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*Electronic Mail

[v] Netscape Mail
[v] Attachments
[v] Address Book
[v] Netscape Characteristics

Electronic mail, commonly called e-mail, is simply an electronic form of paper mail. They are the same in that they each need to be addressed correctly, contain a return address, and will be returned to the sender if they are not addressed correctly. The difference is that e-mail doesn't require postage, and it is much faster. E-mail can be sent all over the world, just as real mail can.

E-Mail Addresses

Paper mail is addressed by name, address, city, state, and zip code (and country when necessary). An e-mail address is composed of two main components: the person's name, and the name of the computer, service provider, or mail host that the person uses.

The name of the host is often divided into at least two parts. The first part is the host's name and the second part is the host's affiliation, e.g., education, government, commercial, or organization.

For example, the following e-mail address ican@sun.org indicates that ican is the user's name, sun is the host's name, and org is an abbreviation for organization which is the host's affiliation.

The user's name and host's name is always separated by the symbol "@". The host's identity is separated by periods (referred to as "dot" when spelling an address).

The host's information may be two to three terms separated by periods and always ending with the abbreviation for affiliation. Notice an e-mail address does not have spaces.

ican@sun.org
ican		@sun			.org	
user identity 	where mail is received	affiliation of mail host	 
		(mail host)
Other abbreviations for affiliations are net for network, edu for education, gov for government, and com for commercial. 

Affiliation
Abbreviation		Meaning
	
	.com		Commercial	
	.edu		Educational	
	.gov		Governmental	
	.int		International	
	.mil		Military	
	.net		Internet resource	
	.org		Non-profits	
	.au, .fr, .pl	Australia, France, Poland
	.or, .wa	Oregon, Washington  [^]

*Netscape Mail

Netscape E-Mail Settings

The first time you send or check your e-mail, there are a few settings you will need to enter in Netscape.

Server Settings

  1. Open the Options menu, then selectMail and News Preferences.

  2. Click on the Servers tab.

  3. In the Outgoing Mail (SMTP) Server information box, enter the section of your e-mail address that appears after the @ symbol. For example, if your e-mail address was llary@lane.k12.or.us, you would enter: lane.k12.or.us

  4. In the Incoming Mail (POP) Server information box, enter the section of your e-mail address that appears after the @ symbol.

  5. In the Pop user ID information box, enter the section of your e-mail address that appears before the @ symbol.

  6. You can adjust how often you want your mail to be checked when Netscape is open. In the Check for mail every: box, click a button and enter your choice.

  7. Click on Apply to save the settings, then click OK.

  8. Select Save Options from the Options menu to permanently save the settings.
*Note: Settings for "Preferences" vary. You may need to check with the school or district administrator of your e-mail account or your Internet provider service to confirm that your e-mail settings are entered correctly.

E-Mail Address Settings

  1. Open the Options menu, then select Mail and News Preferences.

  2. Click the Identity tab.

  3. Enter your name the way you want it to appear on e-mail messages.

  4. Enter your complete e-mail address.

  5. Click on Apply to save the settings, then click OK.

  6. Select Save Options from the Options menu to permanently save the settings.

  7. To retain a copy of messages you write or send, open the Options menu, select Mail and News Preferences, then click the Composition tab.

- Click Apply, then click in the Mail File box. Select Save Options from the Options menu to permanently save the settings.

Opening the E-Mail Application

  1. To access the e-mail portion of Netscape, click on the envelope icon in the lower right hand corner of the screen.

  2. When prompted, enter your password. This will permit mail to be sent to your computer. Another way to access e-mail is to select Netscape Mail from the Window menu. Then click on the Get Mail button.
*Note: If you were using the Netscape Web Browser, your menu bar will change to the menu bar for Netscape mail.

Creating and Sending E-Mail Messages

  1. Click the To: Mail button to obtain a new message composition window.

  2. Click in the Subject box, then enter several meaningful words to describe the content of your message.

  3. Press Tab to move the cursor to the Addressing box, then enter the recipient's e-mail address. If there is more than one recipient, separate the addresses with a comma.

  4. Press Tab to move the cursor to the Cc: portion of the Addressing box. If applicable, enter the carbon copy (Cc) recipient's e-mail address; if there is more than one Cc recipient, separate the addresses with a comma.

