Web Class - E-mail Configuration

An Innovation Grant funded by the Georgia Department of Education

Bill Jordan, Instructor
Thomasville City Schools
Thomasville, Georgia

E-mail: The End of Snail-Mail

Objective: In this lesson you will learn how to set-up Netscape in order to use e-mail.

Vocabulary: As you get more involved with the Internet and e-mail, you will see that there is a common vocabulary that everyone uses. Hopefully, by now you are getting familiar with some of the most commonly used terms. Several new words will become obvious as you work through the lesson.

browser	Netscape	e-mail	World Wide Web
ISP	user name	meun bar	pull down menu
@	dot	field	snail mail

Background Information: With the increased use of e-mail, the U.S. Postal service is beginning to face some stiff competition. I'm sure you have experienced, or heard stories, of how long it sometimes takes for mail to get delivered. Consequently, many Internet users now refer to mail delivered to the mail box at your house by men and women driving those red, white, and blue trucks as snail mail. What would it be like if everyone had access to the World Wide Web and could receive e-mail?

Even though you have been using your web broswer software, Netscape doesn't know who you are until you tell it! You have to establish your e-mail address with an Internet Service Provider (ISP) in order to send and receive electronic messages. Sometimes when you install your web browser, all of this is handled automatically. But, it is a good idea to verify that everything is correct.

The following directions take you through the process of configuring Netscape to send and receive e-mail. You may find it helpful to print out these instructions so you can follow along more easily. Select the Print icon on your menu bar at the top of the screen in order to make a hard copy of these instructions.

Depending on the version of Netscape you are using, some of the illustrations provided may look a little different than your screen. However, the same general instructions apply and you should be able to follow along. Please print these instructions so you can refer to them as you do each step.

Online Assignment: In this lesson, you are going to make sure that you are correctly set up to send and recieve e-mail. Pay attention to the details. I have tried to break this down into a few simple steps. The good news is that you may not have to make any changes at all. If you do have to make changes, you will only have to do this once! Be patient, this should be the last time you have to worry about anything this detailed. If you run into difficulty, contact me or the Technical Support Staff at your ISP.

1.	After you log into your Internet Service Provider (for example, Rose Net) and launch the Netscape browser, the top portion of your screen should resemble the following example. (Note: you may not have the Edit button, but everything else should be similar.)
2.	Click once on the Window portion of the menu bar to open the associated pull down menu.
3.	Next, select the Netscape Mail option.
4.	A window will open revealing the Netscape Mail Window similar to the one shown below.
5.	Select Options from the menu bar.
6.	From the Options Menu, use your mouse to select Mail andNews Preferences.
7.	In the Perferences box, select Servers. You need to be concerned with the information in the three highlighted fields shown in the following example. Leave whatever is typed in your Mail Directory field set the way you find it for now. If the information in the top three fields is correct, go on to Setp 8 in these instructions. However, if you need to change any information in the top three fileds, use your mouse to move the coursor to a field. Delete any incorrect information and type in the new information. IMPORTANT: Be sure to type your username in the POP3 User Name Field. It will be the username part of your e-mail address. Also, for now, chose the option to leave your messages on the server as indicated in the example above.
8.	At the top of the Prefernces box, select the tab called Identity. If the information iin the top four fields is correct, go onto Step 9 in these instructions. Delete any incorrect information from a field and then type in the correct information. Type in the name you go by in the first field. Type in your e-mail address in the second field. Type your e-mail address again in the third field. Type Thomasville City Schools in the fourth field.
9.	At the bottom of the Preferences box you will notice the following three selection buttons. Click on OK when you have made any necessary changes.
10.	This should return you to the Netscape Mail screen. Select File from the menu bar as shown below.
11.	From the File menu, select the Close option to exit from Netscape Mail.
12.	Whew! If you did everything right, you should be back at the Netscape browser viewing a home page.

Offline Assignment: None! You deserve a break after following those instructions.

Competencies: What should you know and be able to do after completing this assignment? You have prepared Netscape to send and receive e-mail. You should be getting comfortable with terms like the World Wide Web, the Internet, web browser, and e-mail. The background knowledge you are gaining is the foundation for this course. Keep up the good work!

Rose.Net, the network of the Greater Thomasville area, hosts this project.

Created: 09/01/97 00:00:00