May 30, 2001

E-mail is one program almost all computer users are familiar with as far as sending and receiving, but using e-mail can be a lot easier and less hassle if you use a few tips for easier operation and etiquette.

First of all, when you send an e-mail to someone, always be sure to include a subject. If you have 6 e-m's from Joe and are looking for a specific one, if there are not any subjects on his e-m's it is very difficult to find the one you're looking for. You will end up opening up several before you find the one you want, so be sure to put in an appropriate description of your subject when you send mail. Sending copies to other people is one of the biggest topics of discussion. As in a business, the CC: (carbon copy) line is used when you want the recipient to be aware that other people also received a copy of the mail they received. How many times have you been frustrated to get a one or two line e-m and have the To:, or CC: line contain six rows of people the mail was sent to. This is the time to use the BCC: feature (blind carbon copy). When you send a BCC:, none of the recipients will be able to see the names of the other people it was sent to. Just think of it, if you have a business and you send an e-m to all of your customers and you send it with a CC:, everyone you sent the mail to has a copy of your customer list, not a good idea!

Filtering e-mail is another topic I end up discussing with clients on a regular basis. You can block senders of annoying mail and also set up filters to help keep unwanted junk out of your inbox. Spending an hour with clients going over filtering options can be well worth the time. I also recommend you set up a free e-mail account on any of the free services such as Yahoo and Hotmail. That way, every time you're on a site which requires registering, you give them that e-mail address. You check the account every couple of weeks and delete the messages, and viola!, the inbox of your regular e-mail is virtually junk mail free.  Click here for more info on setting up filters.  Hotmail Users NOTE: When you setup a Hotmail account or if you've had one for a long time, make sure you go into your profile options and make sure to un-check the boxes giving them permission to share your address and those in your address book.

It is usually best to steer clear of using html (Pictures and backgrounds) in e-mail. If you are sending messages to people who are using free services, many of them can't receive html messages or attachments. People who use services like AOL have to download the graphics separately so this can be very annoying, confusing, and a downright pain.

While we're on the subject of attachments, make sure when you attach files to an e-m that you keep the size as small as possible. Large files take a long time to send and receive, and anymore, a lot of people delete large e-m's since they are afraid they may contain a virus. Also, don't rename the files, especially pictures, without keeping the three letter extension on the file name. If you rename it, the person's computer on the other end doesn't know what program to open it up in and they will go nuts trying to figure out what to do.

There are also other options like making a web page, putting the pictures on it, transferring it to your web space and sending them the links. If you have the software, I could probably explain how to do this in an hour or two at your computer. I could go on and on with other subjects since e-mail is so popular now but these subjects are the most popular. If you have any other question or concerns it might be best to schedule a session to smooth things out.

Another note of interest: The newer versions of Microsoft Outlook contain a setting on the Security tab in the options settings which is checked by default. It will not allow you to open attachments if it thinks there is a possibility the attachment contains a virus. Problem is, it is usually wrong and won't let you open the attachments you really need to open. I recommend un-checking the option to prevent not being able to open attachments.

As always, if you have any questions or comments, click