Email is the single largest reason people use the Internet.
Not having an email account these days is like not having
a phone number. This tutorial will show you how to create
a free account with Yahoo.com, a popular email service.
It will also show you how to send, reply to, and forward
emails, as well as provide a few important notes on general
email usage. As with all things computerized, experimentation
is essential to learning and understanding how to navigate
the Internet and take full advantage of the many tools it
has to offer.
If you are reading this tutorial you should already know
how to use your Internet browser, so all you have to do
is click on this LINK.
Fig. 1
|
This will open Yahoo.com in a new browser window. At the
top of the Yahoo page you will see a link and image for
Mail. Click this icon and you will be taken to the Login
/ Signup page. You shouldn't have an existing account, so
click on the purple "Sign Up Now" button as shown
in Fig. 2.
Fig. 2
|
You will now be taken to a page presenting you with two
options. Yahoo.com offers both a free email service and
a paid email service. The free service is paid for by banner
advertisements that appear at the top and side of the screen
while using their service. This rarely is a problem for
users, and since we want to keep this as simple as possible,
choose the free option shown in Fig. 3. The free account
from Yahoo offers a very large 100 Megabytes of space for
storing your emails and attachments (attachments are pictures
or files sent with an email).
Fig. 3
|
After clicking the button shown in Fig. 3, you will go to
the registration page where you pick your email address,
password, and several other options. Keep in mind that when
choosing your Yahoo ID (which is also your email address),
you generally want it to be something easy to remember.
Many names are already taken, however, and Yahoo will tell
you if your chosen name is taken when you submit this form.
More on this later. For now, choose your name and then choose
a password. The password must be at least 6 letters and/or
numbers in length and should not be shared with anyone else.
Fig. 4
|
After choosing your email address and password, you will
be asked to choose a security question that you will have
to answer if you forget your password. There are several
options in the pulldown menu. Just select one option and
type the answer in the box directly below. Enter your birthday
and move to the next section.
Fig. 5
|
Remember that the free Yahoo accounts are supported
by advertisements. This next section, shown in Fig. 6,
is designed to target those advertisements to your interests.
You must enter your name, zip code and gender in the boxes
as well as select your line of work. There is an option
for "People Search Listing" that will allow
other people to find you online through Yahoo's directory.
This is completely optional and depends on your personal
desire for privacy. The next option allows you to choose
whether Yahoo's advertising partners are able to send
you email promotions and special offers. Also optional,
unchecking this box will reduce the amount of email you
receive from marketers.
Fig. 6
|
One of the final steps in the registration process is entering
the letters and/or numbers from the security code shown
in Fig. 7. Yahoo uses this step to prevent automatic registration
by specialized computer programs which can then use the
email account to send spam and other unwanted solicitations.
The image of the security code is warped so these computer
programs cannot read or interpret it, however a human should
have little trouble. The code shown in Fig. 7 is 2V2M, although
the code you see will be different.
Fig. 7
|
Enter your security
code in the box and click on the button shown
at the right.. Do not panic if you receive an
error message after clicking the button in Fig.
8. This can happen if a required section is left
blank or incorrectly filled in. Yahoo will give
you instructions to correct the error and then
resubmit your application. Most errors at this
point are because your email address is already
in use. Simply choose a different name or select
one from the optional list. Again click on the
button in Fig. 8.
|
Fig. 8 |
Success! After correctly completing the form you will
be rewarded with the confirmation page as shown in Fig.
9. It shows your Yahoo ID and your new email address.
Write both of these down. Your ID is used to log into
your Yahoo email account. Before continuing, however,
you need to decide whether or not to install the Yahoo
companion toolbar for you web browser. The toolbar is
a strip of special buttons that allow quick access to
Yahoo functions like news, your list of bookmarks, and
quick access to email. Once you decide whether or not
to install this optional program, click on the "Continue
to Yahoo Mail" button.
Fig. 9
|
Figure 10 shows the Yahoo welcome page. This is the main
screen for your mailbox. From here you can access your inbox,
email folders, address book, calendar, and notepad. The
number next to the "Inbox" link on the left of
the page tells how many new, unread emails you have in your
inbox. Since we have one, let's take a look. Click on the
link for your inbox either at the left or in the middle
of the page (shown by the circles).
