Module 6: Using E-mail

 

There are a wide variety of e-mail accounts available, it is therefore difficult to explain how each individual account works. The visual examples given are from a free yahoo e-mail account and microsoft outlook express e-mail client.

Where to get an e-mail account: When you set up an account with an ISP to gain access to the Internet, that account will include at least one e-mail address. There are also several companies that offer free e-mail accounts. Here are links to some of the more popular free e-mail providers;

Yahoo E-mail               Lycos               MSN Hotmail  

Mail.com          Eudora Web Mail

Example e-mail address:   yournamehere@emailprovider.com     

E-mails always start with the personalized part of the email address, the part that you choose yourself. You might choose your first name and last initial (ex. georgew), first initial and last name (gwashington), or you can make something up completely off the top of your head (ex. cherrytreelover). The only limit to this is that you cannot duplicate another person’s personal email address. If you have a common name and still want to use your name for your email address, you might try adding a number or symbol to the beginning, middle, or end of the personal name (ex. gwashington2003).

Personal name part of the e-mail is always followed by the @ sign.  Then that is followed by the e-mail provider's site name and domain name.

To give you an idea of what an e-mail account might look like, here is a screenshot of the main e-mail inbox page of a free yahoo e-mail account. You can see that because it is a free e-mail account you get to see advertisements on the e-mail page. 

Reading messages that have been sent to you is as easy as left-clicking on the message in the subject column. You can use folders to organize your e-mails (they are on the left side of the above screenshot). Also, on the top of the screenshot you can see the link for the address book.

To send an e-mail to a friend, you first need their e-mail address. It is helpful to put the address in your e-mail account's address book, so that it will always be there when you need it.

Here is a screenshot of the address book;

Adding addresses is done just by clicking on the "add contact" button and following the instructions provided.

For a contrasting view, here are some screenshots of microsoft's outlook express e-mail program;

The above screenshot is the main screen of the outlook express program, you can see that it also has folders to organize your e-mail and similar buttons along the top for writing e-mail messages and adding e-mail addresses.

Below is a screenshot of the address book in outlook express. Though there are no addresses in this book, but you can see it has the same basic areas and commands as the free yahoo e-mail.

Once you have an address for a friend in your address book, you might want to send them an e-mail. To do this, you would choose whatever option allows you to write the e-mail, which will differ by which e-mail program you are using. For example, in yahoo you would choose "compose" and in outlook express you would choose "create mail"

Here is an example of the yahoo "compose" mail screen. Most of these will look the same in any e-mail program.

"Carbon copy" is for when you want to send your message to more than one person, you can add other e-mail addresses in this area, and the message will go to all of the addressees.  People receiving your message will also see the e-mail addresses of all the other message recipients. If you use the "blind carbon copy" section for additional addressees, the recipient won't see the list of other people who received the message.

Attachments: You may want to send something else along with your email, such as a digital picture or a word document. You can do this by "attaching" the file to the e-mail message. Most e-mail programs will allow you to do this. You can see the "attach files" command link on the screenshot above. To attach a file, you would tell the program you wish to do so, by clicking the "attach files" link first. In other e-mail programs, the attach command may be a button that looks like a paperclip.

The next screens are going to lead you through the attachment process.

Once you choose the "browse" button, you will have to look through the files on your computer to find the one you wish to attach. (See Module 8's note on saving files on your computer)

After you click "open" you will go back to the first attachment screen.

You -MUST- click on the "attach files" button to finish attaching the file. Keep in mind that the file selection process is the most time consuming process during file attachment, and it can deceive you into thinking you've actually attached the file. Everyone makes this mistake at some point in time, especially when you have a very important file to attach.

The final thing to remember when attaching files to e-mail, is that you should tell the person you are sending the attachment to, that you do intend to send an attachment to them. Attachments are where most of the computer viruses come from in e-mail, so people tend to be wary of opening them. You might say something about what the attachment is in the body of the e-mail message, you could send a "warning" e-mail before you send the e-mail with the attachment, or you could even give them a phone call and let them know you are sending an attachment.

If you get stuck trying to do something in e-mail and need help, all e-mail programs have "help" sections.

Module 7: Conducting a Search in the Tempe Public Library Catalog

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