  5. Press Tab to move the cursor into the blank message area, then enter your message.

  6. Press the Send Now button to send your message.

Checking E-Mail

Once you access the e-mail portion of Netscape, your mail will be checked at the time intervals you specified in the "Mail and News Preferences" set-up. If you did not specify a time interval for mail to be checked, you must click on the Get Mail button to check your mail.

If you receive new mail, a blinking exclamation point will appear next to the envelope in the lower right hand corner. To see a list of your new e-mail messages, click on the envelope. New e-mail messages will be listed on the right side of the mail window. If you have several messages, you can sort them by sender or subject by clicking on the appropriate button.

Reading E-Mail

  1. To read an e-mail message, click on the message you want to read. The message will appear toward the bottom of the mail window.

  2. To read mail in order, click the Next button located at the top of the mail window. Once you have read all of your messages, the Next and Previous buttons will turn gray. This indicates that all mail has been read.

Replying to a Message

  1. Once you have read a message, you may want to send a reply. To do so, click on the Re: Mail button at the top of the screen, then enter your reply in the message composition area.

Deleting a Message

  1. Highlight the message to delete by clicking on it.

  2. Click the Delete button. This moves the message to the Trash Folder. You can also delete messages by clicking on them and selecting Delete from the Edit menu.

  3. To permanently delete items in the Trash Folder, select Empty Trash Folder from the File menu.

Forwarding E-Mail

  1. Once you have read an e-mail message, you may wish to send a copy to someone else. First, click on the message you want to forward.

  2. Click on the Forward button at the top of the mail window.

  3. Enter the e-mail address of the person you want to forward the message to, then press Tab twice so the cursor appears in the message composition area.

  4. Enter the preface to the forwarded message, then click the Send Now button.

E-Mail Folders

Folders are a handy way to organize e-mail. You may create and name your own folders. Netscape automatically creates the following folders for you:

- Inbox: is where new mail is stored.

- Sent Mail: contains a copy of all e-mail messages you have sent.

- Trash: is a temporary storage area for items you plan to delete.

The number of unread messages and the total number of messages in a folder are listed next to each folder. Click once on a folder to view its contents.

Creating and Using E-Mail Folders

  1. Open the File menu, then select New Folder...

  2. Enter a name for the folder, then click OK.

  3. To move a message into a folder, click and drag the message to the folder, then release the mouse when the envelope icon next to the folder is highlighted.

  4. To delete a folder, click on it, then select Delete Folder from the Edit menu.

Signatures

A signature is text that usually includes a person's name, title, school, school district, e-mail address, and phone number. The signature is placed at the bottom of e-mail messages. For example:

Ray Miller, Grade 5 Teacher
Clearwater Elementary School
Ersatz School District
rmiller@cfn.org
541-948-623
  1. If you choose to use a signature file, you must open a new word processing document and enter the information you want to include in your signature.

  2. Save the document as a Text file (an option that appears within the Save function of your word processor.) Save the file to a location on your hard drive that you can easily identify later.

  3. Open Netscape.

  4. Select Mail and News Preferences from the Options menu, then click on the Identity tab.

  5. Click the File button, then click Browse.

  6. Locate your signature file, click on it, select Open, then click OK.

  7. Select Save Options from the Options menu.

  8. Try sending an e-mail message to yourself. Your "signature" should appear at the bottom of the message.
*Note: To avoid e-mail "clutter," a signature should be as short as possible.

E-Mailing URLs

Netscape Mail allows URLs to be sent which can also be clicked on to access a Web site from within an e-mail message.

  1. Create a new mail message. Include a URL in the body of the message.

    *Note: You must include the http:// portion of the URL as appropriate.

  2. Send the message. When the recipient opens the message, the URL will be highlighted as a link that can be clicked to access the Web site. [^]

*Attachments

You can send Web pages as well as files created with other application programs (word processors, graphics programs, etc.) as attachments to an e-mail message. If the recipient of your message has an application capable of opening the attachment, he or she will be able to open, view, and work with the file you attach.

Attach a URL

Imagine you've found an interesting Web page you'd like a friend to examine. You can send your friend a copy of its URL or the page via e-mail to be examined at his/her convenience.

