Basic E-mail Using Yahoo

What is Email or electronic mail?

• Email is the transmission of messages over communication networks.
• To use email, you must have access to a computer that is linked to the outside world via a modem, phone line, or fiber optic cable.
• Email messages are sent over the Internet and are stored in electronic mailbox servers for the recipient to retrieve them.

What is Yahoo! Mail?

• Yahoo! Mail is a web-based e-mail provider.
• With Yahoo! Mail, you can send and receive messages from any computer connected to the Internet including workstations at the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library.

How to Sign Up

• From the B&ECPL web page, type http://www.yahoo.com/ in the address box.
  

• Click the Email buttonnext to the Yahoo! Logo.

OR

• Click the Mail hyperlink within the Connect area.
  

OR

• Type http://mail.yahoo.com
• Click on the Learn more hyperlink to find information on Yahoo! Mail.
• Click Sign up now.
  
• Under the Free Yahoo! Mail section, click Sign Up Now.
• Fill out the Profile Information form.
  
• Enter your selected Sign-In Name.
• Enter your password.
• Re-type the password to be sure you haven't mistyped it.
• Select a “security question” and provide an answer so you can retrieve your password in
  case you forget it.

Note: Click into each box to enter the information or use the TAB key to move to the next box.  Hold down the Shift key and press TAB to move to the previous box.

• Click the "Submit This Form" button.
• When the form is correctly filled out, you will see "Welcome to Yahoo!"and your new Sign-In Name and complete e-mail address.
• Write down your Sign-In Name and Password and put it in a secret place.

How to Use Yahoo! Mail

• Type www.yahoo.com in the browser's address box.
  Click the Email button                     next to the Yahoo! Logo

OR

• Click the Mail hyperlink within the Connect area.

• Under the "Existing Yahoo! users" section, enter your Yahoo! ID.
• Enter your Password.
• Click the "Sign In" button.

To Compose/Send a Message

• Click the "Compose" button

• Move from box to box with a mouse click or the TAB key.
• Enter the e-mail address of the recipient in the To: box.
• Cc: Allows you to enter e-mail addresses of people you want to read the message, even though it is not specifically addressed to them.   This feature is optional.
• Bcc: Allows you to enter e-mail addresses of people you want to get a copy of the message without the other recipients knowing.  This feature is optional.
• Enter a line that tells the subject of the message in the Subject: box.
• Enter the message in the text box.
• Click Attach Files hyperlink to send a file.
• Click the Send button to send the message.

To keep a record of messages you send

You can keep a message in your Sent Items folder.  By default, Yahoo! Mail does not automatically save a copy of messages you send into your Sent folder.

• On the Compose page, select the Save a copy in your Sent Items folder check box under the Options: area before clicking the Send button.
• To enable this option for all messages that you send:

1.       Return to mail home page and clicking on the "Mail Options" link located near the top right-hand side of the page.

2.       Click the "General Preferences" link, located on the top left-hand side of the page.

3.       Place a check in the box next to "Save your sent messages in the Sent Items folder."

4.       Click the "Save" button near the top of the window to put your new settings into effect.

• Note:  To view saved messages, click the Sent folder.

Attaching Files

You can attach files (such as photos or documents) to your e-mail.

• On the Compose page, click the Attach Files hyperlink.  
• Click the Browse button to find and select your file.
  
  

The Choose file dialog box appears.

•       Click the file you want to attach.
•       Click Open.

The file name and directory will appear in the file box.

• Click the Attach Files button.

A message appears telling you that The following files have been attached:

•       Click the Done button.

The Compose window appears and your files are listed under the Attachments section.

Note:  You may remove the attached file by clicking the Remove hyperlink.

Tools

If your web browser is Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or later, you can format your message by changing the text style, color, size, and much more.

• On the Compose page, notice the formatting toolbar.   This toolbar appears directly below the Attachments option.

Selecting Text

•         Select the text you want to change by holding down the left mouse button, dragging the pointer to the end of the text you want to format, and then releasing the mouse button.  You can also hold the Shift key on the keyboard while using the arrow keys on the keyboard to select text.

Note: Click on the link that says “Color and Graphics” on the Compose Message screen to see the standard window for composing text.  Click the “Plain” hyperlink to remove the formatting toolbar.

