Using Claris Emailer
This file covers most of the day-to-day tasks for which you'll use Claris Emailer--creating, sending, receiving, and filing mail messages. It also provides information about using the Claris Emailer Address Book and scheduling account connections. You send and receive messages during a connection to an online service, such as AOL or CompuServe. You can set up a connection to communicate with one service or many services.
Connecting to a service
You can connect to a service immediately or at your next scheduled connection. For more information on scheduling a connection, see "Scheduling account connections" later in this document.
Important You must turn on your computer and modem, and launch Claris Emailer, for a connection to work. If you schedule a connection for a time when you'll be away from the computer, be sure to leave your computer and modem on, and leave Claris Emailer running.
To connect to a service immediately, choose Connect Now from the Mail menu. You see the Connect Now Setup dialog box.
* To retrieve incoming messages during the connection, select Get.
* To send messages during the connection, select Send and choose an option from the pop-up menu. Then, choose Specified Msg to send an open message, or choose All Pending Msgs to send all the unsent messages in your Out Box.
* To initiate the connection, click Connect.
Creating messages
To create a message from the Out Box, choose Out Box from the Window menu and then click Add. To create a message at any time, choose New from the Mail menu. You see a new blank message.
Tip To create a message that's already addressed to your intended recipients, choose Address Book from the Window menu, select one or more addresses, and then choose New from the Mail menu.
Addressing messages
After you create a message, you can address it by typing addresses manually, using the Find Address dialog box, or using Macintosh drag and drop.
When you finish addressing a message, you see a clock icon next to the recipient's name, meaning that the message will be sent at the next scheduled Send connection. If you see the triangular alert icon, your address is incomplete. If this happens, read this section carefully to make sure you entered all the required addressing information.
Addressing a message manually
To address a message manually, you type information in the address area of the message. To add another recipient, click Add Recipient. To delete a recipient, click anywhere in the recipient line and then click Delete Recipient.
* To enter the recipient name, type a name in the Recipient field. As you begin typing the recipient's first name, Claris Emailer fills in the rest of the name for you by searching within the address book. Keep typing until Claris Emailer fills in the correct name.
If the recipient is in the Address Book, press Tab to have Claris Emailer automatically enter the rest of the addressing information. If the Address Book has two or more recipients with the same name, or if the recipient is a group, you see the Find Address dialog box (see the next section). If you inadvertently enter the wrong recipient, you can type over the recipient's name and addressing information, or delete the recipient and add a new one.
* To enter the recipient address, type the recipient's mail address in the Address field.
* To enter the destination, choose the name of the service that the recipient uses to retrieve mail from the pop-up menu. For example, choose America Online if the recipient receives mail in an America Online account. Note that when you choose a destination, you only enter the account name in the Address field, and not the entire email address.
If you want, you can type the name of the destination instead. As you type, Claris Emailer fills in the rest of the destination for you. Keep typing until Claris Emailer fills in the correct destination.
If the recipient is in the Address Book, the destinations they have addresses for are in bold in the Destination pop-up menu. If you choose one of these destinations, Claris Emailer updates the Address field with the correct address.
* To choose a service to send the mail, choose the name of the service you want to use to send the message from the pop-up menu under Send Mail Via. For example, choose CompuServe if you want to use your CompuServe account to send this message.
If you want, you can type the name of the destination instead. As you type, Claris Emailer fills in the rest of the service name for you. Keep typing until Claris Emailer fills in the correct service.
Using the Find Address dialog box
To find recipient addresses and add them to an outgoing mail message:
1. Create an outgoing message.
See "Creating messages," earlier in this document.
2. Click Find Recipient.
You see the Find Address dialog box.
3. If you want to narrow down the number of recipients in the Find Address dialog box, type a few letters in the Filter text box.
You can type lowercase or uppercase letters. Claris Emailer finds all the recipients that contain the specified letters in the Name and Description fields. For example, typing ja finds "Japan University" and "Jane Smith."
Note You cannot enter part of a first name and a last name to create a match. For example, entering sal will doesn't find "Sally Willford."
4. Select one or more recipients.
* To select a recipient, click anywhere on the recipient's row.
* To select more than one recipient, Shift-click the recipients you want to select. To deselect a recipient, or to select noncontiguous recipients, Command-click the recipients.
* To select a different destination for a recipient that subscribes to more than one mail service, click the triangle next to the recipient's name to display other destinations for a recipient. Then select the row containing the destination you want.
