Easy Mac OS X Lion - Kate Binder [36]
* * *
Chapter 8: Using Email
Before you can do anything online, you have to actually get online. Fortunately, with Mac OS X, getting online couldn’t be easier. In fact, your Mac might have completed some of these tasks for you already based on the information you gave it when you first started up Mac OS X. If not, don’t worry—nothing here will take you more than a couple of minutes to complete, and then you’ll be ready to go.
In this chapter, you learn how to set up an Internet connection and how to get online using those settings. Although the details vary somewhat depending on your connection type, the setup process is similar no matter how you connect. Don’t be intimidated by the techie terminology—after you have your settings in place, you won’t need to worry about any of the details again. You might need to get some information from your Internet service provider, but if that’s the case, you’ll receive this information when you sign up with the provider.
You’ll also learn about Mail accounts: how to set them up and use them to send and receive email. And you’ll learn ways to keep your email spam-free, organized, and easy to deal with—no matter how much email you receive each day. You can even automate some organizational tasks so Mail takes care of them for you, such as filing your email in the proper mailboxes according to sender, recipient, or subject; this chapter shows you how.
Setting Up an Internet Connection and Your Email
Setting Up Email Accounts
Setting up new email accounts works the same way whether you’re using Mail for the first time or adding an umpteenth different email address for yourself. You’ll go through a series of dialog boxes that ask you for your username, password, server names, and other information.
In Mail, choose File, Add Account. (If you’re starting Mail for the first time, you’re taken directly to this series of dialog boxes.)
Fill in your name, email address, and password; then click Continue.
Type your incoming mail server’s address, your username, and your password; then click Continue.
Check Use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) (if your provider supports it) and then click Continue.
* * *
Note: More Fun with Mail Accounts
You can set up as many Mail accounts as you have email addresses. Mail automatically filters your incoming email into a separate mailbox for each address, so you can keep your messages organized.
* * *
* * *
Tip: Different, But the Same
If you choose MobileMe from the Account Type pop-up menu in the first dialog box, your choices will be slightly different. Mail knows how MobileMe is configured, including the server addresses, so it fills in a lot of information itself.
* * *
Type your outgoing mail server’s address and (if necessary) your username and password; then click Continue.
Check Use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and then click Continue.
Double-check the settings you made; click Go Back to change them or Create to accept them.
* * *
Note: Pop Goes the Email!
POP and IMAP, the two Account Type choices that you are most likely to use, refer to the way your email is handled on the server, the computer that receives your email over the Internet and forwards it to your Mac. Most commercial ISPs use POP, but university systems, for example, often use IMAP. If you’re not sure which account type your email uses, check with your network administrator or technical support department.
* * *
Sending Email with Mail
The steps given here assume that you’re composing a new message. If you click a received message in one of your mailboxes, you’ll see toolbar buttons for replying and forwarding; just click the appropriate button and then add your message text and an email address if you’re forwarding the message.
Click the Compose New Message button in the toolbar.
Type the name of the person you want to email. If the email address doesn’t appear automatically, it’s not in your address book, and you’ll need