alias linux_lover Linux Lover <linuxlover@yahoo.com>
where linux_lover is an alias you choose for the address, the next couple of words are the person's real name, and everything between brackets is the email address. We ``source'' that file (identify it as a file to be read into memory when using mutt to make it available by identifying it as our alias file (again, if it doesn't exist, you'll have to create it yourself first).
set alias_file="~/.muttalias"
And here's a neat trick: we set reverse_alias so that any mail sent to us by a person in our address book is shown using the name in our address book, not the name their mail goes out with. That is, if our correspondent is really an idiot, our alias can read
alias Idiot Firstname Lastname <coworker@myworkplace.com>
and our mailbox will show mail from that person as coming from the name ``Idiot''. A better use of this trick is to deal with people whose names aren't easy understandable, like x36gd9o_33a@hotmail.com. And no, the other person will not know you've labeled him `Idiot,' it simply changes the display of his name in your mailbox, not in your messages.
set reverse_alias #use names from my own address book, if they exist
There are more sophisticated ways to manage your address book, by using external programs like abook. See section 3.5.2 for details. If you'd like more functionality in your address book without leaving the console, think about helping mutt interface with something more powerful. There are several small console-based address books with which mutt is able to interface, but unfortunately no real way to interface with something truly powerful like Apple's Addressbook or Kmail's KAddressbook.