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Guai-Support Mailing List Helper
Computer How-To
Revised May 14, 2009
Contents:
How to open pages on any web site in a new window or tab
How to print pages from this web site without extraneous items
How to
create tiny URLs
How
to increase or decrease fonts for reading
How to eliminate gaps from
text/quotes
How To Create an E-mail Signature Line
Copy and Paste Text
Switching Between Program Windows
Tasks
Set a Rule or Filter
Searching
the GG web site
How to
Post in Plain Text
How to Read an E-mail Header
How to
Have Your Browser Open Your Email Program
How to open
pages on any web site in a new window or tab
On some sites the default is to open
in new windows but in others it is to open in the same window or tab.
To open pages in new windows or tabs,
hold down the right mouse key and choose either 'open in new tab' or 'open in
new Window'. In Fire Fox one can also choose to switch to Internet
Explorer.
To print out pages from this site
without the extraneous heading/link panels/footer:
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highlight/select the text area you want printed
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select print from your browser 'file' menu
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choose the option
of printing 'selection'
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be careful to set it up first rather
than just choosing print from a tool bar icon.
How to create
Tiny URLs that will not wrap in your e-mail
Are you sick of posting URLs in e-mails only to have it break when sent causing
the recipient to have to cut and paste it back together? Then you've come to the
right place. By entering in a URL in the text field below, a tiny URL will be create
which will not break in e-mail postings and never expires
An example: Turn this URL:
http://community.lsoft.com/scripts/WA-LSOFTDONATIONS.exe?S1=guai-support&X=-
into this:
http://tinyurl.com/n7vs7
One possible issue when using tinyURL is that one cannot tell what the link is
pointing to or what the final server destination is. If the server that
tinyURL uses to re-direct links goes down or is ever withdrawn, one would have
no way of ever finding the link location whereas with html one can view the
source and find the URL, or look at the location directly in the text (if it
hasn't been changed on purpose). A work around which we favour would be to
give your recipients a choice, e.g., send the html link:
http://community.lsoft.com/scripts/WA-LSOFTDONATIONS.exe?S1=guai-support&X=-
with a statement following it, e.g.,
If your e-mail client breaks the above link,
please click here instead
http://tinyurl.com/n7vs7 and
you will be redirected to the same location.
This way the recipient gets the best of both worlds.
Add TinyURL to your
browser's toolbar
Click here to go to
TinyURL for more information.
How to
Increase and decrease fonts in browsers and in various computer programs
If you have a mouse with a wheel you can press the control key & mouse WHEEL
together, then adjust the wheel upward or downward to enlarge or decrease size.
Which direction increases or decreases depends on what browser or program you
are using. Experiment till you find what works best for you. It doesn't
work at all in my Eudora.
You can also change font sizes in browsers
through the VIEW option on the MENU bar.
Choose VIEW; Scroll down to TEXT SIZE; and
then choose the best one for you.
You may have to change it according to the
sites you visit and it won't change the sizes on every site.
How to eliminate gaps from
text/quotes so they take up less
space in archives
Often messages are sent where, there
are short lines that contain only a couple of words before the sentence is
continued on the next line. With a little quick editing, a longer-line quote can
be whittled down to much less with no detrimental effect on its readability.
It is sometimes difficult to see
how a block of text is going to end up in the finished email, so it might be
necessary for you to place your cursor at the end of the last word on a line and
press the <Delete> key to observe the effect - this will delete whatever comes
to the right of the cursor, including hard line breaks, which are invisible.
Keep pressing that key until the word before the cursor, and the one immediately
after, are either on the same line with one space between them, or they are hard
against each other, in which case you can then press the <Space Bar> to insert a
space between them. Do this for each line of your quote, starting at the top
line, and you will have a tidy quote at the end of the exercise.
This same measure can be instituted in signature lines and
for the date/time introduction of quotes.
Empty lines are created by
pressing *enter* on your keyboard.
How to Create an E-mail signature
A signature is a few lines of text that
are added automatically to the end of an outgoing message when it is sent.
Please use your signature to outline your Guai history for Guai and Sal topics
only. It isn't necessary to
insert the signature when posting to every topic nor on every letter. Please
don't use it indiscriminately; use it only when asking questions or giving
reports that will serve you or the other members. Constantly repeated
information can really weigh the archives down. Although it takes a little more
effort, if someone is curious about your history and you haven't posted it on a
particular message, they can find your signature on previous messages in the
archives.
Remember that your posts must be sent in plain text,
so don't go playing around with fancy colours and fonts in your signature to
make it look pretty. ;-)
Microsoft Outlook Express 6
A. Click on 'Tools'
B. Click on 'Options'
C. Click on 'Signatures'
D. Click on 'New'
E. Compose the signature information
F. Click on 'Apply' after you complete Step
D above
G. Click on 'OK'
**Note there is a box to check or uncheck
if you wish your signature to go out with every email.
