Electronic Mail

Synchronet's Electronic Mail Menu lets you send and receive personal messages — local e-mail to other users on this BBS, NetMail to users on other BBSes (FidoNet, QWKnet, Internet), and feedback to the sysop. The menu shown here is the stock Email Section; a sysop may have replaced it with a customized version.

To enter the Email menu, press the key your command shell binds to the Email Section. In Classic, that's E from the Main prompt.

A live capture from vertrauen (Synchronet v3.22, UTF-8 / ANSI):

┌──────────────────────┐
│ Electronic Mail Menu │
├──────────────────────┴──── Send Mail ────┐
│ S Send mail to a local user              │
│ A Send file attachment                   │
│ F Send feedback to the sysop             │
│ N Send NetMail (Fido/QWK/Internet)       │
├──────────────────── Read Mail ───────────┤
│ R Read mail sent to you                  │
│ U Read your un-read mail only            │
│ K Read/Kill mail you have sent           │
├──────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Q Quit the E-Mail Menu                   │
└──────────────────────────────────────────┘
  Anytime: ^U Users online  ^P Private msg

E-mail:

The E-mail: prompt is its own context. Q returns you to the previous prompt (typically the Main prompt of your shell).

Sends an e-mail to another user on this BBS. You're prompted for:

1. The recipient's user name or user number. Partial matches are searched: if you type just part of the name and the system can identify a unique match (or a short list), it'll help you complete the name.
2. The message title (subject line).
3. The message body, composed in your selected message editor (the built-in line editor by default; the editor's commands are documented on its own page).

In the built-in line editor, /S saves and sends the message; /A aborts. (Other editors have their own keys.)

Composes an e-mail with a file attachment. The flow is similar to S, but you're additionally prompted to select a file from your inbox-attachment area or the BBS's file libraries (depending on what the sysop has enabled).

Shortcut for sending mail to user #1 (the sysop). Same as S with the recipient pre-filled. Feedback is the conventional way to suggest features, report bugs, ask questions, or just say hello to your sysop.

Sends a message to a user on another BBS via the appropriate network. You're prompted for:

1. The recipient. The address syntax depends on the network type:
   • Internet e-mail: user@host.example (full RFC-822 address)
   • FidoNet NetMail: Username@1:138/110 or Username@1:138/110.0 (handle + zone:net/node[.point])
   • QWKnet NetMail: Username@QWKID (QWK ID of the destination BBS)
2. Subject and body, same as local mail.

The sysop's network configuration determines which networks the BBS can reach.

Lists the messages in your inbox and lets you read them. * next to a title marks an unread message. If only one message is in your inbox, it's displayed directly; otherwise you get a list followed by the Read Mail prompt:

At the Read Mail prompt:

• # — read message number # (e.g. 3)
• <CR> — read the next message
• - — read the previous message
• L — list all message titles and authors
• R — re-read the current message
• D — delete the current message
• A — automatically reply to the author of the current message; prompts for whether to remove the original
• F — forward the current message to another user (removes from your mailbox)
• Q — quit Read Mail and return to the previous prompt
• ? — display the Read Mail menu

Same as R but skips messages you've already read. Useful when you've fallen behind and just want to catch up on what's new.

Reviews mail you've sent to others and lets you delete it (typically only allowed if the recipient hasn't yet read the message, depending on sysop policy). The prompt is similar to Read Mail:

• # — read sent message #
• <CR> — next
• - — previous
• L — list titles and recipients
• R — re-read
• D — delete
• Q — quit

* next to a sent-message title indicates the recipient hasn't read it yet.

You can have your local BBS e-mail forwarded to your network e-mail address — see User Settings -> M (Forward Mail). Useful if you don't log in regularly but want to be notified of mail.

• User Documentation
• Message editors — used to compose mail
• User Settings — your network e-mail address, mail forwarding, default download protocol for attachments
• Message Bases — public conferences (sub-boards), separate from personal mail
• QWK packets — read/post mail offline
• SMB format — the on-disk format Synchronet uses to store mail
• Securing e-mail (sysop how-to)