Email basics
There's not much need for me to write about the basics of email, because there's already plenty of good information out there on the Web. I've picked a few websites that looked good and here are the links:
- Email Basics Part 1 - Part 2 - Part3 at TNPC.
- A comprehensive article about email (click the "print" link when you get there to display the article all on one page).
- The"Crabby Office Lady discusses the top email discourtesies, and "Netiquette" outlines common sense and courtesy for email. One thing that they both miss is that "best practice" is to send your email as plain text, not HTML.
- If you just can't resist forwarding that joke, a tutorial by Somewhere in Time shows how to forward it properly using "Bcc".
- Microsoft has a useful article titled Compose and Send E-Mail Messages Using Outlook Express and another on "netiquette", emoticons and acronyms.
- If you want to learn more, fire off a Google search like one of these:
http://www.google.com/search?q=email+basics
http://www.google.com/search?q=email+for+beginners
Beyond the Basics
- A glossary of email terms by the Crabby Office Lady.
- "Inside OE Home" is a definitive site that covers all aspects of Outlook Express.
- It's unfortunate that the default message format for Outlook Express is HTML. To change the format, go to Tools (Edit or View for older versions) > Options > Send (tab) > select Plain Text for the Mail Sending Format. Similar preferences are available in most email clients.
- You can always use HTML for messages when it's called for -- like when you want to insert a picture in the message. When you compose the new message, just go to Format > Rich Text (HTML) in the menu. That will switch the format to HTML for just that message.
PC-based or web-based?
PC-based: I highly recommend Thunderbird because it is very secure. It is also easy to back up the accounts, settings, address book and email for Thunderbird.
Most other alternatives to Outlook Express offer better security too. They also make backup easier. Eudora is a powerful email client that is now under the wing of Mozilla. Eudora will be free in the future.
Web-based email services, for example, Yahoo! Mail, Gmail and Windows Live Mail (was Hotmail) are easier for many people to use than email clients are. I've used Gmail and really liked it, but I now use Yahoo! Mail (Plus), which I access through Thunderbird. CNet has a useful comparison of the three.
Back up your email messages
Mozilla.org tells you how to back up Thunderbird. Inside OE Home covers all aspects of Outlook Express, including backup. You might get ideas there for backing up and using other email clients too. About.com also has backup and restore tips for Outlook Express
Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft all back up your web-mail, but you may want to also have your own backup. One way is to simply save important messages to your hard drive. You could also use either POP or the POP Forwarding option instead.
Email safety
Email is the primary way that online pirates attack computers. The most important thing you can do to protect your computer is never, ever open any email attachment that you have the slightest doubt about. Even if the message is addressed directly to you and comes from someone you know. Always check with the sender directly -- most messages with malicious attachments appear to come from someone you know these days. (Just send them an email asking if they intended to send an attachment.)Go to the safe email page to learn the other things you should know about email safety.
Spam
There are several things you can do to control spam. For example, use a "throwaway" address when you get a dubious request for your email address. The Spam page tells how to use throwaway addresses, as well as other ways to avoid spam.
*Never* reply to spam in order to be removed from mailing lists. All this does is let the spammer know that your address is real. The spammer will then sell your validated address to many other spammers and you'll be inundated by spam.
Email for SnowBirds
Here are some ways to maintain a permanent email address, even though you migrate with the seasons:
- Use an email address service that's also designed to sidestep spam. I recommend Spamex if you use an email client -- Outlook Express or Thunderbird -- to read your email.
- I heartily recommend Gmail if you prefer the convenience and "portability" of Web mail. It's the first real advance in email in 20 years.
- Get a "professional" email account that's independent from your ISP. Look into FastMail. They offer a "Guest" and a "Member" account. [free or $14.95 one-time fee respectively]
- Use a "National" ISP. It's an obvious strategy, but probably not best one, for keeping the same address (you may want to change you ISP sometime in the future). Be sure they have a local access number everywhere you want to use their service.
- Get a free Web mail account: I recommend Gmail or Yahoo! Mail or Windows Live Mail.