Now send yourself a test email and click on 'Insert' and click on your signature.
You can make as many signatures as you wish. You can also edit your signature,
change it, delete it or add more signatures. If you have any question then
click on the Help feature of your email program.
Microsoft Outlook Express 5.50
Go to the menu bar of your e-mail program, click on "tools" and select
"options" and then go to "signature." You can compose a signature for your
default one, or several different ones to use for different groups and
recipients. Once you have done that, when you are finished composing a post,
click on "insert" and select "signature", unless you chose a default one. They
will be numbered and you just click on the one you want to insert. Hey, presto.
Thanks to Lyn (Canada)
Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express
for Macintosh
Under the Tools menu, select 'Signatures' and click on 'New'. Here you can name the
signature (mine is GG) and then type in whatever you want it to say. Then at the
end of your e-mail, select the Message menu, select 'Signature' and click on the
one you want.
Thanks to Jane
Eudora 5
Eudora comes with a default signature called Standard. This is an empty
signature file that you fill with signature text. To create a new
signature, do the following:
1. From the Tools menu, choose Signatures or click the Signature window’s tab if
it is the inactive window in a
tabbed group. The Signature window appears.
2. Right-click anywhere inside the Signature window and choose New from the
context menu (right-click).
Eudora displays the Create New Signature dialog box, and asks
you for a name.
3. In the dialog box, enter a signature name and click OK. A signature window
appears.
4. Enter your signature text in the signature window (in plain text only).
5. Save the signature file using the File menu Save command.
6. Close the signature window.
To change a signature file, do the
following:
1. In the Signature window, right-click the signature and choose Edit from the
context menu (right-click). The
signature window appears for that signature.
2. Make any changes you want, then save the file with the File menu Save
command, and close the window.
Tesa
AT&T Broadband
My e-mail message center (AT&T Broadband) can easily insert signature lines.
Under a tab called "Options" I
can create up to 3 different signature lines that have different names attached
to them. So when I compose a
new message--like this one--I just select the Signature that I named "Polly" and
it automatically plopped the
signature line below into the space for my message. So then I just typed all
this stuff above it. Cool, huh? Check out your own "Options" if you have
it, and see if you all can't do the same.
Thanks to Polly
Hotmail
1. Click on "Options" at the top right-hand of
the Hotmail screen.
2. When the new page headed “Mail Options”
appears, scroll to the bottom and click on the "Personal Signature” link.
(Note: if the page isn't headed "Mail
Options", click on the Mail link on the left-hand side of the window to get to
the right place)
3. Create
your desired signature in the box in the new window that
appears.
4. Click on the "OK" button when it is
completed.
There's only one problem with this in Hotmail - this signature will be added to
EVERY email that you send, regardless of where you're sending it. That's not a
problem if you only use this address for list mail, but if you write to other
people who have nothing to do with the guai protocol you're probably not going
to want that.
An alternative, if this is a problem, is to open your word processor and create
the signature there. Save the file so it's always on hand when you need it.
When you want to add your signature to an email, simply open that document,
highlight the text, then copy and paste it into place in your email.
Click here
for Copy/Paste help.
Copy and Paste Text
You can combine the mouse and keyboard
methods as you wish to suit your abilities with each. For example, you can
highlight the text with your mouse, then use the keyboard commands to cut/copy
and paste.
Using your mouse
1. Move the cursor on the screen to the
beginning of what you want to copy.
2. With the cursor at that beginning point,
hold down the left mouse button, and drag the cursor to the end of the text you
require. The text will be highlighted.
3. With the cursor at the end of your
required text, and that text highlighted, release the left mouse button.
4. Shift the cursor to within the highlighted
text.
5. Click the right mouse button; a menu will
appear.
6. Select Copy (or Cut, if you want the text
removed from this location in your document)
7. Go to the window or document that you are
copying the text to.
8. Set your cursor to the place where the
text is to begin.
9. Click with the right mouse button, select
Paste from the pop-up menu.
Using your keyboard
1. Move the cursor on the screen to the
beginning of what you want to copy.
2. With the cursor at that beginning point,
hold down the <Shift> key, then use the following keys to move the cursor and
highlight the text you want:
<Arrow Up> - up one line
<Arrow Down> - down one line
<Arrow Left> - left one character
<Arrow Right> - right one character
<Page Up> - up one screen-length
<Page Down> - down one screen-length
<Home> - to the beginning of the current line
<End> - to the end of the current line
<Ctrl><Home> - to the beginning of the
document
<Ctrl><End> - to the end of the document
3. Release all keys when you have completed
highlighting the text you want.
