| Now that you've got an email address, you
can tell your friends how to get in touch with you, then receive
messages from them. This guide tells you how to give out your
email address and check your messages.
Relevant to: Windows 95/98/2000/Me/XP, Outlook Express 4/5/6
Introduction
If you want someone to be able to send you email messages,
you'll need to let them know your email address. Your email
address is the address you chose when you set up your account.
Our email addresses are formatted like this:
mail@theopenworld.com.
When giving someone your address, whether verbally or in
writing, be sure it's exact and complete, including any symbols
and punctuation.
The easiest way to give someone your email address is to send
them an email. Then, when they reply to it, your address is
automatically used.
When people send you email messages, they don't come directly to
your PC. They're stored on our mail server (server is basically
a fancy name for a big computer that stores stuff) ready for you
to pick up. When you tell your email software, Outlook Express,
to receive messages, it connects to the server via the Internet
and downloads the waiting messages to your computer.
How to check your mail
If you're not already in Outlook Express, open it now (as
explained in 'Sending your first email'). To tell Outlook
Express to receive messages, click on the Send/Receive button at
the top left of the screen.
Connect to the Internet
A box will come up asking you to confirm that you want to
connect to the Internet. Click on Connect. If you have more than
one connection make sure the correct one is selected in the top
box.
Note: If you are already online you
will not see this box!
Download your messages
Outlook Express will now connect to our mail server and
receive any waiting messages. This will take a few seconds, and
you'll see information displayed about what's happening. (Note:
if you are already connected to the Internet, your mail will be
transferred immediately).
If you've got mail, it'll now be in your Inbox. Click on the
word Inbox at the left of the screen, below the grey bar
labelled 'Folders'. The large area to the right changes to show
what's in your Inbox. There'll be a number of introductory
messages relating to your theopenworld account, followed by any
actual received messages.
Under the heading ?From? you can see who sent each message. This
isn't usually their email address, but the ?real name? they've
entered in their email software. Under the heading ?Subject? you
can see the title they've given the message.
Open a message
To see what's in a message, click once on it with the left
mouse button. The message appears in the area below. To open up
the message and read it, double-click it. This pops up a
separate window containing the message.
If you can't see the whole message, you can move (or ?scroll?)
up and down using the arrows to the right of the text. You can
also make the window bigger if you like. Move the pointer onto
the diagonal lines at the bottom right of the window, so that it
turns into a double-headed arrow. Then click the left mouse
button and hold it down while moving the mouse down and to the
right. Let go of the button when the window is the size you
want.
If the message has arrived in reply to one that you sent
earlier, you may see all or part of your own message repeated
within it. This is called ?quoting?, and it?s simply to remind
you what the reply is referring to. Each line is usually
preceded by a chevron like this > to show that it's part of your
original message.
Replying to your mail
To reply to the message you're reading, click on the Reply
button. This appears at the top of the screen, near the Create
Mail button, when you're reading an incoming message. An
identical button can also be found within the message window;
they both do the same thing.
The details are filled in automatically...
A new message window appears with some parts already filled
in. The ?To? box contains the name of the person you're replying
to. The ?Subject? box is the same as in the message you're
replying to. You can change it if you like.
Type your reply
Left click over the white space at the top of the message
(just above where it says "----- Original Message -----". When
you have finished typing your reply, click the send button and
its sent! |
