Digital Resources

2. Email

Index

2. Cover page and index.2.1 Creating and managing labels. Pg.2-32.2 Fundamentals. Pg.42.3 Printing an email. Pg.52.4 Closing down you email account. Pg. 62.5 What is email? Pg. 72.6 Setting up your own email account. Pg.8-122.7 Open an email. Pg.132.8 Sending an email. Pg.14-152.9 Responding to an email. Pg.162.10 Attachments. Pg.17-18

1

2.1 Creating and managing labels

When you use Google Mail, it opens as the view shown below. This gives you an overview of your labels and things that may need your immediate attention.

E-mail messages are stored in labels on the left hand side, there are several labels created automatically by Google Mail, a few examples include:

- Inbox — stores new messages when they arrive - Sent Items — stores copies of messages that you have sent, so that you

can keep track of your correspondence. - Drafts — stores messages you haven’t finished working on. Every few

minutes, Outlook automatically saves messages you are writing - Trash — is a temporary store for items you have deleted

Adding new labels is achieved by single clicking More > Create new label and then entering the name of the label you wish to appear. In the example below I have made two new labels which are circled named Ebay and Newydd Housing Association.

2

Managing your labels is done by single clicking More > Manage labels and then selecting the show / hide button in the show in label list. This is shown below:

3

2.2 Email fundamentals

To send someone an e-mail, you need to know their e-mail address. All e-mail addresses are unique, but they all have the same format:

scott.tandy@newydd.co.uk

scott.tandy: the first part identifies the individual — it may be their full name, initials or a nickname.

@: this symbol separates the name from the rest of the e-mail address.

newydd: the next part of the address is the domain — the name of the organisation that owns the e-mail account.

.co.uk: the last part is the domain extension that tells you the type of organisation or the country in which it is registered, just like the extension of a web site’s domain name.

It’s important to type an e-mail address accurately as if there are any mistakes the e-mail won’t reach the recipient. It doesn’t matter, though, whether you use upper- or lower-case letters.

4

2.3 Printing an email

You will sometimes need to print an e-mail you have received if it contains information you want to use away from the computer. To print a single copy of an open message, click File > Print to open up the print option panel.

5

2.4 Closing down your email account

When you have finished working with your Google Mail account and want to log out, single click on your profile in the top right hand corner of the outlook pane and single click on ‘Sign out.’

6

2.5 What is Email?Email is short for 'electronic mail'. Similar to a letter, it is sent via the internet to a recipient. An email address is required to receive email, and that address is unique to the user.

There are many web based Email providers which will allow you to access and store emails, these include GoogleMail, Outlook, Hotmail, Yahoo and MSN. Internet email can be a flexible option as you can access emails from any computer that has internet access anywhere in the world.

Key benefits and features of using email:

It's quick – your recipient receives your email as soon as they go online and collect their mail.

It's secure.

It's low cost.

Photos, documents and other files can be attached to an email, so that more information can be shared.

One email can be sent to more than one recipient at a time.

7

2.6 Setting up your own Email account:

In this guide, we’re going to show you how to get started with email by creating an account in Google Mail.

Step 1: Open up your internet browser and go to the Google home page: http://www.google.co.uk.

Step 2: At the top left corner of the page of the main Google page is a menu bar. Click on Gmail in the bar.

8

Step 3: You’ll now be in the ‘Sign in’ section. As you don’t have a Google account yet, you need to create one. Click Create an account.

Step 4: To set up your new account, Google needs some information about you – first, your first and last names. The ‘choose your username’ is the unique email address that you wish to use, which will be placed before ‘@gmail.com’. Because it needs to be unique, Google may have to check the availability of any name that you decide on to make sure that no one already has it. Type an email name into the ‘choose your username’ box and then fill out the rest of your information. You will need to ensure that the ‘I agree to the Google terms of service and Privacy Policy’ is ticked. Then click next step.

9

Step 5: If the email name that you requested in is not available, you’ll get a message saying that somebody already has that username and offering you some alternatives. You can decide to accept one of the alternatives or type in another name and check its availability once more. You will have to complete some of the other boxes again. You may have to do this a few times. Once you finalise your email address, it’s a good idea to make a note of it so that you can refer to it until you remember it.

10

Step 6: You’ll need to come up with a password so that you can log in securely to your account. Google may explain that you should try one with at least 8 characters long to be secure. Use letters and numbers to make the password more secure and difficult to guess. You’ll need to re-enter your password to ensure that it’s you choosing it and not a hacker’s (ro)bot. This is why it also asks you to insert two random words at the bottom of the page – this is a CAPTCHA code. You can skip this step if you don’t want to type in the CAPTCHA code but you will need to verify via a mobile phone if you don’t.

Step 7: Once you have completed this page fully, clicking Next Step will take you to the Create Profile Page. If you don’t wish to have a picture on the web, click Next Step to complete setting up your email. If you do, Click on Add Profile Photo and find a photo to add. Then click Next Step. Step 8: You will now have set up your account. You can go straight to your inbox and get started, or you can set up a photo to show as your profile picture.

11

Click on Add a photo to upload a photo and select a photo.

Or click on Next Step to go to your inbox and get started.

(http://digitalunite.com/guides/email/how-create-gmail-account)

12

2.7 Open an email

To open an e-mail message in its own window, double-click on the relevant message in the inbox.

You can open more messages, and each will have its own window and its own button on the task bar. To make a different e-mail message active, click on its button on the task bar.

Close a message by clicking on its close button in the top right-hand corner.

13

2.8 Sending an emailTo compose a new email message, click on the ‘Compose’ button in the label pane.

A new, empty message opens up in its own window.

In the ‘To’ field,’ type the email address of the person you want to send the message to. . It doesn’t matter whether you use capital or lower-case letters however you must type it accurately, as otherwise the message will not get through to them.

In the ‘Subject’ field, outline the topic or subject matter of your e-mail, so that the person(s) receiving the message can see what it is about when it arrives in their inbox.

14

Type the text of your e-mail in the main area of the window.When you have finished writing an e-mail message, click on the Send button.

15

2.9 Responding to an email

When you receive a message, you will often want to send a reply. To do this click on the reply button:

A message box will appear at the bottom of the email you wish to reply to, as a thread. This is highlighted within the box below:

Once you have entered your message, click Send to send the Reply.

16

2.10 Attaching a document to an email

A file sent with a message is called an attachment. You can send one or a number of files along with an e-mail message dependant of the size of the files. Some examples of files which you can send include text documents, pictures, sounds and even short videos.

To send a file with an email, click on the insert file button in an open message:

This opens a dialogue box for you to choose a file to send. Select the file you want to send and click on Insert.

17

Your files will begin attaching themselves to the message, and once attached will appear at the bottom of the message:

If you attach the wrong file, you can delete it from the message by clicking on the ‘X’ on the right hand side of each attachment. This does not delete the file from its original location on the computer, it just takes it out of the message.

To send the message, click Send.

If you are sending an attachment, you must be aware that there are certain problems associated with sending and receiving attachments:

Some types of files — such as .EXE files, which run a program on the computer — are a security risk, and many e-mail programs will not allow them to be delivered or opened.

Viruses can be carried by attachments; scan the file for viruses before you attach it.

If the attachment is too large it will not allow you to send it. The person you are sending the attachment to may not be able to open

the attached file if they don’t have the right kind of software.

18