Lesson 7

eMail 1

• email is one of the most common uses of the Internet
• With e-mail you can send a message to somebody in an instant
• You can also send files and pictures with your message like an on-line parcel!
• There are two kinds of e-mail accounts:
  • POP3 e-mail - this is the kind of email account your Internet Service Provider might give you. You can download the messages onto your computer using Outlook Express.
  • Webmail - with this sort of email service, you check your email on the Internet which means you can access your email anywhere in the world.
  • (Some webmail services also offer POP3 e-mail.)

Sign up for a free webmail account

• There are a number of free webmail services that you might have heard of:
  • Yahoo! mail
  • Hotmail
  • Google mail
• They all offer very similar services, but on this course we will use www.inbox.com because:
  • It is quick and easy to register
  • There are fewer users so you are more likely to get the email address you want
  • You can alter the appearance of the email service
  • You also get an address book, calendar, notes page, online storage facility and online photo album.

1. Click here to open a blank page
2. Type in the web address www.inbox.com. Inbox is similar to the Yahoo! site. It has news and a search facility.
3. Click on the yellow sign-up icon:
   
4. The sign-up process is straight-forward. You will have to choose an email address and a password.
   1. Your email address will be [e-mail]
   2. You get to choose the first part of the e-mail address
   3. Most people just put their full name, all lower case letters with no spaces eg fredjones
   4. The only symbols you can use are hyphens - and underscores _
   5. If someone has already registered your name, you will have to choose something else. Try adding your middle name, initials or birthday
   6. Your password should be easy to for you to remember, but hard for someone else to guess! Write it down somewhere safe if you think you might forget it.
   7. When you have entered your details click on continue:
      
5. During the next step, choose a question then type the answer to help you in case you forget your password.
   1. Click in box next to I do not have an alternate email address
   2. Type in the security code that appears as a picture
   3. Click in the box to accept the terms of use
   4. Click on continue:
      
6. The final step asks if you want to download the desktop notifier. This is a useful utility that will notify you if you have a new message even if you are not logged into inbox.com. You can download this if you are doing this at home. If you are doing this in class, then make sure you clear the tick:
   
7. The final step is a confirmation of your new e-mail address. Print this page for your records:
   
8. Click on continue to your email account. You email account will actually open in a new window. You will need to maximise this window:
   
9. You can change the appearance of your email account now, or you can leave it until later if you prefer. All the instructions on this site refer to the default, blue theme. Click on don't show tips to prevent this screen from being displayed again:
   
10. Click on save and apply if you have changed the colour or layout.

Your new email account

• Well done, you now have an inbox.com email account
• Make sure you have made a note of your email address and your password as you will need these each time you want to access you email

1. Your email account should look like this:
   
2. You will have one message from inbox.com which welcomes you to your new account.
3. Notice that next to the words inbox on the left hand side is a number (1) showing you that you have 1 new and unread message.
4. The message title appears in bold showing that you haven't read it yet.
5. Click anywhere on the message to open it.
6. Once opened, apart from being able to read the email, there are lots of other options:
   
7. You can see the email address of the sender. In this case it is [e-mail]
8. You could reply to the sender or forward the message to someone else.
9. You can delete the message or mark it as spam (junk e-mail).
10. Print out the e-mail by clicking on the print icon on the right hand side.
11. A new window will open and the print dialog should appear automatically. When printing has finished, click close window:
    
12. Close the message by clicking on Back to list
13. Logout of the email system, by clicking on logout found just above the search web icon on the right hand side. You should always log out when you have finished using your email
14. Once logged out you will see this screen:
    
15. If you are using your email at home you can check the box, remember me on this computer. If using it on a public computer, never check this box.

Summary

In this lesson you have:

• Signed up for a free webmail account with inbox.com
• Chosen your own email address
• Chosen a, hopefully, secure password
• Read and printed out your first email

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