Email basics
There's not much need for me to write about the basics of email, because there's already plenty of good information out there on the Web. I've picked a few websites that looked good and here are the links:
- Email Basics Part 1 - Part 2 - Part3 at TNPC.
- The"Crabby Office Lady discusses the top email discourtesies.
- A glossary of email terms by the Crabby Office Lady.
- If you just can't resist forwarding that joke, a tutorial by Somewhere in Time shows how to forward it properly using "Bcc".
- If you want to learn more, fire off a Google search like one of these:
http://www.google.com/search?q=email+basics
http://www.google.com/search?q=email+for+beginners
PC-based or web-based?
PC-based: I highly recommend Thunderbird because it is very secure. It is also easy to back up the accounts, settings, address book and email for Thunderbird. But I mostly use Gmail. :-) [Mozilla sez]
Web-based email services, for example, Yahoo! Mail, Gmail and Windows Live (was Hotmail) are easier to use than email clients for many people. [comparison]
Back up your email messages
Mailstore is an outstand program that can back up email from several programs, and from any regular or webmail account that offers POP or SMTC access.Mozilla.org tells you how to back up Thunderbird. About.com has backup and restore tips for Outlook Express, and you'll find other OE backup programs at TechSupportAlert.
Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft all back up your web-mail, but you may want to also have your own backup. One way is to simply save important messages to your hard drive. A better way is to use Mailstore.
Email safety
Email is the primary way that online pirates attack computers. The most important thing you can do to protect your computer is never, ever open any email attachment that you have the slightest doubt about. Even if the message is addressed directly to you and comes from someone you know. Always check with the sender directly -- most messages with malicious attachments appear to come from someone you know these days. (Just send them an email asking if they intended to send an attachment.)Go to the safe email page to learn the other things you should know about email safety.
Spam
There are several things you can do to control spam. For example, use a "throwaway" address when you get a dubious request for your email address. The Spam page tells how to use throwaway addresses, as well as other ways to avoid spam.
*Never* reply to spam in order to be removed from mailing lists. All this does is let the spammer know that your address is real. The spammer will then sell your validated address to many other spammers and you'll be inundated by spam.
Email for SnowBirds
Here are some ways to maintain a permanent email address, even though you migrate with the seasons:
- Use an email address service that's also designed to sidestep spam. I recommend Spamex if you use an email client -- Outlook Express or Thunderbird -- to read your email.
- I heartily recommend Gmail if you prefer the convenience and "portability" of Web mail. It's the first real advance in email in 20 years.
- Get a "professional" email account that's independent from your ISP. Look into FastMail. They offer a "Guest" and a "Member" account. [free or $14.95 one-time fee respectively]
- Use a "National" ISP. It's an obvious strategy, but probably not best one, for keeping the same address (you may want to change you ISP sometime in the future). Be sure they have a local access number everywhere you want to use their service.
- Get a free Web mail account: I recommend Gmail or Yahoo! Mail or Windows Live Mail.