Ed596

Ed596 Technology for Teachers
E-Mail Enhancers

by Deborah Healey



Nicknames and Address Lists

You can create nicknames and an address book in any mail program, though some make it easier than others. The first step is to find the command you need to use to create a nickname or address list. On Pine, you can go to the Address book from the main menu. If you're using Eudora, the Special menu has Address Book; Netscape has the Address Book under the Windows menu, with Add User under the Item menu; etc.

There are usually two to four pieces to the address book:

  1. the short name/nickname you want to use -- for example, DH or Deborah
  2. the long name of the addressee -- for practice, use my name: Deborah Healey
  3. description -- whatever information you want to add in order to remember who this person is
  4. the email address -- Deborah.Healey@orst.edu

Put in an address for me to start with. In Pine, go to the Main menu, then choose Address Book. Choose Add. You'll see:

Type in a nickname for me, my full name, leave FCC blank, add (if you so desire) a description, then put my email address. Save and exit with Ctrl-X. If you need to make changes, move to the address to change and press Return. You'll see the fields you saw before, but filled in. Move the the place you need to change, then save and exit with Ctrl-X.

Another option with an address book is to send email to a group of people (your class, for example) with just one nickname. We're going to work with this class as a group. It works the same way as adding one person, but you just keep adding names with a comma between them. Put the Ed596 as the nickname, whatever you like as the full name, leave FCC blank, add a comment if you so desire, then type in each person's email address, separated by a comma. Save and exit with Ctrl-X.


With Pine 3.91 when you go to the Address book, instead of choosing A to add an address, you'll choose S to Create a list. At that point, you type in the long name for the list (such as Ed596 class list), then a one-word nickname for the list (such as Ed596), then the email address of the first person. Press Enter, then add the email address of the second person, Enter, 3rd address, etc. When you're finished entering addresses, press Enter twice. To add an address to a list in Pine 3.91, you'll get into the address book, move down to the group you need to change, and type Z. It will ask you to type in the address and press Enter.

Other email programs: In Eudora, go to the Address Book and instead of just typing one name in the address(es) box, type the five or six names in your group, pressing Enter after each name. In Netscape, open the Address Book and choose Add List rather than Add User from the Item menu. You'll type a name for the group where it says New Folder. Next go back to Add User under the Item menu, add the individuals, then drag their names into the folder.


Folders/Mailboxes

People who create mail programs also get a lot of email, so they have considerately included in all mailers a way to group your messages so that you can find what you want more easily. In most mail programs, you can create "folders" or "mailboxes" to sort and save messages into. Here are instructions for three of the mail programs I use.

Pine

Pine uses "folders." When you go to the Inbox to read messages in Pine, you're actually in a folder called Inbox. If you choose L from the Main Menu, you'll see a list of folders you already have. To move a message from your inbox into a folder, you need to select that message (the same way that you read it), then type S (Save). It will ask you what folder to save the message into.

To create a new folder and save the message into it, just type the name of the new folder, such as Introductions or Assignments or My Group. It will ask if you want to create the new folder, and you'll say Yes. If you're not sure what you called a folder or if one already exists, type S to save, then type Ctrl-T to see the list of folders. You can select from that list or cancel the action. Now if you want to read the messages in a specific folder, you can go to the List of folders from the Main Menu or from reading a message (but not from composing a message).

Select your folder from the List of folders, then click on the message you want to read. To go back to the Inbox, you'll do the same thing - select Inbox from the List of folders.

Eudora

On Eudora, just go to the Mailbox menu and select New. Name it Ed596 and click on "Make it a folder." The program will prompt you to create a mailbox inside it. Type a name, such as Introductions. You can create more mailboxes inside the Ed596 folder, such a Mail from my Group, Assignments, etc. Now go to your In mailbox (under the Mailboxes menu). Click on a message that you want to put into a mailbox, then pull down the Transfer menu to the appropriate mailbox. The message will "disappear" into the new mailbox. To read what's in a mailbox, pull down the Mailbox menu to the mailbox you want to see.

Netscape

Netscape uses "folders." You can create a new folder from the File menu, then drag and drop your messages into the folder. Double-click on the folder to open it, then read your messages as usual. Pretty easy, eh?


Go back to the Ed596 Home Page

http://www.orst.edu/~healeyd/ed596/email_enhancers.html
Updated 6/16/97 by D. Healey, Deborah.Healey@orst.edu