Module 2 - Email Tasks

I found the Email tutorial helpful to understand the basic email functions. I am familiar with many of the basic functions as I use email everyday to communicate at work and also on a private level. However, it is handy to know the tutorial is there to clear up anything that I might not have known.

The answers to the Module 2 questions are as follows.

1. What information about a user's email, the origin of a message, and the path it took, can you glean from an email message?

The information that you can obtain from an email message includes the username of the person sending the email, the domain name and the time that the message was sent. You can also see if the message was sent to anyone else using the cc function.

2. In what cases would you find it useful to use the 'cc', 'bcc' and 'reply all' functions of email?

• You would use the 'cc' function if you wanted to send a copy of an email to someone as well as the recipient
• You would use the 'bcc' function if you wanted to send a blind copy of the email to someone without the recipient knowing
• You would use the reply to all function if you wanted your reply to be sent to all of the recipients from the original message.

3. In what ways can you ensure that an attachment you send will be easily opened by the receiver?

• You must ensure that the recipient has the software they need to open the file eg if you are sending a file that was originally created in MS Word, then you must ensure that the recipient has a compatible program in order to open the document.
• Send text files as plain text (ASCII). This is useful of you don't know what type of programs the recipient has access to. (A file that is sent as plain text will lose any formatted text eg, bold)
• Include in your email the name of the program used to create the attachment.
• It is a good idea to compress large files to reduce the amount of time needed to open the file, you could use programs such as Winzip to unzip the file when you have received it. I have found this useful when sending MYOB attachments.

4. What sorts of filters or rules do you have set up, and for what purpose?

I have a spam filter in place for my email account so that I do not receive as much junk email as I would if this was not in place. I only receive email in my inbox from people listed in my address book. I still receive junk email, but it is automatically placed in another folder so I can access it if I want to, but it does not go directly into my inbox.

5. How have you organised the folder structure of your email and why?

I have based this answer on my email account at work, I sort all of my emails into separate folders depending on who they are from, for example I have different folders set up for clients, the ATO, friends and uni, just to name a few. I have done this so that if and when I need to refer back to an email, it makes it quicker and easier to do this without having to go through every email that is in my inbox.