5. Click Select.
If the selected address is a group, all the recipients in the group are added to the recipient list.
Addressing messages using Macintosh drag and drop
You can address a message by dragging the recipients' addresses to the message. The recipients' addresses can be from the Address Book or from text clippings on the desktop.
You can drag addresses or text clippings to either the address area of the message or to the address area icon, which looks like a face. If you drop the addresses on the address area, you see a border around the address area.
Including carbon copy and blind carbon copy recipients
There are three types of recipients in a message. You can change a recipient's type at any time by choosing an option from the Type pop-up menu in the address area.
* Choose To when the recipient is the primary recipient. It's best to include at least one To recipient in a message. You aren't required to include To recipients. All recipients can tell who the To recipients are.
* Choose CC (Carbon Copy) when the recipient is not the primary recipient, but the recipient may be interested or involved in the content of the message. All recipients can tell who the Carbon Copy recipients are.
* Choose BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) when the recipient is not the primary recipient, but the recipient may be interested or involved in the content of the message. No recipient can tell whether there are any Blind Carbon Copy recipients. A Blind Carbon Copy recipient cannot tell whether there are other Blind Carbon Copy recipients.
Enclosing files
You can enclose any type of file in an outgoing message using the Find Enclosure button, the Open dialog box, or the Macintosh drag-and-drop feature.
You enclose files by adding them to the Enclosure area of an outgoing message. To see the Enclosure area, click the paperclip icon.
Before you send an enclosure, consider the following:
* To enclose an entire folder, you must enclose each file within the folder separately, or use an application, such as StuffIt, to convert the folder to a single file.
* Be sure to enclose the original file and not an alias to the file.
* Check with both the sending and receiving services before sending enclosures over the Internet. (Some services do not support sending and receiving enclosed files over the Internet.)
* Check with the recipient to make sure that they have the applications necessary to open the files you're sending. If you save your files in text (ASCII) format, they can be opened in most applications that accept text.
* If you're enclosing a text file of less than a few pages, you may want to include the text in the message body instead of sending it as an enclosure.
Using the Find Enclosure button
Follow these steps to add an enclosure using the Find Enclosure button. If you are not already in the Enclosure area, click the paperclip icon.
1. Click Find Enclosure in the Enclosure area of a message.
2. In the Find Files dialog box, choose the name of the disk you want to search from the Volume pop-up menu.
3. Type the name (or partial name) of the file you want to search for.
4. Click Search.
5. Select the file(s) you want to enclose.
6. Click OK.
Using the Open dialog box to add an enclosure
Follow these steps to add an enclosure using the Open dialog box. If you are not already in the Enclosure area, click the paperclip icon.
1. Click Add Enclosure in the Enclosure area of a message.
2. Select a file from the Open dialog box.
3. Click Select.
Dragging an enclosure to a message
Follow these steps to add an enclosure using the Macintosh drag-and-drop feature. If you are not already in the Enclosure area, click the paperclip icon.
1. Arrange the windows so that you can see the desktop and the Enclosure area of the message.
2. From the desktop, select the files you want to enclose.
3. Drag the files from the desktop to the scrolling list in the Enclosure area.
As you drag the files into the message, you see a border around the Enclosure area. When you release the mouse, the enclosures are added to the message.
Tip You can also drag enclosures to the paperclip icon of a message.
Setting options for sending enclosures
To set the way Claris Emailer handles the sending of enclosures, select options from the Enclosure area of a message.
* To compress the files you're sending, select Compress Files.
You must compress files if you include more than one enclosure. Compressing enclosed files saves time during the transfer and can reduce the charges on some services. Claris Emailer uses the StuffIt compression technology to compress the files. The recipient of the message must have a StuffIt expansion tool (available from the public domain) to expand any compressed files. If the message is received using Claris Emailer, enclosures are automatically expanded.
* To set the encoding of compressed files, choose an option from the Encoding pop-up menu.
Enclosed files are sent using special encoding to ensure that they arrive without errors. If the recipient's destination is the same as the service you're sending the message through, choose Service Default, the optimal encoding for your service. If your service doesn't support enclosures, try choosing BinHex, which appends the enclosure as text in the message body.
Removing enclosures
To remove enclosures, select one or more enclosures in the Enclosure area of a message and click Delete Enclosure.
Sending messages
After you create a message, you can:
* save it and send it at the next connection to a service
* save it without sending it
* send it immediately. (When you send a message immediately, it is automatically saved for you.)
You can also reply to or forward a message you receive.
