efaq: Setting up a customization file
5.1 How do I set up a ‘.emacs’ file properly?
=============================================
(emacs)Init File.
In general, new Emacs users should not be provided with ‘.emacs’
files, because this can cause confusing non-standard behavior. Then
they send questions to the help-gnu-emacs mailing list
(http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/help-gnu-emacs) asking why Emacs
isn’t behaving as documented.
Emacs includes the Customize facility (Using Customize).
This allows users who are unfamiliar with Emacs Lisp to modify their
‘.emacs’ files in a relatively straightforward way, using menus rather
than Lisp code.
While Customize might indeed make it easier to configure Emacs,
consider taking a bit of time to learn Emacs Lisp and modifying your
‘.emacs’ directly. Simple configuration options are described rather
completely in (emacs)Init File, for users interested in
performing frequently requested, basic tasks.
Sometimes users are unsure as to where their ‘.emacs’ file should be
found. Visiting the file as ‘~/.emacs’ from Emacs will find the correct
file.
Info Catalog
efaq: Common requests
efaq: Using Customize