to drag the highlighted names and drop them into the Selected buttons list.

  3. In the Button placement area, specify the display location for the buttons by clicking on the appropriate radio button.

  4. To make all buttons the same size (based on the number of characters in the longest button name), activate the Make all buttons the same size selection box. In the Number of rows field, specify the number of rows to use in displaying the buttons. Or, in the Number of columns field, enter the number of columns to use in displaying the buttons. Depending on the button placement field you have selected, only one of these fields is activated, as described in Specifying Button Placement, below.

Specifying Button Placement and Size

Buttons can be placed either vertically outside the left or right margin of the Ishmail window, or horizontally above or below the top or bottom margin of the Ishmail window. The radio buttons North, South, West, and East enable you to specify the placement of shortcut buttons.

To specify the placement of shortcut buttons, click the radio button in the Button placement window that corresponds to the area in the window in which you want the shortcut buttons to be placed. Selecting West would place shortcut buttons at left in the window; selecting South would place buttons at the bottom of the window, and so forth.

If the Make all buttons the same size selection box is activated, all buttons will be made wide enough to accommodate the widest button label.

Ishmail automatically chooses the appropriate number of columns or rows required to display the buttons, depending on the size of the window.

Button Labels

You can specify your own labels for the buttons. In fact, you are encouraged to do so. The button names are inappropriate for button labels since they tend to be very long. Button labels should be short, descriptive names.

To specify the label for a button, double-click on the name in the Selected buttons list. The "Edit Button Window" is displayed.

Figure: Edit Button Window

The Edit Button window shows the button name in the Button field, and has two text fields you can modify.

Label field
This field specifies the name that appears on the button. Edit this field to change the name of the button. Short, descriptive labels are best, since the widest button becomes the default size for all buttons.

TIP:
You can also adjust the size of button labels by changing the font (see Specifying Fonts).

Position field
This field specifies the order in which you want the shortcut buttons to be displayed. The ordering is top-to-bottom if the buttons are placed to the left or right of the window, or left-to-right if the buttons are placed at the bottom of the window. (See Specifying Button Placement.)

Applying Your Changes

Apply or cancel your changes using the row of buttons across the bottom of the window. See Applying Your Changes.

Preceding Section: Fonts Option
Following Section: Message List Option
Parent Section: Main Window Options Menu
Contents of Ishmail User's Guide