Outgoing messages are saved in the Out Box. To open a message in the Out Box, double-click it.
Sending a message at the next connection
To save a message and send it at the next connection to a service, click Save. Claris Emailer saves your message, closes it, and stores it in the Out Box. To save your message without closing it, choose Save from the File menu. For information on setting up scheduled connections, see "Scheduling account connections," later in this document.
Saving a message without sending it
If you're not finished composing a message, you can save it without sending it, and continue working on it later. To do this, select Do not schedule, and then click Save. Claris Emailer saves your message, closes it, and stores it in the Out Box. To save your message without closing it, choose Save from the File menu.
Sending messages immediately
After you create a message, you can send it immediately. You can also immediately send all the unsent messages in your Out Box.
* To save a message and send it immediately, click the Send Now button at the top of the message screen. (The Send Now button is dimmed if you try to send a message while a connection is open.)
* To immediately send all the unsent messages in your Out Box, choose Connect Now from the Mail menu.
Note You must close a message before you can send it. Clicking Send Now automatically closes a message before sending it.
After either of these actions, you see the Connect Now Setup dialog box. For information on setting connection options, see "Connecting to a service," earlier in this document.
Checking the status of messages you send
After you save or send a message, you can check its status in the Out Box. To go to the Out Box, choose Out Box from the Window menu.
The icons in the first three columns show the status or give information about a message.
* The clock icon shows that the message will be sent at the next scheduled connection.
* A crossed-out clock icon shows that the message has been saved but will not be sent because the Do not schedule option was selected in the message. If you want, you can edit the message and save it again and/or send it.
* A checkmark shows that the message has been sent successfully.
* The triangular alert icon shows that the message has an addressing error. This icon is also shown in the Out Box tab.
* The paperclip icon shows that the message contains one or more enclosures.
* The left arrow icon shows that the message is a reply to a message you received.
Receiving messages
This section covers reading, replying to, and forwarding messages you receive, and storing and opening enclosed files.
You can immediately retrieve incoming messages from one or more online services, or wait until messages are retrieved automatically at the next scheduled connection. To retrieve messages immediately, follow the instructions on connecting to a service, earlier in this document.
Messages you receive are stored in the In Box. When you receive a message, you see:
* a flashing Claris Emailer icon at the far right of the menu bar (when Claris Emailer is hidden), and
* an arrow in the In Box tab in the Browser.
A checkmark shows that you read the message.
A paperclip icon shows that the message contains one or more enclosures.
A left arrow icon shows that you replied to the message.
Reading messages
To read a message, choose In Box from the Window menu, select the message you want to read, and click View (or double-click the message). You see the message window for the current message.
Opening and moving enclosed files
If a message has an enclosure, you see the Enclosures list the first time you open the message. You can also show the Enclosures list at any time by choosing Toggle Mailer from the Edit menu or clicking the triangle above the message area. You can open an enclosure from Claris Emailer, or move it to a convenient location on your hard drive and open it there. You move an enclosure on the desktop, or by dragging it from the Enclosures list using Macintosh drag and drop.
Important You cannot open enclosures in a filed message. To open an enclosure, move the message back to the In Box or Out Box. See the next section, and "Moving messages using Macintosh drag and drop," later in this document.
Opening an enclosure in Claris Emailer
To open an enclosure, double-click it in the Enclosures list. Claris Emailer launches the application used to create the enclosure.
Important Claris Emailer cannot open an enclosure by itself. To open an enclosure, you must have the application used to create that enclosure.
Moving an enclosure on the desktop
Enclosures are automatically saved in the Downloads folder in the Claris Emailer folder. You can drag an enclosure from the Downloads folder to another location on the desktop.
Tip To change the default folder where downloaded enclosures are saved, choose Preferences from the Setup menu, click the General tab, click Set, and then select a folder.
Moving an enclosure using Macintosh drag and drop
Follow this procedure to drag a message from the Enclosures list to a folder or disk on the desktop.
1. Open the Enclosures list for an incoming message.
2. On the desktop, set up the windows so that you can see both the Enclosures list and the folder or disk into which you want to move the enclosure.
3. Select one or more enclosures in the Enclosures list.
Shift-click the enclosures you want to select. To deselect an enclosure, or to select noncontiguous enclosures, Command-click the enclosures.
4. Drag the enclosures to the desired folder or disk on the desktop.
Replying to a message
To reply to a message:
1. From the In Box, open the message you want to reply to.
2. Click Reply or choose Reply from the Mail menu.
If there is more than one recipient, select an addressing option in the Reply To dialog box, and click Reply.
