---

Mail: from A to Z

Presented: October 28, 2003
by Ali Steinbergs

---

ABC’s:

Some of the popular ISP’s in this area are Shaw, Telus, BC Supernet, and Island Internet.

Deciding which ISP to use usually comes down to money: how much can you afford to spend? There are basically three different ways that your computer can connect to the internet, and each method has advantages and disadvantages:

E-mail addresses:

Home-based:

Your e-mail address would look like this: somebody@shaw.ca or somebody@ark.com

Browser-based:

Your e-mail address would look like this:
somebody@yahoo.ca, somebody@hotmail.com, or somebody@canada.com

If you have a browser-based e-mail address, you don’t use an e-mail application for your e-mail. You just access the appropriate website (www.hotmail.com or www.yahoo.ca) and look for the icon of the Mail program they provide.

E-mail applications:

However, e-mail programs are all quite similar in terms of function and speed. (In my opinion, the main differences between e-mail applications are cost, visual design, and programmability.) Much of what I have to say about Mail in the following sections will apply to most other e-mail applications as well.

DEF. . .TUV:

How to set up the Mail application:

• click on the Mail icon in the Dock
  
• in the Mail menu, click on Preferences
  
• the Accounts window will open
  
• click the Add Account button
  
• a second Accounts window will open
  
• for Account Type, choose POP
  
• for Description, type in something that identifies you or your ISP (eg. Ali’s Shaw Cable account, Stan’s Digital Ark account)
  
• type in your e-mail address (somebody@islandnet.com or somebody@shaw.ca), and your full name
  
• to fill out the next section you will need to get information from your ISP. As an example, if you have a Shaw connection, your setup will look like this:
  

• when you have finished this part, close all windows, and your account
  

How to receive messages:

• open your Mail application
  
• make sure your “drawer” is open; if it isn’t, click in the View menu, and select Show Drawer
  
• make sure the In box is highlighted
  
• all messages sent to you will appear in the In box. To make absolutely sure you have the latest ones, you may click on the Get Mail icon:
  
• when you click on the row where a message appears, the message itself will be visible in the window pane below
  
• to make the window pane bigger or smaller, position your pointer over the dividing line; when it turns into a vertical, double-headed arrow, click and drag the dividing line into the desired position
  

How to send messages:

• click on the Compose icon:
  
• the New Message window appears
  
• where it says “To”, type in the address of the recipient
  
• use the TAB key, or the mouse, to go to the next field
  
• Cc: means copies; only type an address here if you want copies of the message to go to someone else as well
  
• it isn’t required to have a Subject, but it can give your recipient a quick idea what the message is about
  
• type the message
  
• click the Send icon:
  

How to open attachments:

• attachments will either appear as the file name underlined (letter.cwk, cutephoto.jpg, agenda.doc, etc.) or the opened file (picture or document) will appear as part of the message
  
• to just see a file, click once on its name (or if it’s a photo, double-click on it)
  
• if you have the application that created that file, it will open. If you don’t have that application, the computer will translate it into a format that another application (which you do have) can open it. If neither of these scenarios happen, your attachment won’t open
  
• if you can’t open an attached file, write back to your correspondent and ask them to send it in another format. If it is a text document, ask them to save it as a Rich Text Format (RTF) file before they send it. If it is a picture, ask them to save it as a JPEG or a GIFF
  
• if you want to save the attached document, drag it off the Mail window onto your desktop; then, you can drag it to the most appropriate folder in Home or on your Hard Drive.
  (If the drag technique happens not to work, hold down the Control button on the keyboard, and click on the file. A menu will appear and one of the items will be Save Attachment.... Click on this option. A window will appear that will let you choose where to save the attachment. Click on the appropriate folder and click the Save button on the screen.)
  

How to attach files/documents:

• first compose your message as you normally would (To, Subject, etc.)
  
• click on the Attach icon:
  
• a window appears which shows the folders in your computer
  
• navigate to the location where your desired file is; click on its name & click the Open button
  
• this will attach the file to your document
  
• you may repeat the procedure to attach multiple files; try not to send more than 3 at a time (your ISP will not love you if you send 16 attachments!)
  
• send your message as usual
  

XYZ’s:

Automatic Signatures:

• to create a signature, choose Preferences from the Mail application menu and click Signatures
  
• click the Add Signature button
  
• for Description, give it a name that reminds you which of your signatures it is
  
• click in the box below, and type the signature exactly as you want it to look; then click the OK button
  
• to add the signature automatically to every message, choose it from the Select Signature pop-up menu
  
• to choose a one of several signatures when you compose a message, select "Show signature menu on compose window”
  

Deleting contiguous multiple messages:

• click on the first message to be deleted
  
• hold down the shift key
  
• click on the last message to be deleted
  
• (this highlights the messages to be deleted)
  
• click the delete button on the keyboard, or click the Delete icon (looks like a red warning sign)
  

Deleting non-contiguous multiple messages:

• click on the first message to be deleted
  
• hold down the Apple key and click on the next message to be deleted
  
• when all unworthy messages have been highlighted, delete as above
  

Identifying and deleting spam/junk mail:

• when Mail is first used it is in “training” mode; when you receive an unwanted message, select it (its row) and click on the Junk icon (looks like a brown bag with letters in it)
  
• once most of your messages are being correctly identified as junk (or not junk), switch from “training” mode to “automatic” mode, as follows:
  
• in the Mail menu, select Junk Mail, and then select Automatic
  
• now Mail will automatically send unwanted messages to the Junk folder; check these messages once in a while to make sure no wanted messages are being included
  
• if a desired message has been included, select it, and click the Not Junk button

---