Copyright: Copyright © 1999 EarthLink Network, Inc
Citation: Copyright © 1999 EarthLink Network, Inc


 EarthLink Hints

EarthLink Hints are designed to give first time users and others encountering a new feature for the first time some basic information about how to use the feature.  This help file expands upon that explanation for those who need a bit more detail than is available in the Hints window (sample below).

By default, the Hints dialog is set to appear each time you select a new EarthLink feature.  You can turn off a specific hint by checking the box on the hint dialog while the hint is displayed.  You can all turn off all Hints changing your Profile settings.  The Show Hints option is on Account Settings - Miscellaneous tab.


EarthLink MailBox

The EarthLink MailBox provides a collection of folders for sorting and storing mail and various tools for reading, writing and sending mail.

The Inbox is where you new mail appears.  Each line give you a summary of a specific mail message, such as who the message is from, the subject of the message as well as the date and time the message was received.  If a mail message includes an attachment, you’ll see a paperclip to the left of the envelope button.

To read a mail message, click on its summary.

To open a mail message in its own window, either click on the Read Mail button on the toolbar or double-click on the message summary.

To print a message, highlight the message and click the Print button.

To reply to the sender of a message, click the Reply button.

To reply to all sender/recipients, click the Reply to All button.

To forward a message, click the Forward button.

To file a mail message in a different folder, drag it to the desired folder.

To create a new folder, right click on the folder you want to create the new folder in then select New Folder.

To “junk” a mail message, highlight the message and click the Junk button (the torn envelope).

To add email addresses to your address book, click the Address Book button.

The Outbox stores messages that have not been sent.  When you compose a message while working offline and click Send this is where it gets stored.

The Sent folder stores messages that you have mailed.

The Drafts folder stores drafts of messages you weren’t able to complete.  If you started a new message and either try to close the window or close MailBox you will be prompted to save the message to the Drafts folder or to discard it.

The Junk Mail folder collects mail from Blocked Senders and any mail you “Junk” by clicking the Junk button.  A Blocked Sender is a sender you don’t wish to receive mail from.  You can use Edit Blocked Senders on the MailBox menu to add or delete email addresses in this list.

The Trash folder collects mail you have deleted.  By default, your Trash folder gets emptied everytime you close MailBox. You should empty your Trash folder periodically by clicking Empty Trash.

For more about EarthLink MailBox, click here .


Mail Settings

Your preferences on the Mail Settings window include your choice of Email programs.  If you prefer a program other than the EarthLink MailBox, this is where you make that selection.  Most of the settings on this window pertain to the EarthLink MailBox.  If you select an alternate Email program, those preference items will be greyed out.

If you don’t want to be notified when a new message arrives, uncheck Notify me when new messages arrive.  However, if you want to hear a sound when you receive new mail, check Notify me when new messages arrive and check Play sound.  Don’t forget to select a sound.  Sound files have a .wav extension.  You can select any .wav file on your system as the new mail sound.

To select another mail program, click the Use other mail client option then select the desired mail program.

For more about Mail Settings, click here


Filters

A mail filter is designed to sift through incoming mail before it gets to your Inbox based on criteria you enter, and move a message to a different folder, send a reply, or trash the message – like the stuff that shows up at home addressed to “Resident” or “Occupant”.  EarthLink Mailbox offers two built-in mail filters, Standard Span Sentry  Junk Mail Filter and Aggressive Spam Sentry Junk Mail Filter, as well as a Filter Wizard that you can use to create your own filters.

Both of the built-in filters rely heavily on the addresses in your Address Book.  Email sent to you from anyone listed in your address book will never be dumped to the Junk Mail folder or destroyed.

Like the sieve that you use to filter pebbles out of sand, you can design a filter that lets only the “good” mail through or that keeps the “Junk” mail out.  The main purpose of using filters is to keep your Inbox uncluttered.

For more on filters, click here .


Standard Spam Sentry Junk Mail Filter

The Standard Spam Sentry Junk Mail Filter is a basic junk mail filter that will eliminate a large chunk of junk mailings before they reach your Inbox.  This filter looks for your email address to be in either the To or the Cc field.  If your email address in NOT found in either of those fields, and email address in the From field does not match any of the addresses in your address book, the message gets diverted to the Junk Mail folder.  Mail from people in your address book will never be sent to the Junk Mail folder.