4. Press <Ctrl><C> to Copy, or <Ctrl><X> to
Cut
5. Go to the window or document that you are
copying the text to.
6. Set your cursor to the place where the
text is to begin.
7. Press <Ctrl><V> to Paste your selected
text.
Switching
Between Program Windows Tasks
This is a very handy tool for moving between various
windows that you have open on your screen, without the need to reach for your
mouse and dragging the cursor to the Start menu to locate the window of choice.
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Hold your
left thumb down on the <Alt> key, and keep it there until you're done.
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Press the
<Tab> key with a finger, while still holding down <Alt>.
A small window will appear in the centre of your screen, showing each of the
tasks that you currently have running. You can move from one to the next by
pressing <Tab> as many times as needed to move left to right. To go right to
left, hold down <Shift> as well. The selection will go back to the beginning
when you go past the end.
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When you
have the desired window highlighted, release <Alt>.
Upon releasing <Alt>, the window selected will become the active window, on
top of the others you have open.
Setting a Rule or
Filter
Each of these rules or filters below are aimed at setting
for list mail from the
Guai-Support Group. You
need to be a member of the group to receive the list mail; click
here to join or change
your settings. The list mail arrives in your mailbox from the person who posted
the message, and addressed to the list, not you, hence the particular
instructions below.
Hotmail
1. Log into your Hotmail mailbox.
2. Click on Options, in the top right-hand
corner of the screen.
3. Click on Custom Filters.
4. Click on the New Filter button.
5. Click on Advanced Filter, in the top
right-hand corner of the white part of the screen.
6. In Step 1, set the options so that it
says:
If To or Cc lines contains
GUAI-SUPPORT@COMMUNITY.LSOFT.COM
7. In Step 2, select your folder (if you've
already created it), or select New Folder and type in the name of the folder.
8. When you're satisfied that your filter is
as you want it, click on the OK button at the bottom.
Microsoft Outlook Express v6
1. In Outlook Express go to the Menu
Bar at the top of your screen. Click on Tools then Message Rules then Mail. In
the new box that appears on your screen there are three tabs; click on Mail
Rules if it is not the topmost one.
2. Click on New to create a new
Rule. This opens the New Mail Rule box, which has four parts:
a. Select the Conditions for your
rule (where you tell the rule what to look for)
b. Select the Actions for your rule
(where you tell the rule what to do)
c. Rule Description (where the
conditions and actions are spelled out and further refined)
d. Name of the rule
3. In the Conditions box click in
the square next to "Where the From line contains people". In the Description box
click on the blue link that says "contains people". Click on that and type in
(or use your mouse to Copy and Paste) the address for the list:
GUAI-SUPPORT@COMMUNITY.LSOFT.COM
4. In the Conditions box click on
the square next to "Where the To line contains people". Again, this will be
copied to the Description box. You will need to click on the new "contains
people" link and put the list address in again. Then click on the link "and"
next to that second rule, and select the choice "messages match any one of the
criteria" and click on Okay. That “and” will now say “or”. This means that it
doesn’t matter how your list emails arrive addressed, the Rule will pick them
up; different settings and/or different mail programs can affect the addressing
of list emails, I’ve found, so this rule covers all bases.
5. In the Actions box click on the
square next to “Move it to the specified folder”. In the Description box click
on the blue link that says “specified” and select the folder you want the group
emails moved to. If you haven’t set up this folder click on New Folder and give
it a meaningful name, say Guai-Support Group. Click Okay to accept your changes
(twice if you had to set up the new folder).
6. In the Name box, use your mouse
to highlight the automated name for this new rule and give it something
meaningful, say Guai-Support Group. (This is optional)
7. When you are happy that this rule
has everything set, click Okay to save it. If you want to cancel and start over,
click Cancel instead.
8. If you have Guai-Support Group
emails in your Inbox, you can use the new rule to move them by clicking on Apply
Now.
9. Click Okay to exit the Rule box.
Yahoo
1. Log into your Yahoo mailbox.
2. Click on Mail Options, near the top
right-hand corner of the screen.
3. Click on Filters in the left-hand column.
4. Click on the Add button to set a new
filter.
5. Give your filter a name, eg Guai-Support
Group
6. Next to the line "To/Cc header:", enter
the list address -
GUAI-SUPPORT@COMMUNITY.LSOFT.COM;
leave the left-hand box set to "contains". Don't set it to match case.
7. Select the folder you want your list mail
directed to; if you haven't created a new folder for this mail yet, you can
select [New Folder] and you will be prompted to type in the name of the new
folder. Call it something obvious, like Guai-Support, so you know exactly which
list this folder relates to.