•          Click the options you want on the rich-text toolbar, using the following table as a guide.

Select:	To:
	Controls the appearance of a selected paragraph using traditional HTML tags.
	Change the font of selected text.
	Cuts the size of your text.
	Remove the selected text.  Use the Paste command to insert the text in a different place.
	Copy the selected text.  Use the Paste command to add the text in a different place.
	Paste the cut or copied text where you place the cursor.
	Make your text bold.
	Italicize your text.
	Underline your text.
	Change the color to your text.
	Add a background color to your text.
	Align text on your left.
	Center your text.
	Align text on the right.
	Add a numbered list.
	Add a bulleted list.
	Increase indent.
	Decrease indent.
	Inserts a web site hyperlink.
	Add the selected symbol or emoticon to convey emotion or add flair within a message.
View HTML Source	The “Color and Graphics” version automatically converts your text into HTML.  When you click the “View Source” box, it is converted to HTML tags.  You can then edit the HTML if you choose.

Spell Check

To check the text of your message for proper spelling:

·         On the Compose page, click the Spell Check button located above the “To” box.

If the spell check dictionary doesn’t recognize a word in your email message, it will appear in a box.  You can correct it yourself by typing over what is displayed.  If the dictionary has any suggestions, you’ll be able to see them to the right of the text box.

• To choose one of the suggestions, select the suggestion and click the Change button.

• When you are finished checking your message, click Edit Your Message located at the top of the page.  This will save all of your changes and return to the Compose Mail screen.

Reading Messages

• Click the "Check Mail" button.

• Click on the message subject hyperlink to open and read it.

Opening Attachments

When you receive a message that contains an attachment, you’ll see a paperclip icon next to the subject heading in the  message in your Inbox or other folder.  Attachments can be included in a message in 2 different ways.  It may appear within the body of the message or in an attawchment box near the bottom of the message window.

Depending on the type of file you’ve received, you’ll be able to view the file in one of three ways.  This is available to the right of the attachment box.

1.) Scan with Norton AntiVirus
Click on this hyperlink if you would like to scan the file for viruses before downloading to your computer. 

• To the right of the attachment box, click Scan with Norton AntiVirus. This will scan the attachment and report whether a virus was detected.

Scan Results page

Once the file is scanned, click on the Download File hyperlink.  The attachment will either open automatically or a dialog box will appear requesting that you either open the file from its current location or save the file.  If you choose to save the file, make sure you note the name and destination of the file so that you can find it later.

2.) View Attachment
Click on the View Attachment hyperlink if you wish to view the file online without opening the program the file was created in.  Once you’ve looked at the file, you can delete the file or click on the Back to Original Message hyperlink to scan the file for viruses or click the Download File hyperlink.

3.) Download without Scan

Click on the Download without Scan hyperlink to download the file without checking for viruses.  The attachment will either automatically open or a dialog box will appear requesting that you open the file from its current location or save the file. 

To download the text of the message click the Save Message Text hyperlink near the bottom of the your screen.  Your message will separate allowing you to save the text of the message separately from any attachments.

Note:  If you choose to download an attachment by either opening it or saving it to your computer, your computer may become vulnerable to computer viruses.  When you receive an attachment that Yahoo! Mail can scan, you should choose Scan with Norton AntiVirus to reduce your likelihood of experiencing problems with computer viruses.

To respond to a message, click one of the following buttons above the message box.

Whenever you Reply, Reply All, or Forward a message, a composition window appears with the previous message inserted in to the composition box.

To delete a message, click:

Folders

Yahoo! Mail allows you to create as many personal folders as you like.

To Create a Folder

1. Click the "Add" hyperlink, located towards the top of the page, next to "Folders" on the left-hand folder navigation bar.

2. You will then be prompted to enter a folder name.
3. Click the "OK" button.

When your new folder is created, you'll see it added to the list of current folders on the left side.

To Move a Message to a Folder

To transfer a message to one of your folders:

1. Open the folder, which contains the message to be transferred. (This could be your Inbox or another folder.)
2. Place a check in the box to the left of the message you would like to transfer. To transfer more than one message, just check the box to the left of each message.
3. Select the destination folder from the pull-down list labeled "Move to Folder", located on the top right-hand side of the screen.

