Force9 Webmail 1
Table of Contents Guide Notes...4 About this guide...4 Contacting the author...4 Assumptions...4 Who should read this guide...4 Conventions used in this guide...5 Further Reading...5 Using the Internet...6 Connecting to the Internet...6 Windows 98...6 Windows XP (method 1)...6 Windows XP (method 2)...6 Opening the Firefox browser...7 Using the Firefox Browser...7 Reading and sending...8 Logging in...8 The Inbox...9 Reading your email...9 Replying to an email...11 Reply all...11 Forward...11 Delete...11 Address Book...11 Print...11 Next / Previous...11 Returning to the Inbox...12 Trash, Sent, Drafts and Spam...12 Looking in the folders...12 Sending an email...13 Add recipients...15 Add BCC...15 Checking your spelling...15 Attaching files to your email...15 Add signature...16 Save Message...16 Managing Messages...17 Deleting messages...17 Bulk deletion...17 Moving emails around...17 2
Emptying the trash...18 Webmail Settings...19 Displayed Name...19 Sort email by...19 Default font style...19 Service language...19 Inbox refresh rate...19 Select time zone...21 Message pop up...21 Auto delete trash...21 HTML Email editor...21 Time Format...21 Date format...21 Email signature...21 Saving your changes...21 The address book...22 Viewing the address book...22 Adding a contact...22 Adding a group...22 Import/Sync...22 Deleting a contact...22 Editing a contact...23 Logging Off...24 Glossary...25 3
About this guide Guide Notes This guide should give clear, simple instructions on how to use the Internet as provided by Force9. This guide has a glossary which should be used prior to contacting the author with problems. Further documentation (or updates to this document) may be made available on the author's website (see contact the author). Contacting the author The author can be contacted via telephone, email or postal mail. For updates to this documentation, or for additional documentation please visit the authors website (http://jon.bytz.co.uk). Telephone: 01227 457180 / 07729363920 Email: joncojonathan@yahoo.co.uk Postal address: Available on request Assumptions This guide will assume the following: You are using Microsoft Windows You are using Force9 email You are using Firefox as your preferred browser You have an Internet connection set up and at most will only have to dial it. If you have a further problem the glossary may provide additional assistance. A further assumption is that you know how to turn on and operate your computer (when to double click, when the single click, when to right click). Who should read this guide This guide is intended for use by Force9 customers as the email system described is the one used by them. This guide can be used by others but it is recommended that you seek the documentation for your provider. Alternatively, the documentation you seek may be available on the author's website (see Contacting the author). 4
Conventions used in this guide Throughout this guide the following conventions will apply: Convention bold text italicised text bold italicised text Meaning Indicates a word that is present in the glossary, as a general rule words will only be emboldened once although this may change throughout the guide. Shows emphasis Indicates a word, present in the glossary, that is emphasised blue underlined text Denotes a link or email address that you may use on the Internet Something > Something else The > here indicates you are changing level. For example choosing notepad in this example would be shown as: Start > Programs > Accessories > Notepad Further Reading Force9's webmail has its own help system which can be accessed by clicking the help link at the top of the webmail pages. 5
Using the Internet Connecting to the Internet If you are using a router which automatically gives your computer Internet Access, there is no need to establish a separate Internet connection. You may proceed with the rest of this guide. If, on the other hand, you have to dial an Internet connection you should do so either: By opening your browser (e.g. Firefox, Internet Explorer) in which case you will be prompted to dial. By following the Windows 98 or Windows XP methods as outlined below... (Windows versions prior to XP will use the Windows 98 method) Windows 98 1. Double click My Computer 2. Double click Dial up Connections 3. Double click the connection you want (e.g. BT Dialup ) 4. Click Dial Windows XP (method 1) 1. Click the Start button 2. Click Connect to 3. Click the name of the connection you want to connect to. Windows XP (method 2) 1. Right click on My Network Places 2. Left Click Properties 3. You will be shown the connections available double click the connection you want to use. 6
Opening the Firefox browser On your desktop double click the Firefox icon. Alternatively click the Firefox icon in the quickstart Or, choose Firefox from the Start menu (Start > Programs > Mozilla Firefox > Firefox or Start > All Programs > Mozilla Firefox > Firefox) If you are not using Firefox then you can use Internet Explorer although I consider this an inferior browser and as such no documentation is provided on it. Consult the Windows Help System for details on using Internet Explorer. Using the Firefox Browser This is outside the scope of this guide. For information on using Firefox please see the guide entitled Using Firefox (1.07) or Using Firefox (1.5) depending on your Firefox version. 7
Reading and sending Logging in 1. In Firefox's address bar type the address below: http://portal.f9.net.uk/general/webmail.html 2. Click go or press enter on your keyboard 3. The webmail login page will load 4. Enter your username in the username box (you may need to click in it first) 5. Click in the password box and enter your password 6. Click Login 8
The Inbox Once you have successfully logged in you will be shown your inbox. Any emails you have received will be shown here if they have not yet been read they will be in bold, if you have read them already they will be in normal type. This helps you keep track of what you have and haven't read. Reading your email To read an email, whether you have read it before or not, just click on its subject (the words under the column heading subject). The email will open. It might be useful at this point to explain what some of the information you are shown means. 9