Fig. 10
|
You are now in the inbox. This is where you will find your
new email as well as messages you have already read and
just not deleted or moved to a folder. Click on the subject
of any message to read it. To erase a message just check
the box to the left of the sender's name and click the "Delete"
button. The "Spam" button is used the same way,
only its function is to alert Yahoo to unsolicited email
in your inbox. It is highly recommended to check-mark all
spam in your inbox and submit it to Yahoo. Not only does
this protect your inbox from similar spam in the future,
but it protects other Yahoo users from receiving the same
unwanted messages.
Since this email is from Yahoo it is safe to read. Click
the subject line to open it.
Fig. 11
|
This general information email from Yahoo is an introduction
to your new account. It is worth a quick read and can be
saved in your inbox for future reference. When you are ready,
click on the "Addresses" tab as shown in Fig.
12. It's time to add an email address and send a message.
Fig. 12
|
The address book can store hundreds of email addresses
as well as phone numbers, street addresses, and specific
notes about your friends. All information is kept secure
on Yahoo's system to prevent this sensitive information
being seen by anyone but you. Adding a new contact is
simple. Click on the "Add a New Contact" link
to begin.
Fig. 13
|
You can enter a great deal of information about your friends
and contacts on this page. The most important information
for emails, however, is at the top of the page shown in
Fig. 14. Your friend's full name is useful when searching
your address book. The "Nickname", used as a shortcut
when addressing an outgoing email, should be short and easy
to remember. Enter the contact's email address in the "Email"
box and an alternate address below that, if they have one.
The Yahoo ID is for others with a yahoo email address. If
the contact you are entering has a Yahoo email account you
can enter their ID here (be sure to omit the @yahoo.com).
Should you choose to, there is much more information to
enter below these.
Fig. 14
|
If you would like
to enter another contact, select "Save and
Add Another". When you are finished entering
contacts click on the "Save" button
shown in Fig. 15. You will receive a confirmation
page for the last submission that looks like Fig.
16. Select the "Done" button to return
to your address book.
|
Fig. 15 |
Fig. 16
|
Now you will be returned to the address book overview page.
From here you can browse the contacts you've entered, delete
entries, and create email lists of friends, family, and
business contacts. For now, though, let's continue back
to the mail page.
Fig. 17
|
From the mail page, select "Compose" as shown
below.
Fig. 18
|
This is the message creation page. Before we begin,
a few notes about the functions of "To", "Cc"
and "Bcc".
The "To" field is where you enter any email
address or a Yahoo nickname from your address book. The
"Cc" stands for "Carbon Copy" and
is functionally identical to the "To" field.
With both "To" and "Cc" any person
who receives the email will be able to see the email addresses
of all the other persons receiving the same message. "Bcc"
or "Blind Carbon Copy" is different. When you
enter an email address or nickname into Bcc, the person
who receives that message will not be able to see the
other recipients names or email addresses. This is useful
when sending a message to a large number of people who
might not want their email address circulated. For this
tutorial we will just use the "To" feature.
Click the link circled in red on Fig. 19 to open your
address book.
Fig. 19
|
Using the check boxes shown in Fig. 20, select which of
the address choices is appropriate and then click "Insert
Checked Contacts" to return to the message creation
page. Keep in mind that you can select as many people from
your address book as you like by checking the "To",
"Cc" or "Bcc" box next to their name.
Fig. 20
|
Now that you have an address to receive your email you
should enter a subject. Fig. 21 is merely an example,
but email addresses should always be relevant to the message
you are sending. Today's email boxes receive so much spam
that any message not recognized immediately is usually
deleted, sometimes incorrectly! After you have a subject
that identifies the content of the email you can enter
the body of the message. Yahoo offers many tools to help
you format your message. The most common features found
in word processing programs are also found here: cut,
copy, paste, font, spell check, bold, italic, and underline.
You can even change text color, insert different smiley
faces, and add hyperlinks. These functions work by highlighting
the text you want to affect and then selecting the effect
to apply. For more help using basic word processing functions
see the tutorial for Microsoft Word.
Fig. 21
|
When you are finished typing your message you can click
the "Send" button at the top or bottom of the
page. You can also choose if you want to keep a copy of
this message in your "Sent Items" folder. This
is useful if a message is lost and needs to be sent again,
or for general reference later.
Fig. 22
|
If all the information in your email is entered correctly
you will receive a confirmation page like the one in Fig.
23. From here you can click "Check Mail" to
return to your inbox, "Compose" to write another
message, or any of the other features of Yahoo email.
Fig. 23
|
Congratulations! This completes the Beginner's Tutorial
for Email.
|
