Electronic Mail 1. Electronic Mail (E-Mail) As well as the wide accceptance of the World Wide Web (WWW), there has been a quiet revolution happening with another internet application—electronic mail (E-mail). This probably has been the most successful of all the internet applications. In fact, electronic mail was well established before the wide usage of the internet driven by the WWW. Many organisations used e-mail extensively for business communications, particularly within the organisation. It was only after the internet was well established and the protocols associated with internet mail (SMTP, MIME, POP, IMAP) became international standards, did e-mail really take off. E-Mail is a clinet/server application that is used to send text messages. E-Mail, How it When you send an e-mail message, it is sent from your computer to a Works mail server. Your e-mail server then sends the message to the e-mail recipient's e-mail server and then on to the e-mail recipient when he or she next logs onto the e-mail system. SMTP/MIME Sender Sender's E-Mail Server TIPS! SMTP/MIME E-MAIL PROTOCOLS There are a series of E-Mail protocols (established set of rules needed to undertake a Internet communication): SMTP:Used for outgoing mail MIME:Used for attachments POP:Used for incoming mail IMAP:Used for incoming mail SMTP/MIME POP or IMAP Receiver's E-Mail Server Receiver Many of the activities that have become popular through e-mail usage are now widely established. Some of these include the ability to read and compose memo-like messages, create address lists and groups to send bulk e-mail, attach send and receive other files along with an e-mail message, manage personal mail boxes and apply filters and sorts. Electronic Mail Page 33 Electronic Mail E-mail software that is capable of these activities is widely available. This software can be divided into two types—the localised client based software such as Outlook Express, Eudora and Netscape's Messenger and the web server based software such as MSN and hotmail. Page 34 Electronic Mail Electronic Mail 2. Outlook Express Microsoft's Outlook Express is the mainstay e-mail software provided by Microsoft. It is a client based e-mail software with sophisticated e-mail capabilities. It is also the e-mail component of the Outlook package that is used in Microsoft's Office suite of programs. 1. Click the button. 2. Select Programs then the button. The Outlook Express window opens up with a number of different sub-sections available: Menus Toolbar Folder Bar Outlook Bar Contacts Bar Note: Your window might look different to the settings shown here. You can achieve the same by selecting the menu options View --> Layout... and then selecting all the options except Outlook Bar and Views Bar. Electronic Mail Page 35 Electronic Mail Accessing Outlook Express supplies you with a series of Local Folders with E-Mail which to operate a mail box. This is generally used for messages and message archiving. With Outlook Express there is also an external e- Messages mail account that has been set up on a mail server with an associated mailbox and folders (Here it is called Microsoft Mail Server). This is the area through which most of your messages will be received and sent. Local E-Mail Folders External E-Mail Folders Reading 3. Click the Inbox icon for the Microsoft Mail Server. E-Mail Messages This will then show you the mail messages that are in your mail account: List of E-Mail Messages Body of selected E-Mail Message Page 36 Electronic Mail Electronic Mail This shows a list of messages in the top window showing the sender, a brief subject header and the date and time it was received. Messages that haven't been read are indicated with bold type and a closed IPS envelope icon . T ! E-MAIL 4. Click on one of the unread messages. FIELDS Now you should see a different message fill the bottom preview The Outlook Express Inbox fields include: window. Priority Message 5. Double the same message. Attachment -click Flag By clicking on the field titles, This time a separate e-mail message window opens up similar to the messages can be sorted in following: each of these field orders. Toolbar E-Mail Message Field Information Body of E-Mail Message From this window it is possible to achieve a number of tasks: Reply to the sender of the message. Outlook automatically composes a return message to the sender. Reply to the sender and all of the recipient's of the message. Outlook automatically composes a return message. Send the message onto others. Print the current message. Electronic Mail Page 37 Electronic Mail Delete the current message. Go to the previous message. Go to the next message. Look up the address book. We will look at all of these activities in reading and composing new messages. 6. Click the button to close the e-mail window. Composing A task that is essential to an e-mail activity is the ability to create a new E-Mail e-mail message and send it on. Outlook Express provides all of the Messages tools to enable this fundamental activity. 7. Click the button to open up the new message window. Recipient's E-Mail Body of Message Address goes here Carbon Copy Recipient's E-Mail Address goes here Brief description of message content Page 38 Electronic Mail Electronic Mail You will need to know some e-mail addresses to be able to send new messages. Most e-mail addresses follow the format: TIPS! [email protected] E-MAIL Some examples include: ADDRESSES [email protected], [email protected], E-Mail addresses use many [email protected], [email protected] organisation type codes and country codes. Some 8. Click into the field. are: Organisation Type 9. Type an e-mail address of a colleague or friend in the com commercial format described above. org organisation edu education 10. Click into the field. net network mil military gov government 11. Type your e-mail address in the format described above. Country Code This should send a copy of the e-mail message back to yourself. au Australia jp Japan uk United Kingdom 12. Click into the field. no code USA 13. Type First Test Message into this field. 14. Click into the body of the message window. 15. Type the following short piece of text: Hi, <Name> this is my first attempt at creating an e-mail message - please ignore. <Your Name> Electronic Mail Page 39 Electronic Mail 16. Click the button to deliver the message. Receiving The message will now be delivered to the e-mail server and then from E-Mail there to the recipient's mail boxes. This might take a little time. The e-mail server will deliver the message to you in due time, but Outlook Messages Express allows you to receive the message when you are ready. 17. Click the button. Sender Subject Envelope Icon Date and Time of Indicating Receipt Unread Status 18. Click <Your Name> and the message contents will show up in the Preview Window underneath. 19. Double- <Your Name> and all the message contents will click show up in a separate window. 20. Click the button when you have finished checking the message. Complex Now try a message that is a bit more ambituous—a message that E-Mail includes graphics, a file attachment, and a priority setting. Messages 21. Click the button. 22. Type the TO:, CC: and Subject: detail again but this time type in the following text within the body of the message: Hi, <Name> again. This message is my second attempt at creating a more sophisticated e-mail message - please ignore. <Your Name> Page 40 Electronic Mail Electronic Mail 23. Double- the word second. click TIPS! 24. Click the button. PERSONAL 25. Click the button. SIGNATURE Outlook Express allows you 26. Click the button. to set up your own signature that can be used repeatedly: 27. Click the button. 1. Click Options from the Tools menu. 28. Select a different colour for the text by clicking the 2. Click the Signatures drop down arrow and choosing from the range of tab. colours presented. 3. To create a signature, click the New button. 29. Click at the end of the text after the sign off. and then either, 30. Press the <ENTER> key twice. 4. Enter text in the Edit Signature box 31. Click the horizontal line button. or 32. Press the <ENTER> key twice. 5. Click File, and then find the text or HTML file you'd like to use. 33. Click the insert picture button. To use the signature: 34. Click the button and find a picture to include 6. Click the when from anywhere on your hard disk. you are composing a new message to add 35. Select your name at the bottom of your e-mail message. your signature. 36. Click the drop down arrow in the font text box. 37. Select a font of your choice. 38. Click the drop down arrow in the size text box. 39. Select an 18 point font size for your signature. 40. Click on the button. Attaching Files Electronic Mail Page 41 Electronic Mail 41. Select a shortcut file from your desktop. 42. Click the button. The resulting message should look something like this: Reference to Attached File Horizontal Line Insert Picture Insert Page 42 Electronic Mail Electronic Mail The final task is to decrease the priority of this test message.