To turn on this filter, check the box to the left of this entry on the Filter Editor dialog.


Aggressive Spam Sentry Junk Mail Filter

The Aggressive Spam Sentry Junk Mail Filter is a serious mail filter that immediately destroys any mail messages from an address that is NOT in your address book.  You’ll never even know the message was sent to you so use this filter with great care.  This is a good filter for your kids if you want to assiduously control who they get mail from.  Populate your child’s address book with the email addresses for their friends and turn on this filter.

To turn on this filter, check the box to the left of this entry on the Filter Editor dialog.


Junk Mail

Junk Mail is that annoying unsolicited email that clutters your mailbox: get rich quick schemes and multi-level marketing plans galore.  EarthLink MailBox provides a quick and efficient method for getting rid of these junk messages and ensures that mail from these senders gets dumped before it clutters your Inbox.

When you “junk” a message:

•	the message gets moved to the Junk Mail folder

•	the sender gets added to the Blocked Senders list

•	future mail from this sender automatically gets sent to the Junk Mail folder


Writing Mail

Your mail message must identify who you want to send the message to, the subject of the message, and the text  of the message.

So don’t have to remember email address, Write Mail lets you drag addresses from your open Address Book into the To:, CC:, and/or Bcc: fields of your message.  Your address book is open when there is a white rectangle containing a list of names to the left of the To/CC/BCC fields (If there is just a white square, your address book is empty so you’ll need to add names to your address book before you can use this feature.)

To open your Address Book:

 Click the Address Book button in the Write Mail toolbar.  This button is a toggle – open when down, closed when up.

 Drag a name from the address book to the To field.


EarthLink Browser

The EarthLink Browser provides a collection of tools for maximizing your Internet experience. This includes the EarthLink SideCar (a trio of tabs that contain useful jumping off points for accessing information on the World Wide Web), Web browser, MailBox, Write Mail, WebSpace, and Configuration tools.

The Web window automatically opens to your Personal Start Page, a convenient conglomeration of news and links to your points of interest on the Web.  You can customize this page so it provides the information you find useful everyday.  For example, track your favorite stocks or your favorite ball club, or check out your horoscope.  You decide the information that is useful.

Click on one of the convenient links in SideCar or on your Personal Start Page, or enter a URL.


Browser Settings

Your preferences on the Browser Settings window include your choice of Browser programs.  If you prefer a program other than the EarthLink Browser, this is where you make that selection.

If you want to immediately launch the browser when you connect, check Launch browser after connecting.

If web pages are slow to load, uncheck Show website pictures. If you find background sounds that emanate from a website distracting, turn them off by unchecking Play background sounds

You can also manipulate the toolbar.  Check Show Toolbar to turn on the toolbar.  Check with text to display the text for each button on the button.  And choose a different Font size if you need larger or smaller text.

On the Advanced tab you set your home page – the page that you want to go to when you click the Home button.

To select another browser program, click the Use other browser option then select the desired browser program.

For more about EarthLink Browser settings, click here .


WebSpace Settings

Your preferences on the WebSpace Settings window shows the account information for your website.  This includes your account name, the server address where your website is locations and the URL for your website.

For more on EarthLink WebSpace settings, click here .


Show Addresses

The Show Addresses button is a toggle, when down, you see the address book entries listed to the left of the salutation section of your mail message (if it’s blank, that’s because you haven’t added any names to your address book yet).  Just highlight one or more addresses and click a To, Cc, or Bcc button to add the selected address(es) to your mail message.


Address Book

The Address Book lets you store the email addresses of people you send mail to and reuse these addresses by typing the person's name.

Once a person's email address is in your address book you no longer have to type the full email address, you can simply type part of their name and the email program fills in the rest.

Here's a shortcut for adding the addresses of people who send you mail to your address book. In your email message, right click on the address of the person who sent you the message and choose Add to Address Book. Enter the first and last name then click OK.

