In this guide we will study the main characteristics of electronic mail, addresses, folders, and how to address and send messages.

WHAT IS E-MAIL?

E-mail means electronic mail. It is like postal mail. You receive mail at your address or mail box and send mail to someone else's address. The difference is that it is all done electronically!

E-mail is internet's main service. Internet users send billions of e-mail messages every year.

Anyone with an Intenet connection can have an electronic mail address. It is the one that includes the sign @ (at) sign.

The electronic address is unique in the world. For example, the following address could be an e-mail address:

jdoe@3dmutimedia.com.ar

An electronic address is divided into two parts:

username@host.subdomain.top-level-domain.

• What appears before the @ identifies the user or the position he occupies within a certain company.

• The second part identifies his Internet provider or the company he works for (this is the computer that receives the mail).
  

In our previous example:

The John Doe (jdoe) mail box is on the server named 3dmultimedia. This server is comercial (.com) and is locatd in Argentina (.ar).

Important: When in doubt always write an electronic address in small caps.

CHARACTERISTICS

E-mail has some formidable advantages over normal mail.

• It arrives to its destination in seconds or minutes.
  

• It is very easy to send.
  
• It allows to send the main text and other files (text, images, audio, video, etc.) attached to it.
  
• You can send messages to lots of people at the same time.
  
• You can receive mail from mailing lists.
  
• It is very cheap.
  
• It is a permanent address for people who travel a lot.
  
• It saves paper, which saves trees!
  
• It keeps documents well organised.
  
  

At the cost of a local call, (if you 'dial-up') or included in your monthly Internet provider's service, the email message is sent from our computer along 'the net', going from one pc to another while it is being sent to its final destination. This is the recipient's server. When the recipient connects to his server and asks for his mail, it is transfered to his computer and he can read it.

There are many email programs and they are all very similar. In the examples we will see the ones that come with Netscape Communicator (Messenger) and Internet Explorer (Outlook Express).

Email programs organize messages in message folders.

Messenger:

 

Folder	Contains
Inbox	messages received
Unsent Messages	messages that are still in your machine ready to be sent.
Drafts	Draft messages will be stored here until you send them.
Sent	Keeps copies of all messages you have already sent.
Trash	Deleted messages are stored in this folder until you empy it, just as in windows.

Outlook Express:

 

File	Contains
Inbox	messages received
Outbox	messages that are still in your machine ready to be sent.
Drafts	Draft messages will be stored here until you send them.
Sent items	Keeps copies of all messages you have already sent.
Deleted items	Deleted messages are stored in this folder until you empy it, just as in windows.

Messages are usually divided in three parts:

The Header usually has:

• the name and address of the person who sends the message

• the name and address of the recipient
  
• the name and address of anyone who is being sent a copy of the message
  
• the date and time
  
• the subject of the message
  

The message body usually has:

• the text of the message (which can be formatted if the software uses program uses HTML)

• graphics we included in the message

Many programs allow a signature at the end of the message that includes information about the sender and any other information he may want to add.

The following graphic shows a message received in Messenger.

When a message is received, it appears in the Inbox of the email program. Every program has a way to show us that the message has still not been read. Sometimes the title is bold.

Once opened, the header informs us who sent the message, when it was sent, and what the subject is.

Once the message has been received, we can reply to it using the reply button from the toolbar. You can reply either to the sender only or to all recipients of the original message. You can also forward the message to a different recipient.

Messenger:

Outlook Express:

Messenger:

Outlook Express:

Usually, when you reply to a message, the software program will 'quote' the original message, adding a sign to the beginning of every line, like '>'

In order to send a message we must click the New Message (Compose Message) button and a new window will open where we can input recipient, text, and send the message.

 

Messenger:

Outlook Express:

Activity

1 - Open the e-mail software program.

2 - Find a friends e-mail address.

3 - Open the New Message window.

RECIPIENTS

Generally you use three types of recipients.

TO: Primary recipient (you could have many). There should at least be one.
CC: Carbon Copy (you could have many). All will know who got the message.
CCC: Confidential Carbon Copy (you could have many). No-one will know that this one got the message. (Outlook Express: BCC: Blind Carbon Copy)

4 - Write a short message and send it to your friend's e-mail address. Also send a Blind Carbon Copy to your own address.

Note: If there isn't at least one e-mail address in the TO area, the message will not be sent.

5 - Fill in the text subject.

6 - Send the e-mail message with the send button.

 

Messenger:

Outlook Express:

Note: Messenger as well as Outlook Express can send the message immediately (if you are connected to the Internet) or wait until you decide that you want to connect and send all outgoing e-mail together. This is useful if we want to send many messages and we don't want the machine to be connecting via dial-up for each one.

If the software doesn't send e-mail immediately:

• ForMessenger, you need to connect from your dial up networking. Once on-line you can send the message. If you have Unsent Messages (Outbox), select Send messages. All stored messages will be sent.

• For Outlook Express we must select Send and Receive after the New Message window has closed, since the message has been stored in the Outbox. Outlook Express will usually connect to the Internet by itself.

7 - When you have sent the message ask the software to get any new messages for you.

 

Messenger:

Outlook Express:

8 - Check the Inbox for new messages.

9 - Check that your message has arrived well.

TIPS FOR WRITING E-MAIL

• Leave some space around your text. It doesn't take up memory and makes your message easier to read.

• Be clear, so that your message cannot be misinterpreted. Remember that via e-mail, the recipient cannot see your gestures or expressions and will most likely interpret things literally.

• Don't use abbreviations.

• Check your spelling.

• Be clear about the 'subject'. Many people receive copious amounts of e-mail daily, therefore it is important to use a clear 'subject' so your message isn't deleted by mistake along with all the publicity, subscriptions, spam, etc.