  1. Open any Web page.

  2. Select Mail Document... from the File menu. Address it to yourself to observe the results of this procedure.

  3. Send the message. When the recipient opens the message, the URL will be highlighted as a link that can be clicked to access the Web site.

    *Note: To view the web page as a part of the e-mail, select Attachments Inline from the View menu. To view the web page as an attachment, select Attachments as Links.

Attach a File

  1. Create a new e-mail message. Address it to yourself to observe the results of this procedure.

  2. Click the Attach button.

  3. A dialogue box will appear. Click Attach File to send a file

  4. Locate a word processing file previously saved on your computer. Click on it, select Open, then click Done.

  5. Send the e-mail message with the attachment to yourself for practice.

  6. When your e-mail message appears, a link with the name of your attachment will appear at the bottom of the screen. Click on the link to open the file. Name and save the file when you are prompted, then close Netscape.

  7. Locate the attachment file you saved, then open the document. [^]

*Address Book

It's handy to keep a reference file of e-mail addresses you frequently use in an Address Book. Netscape's e-mail Address Book also has a convenient option that lets you create "nicknames" (abbreviated versions of e-mail addresses) for people you send e-mail to on a regular basis.

Creating an Individual Nickname

  1. Open the Window menu in the upper right corner of Netscape, then select Address Book.

  2. Open the Item menu at the top of the screen, then select Add User. The following display will appear.

  3. Enter the nickname you wish to use; a nickname should be short, meaningful, and may only contain lowercase letters and numbers (e.g., Jack Smith may have the nickname jack, jacks or js.)

  4. Enter the person's name; enter the last name first if you want the address book to display data in alphabetical order by last name.

  5. Enter the individual's complete e-mail address. If desired, you can also add a brief description about the person.

  6. Click OK.
*Netscape Shortcut. When you receive an e-mail from a person that you want to add to your address book, select Add to address book from the Message menu.

Using Nicknames

To send an e-mail using a nickname, simply open a new e-mail message and type the nickname in the Mail to: location. If you have forgotten the nickname, complete the following:

  1. Open the Address Book and double click on one of the nicknames.

  2. The selected nickname will appear in the To box. It represents a complete e-mail address, so your message now has a recipient.

  3. Complete the e-mail message, then send it to observe the results.

Editing a Nickname

  1. Click once on the nickname you want to edit.

  2. Open the Item menu, then select Edit Address Book Entry.

  3. Edit the nickname accordingly, then click OK.

Deleting a Nickname

  1. Click once on the nickname you want to delete.

  2. Open the Edit menu, then select Delete Address.

Creating a Group List

You can create a "list," which is a folder for storing a group of e-mail addresses. Creating a list also permits you to easily send e-mail messages to groups of people, such as committees.

  1. Open the Item menu, then select Add List.

  2. Enter a nickname for the list.

  3. Enter a name for the list that will appear in the address book. If desired, you can also add a brief description about the list.

Adding Nicknames to a List

  1. Open the Window menu in the upper right corner of Netscape, then select Address Book.

  2. Click and drag a nickname over the icon of the list you have created. When the list name is highlighted, release the mouse.

  3. The nickname will appear indented, in italics, below the list icon. You may place a nickname in as many lists as you want. To open or close a list, click once on the triangle that is just to the left of the list's name.

Using a List

  1. To address an e-mail message using a list, first open a new message window.

  2. When the message window appears, enter the list's nickname and press tab. A list can also be accessed directly from the Address Book by clicking on the list's nickname.

  3. The list nickname will appear in the To box. It represents all of the e-mail addresses contained in the list; your message will be sent to everyone on the list.

E-Mail Guidelines

*

Netscape Characteristics

You can change many of Netscape's operating characteristics. For example, you can choose a Web page as your home (start-up) page that will be displayed whenever Netscape is opened. You can also change how hypertext links are displayed, change font styles, or other helpful details. This section introduces some of these options.

Setting the Homepage

  1. Open the Options menu, then select General Preferences.

  2. Click the Appearance tab.

  3. Enter the URL of the Web page you want Netscape to display whenever it is opened.

  4. Click OK.

  5. Select Save Options from the Options menu.
[^]

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