E-Mail

With e-mail, you don't have to bother with envelopes or stamps or the U.S. Postal Service. Moreover, your message gets to its destination in minutes or hours rather than days or weeks. Your Netscape Navigator browser may be configured to handle your e-mail. If not, ask your Internet Service Provider to set you up. This section will tell you about:

• Checking for e-mail
• Sending e-mail
• Other things you can do with e-mail.

CHECKING FOR E-MAIL

You can check whether you have any e-mail by selecting Netscape Mail in the Window menu in the menu bar or by clicking on the mail icon (the small envelope symbol at the bottom right of the window). The Netscape Mail window will come up. You will then have to enter your password, press the Get Mail button, and single click on the piece of mail in the list that you want to read.

SENDING E-MAIL

There are four steps to take in order to send an e-mail:

1. Initiating an e-mail message
2. Addressing an e-mail message
3. Sending an e-mail message
4. Entering a subject (or not)

INITIATING AN E-MAIL MESSAGE -- The easiest way to start sending an e-mail to a Chapter 13 staff member is to click on one of the links to staff members in the Staff Directory on our Communicate with our office staff page. The Message Composition window will come up with the e-mail address of the staff member already entered for you.

You can also start sending an e-mail message in several other ways, such as:

• selecting the New Mail Message item in the File menu.
• pressing Command M on the keyboard.
• selecting Netscape Mail in the Window menu or clicking on the envelope icon at the bottom right of the window, and then selecting the To: Mail button in the toolbar.

The Message Composition window will appear.

ADDRESSING AN E-MAIL MESSAGE -- In the Message Composition window you enter the e-mail address of the person you want to reach after the words "Mail To:." If you cannot see the words "Mail To:," open the View menu and select Mail To.

You will notice that there are some other options you can select to appear in the address pane of the Message Composition window. The one you are most likely to use is the Mail Cc item. This allows you to address the same message to other people. Separate each address with a comma.

You can place your pointer in the text entry fields you choose by using the mouse or by pressing the tab button on the keyboard.

After you have addressed the message move your pointer into the message space and type your message.

SENDING AN E-MAIL MESSAGE --Send your message by:

• clicking on the SendNow button in the Message Composition window toolbar, or
• selecting Send Mail Now in the View menu, or
• pressing Command enter on your keyboard.

ENTERING A SUBJECT (OR NOT) -- If you haven't typed anything in the Subject text entry field in the Message Composition window, a dialog box will now open asking you to enter a subject. You can enter the subject in the text entry field in this dialog box, then click the OK button.

If you click OK before you enter a subject, the message will be sent without one.

If you click on the Cancel button, the dialog box will disappear. If you now click on the Send button, the message will be sent without a subject indicated. Or you can enter a subject in the Subject text entry field on the Message Composition window before you send.

OTHER THINGS YOU CAN DO WITH E-MAIL

You can send a copy of the Web page you are viewing by selecting Mail Document... in the File menu. The URL of the Web page will appear in the message space and the Web page will appear as an attachment in the Attachments pane of the Message Composition window.

You can attach a file to your e-mail message by clicking on the Attach button in the Message Composition window toolbar, then clicking on the Attach File... button and choosing the file you want to send. You can attach several files. When you are done, click on the Done button and you will see the attachments you have chosen in the Attachments box on the Message Composition window.