Tip While you're still in the message, press Option as you click Reply to bypass the Reply To dialog box.
In your reply, you can add and remove recipients as you do for a message you create. For information, see "Addressing messages," earlier in this document.
Including text from the original message
You may want to include part of the original message in your reply, especially if:
* there is a long delay between the original message and the reply
* you want your reply to be seen in the context of the original message
* one or more recipients did not receive the original message
Claris Emailer has a quoting feature you can use to mark the text of an original message in a reply. Every line of a quote is preceded by a quoting character (>).
Use one of the following methods to add a quote to a reply:
* To use text from an original message in a reply, open the original message, select the text that you want to include in the reply, and then create the reply. For information on creating a reply, see the previous section.
* To copy text from a message (or any other type of document) and then paste it into another message, open a message or other document containing text, and copy the text you want to quote. Then position the insertion point in the reply and choose Paste as Quotation from the Edit menu.
* To copy the entire body of a message, including details about the sender and subject, open a message, and then choose Copy Entire Message from the Edit menu. You can then paste the text into a reply, or any other document that accepts text.
Forwarding a message
A message you forward contains the complete original message. You can edit the text of the forwarded message just as you would a new message.
To forward a message, open the message you want to forward and click Forward or choose Forward from the Mail menu. To address the message, see "Addressing messages," earlier in this document.
Filing messages
You can file incoming and outgoing messages in folders in the Filing Cabinet. Filing messages helps you to organize your In Box and Out Box.
To file a message, select it in the In Box or Out Box, and then click File. Or, if you hold the mouse down over the File button, you see a pop-up menu. Choose a folder from the menu to save the selected message in that folder. (Claris Emailer is preset to save the message in the folder shown in bold in the pop-up menu.)
In the Filing Cabinet, you can view and open filed messages. To open the Filing Cabinet, choose Filing Cabinet from the Window menu.
Working with filed messages
You can select and delete messages, find text in a message, and move messages back to the In Box or Out Box or to a different folder in the Folder Name list.
* To select a message, click anywhere on the message. Shift-click to select more than one message. To deselect a message or to select noncontiguous messages, Command-click the messages.
* To delete selected messages, click Delete File(s).
* To find text in a message, click Find. In the dialog box, type the text you want to search for, select where you want to search, and click OK.
* To move selected messages to the In Box or Out Box, hold the mouse down over the Move File(s) button, and choose In/Out Box from the pop-up menu.
* To move selected messages to another folder in the Folder Name list, click Move File(s). In the dialog box, select the folder you want to move the messages to, and click OK.
Moving messages using Macintosh drag and drop
You can drag messages from the Filing Cabinet to:
* the In Box or Out Box (by dropping them on the In Box or Out Box tab)
* another folder in the Folder Name list
* a folder or disk on the desktop
Note You cannot drag incoming messages to the Out Box or outgoing messages to the In Box.
Setting up folders in the Filing Cabinet
You can add and delete folders, and delete all the messages in a folder.
* To add a folder to the Folder Name list, click Add Folder and then type a name for the folder. You can add as many folders as you want to the Filing Cabinet. When you name a folder, use a meaningful name, such as "Project Status Messages."
* To delete all the messages in a folder, select the folder and click Empty Folder. You can empty only the Read Mail, Sent Mail, and Deleted Mail folders.
* To delete a folder, select the folder and click Delete Folder. You can delete only folders you've added to the Filing Cabinet.
The folders in the Filing Cabinet are stored on the desktop. Any folders you add to the Filing Cabinet go in the Personal Folders.
Tip If you file a message in a folder, or drag it to the desktop, you can open the message by double-clicking it.
Using the Address Book
Use the Address Book to store addresses. You can add addresses to the Address Book and set up group addresses. You can also import and export addresses to and from other applications and text files. When you're finished adding addresses, you can find an address quickly by typing text in the Filter text box.
After you add addresses to the Address Book, you can use them to address outgoing messages.
Adding addresses
You add addresses to the Address Book by either typing them manually or by adding the sender or recipient addresses from messages you receive. You can also exchange addresses with other people by saving them as text clippings.
Adding addresses manually
To add an address manually to the Address Book:
1. Choose Address Book from the Window menu.
2. Click New User.
3. Enter a name and description for the recipient.
4. For Destination, choose a destination from the pop-up list or type the name of the service that the recipient uses to retrieve mail.
