Some dumb questions born of frustration

1. What do i put in .bashrc to get a simple prompt of a dollar sign?

2. I have set alias_file=mailaliases in muttrc. When I add an alias it goes to that file, but when I use it in the to 
line of a message it is not recognized.

I've been reading man pages and documentation all day.

Thanks,
John

-- 
John J. Boyer, President
AbilitiesSoft, Inc.
Email: [email protected]
website: http://www.abilitiessoft.org
Status: 501(C)(3) NONPROFIT
Location: Madison, Wisconsin, USA
Mission: developing assistive technology software and providing STEM services 
        that are available at no cost