4. Click the "OK" button. The message(s) will be transferred at once.

Note: It is not possible to transfer messages into the Sent or Draft folders, because messages in these folders are stored differently than in other folders. To transfer a message to your Trash folder, just check the box to the left of the message and click the "Delete" button.

Address Book

The Yahoo! Address Book is similar to a paper address book but with many more features and functions. Use it to store all of your contact information about individuals and companies. Because it's online, you can access it with an Internet connection from anywhere in the world.

Click on an email address to send email via Yahoo! Mail.  Currently, your Yahoo! Address Book can store up to 5,000 contacts.

To add a contact to your address book:

•         Click the down arrow next to the Addresses button at the top left side of the screen.
•         Enter the information in the fields provided.
•         Click the Save Contact button.

Note: When you receive Yahoo! Mail, you can click the "Add Addresses" button attached to the incoming email to automatically add the sender's address to your address book.

Other Features

Signature

It is common to include a signature at the bottom of email messages.   The signature contains bits of personal information that you wish to include with each message.  After you create a signature, it is automatically added to all outgoing messages.

When using Yahoo! Mail, you always have the option to add or remove your signature before sending a new message by clicking the "Use My Signature" checkbox at the bottom of  the Compose Mail screen.

To view or change your signature:

• Click the "Mail Options" link in the upper right-hand area of the screen.

• Click the "Signature" link under the Personalization column on the left.
• Your current signature (if any) will be displayed in the text area.

• Change your signature by typing over the existing text, or enter a new one by typing in the blank text area
• If you would like the "Use Signature" checkbox on the Compose Mail screen to be checked by default when composing a new message, click on the "Add signature to all messages" checkbox beneath the text area. (You will still have the option to uncheck this box if you want to send a message without your signature.)

Remember to click the "Save" button when you're done. This will put your new signature into effect. 

Filtering Mail

Filters automatically sort your incoming messages into folders that you create. They do so according to rules that you set up. The benefit of filters is that you don't need to read through each message to decide where it goes. For example, you could create a filter so that messages from your family members are automatically delivered to a personal folder called "Family."

• To create, edit, or delete a filter, click the "Mail Options" link on the top right side of the screen.
• Choose "Filters" located in the middle of the page, under Mail Management.

Creating a New Filter

To create a new filter, click the "Add" link on the Filters page.

1.       Choose the field you want to match in the incoming message. For example, select one of the following headers: From, To/Cc, Subject, or Body to match.
2.       Choose the criterion by which you want a match to be made. For example: contains, ends with.
3.       Enter the text string to compare. For example: @rocketmail.com, training.
4.       Choose the destination folder to which you would like the message delivered. For example: Friends.
5.       If you have more than one filter, you'll also see radio buttons to the left of the filter. Use these buttons to select the placement of your new filter within your existing sequence of filters. Filter order is important because Filter 1 will be the first filter applied to an incoming message, Filter 2 will be the next, and so on until a match is made or all filters are passed. If no filters match an incoming message, it will be delivered to your Inbox.

Be sure to click the "Add filter" button to put your new filter into effect.

Your account can contain up to 15 filters at one time.

Editing an Existing Filter

Once you reach the Filterspage, click radio button to the left of the filter you would like to edit and click the "Edit" button located on the top right-hand side of the filters page. After making the desired changes be sure to click "Add Filter" for your changes to start taking effect.

Deleting an Existing Filter

To delete one of your filters, click radio button to the left of the filter you would like to delete and click the "Delete" button located on the top right-hand side.

Blocking Junk Mail with Filters

Yahoo! Mail offers two ways to help you block unwanted messages:

1. If you receive multiple messages from the same source and would like to block the sender, you can set up a filter to match some unique part of the sender's address.  Set the destination folder to Trash.

Note:  Using filters like this to avoid unwanted mail doesn't actually stop it from being sent.

2. You can also use the "Block address" link. This is located to the right of the email address of people who send to your account.  By clicking on the "This is Spam" hyperlink, you'll add the sender's address to your Blocked List. You can create a list of up to 100 addresses from which you would prefer not to receive email.

Click the "Sign Out" hyperlink to protect the privacy of your messages.  This is located near the top right side of Yahoo! Mail.  Always be sure to sign out!

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