From is the address (and sometimes name) of the person that sent you the email. In the above example that is Force9 Customer Support <autoemail@force9.net> To The address of the person (or people) that the email has been sent to. Subject A brief description of the email contents. You are also shown the date and time it was sent (Wed, Jan 18 23:17), the email priority (normal) and the type (attachments). Show headers will allow you to see the email headers, more information on headers can be found in the glossary. 10
Replying to an email Once you receive an email it is generally assumed that you will reply to it, especially if you are asked a question. Replying to an email is as simple as clicking the reply button whilst you are looking at the email you received. You will then write your reply in much the same way as outlined in Sending an email except details like to and subject have been filled in for you. Reply all If you are sent an email that has been sent to other people you may find the reply all button useful. Clicking this will send your reply to the person that sent you the original email and also to all the people that were sent the original. Forward You may wish to send an email you receive on to somebody else. To do this click the forward button and fill in the To and CC fields. Delete Clicking this button will delete the email (move it to the trash folder). Address Book Adds the address of the sender to your address book when clicked. Print Prints the email you are reading ensure your printer is turned on before clicking this button. Next / Previous Moves to the next or previous email when clicked. 11
Returning to the Inbox If at any point you wish to return to the inbox simply click read mail at the top. It is important to note that if you are writing an email (or a reply) at the time you will loose what you are writing upon returning to the inbox. Trash, Sent, Drafts and Spam The Trash folder contains messages that you have deleted; you can get them back if you deleted them in error. Sent contains all the emails you have sent yourself which can be useful if you need to refer to something you previously wrote. If you are writing an email but don't want to send it yet you can save it to the Drafts folder. Finally, the Spam folder contains any email which Force9 or yourself consider are spam. It may be useful to check in here from time to time to ensure that all email in there is spam. Looking in the folders When looking at the inbox screen (or having just clicked read mail) you can simply click the folder's icon to open and view it. 12
Sending an email We have already looked at how to read emails you have received but possibly the task you will want to do most is to send emails. 1. Login as described in Logging In 2. From any page. having successfully logged in, click the Compose link at the top of the page 3. The from box will show you email address (on the example above it has been blurred) In the To: box enter the email address of the person you wish to write to. Clicking on the To: link will allow you to insert an address from your address book 4. In the CC: field write the addresses of the people that you also wish to receive the email. Please note that if you are emailing multiple people (e.g. all the members of a club) it is not good etiquette to place their address in the CC: field, use BCC: instead. Using CC will allow all people to see every address 5. In the subject box type a brief description of your message (for example, New baby!) 6. In the big white box beneath the subject box type your message. By default you will be using the plain email editor which doesn't allow fancy colours or fonts to be used this is recommended. 7. Once you have finished writing your email, click send. A copy of the email will be placed in your sent folder, as described earlier. 13
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Add recipients Clicking this button will allow you to insert addresses from your address book, a new window will open showing the email addresses of the people you could email. 1. Click the add recipients button 2. Click on the email address of the person you wish to email. 3. Click the To >> button, the address will appear on the right. 4. Add additional recipients as required, remembering that if sending to multiple recipients BCC should be used. 5. Click Add emails 6. Continue writing your message Add BCC Clicking add BCC will allow you to type addresses into the BCC box. Checking your spelling We live in an age where computers can check on us to ensure we are working as we should. To check the spelling in your email click the spell check check button on the left of your email. Attaching files to your email From time to time you may wish to attach a file to the email, for example a 15
photograph or document, just the same as you might when writing a letter. This can be done by clicking the attachments button whilst writing or replying to an email. 1. Click the attachments button 2. Follow the instructions shown to you on the webpage that appears 3. If you have successfully attached a file it will be named above the subject box Add signature A signature is a phrase that you might want to use on every email you send (for example, The world is flat, no really it is ). By clicking the add signature button your signature will be added to the end of the email. Signatures must be defined in the settings page, see Webmail Settings for more information. Save Message This button saves the email to your drafts folder and does not send the email to your intended recipients. 16
Deleting messages Managing Messages Let's be honest, you won't want to keep all of your emails forever (besides which you would run out of space). individual emails can be deleted by following the procedure in Delete (above). Bulk deletion You may wish to delete more than one message at a time (this will save you having to open each email before clicking delete). 1. Click read mail so you are looking at the inbox. 2. In the small, square, boxes to the left of the email subjects click once. A tick will appear in the box. Repeat this for each email you wish to delete. 3. At the bottom of the page you will find a drop down box, click the down arrow and click on Trash. 4. Click the move button to the left 5. Your emails have been deleted. Moving emails around This is similar to deleting messages and involves using the move button again. 1. Tick the emails you wish to move (see above) 2. At the bottom of the page you will find a drop down box, click the down arrow and click on the folder you wish to move the emails to. 6. Click the move button to the left 3. Your emails have been moved. 17
