Introduction to

Transcription

1 Introduction to Ramsey County Library Maplewood Library 3025 Southlawn Drive Maplewood, MN Mounds View Library 2576 County Hwy. 10 Mounds View, MN New Brighton Library th Street NW New Brighton, MN North St. Paul Library 2300 North St. Paul Drive North St. Paul, MN Roseville Library 2180 Hamline Ave N Roseville, MN Shoreview Library 4570 N. Victoria Street Shoreview, MN White Bear Lake Library 4698 Clark Avenue White Bear Lake, MN

2 How to sign up for a free account There are many providers of free (electronic mail). We teach only Yahoo! because it s easy to use. Most other providers of free have a similar sign up procedure. allows you to send and receive paperless messages. Electronic pictures, documents, and programs may also be ed, although not from the library s computers. All that is needed is an address for both sender and recipient. An address consists of a user ID or logon, symbol, and the name of the ISP (Internet Service Provider) or service plus a domain name. The account we use for these practice sessions is: ramseylib@yahoo.com (Ramsey County Library at the Yahoo! service in the Commercial domain) Cautions Spam Electronic junk, or unsolicited, mail. Because the Internet is public, there is little that can be done to prevent spam, just as it is impossible to prevent junk mail. Spammers use software programs that troll the Internet looking for addresses. Today, it is almost impossible to shop online without providing a valid address. Merchants are opening the door for a flood of unsolicited e- mails. They may sell their list of online clients to someone looking for valid addresses. Most providers (including Yahoo) provide spam filters to help manage unsolicited s. Phishing A term coined by hackers who imitate legitimate companies in e- mails to entice people to share passwords and bank account or credit card numbers. Never respond to requests for passwords or account numbers! Virus A program that is loaded onto your computer without your knowledge and runs against your wishes. Even a simple virus can quickly use all of your computer s memory and bring the system to a halt. Most viruses are transmitted by in the form of attachments. Never open attachments from senders you don t recognize. Anti-virus software can be periodically run on your computer to check your system for new viruses. 2

3 Setting up an Account Yahoo provides one of many web-based FREE accounts. These accounts are provided free because they come with advertising for the website and its sponsors. Once you have an account you can send and receive e- mail from any computer with access to the Internet. To sign up for a Yahoo account: 1. Go to 2. Click on Yahoo! Mail on the left of the page. 3. Look for Don t Have a Yahoo! ID? on the right side of the screen. 4. Click on SIGN UP. 5. You will need to provide the following information: Your postal code let s Yahoo provide you with content that is relevant to where you live and help you reset your password if you ever forget it. Knowing your birthday let s Yahoo! Help you reset your password if you ever forget it. If the ID you want is not available, try adding a number to make it unique. For an ID use 4 to 32 characters and start with a letter. You may use letters, numbers, underscores, and one dot (.). Your password does not have to be unique but capitalization matters. Use 6 to 32 characters, no spaces, and don t use your name or Yahoo ID. Once you have a valid ID and password, be sure to write it down on the blanks below so that you have it next time you wish to check your . Yahoo ID: Password: 3

4 A message will be sent to this in case you forget your password or ID. It is not necessary to provide an alternate address. By entering this code you help Yahoo prevent spam and fake registrations. This code can be typed in all lowercase Welcome to Yahoo ! When you have successfully registered for an account you will see a welcome screen with your new Yahoo! ID and address displayed. Be sure to write this down so that you have it next time you wish to check your . 4

5 Your Inbox The main Yahoo! page is the first screen you will see when you sign in to your account from now on. Notice that you have mail! This is an automated welcoming message from the Yahoo! mail program. Click your inbox to read mail. This is the page you will see when you log into your Yahoo mail account To open and read an message in your inbox, click the text of the subject of the message. Reading an Message Deleting an Message To open an message in your inbox, click on the text of the subject of the message (under the column Subject ). The message will open. You can delete a message by highlighting the message or clicking in the check box, and then clicking on the Delete button either above or below the message. Replying to a To respond to a message, click on the Reply button. The form for composing a Message message will appear. The address will already be filled in. Compose a message and click on the Send button to send it. 5

6 Composing When you are writing an , you are writing a letter so many of the rules of etiquette for letter writing apply to . In addition, rules of netiquette (net etiquette or Internet etiquette) apply: 1. Write a descriptive subject line. 2. Be concise and to the point (unless, of course, this is a personal letter to a friend). 3. Read your before you send it. 4. Use proper capitalization. Typing in all capital letters is considered shouting in the online world. 5. Make sure you spell everything correctly, especially the address of the recipient. If their address is misspelled, your won t be delivered. Click the Compose Message button to type an . 6

7 Sending an Practice sending an by clicking on the New button, located in the upper left portion of the screen. On the compose screen you will find a form to fill in. To: Fill in the address of the person to whom you are sending the message. If you are sending the message to more than one person, separate the addresses with a comma. For practice purposes, you may send an to us at ramseylib@yahoo.com and we ll respond so that you are able to practice opening your e- mail. Subject: Including a short phrase that describes your is always a good idea and is also polite. The big empty box is where you type your message. Put your cursor anywhere in this field, click and start typing. When you are finished, review it and then click on the Send button, located at the top above the TO: field. Fill in the address of the person you are sending in the To: field. Remember, there are no spaces in an address. In the subject field include a brief phrase that describes your . When you are finished composing your message, click the Send button to send your mail. Type your message in the big empty box. 7

8 Checking You may check your from any computer that is connected to the internet by typing in the address line and clicking on the Mail icon. Type your Yahoo! ID and password in the appropriate boxes to access your e- mail account. When you type your password, you will see only asterisks, so type carefully. Then click on Sign in. The next screen will tell you if you have any new messages in your inbox. Click on Inbox to read your messages. To check your , you must first go to Yahoo s website. Type in the address line From The Yahoo! Website, click the Yahoo! Mail icon to sign into your Yahoo! account Type in your Yahoo! ID and password. When you type your password, you will see only asterisks, so type carefully. Then click on Sign in. 8

9 Explore the Help link found at the top left of the screen to learn how to make full use of your Yahoo! account. You may now read, write and send using your free Yahoo! account! Remember to always sign out when you are finished. The Sign Out link can usually be found at the very top of the screen. Explore the Help and tutorials link to learn how to make full use of your account Remember to sign out when you are finished. Other Free Sites FastMail Free Guest Account ( Google Gmail ( MSN Hotmail ( Mail.com ( Lycos Mail ( A list of free providers worldwide is available at 9