what e-mail

Internet - Email

Email is the electronic equivalent of sending a letter through the mail. There are many different mail reading programs or clients that control email but the basic functions are all the same. An email address directs a message to the recipient.

Email addresses are made up of...

* the account name (often the users first initial and then the last name (sometimes only 8 characters)
* then the @ symbol
* then the name of the user's ISP
* the last 2 or 3 characters describe the type of service called the top level domain name. For example .com stand for commercial site, .ca - noncommercial site in Canada, .mil - U.S. military, .gov - U.S. government, .au - noncommercial site in Australia, .net - network, etc... Recently 2 new TLDs were added; .biz, .info.

As well as sending and receiving mail the recipient can;

* save the address for future reference in an address book
* reply to the original message
* forward the message to a third party
* edit a message
* check the spelling and a wide range of other options.

One of the services provided by your ISP is to provide a storage area or mailbox to collect email in. Email software programs control the transfer of this stored email by downloading the messages from your mailbox on your ISP's computer to your own computer. You must be connected to the Internet to do this.

An email message is made up of two parts; the header information and the body. The recipient's address (to), the subject, the sender's email address as well as other information is contained in the header. The content of the message is in the body. You can find out information about an email message by viewing the header content. Most email programs had a 'view header' option in the menu.

Email can be composed and sent as plain text or HTML. Plain text messages can be read by any email client but most modern email clients can compose and display email documents containing formatting such as bold, different font size and colour, images, etc.

New messages can be written or composed off-line (not connected to the Internet). If the ISP charges by the hour, connect to the Internet only to send and receive your email and then disconnect to read and compose your mail.

Many ISP's also offer web mail programs so that you can logon to check and send email using any internet accessible computer.

Some companies offer free email service that you can sign up for. These free services rely on advertising for revenue so your recipient will also be receive an advertisment with the email. Most free email accounts are accessed through a web browser where the user composes and reads their mail online. The benefit is that you can easily access your mail from any internet terminal and the address is easily disposable (if it gets added to a junk mail list for instance).

You can also attach files to email messages to send picture, sound, documents, videos and other types of file with your email. Some email programs automatically open attachments such as photos and html code. Change the program's properties or options to turn this feature on or off.

Unrequested or spam email has become a problem on the internet. A large percentage of the email sent is this unrequested email which takes up bandwidth and causes prices to rise. Businesses must take time to sort through spam to find the legitimate email which also takes time and money. Most ISPs provide software that will filter out the worst of this email. If you find that you are receiving a lot of unrequested email contact your ISP to see if they can provide you with spam filters.