Think And Do

Computers

E-Mail How-Tos

Basic Message
Composition & Sending		 Adding Attachments Retrieving Attachments Forwarding Messages

Basic Message Composition & Sending
Sending a message is straightforward.
  • You are the sender
  • You need at least 1 recipient
  • You have a subject
Make your subject specific and brief. Remember that most e-mail software has anti-spam features, and also enables the user to add his or her own checks on the incoming mail.
Avoid words like "free" in the subject - many people filter them out.
Hello From xxx is sufficient.
Use proper grammar and punctuation in the e-mail. Online communication has made it much easier to be lazy, but the laziness spills over into standard communication.
Consider yourself a professional at all times, even if the e-mail is personal.
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Adding Attachments
This is confusing at first, but it becomes simple after doing it a few times.
Remember that the attachment is ALWAYS a file on a hard drive somewhere; therefore, it must be retrieved first, then attached.
Regardless of what e-mail software you use, the procedure follows these steps:
  1. Giving the ATTACH command
  2. Retrieving the appropriate file
  3. ATTACHING the file
What people often forget is Step 3 above. They forget to actually ATTACH, so the message is sent with no attachment. Whether you use Yahoo, Hotmail, Outlook, Outlook Express, AOL, Eudora, or any other e-mail software, remember to do this:
  1. Click Attach. An Attach dialog box will be displayed.
    The box will have a Browse button.
  2. In order to attach a file, you must know where it is. This sounds obvious, but for many people, especially those in a networked environment, they have no idea of the actual location.
  3. Determine the location of the file first.
    If you have no idea, you could drill down by starting at My Computer.
    You can also find the file by looking in the Documents shortcut.
    However, the Documents shortcut only shows the 15 most recent files.
    1. Click Start / Documents
    2. You should see a list of your most recently viewed documents. Find the one that you want to attach.
    3. Right-click. A drop-down menu will appear.
    4. Click Properties. The Properties box shows the exact location of the file.
    5. Sometimes, the file is located deep on a networked drive.
    6. If the path is very long, write it down. You must know this when you try to retrieve the file in order to attach it.
  4. Locate the file, then click on it once.
  5. The dialog box will have an Open or OK button in the lower right-hand corner. Click that button.
  6. Now you are back in the Attach window. You see the full path of the file next to the Browse button.
  7. Click Attach.
    This is the step that most people forget.
  8. You can repeat these steps for multiple files.
  9. Now you have to close the Attach dialog box.
  10. ClickSend.
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Retrieving Attachments
Some e-mail is sent with the attachment embedded in the message.
This means that you see the actual contents of the attachment when you open the message.
Some e-mail is sent with the attachment as a file, and is not embedded in the body of the message.
Either way, you may want to save the attachment.
  1. You will see the attachment listed somewhere in the e-mail message.
    Usually, the filename is displayed under the Subject line of the message.
  2. Point to the attachment.
  3. Click the Right Mouse Button. A drop-down menu will appear.
  4. There will be an option to save the attachment. ClickSave.
  5. The Save dialog box will be displayed.
    Note: If you are using AOL e-mail, remember that AOL designates its own folder for attachments.
    You must specify the location of the Save if you do not want your attachment to go to the default location.
  6. Find the folder to which you want your attachment saved. Double-click it.
    The folder name is now displayed in the Save In box at the top of the window.
  7. Click Save
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Forwarding Messages
2005 seems to be the start of some very tough and annoying e-mail situations.
The preponderance of spam is nearly overwhelming, and companies are spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on protecting their e-mail from spam, viruses, worms, and junk in general.
If you get a message that you want to forward, the recipient might not be able to read your message.
Here is what you should do:
  1. Select all of the text in the message (CTRL+A)
  2. Copy (CTRL+C>
  3. Start a new message
  4. Click in the body of the new message
  5. Paste (CTRL+V)
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