If you plan to use filters to keep unsolicited mail out of you Inbox, maintaining your address book becomes very important.  The built in filters will never get rid of mail from people listed in your address book, and you can use the addresses in your address book when setting up mail filters.


Attachment

An attachment is a file that has been appended to the end of an email message.  Usually, the file was created in another program, such as Word or Excel and has been “clipped” to the message, much as you would clip a spreadsheet to a memo before distributing it.  If you get a message with an attachment from someone you don’t know, be wary of opening it.  Some attachments can contain viruses that can corrupt the files on your system.  Be sure you have an up-to-date antivirus program that will check the veracity of attachments for you.

You can save an attachment to your hard drive (so you can open it later) or you can open it immediately.


Favorites

A favorite is a URL for a website that you like and want to return to.  To add a website to your list of favorites, right click on the webpage and select Add to Favorites. Or click the arrow to the right of the Favorites button on the toolbar and select Add to Favorites.

For more on Favorites, click here .


Adding a Location

A Location identifies where you are connecting from, the device you are using to connect, and, if necessary, the access phone number you are connecting to. The name of your location should represent where you are connecting from and the device you are using.  On the following pages, you will be asked to verify the device that you will be using to connect from this location and the settings for that device.  If you’re not sure what the settings should be, use the defaults.


Manage Profiles

Your profiles settings control how EarthLink 5.0 looks and behaves and enables you to select the programs you prefer.  These settings include your preferences for the browser, mail, your account, and WebSpace.  If you have more that one person using your computer, each has a profile.  There is one profile for each mailbox.


Manage Locations

When Internet Service Providers only offered dial-up connections to the Internet, the ability to connect multiple locations and to retain the settings for those locations was only important to the road warrior.  Now that users can connect via cable, ISDN, DSL and other means, more users need the ability to retain settings for the devices that enable these kinds of connections.

A location is a name that identifies where you are connecting from and the device you are using to make the connection, as well as the settings for that device.  If you only use a modem to dial up from home – you’ll set up your computer one time by selecting the phone numbers you want your computer to dial.

If you take your computer with you, or if you add a new device (such as when you sign up for DSL), you’ll be creating a new location and storing the settings.


Custom Phone Numbers

You may be instructed by EarthLink Tech Support personnel to add a custom phone number. The phone number you enter must be a valid access number that, for some reason, does not appear on the list.  EarthLink periodically adds and removes phone numbers from the list.  If you have been regularly connecting to EarthLink using one phone number and that number is no longer on the list when you set up to connect from another computer, you can add that phone number.

 Enter the area code and access number, then click OK. This number will be added to the list of access phone numbers.


Phone Numbers

The Add Phone Numbers dialog lists the access numbers for the Country and State/Province you select from the list boxes. You can sort the phone numbers by clicking on any of the column headings. Highlight the phone number(s) you want to select. (Use Shift plus click to select a group of numbers that are together. Use Ctrl plus click to select numbers from different parts of the list.) Click Add to add the numbers to the selected numbers list.


Adding a New Folder to the Toolbar

Folders are useful for grouping buttons that you use regularly but perhaps not daily. Before you can add buttons to a folder, you need to add a folder to your toolbar. Right click on the toolbar and choose New Folder then give your folder a name. You can drag buttons from your desktop or from the toolbar to the new folder. Or you can right click on the folder to add a button to the folder.

For more on the EarthLink Toolbar, click here .


EarthLink WebSpace

Just like storing files on your local hard drive, you can store files on another, remote computer. Your EarthLink account includes space on a computer at EarthLink. You access this space using the WebSpace button. One use for this space is to store the documents that comprise the pages of your web site. If you've used Click-n-Build to create your web site, you'll find those pages here.

WebSpace is EarthLink’s built in FTP client (File Transfer Protocol). You can use it to transfer files to or from any FTP site for which you have access rights. Just click the Advanced button to view the details dialog for setting up the site you’d like to access.

For more about EarthLink WebSpace, click here .


Search

Use the Search tab to look up anything on the Internet.  Just enter the word or phrase you want to search for.  If you want to find sites containing a specific phrase, enclose the phrase in quotation marks.  For example, entering “Elvis Presley” will find only sites that contain this phrase.