E-mail (electronic mail) is the exchange of computer-stored messages by telecommunication. (Some publications spell it email; we prefer the currently more established spelling of e-mail.) E-mail messages are usually encoded in ASCII text. However, you can also send non-text files, such as graphic images and sound files, as attachments sent in binary streams. E-mail was one of the first uses of the Internet and is still the most popular use. A large percentage of the total traffic over the Internet is e-mail. E-mail can also be exchanged between online service provider users and in networks other than the Internet, both public and private.
E-mail can be distributed to lists of people as well as to individuals. A shared distribution list can be managed by using an e-mail reflector. Some mailing lists allow you to subscribe by sending a request to the mailing list administrator. A mailing list that is administered automatically is called a list server.
Email Use
A sender (person) uses a mail agent (program) to compose a message, which contains the e-mail addresses of several recipients. The agent passes the message to a transport service for delivery to the mailboxes of the recipients, who each use their own agents to read the e-mail.
The following sections provide basic information on how to use email.
Email Client Applications
Email Program Configuration
Email Addressing
Email Subjects
Email Composition
Sending Email
Reading Email
Replying To Email
Forwarding Email
Saving Email
Deleting Email.
Email Client Applications
You have several choices for your email client application, including a range of web email services. However, many people prefer to use a stand-alone application designed specifically for email since they sometimes have a better focus and features. Some people avoid the Microsoft Outlook application because of its historic vulnerability to viruses.
Eudora was one of the most widely used email applications through the 1990's and into the first years of the new century. IncrediMail has received good reviews. Pegasus mail is a shareware application but not recommended because of the complexity of the interface. The Thunderbird client from Mozilla is particularly recommended.
Email Program Configuration
Your email client needs to be correctly configured to work properly. Each email application has a Settings, Options, Preferences, or similar menu item under the Edit or Tools menu. The best advice for initial configuration of your email client is to follow the instructions of your Internet Service Provider, who will usually provide telephone help with setup of email settings for most common email clients.
After you are familiar with the options, you can feel comfortable in changing them to suit your needs. Common settings are described below in alphabetical order:
• Address: Your email address, such as "jsmith@twenty.net".
• Attachment directory: Set this to the name of the folder where you wish attachments to be stored. You should create a folder called "Attachments" or "Download Files", and store it on your desktop or somewhere easily accessible so that downloaded attachments don't get buried where you won't notice them.
• Check for mail: Set to some reasonable interval for automatically checking if you have mail, such as 15 minutes.
• Connection method: Often PPP, or network, modem, or offline. Historical: SLIP (late 1990's).
• Copies: Option may be "Keep copies", "Retain copy", "Copy to Out mailbox" or similar option. Make sure this is turned on so that you keep copies of all mail you send. You can check that this feature is working by looking to see that sent mail is in fact retained in your Out mailbox.
• Encoding: The best method for encoding attachments is MIME. If the recipient can't read the attachment, try BinHex, Uuencode, or AppleDouble for the Macintosh, in that order, but always change it back to MIME for everyone else.
• Email notification: May also be called Email Alert or Email Alarm. Set to the type of alarm you desire: none, sound, or alert box. A sound is a good compromise -- something you will notice, but unobtrusive if you are working on important work.
• Finger: Your Internet provider's domain name, such as "twenty.net".
• Immediate send: Select this to make sure that email is sent when you send it.
• Leave mail on server: Do not select this, and do select any option that lets you download the mail to your computer. Therefore, when you read your email you will actually get possession of it.
• Name: Your name.
• POP account: Your email address, in the form "user@twenty.net".
• Quoted-Printable: Turn this option off. This option is needed by older programs to transmit special characters such as accented characters, but is not supported by many modern programs. If it is turned on, it will often end up putting a whole bunch of equal signs in the email, like th=is, mak=ing it ver=y hard to rea=d.
• Return address: Your email address, in the form "user@twenty.net".
• Return receipts. Enables you to set the return receipt option on or off for all outgoing emails. Some applications also include an option to ignore all incoming requests for receipts.
• Save password: Saves your password in your email program the first time you enter it, so you don't have to retype it every time you log on. This is the most convenient and safest option, unless you think someone could use your computer without your knowledge and might read your email. Most people turn this on.
• SMTP server: The domain name of your email provider's Simple Mail Transfer Protocol server, in the form "twenty.net".
• Spell-Check: Always turn this on so you can do an automatic spell-check before sending.
• Word wrap: When this option is selected, long lines of text are automatically cut into shorter lines, usually between 70 and 80 characters in length, by the insertion of return characters. This is performed for older email readers that can't automatically word wrap a long paragraph of text. This option is not needed for most modern applications, and you should turn it off for most uses. (Also see ASCII Standard Text Format).
Email Addressing
The two main rules of email address management are to paste addresses into your address book, and address each email as the last step of composition:
• Paste addresses. You should copy and paste addresses into the to field instead of typing them for both ease of use and accuracy. Address typing mistakes are very easy to make. If it is an address you will use again, then you should always enter it in your address book.
• Enter it last. Always enter the address last so you don't send an email before you're ready. You can't send an email by mistake that isn't addressed, either by loss of concentration or an inadvertent click.
If you want to send an email to more than one person at once, you can enter multiple email addresses separated with commas in any of the address fields, including the BCC field.
You can copy addresses from email links on web pages with most browsers by right clicking on them and then selecting "copy link location". You can then paste the address into your email or address book; however, you sometimes need to remove the "mailto:" prefix if it is copied as part of the HTML code.
Email Subjects
The Subject line ... should be suggestive enough of the contents of the article to enable a reader to make a decision whether to read the article based on the subject alone.
- RFC 850; Standard for Interchange of USENET Messages; Mark Horton; June 1983.
One of the most important rules of good email netiquette is to always enter a meaningful subject line for your email. In a typical long list of emails in an inbox, the subject line is the most prominent field, and so a meaningful subject is the most useful pieces of information you can include with your email to make it convenient to process by the recipient and deliver the message you wish to convey. Some examples of good and bad subjects are shown below:
Bad Good
Misc Free tickets to tonight's game!
Request Request: Widget part number
Meeting Team Building Session - All Hands
Example Subjects
Email Composition
Emails are often written in an informal style, and are generally brief. The text of an email is entered in the main body of the message. The most important tip for writing an email message is brevity (see netiquette -- be brief). People typically get so many emails in a day that a long email often doesn't get ready until later -- sometimes much, much later, if at all.
Remember that you can copy text from a document or another email and paste it into a new email, so you don't have to retype text. Many email programs will also let you paste pictures and documents directly into your message.
Email is more informal than paper mail because it is used with more frequency and immediacy. Unless it is a personal letter, email usually gets right to the point without a lengthy introduction. Many people don't include a "Dear Sir" clause, and often do not include a signoff, letting the "To:" and "From:" fields speak for themselves. Signatures can also include a standard signoff.
Make sure that you have turned off any word wrap options that cut lines into standard lengths by inserting carriage returns, since these are unnecessary and cause formatting problems with most modern email programs. You can avoid having the formatting of your email get messed up by putting your email in Text Standard Format.
Sending Email
Reread your email before sending, spell-check, and never send an email while angry.
You can send an email in five basic actions: (1) press -n to create a new email, (2) type the message, (3) enter the subject, (4) enter the addressee's email address, (5) send. However, first make sure that you have followed the three email sending commandments:
• Reread. Always reread your email and make sure it doesn't contain anything inappropriate that