E-Mail Programs, etc.
Last modified 1/22/07
One of the things the World
Wide Web is great for is sending messages to
one another. These messages can come in many forms. Web
pages contain messages of course but the communication
is primarily from the web
server to the user. If the user wants to send
a message back to a webmaster, they usually use e-mail.
E-mail is great for sending messages of all kinds to anybody with an
e-mail account, which is virtually everybody who can be connected to the
Internet. In order to get connected
to the Internet, you need an ISP or Internet Service Provider.
Your Internet connection could be provided by your work or school, but
most people are connected via ISPs.
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You can pay for an e-mail program or you
can get one free. There are advantages to both
and you might want at least one of each. Below are lists of many to choose
from and their features.
E-mail programs can also have other features such as address books and
even calendars. You can communicate with many people, all at the same
time, with Chat Rooms, or
Newsgroups . There's even
Instant
Messaging which is similar to e-mail, only the receiver of the message,
if they're online, sees the message appear instantly on their screen.
Table of Contents
E-Mail Programs & Features
Some features that you might look for in choosing an E-Mail program are:
- Address Book - Most e-mail programs have an address book where
you can store names and e-mail addresses of people you send -mail to
often.
- Auto-responder - this feature allows you to send an automatic
reply to people who send you e-mail. This is useful when you are on
vacation or you have a mailbox set up just to send information back
to the sender.
- Attachments - most programs allow you to send and receive files
that you attach to your e-mail such as images, sounds or programs. large
attachments can fill up your mail box in a hurry and can take a long
time to download. They can also contain software that can damage your
computer called viruses. So be careful about using attachments. Don't
ever open an attachment from someone you don't know. It might even be
a good idea to call them and ask what the attachment is before opening
it.
- Clickable URL and e-mail addresses - some programs allow you
to click or double-click on URLs in messages, which opens the URL in
your browser, or click on e-mail addresses contained in messages, to
open up a new e-mail window.
- Consolidation - some e-mail programs allow you to handle mail
from several e-mail accounts in one convenient place.
- Custom signatures - most programs let you have one or more
standard signatures that get automatically attached to the end of your
e-mails
- Discussion list threading - a few programs allow you to manage
discussion lists
- Draft Box - a place to store e-mail that is still in progress
or not yet ready to send.
- Filters - this feature allows you to block e-mail from people
you don't want to hear from including unsolicited advertisements called
SPAM. You can also have mail automatically filed into folders.
- Folders - some programs allow you to store your e-mail in convenient
folders that you set up to file your e-mail in (i.e., personal, work,
mom, humor, etc.)
- Forwarding - All programs let you forward email to someone
else. Some will automatically send email with a particular subject,
on to another email address.
- Free trial offer - sometimes you can try out the software for
a limited time before having to purchase it.
- Groups - Most e-mail programs allow you to set up groups of
e-mail address to send e-mail to such as a group of co-workers or friends.
- HTML compatible - some browsers can display HTML, others only
can display unformatted text. MIME HTML (MHTML) messages actually include
graphics, Java applets, and other objects.
- Languages - some programs are available in several languages
- Multiple accounts - some programs will allow you to switch
between several accounts
- Newsgroups - some e-mail programs let you read and write to
newsgroups.
- Offline editing - most programs will let you write, store and
file e-mail offline so you only need to be connected to the Internet
when sending and receiving e-mail.
- Scheduling - some programs let you designate when an e-mail
will be sent. This can be used to send reminders to yourself or others
about meetings, etc. Many programs allow you to set up a connection
schedule which allows your computer to check for e-mail on a regular
basis.
- Spell checker - a few programs have spell checkers built into
them.
- POP3, HTTP,
IMAP4 & SMTP
support - protocols for sending e-mail over the Internet.
Here are some good e-mail programs to check out:
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Internet Service Providers
When you sign up with an ISP (Internet Service Provider) you automatically
get at least one e-mail account. Sometimes you get several and you can
almost always pay for additional ones if you need them.