8. When you're satisfied that you've set the
filter as you want it, click on the Add Filter button.
Searching on the GG web site
Search by inserting a 'search term' into the search box
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You can use the Site Search to look
for all the words you list, any of the words listed, or the phrase as you've
entered it
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Check the radio button under the
search box which corresponds to your choice before clicking on "Search" to begin
the hunt.
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Depending on your particular needs
you can start with a narrow search first,
i.e., the most words/phrase fitting your particular needs in
the search box or a broader search,
i.e., using the least words fitting your particular needs.
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You may need to experiment if your
choice is not successful.
The Site Search will give you a list of the web pages at our site that contain
your search term(s). There may be more than one page listed, so
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begin by clicking on the first page
invoked to open it on your screen.
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If several pages have been listed you
may prefer to leave the search results page open so you can keep coming back to
it to choose the next page to open.
If you are using Internet Explorer you can use your right
mouse button to choose 'open in a new page',
If using Mozilla Firefox, you can click on 'open in new tab'.
With the web page open on your screen:
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use your browser's Find function
(usually Edit/Find from the menu, or <Ctrl><F> from the keyboard).
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type the word(s) you used for the
site search, to locate it/them on the page.
Be sure to check the whole page (Find usually locates usage
one at a time), and
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read any text below the word to be
sure that you understand the entry properly, in case it is being used as an
example of what *doesn't* fit the category of that page.
If you cannot find what you are
looking for,
search the archives using the same search terms (click
here to see archives help page if needed) or ask for help
via the GG mailing list.
Please give as much detail as you can regarding your issue so we may serve you
as best we can. Once your e-mail program has been opened and the
correct list address has been automatically inserted, you may need help to
choose an appropriate topic
keyword, and with
how to post to the GG mailing list. There are a number of
different formats to choose from. Choose the one that suits your
particular needs each time you post.
If you are not yet a member
click here for
how to join.
Posting in Plain
Text
When you are
composing any e-mail you have a choice of (a) using plain text or (b) using rich
text. Any post that you send to the list must be in plain text.
If
you have trouble finding the information to do that in your program
click here
for help
Configuring Mail
Clients to Send Plain ASCII Text
If
you need more help in dealing with this please
click here to contact our posting mentor Wendy.
A
couple of items are listed here as an example of the kind of detail you'll find
at the above link/site:
Hotmail
- Click on "Compose tab", address the
message and fill in the "Subject" line
- Before composing the message, click on
"Tools" (next to "Copy message to sent folder")
- Click on "Rich-text editor OFF" to set
off
- NOTE: The toggle is actually
counter-intuitive. That is, if the drop menu choice says "Rich -Text Editor
OFF" RTF formatting is on. When the toggle shows "Rich -Text Editor ON" RTF
formatting is off.
- If you receive a pop up message "Are
you sure you want to do this?" Click "OK" and wait for text formatting tools
to disappear
- NOTE: If you are using Netscape, then
you will NOT be given the the choice to turn ON/OFF RTF formatting. Messages
will be sent in plain text format.
- Compose your plain text message
- Send your plain text message
Mozilla Thunderbird 0.5
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Select "Tools" then click on "Account Settings..."
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Under an account, select "Addressing & Composition" in the left pane
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In the "Composition" section, uncheck "Compose messages in HTML format"
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Repeat the above 2 steps for each account you have set up in Thunderbird
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Click on "OK"
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Select "Tools" then click on "Options"
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Click on "Composition" in left pane
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In the "Forwarding Messages" section, change the "Forward messages:" to Inline
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In the "Composing Messages" section, uncheck the box in front of "For messages
that contain 8-bit characters..."
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In the "Send Options" section, click "Send Options"
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In the "Text Options" section, select "Ask me what to do..." from the dropdown
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Click on "OK"
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If you have followed the instruction above, your e-mail should now always be
sent as "Plain Text". If you would like to send a message in HTML format, then
hold down the Shift key while clicking on the Compose or Reply button and the
current e-mail message will be in HTML edit format.
How to
Read an E-mail Header
A header is the top of your e-mail
message that contains the address, FROM and TO plus CC fields along with the
path the email took to reach you.
http://www.abika.com/Reports/Samples/emailheaderguide.htm
How to Have Your
Browser Open Your Email Program
1. The program
you have set to open, i.e.,
Choose your operating system's START (this is for Windows XP but I'm sure
they are all similar if not the same)
Next, choose, 'Control Panel'
Next, choose, 'Internet Options'
Next, choose, 'Programs'
Then, go to the drop down box under E-mail and check the email program you
want to open when you click on links to open your email program.
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