For example, choose America Online from the pop-up menu if the recipient receives mail in an America Online account.
If you want, you can type the destination instead. As you type, Claris Emailer fills in the rest of the destination for you. Keep typing until Claris Emailer fills in the correct destination.
If the destination does not appear in the pop-up menu, choose Internet and add the recipient's full Internet address.
5. Enter the mail address in the Address field.
6. If the recipient has more than one mail address, click the Add icon to add another address line, and then repeat steps 4 and 5.
Continue adding lines until you've added all of the recipient's addresses.
Note To delete one of the recipient's addresses, click anywhere in the address line and click the trash icon.
7. Click in the left-most column next to the address that you want to be the preferred address.
The preferred destination icon appears. Claris Emailer uses the preferred address when addressing a message.
8. Click Save.
Creating groups
You can consolidate several recipient addresses into a group. When you send a message to a group, every recipient in the group receives the message.
Note Addresses you add to a group are not linked to individual addresses in your Address Book. If you edit individual addresses, they do not change the addresses in any group. To edit addresses in a group, you must select the group, click Edit, and make the changes there.
To create a group:
1. Choose Address Book from the Window menu.
2. Click New Group.
3. In the Address Book Group Entry dialog box, enter a group name and description.
4. Follow the instructions in the next section for adding addresses to a group.
5. Click Save.
Adding addresses to a group
You can add addresses to a group by typing them manually, or by dragging them to the Address Book Group Entry dialog box using Macintosh drag and drop. You can drag addresses from the Address Book, or from the desktop.
Importing addresses
If you have addresses in one of the following mail programs, you can import them directly into Claris Emailer.
Mail program/Address book filename/Location
* America Online/Address Book/Online Tools folder in AOL folder
* CompuServe Information Manager/CompuServe Addresses/CompuServe folder in System Preferences folder
* Eudora/Eudora Nicknames/Eudora Folder in System Folder
* Navigator/CompuServe Addresses/Navigator folder
To import addresses from another mail program:
1. Choose Import Addresses from the File menu.
2. Find the file you want to import.
3. Click Open.
Scheduling account connections
This section provides step-by-step instructions scheduling connections to services.
You can automate when Claris Emailer sends and receives your mail by creating schedules. Schedules help you efficiently manage your computer and automate connections to online services. For example, you could create one schedule to check your mail often during the week and another to check only once a day on the weekends.
Important You must have your computer and modem on and the Claris Emailer application running for schedules to run. Schedules do not launch Claris Emailer.
Creating or changing a schedule
You can create several schedules to send and receive your mail. Schedules can help you control connections to different services at various times during the day. For example, you can retrieve your mail from one service once a day, but send mail to another service once an hour.
Claris Emailer staggers the connection times within the ten-minute intervals you can choose for a schedule. This random interval relieves peak congestion at online services, helping you avoid connection errors.
Note You might want to consider the monthly costs of connecting to your services when you create a schedule. For example, if you create a schedule to connect once every 30 minutes to a service, you'll connect 1,440 times per month. At one minute per connection, you would accumulate 24 hours of connect time.
To create or change a schedule:
1. Choose Schedules from the Setup menu.
You see the Schedules List window.
2. Click Add to create a schedule. To change an existing schedule, double-click the name of the schedule.
You see the Schedule Entry dialog box.
3. Type the new or changed name of the schedule.
It's a good idea to name the schedule so that it is easily recognizable. For example, you might name a schedule that retrieves mail from America Online, AOL Mail.
4. Select the tasks to perform during the connection. You can select Get Mail or Send Mail, or both.
Note If you want to get your mail at one time and send it at another, you'll need to create a schedule for each task.
5. Select the account(s) that you want to make a scheduled connection to. You see a checkmark next to each selected account.
You can connect to several accounts with one schedule. To disable an account without removing it from the schedule, deselect it.
Important Changing how you connect to an account does not change a schedule; the schedule still runs, but using the connection information selected in the Service Entry dialog box. Likewise, if you select a different location in the Locations List window, be sure that the schedules you create for an account are still valid for the new location.
6. Choose either a timed or repeating connection from the Schedule Type pop-up menu.
* If you choose a timed connection, select the days, hours, and times that you want the schedule to run. You must select at least one day, hour, and time to activate the schedule.
* If you choose a repeating connection, choose how often the schedule will run from the Frequency pop-up menu.
Note The scheduling options in the Schedule Entry dialog box change when you select either a timed or repeating connection from the Schedule Type pop-up menu.
7. Click Save.