The most important feature of an ISP is a local phone number. Not all
services have "dial-up" numbers in all areas, so make sure any service
you consider has a local number before signing up. Otherwise you'll pay
for a lot of unnecessary long distance phone calls. To find an ISP in
your area check out The
Internet Service Provider Directory or The List or the ISP Guide.
Special Note for New Webmasters
When you sign up with a web host,
they usually give you at least one free e-mail account. You now have
(at least) two e-mail accounts. One with your ISP (username@your_isp.com)
and the other with your web host. In your e-mail program, you will probably
want to set it up so all of your mail comes to the same inbox. Some people
like to handle their web host e-mail separately from their ISP mail, so
they have separate e-mail readers to do this. If you get into heavy e-mail
marketing, I would suggest this, otherwise, keep it simple by dealing
with all your e-mail in the same place.
In some e-mail programs, there's an Accounts menu item in the Tools menu.
This may appear somewhere else in your e-mail program. Choose this menu
item and create a new POP mail account. Enter an account name (anything
to distinguish it from your ISP mail account) and then your name and default
web host e-mail address (ie, yourname@your_domain.com). Your account ID
and password are your user name and password with your web host. Your
POP server address should be mail.your_domain.com (but check with your
web host to be sure). The SMTP server may be one provided by your web
host or by your ISP. Your web host will need to provide this information
as well. After clicking OK, you should be able to receive all your mail
from both e-mail accounts.
Usually, your web host provides you with one main POP account and the
ability to add others. For each new POP account you will need to go through
the procedure above. Another, possibly better, way to handle many different
e-mail addresses is to just set up separate folders in your e-mail program
and use mail rules to automatically file incoming messages. Normally all
mail sent to a domain name goes to a default e-mail address (ie username@your_domain.com).
So you can receive mail for someothername@your_domain.com or webmaster@your_domain.com
or orders@your_domain.com all through your default address, and then use
mail rules to send all mail to orders@your_domain.com to a "Orders" folder.
Get the idea?
[Back to top]
Free E-Mail Programs
Why would you need more than one e-mail account? Free e-mail accounts
live on a very public server, so they can be accessed from anywhere in
the world. If you have an e-mail account at work or at school, it might
be a good idea to get another address to have your personal e-mail sent
to. That way, if you leave your job or graduate, you won't lose all your
email and you'll still be able to get your mail at the free account. They
can be slightly more secure than normal (especially company) e-mail accounts
too. They are also, more permanent. As long as you keep your account in
use (it will get deleted if not used for several months) it will be accessible
even if you change ISPs.
An extra address can come in handy for posting on bulletin boards or
USENET so that your primary address isn't exposed to spammers. Also you
to access many e-mail accounts through a Web interface, so you can check
your e-mail virtually anywhere in the world. Plus, you don't need any
software except an Internet browser!
Some features that you might look for in choosing a free E-Mail program
are:
- Address Book - Most e-mail programs have an address book where
you can store names and e-mail addresses of people you send -mail to
often.
- Auto-responder - this feature allows you to send an automatic
reply to people who send you e-mail. This is useful when you are on
vacation or you have a mailbox set up just to send information back
to the sender.
- Attachments - most programs allow you to send and receive files
that you attach to your e-mail such as images, sounds or programs. large
attachments can fill up your mail box in a hurry and can take a long
time to download. They can also contain software that can damage your
computer called viruses. So be careful about using attachments. Don't
ever open an attachment from someone you don't know. It might even be
a good idea to call them and ask what the attachment is before opening
it.
- Consolidation - some e-mail programs allow you to handle mail
from several e-mail accounts in one convenient place.
- Custom signatures - most programs let you have one or more
standard signatures that get automatically attached to the end of your
e-mails
- Forwarding - All programs let you forward email to someone
else. Some will automatically send email with a particular subject,
on to another email address.
- Folders - some programs allow you to store your e-mail in convenient
folders that you set up to file your e-mail in (i.e., personal, work,
mom, humor, etc.)
- Filters - this feature allows you to block e-mail from people
you don't want to hear from including unsolicited advertisements called
SPAM. You can also have mail automatically filed into folders.
- Spell checker - a few programs have spell checkers built into
them.
Here are some resources on
free E-Mail programs to check out.
[Back to top]
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