Emptying the trash Occasionally it is beneficial to empty the trash folder. 1. At the bottom of the inbox you will find an extra set of buttons. 2. Click the empty trash button (see right). 3. Click the OK button in the requester that appears. 18
Webmail Settings There are some additional settings that you can modify by using the Settings page. To open this page, click the settings button on the top left (shown above). Displayed Name When people receive an email from you it will originally look similar to me@force9.co.uk but you can change it so that it shows your name as well as your email address (Jonathan Haddock <joncojonathan@yahoo.co.uk> for example). In the displayed name box, type the name you would like to appear on the emails you send (in the from field). Sort email by From the drop down box, choose the order in which you want to have your emails listed. Received will display emails in the order there were received Subject will show the emails in alphabetical order, based on their subject From displays emails in alphabetical order, based on their sender Date will list the emails in chronological order Default font style Dictates the font in which you read emails in. Service language The language that the webmail is displayed in. The only option for this is English. Inbox refresh rate How often the webmail page checks for new email. A sound can be played when new 19
email is received. 20
Select time zone Select the time zone that you are in. Message pop up When you click on an email to read it it can appear in a new window. By ticking the box you turn this feature on. Auto delete trash This option, when enabled (ticked) will automatically delete any emails sent to the trash folder. HTML Email editor By enabling this option you are able to send emails using coloured text and different fonts. This is not advised as it may make emails harder to read (and will certainly increase their size). Time Format Specifies how you wish to view the time in emails 24 hour or 12. Date format The format in which you view the date. Email signature Anything you type in this box will be added to your emails at the bottom. Saving your changes When you have made changes to your settings you must save them in order for them to take affect. To do this simply click the save settings button. 21
The address book Force9 webmail provides an address book that can store all of your email addresses for you. Viewing the address book Simply click the addresses link at the top of any page (if you are writing an email at the time it will be cancelled). Adding a contact 1. Click the new contact button 2. Fill in the relevant details 3. Click the apply button at the bottom of the page. Adding a group 1. Click the new group button 2. Provide the group with a name 3. Select the email addresses you want in the group and click the Add> button. 4. Fill in the other relevant details 5. Click the save button at the bottom of the page. Import/Sync These are advanced features and are not documented at this time. Deleting a contact 1. Click the addresses link 2. Click the delete contact button 3. Click ok to delete the contact. 22
Editing a contact If a contact's details change it may be necessary to update their details. 1. Click the addresses link 2. Click the edit contact button 3. Update the contact's details in the same manner described in adding a contact 4. Click apply to save the contact's details. 23
Logging Off At the end of your webmail session, when you have read all your email, replied to it, sent other emails or just generally finished click the logoff link at the top of the page. If you really want to logoff click yes on the requester that appears. 24
Glossary 25
A Address bar The box in a web browser in which you type the website address Address book A collection of addresses, in this case email addresses Attachments An attachment is a file that is sent in addition to the main email message. Like you might send additional documents with a letter you can do the same with email From Who the email is from G Glossary A list of words with meanings. This is a glossary I Inbox Where any emails you receive will be placed B BCC Blind Carbon Copy email addresses placed in this box won't be visible to anyone that receives the email C CC Carbon Copy a method of sending an email to more than one recipient. Any addresses placed in the CC box will be visible to everyone L Link A word, phrase or image on a web page that will take you to another place. Links are often blue and underlined Login By logging in you make services available to yourself Logoff By logging off you ensure that nobody else can use services available to you only D Delete If you delete something it is removed, discarded, no more F forward To send an email on to another person, M My Computer The window in Microsoft Windows that displays, amongst other things, the drives in your computer My Network Places The window in Microsoft Windows that displays, amongst other things, the network shares and connections available 26
P Password A secret phrase known only to you. When paired with a username this provides security Print If you print something your printer outputs it to paper you get a hard copy Q Quickstart A feature of Microsoft Windows that contains a short collection of icons. By clicking one of the icons a program is launched. The quickstart is often found next to the start button. R Reply To send an email back to the sender of the email you received Requester A box that appears asking for a decision or additional information T To The address or person the the email is being sent to U URL Uniform Resource Locator in short, the website address Username A word of phrase that represents you, for example Graham W Webpage A page on a website Website A place that holds information on the internet, often referred to by a website address or URL S Sender The person that sent you an email Show headers An option in many email systems that shows you more detailed information about where the email has come from Subject A brief description of the email's contents 27
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