FirstClass Email: Intermediate-Level Topics

This page discusses topics that may be useful if you're already familiar with FirstClass. If you're not yet familiar with FirstClass, see FirstClass Email: Getting Started.

Separating Incoming from Outgoing Mail (Using Inbox/Sent Items Folders)
Reply
Reply Preferences
Reply Cursor
FirstClass Contacts: Saving Addresses You Use Frequently
Mailing Lists
Folders (Organizing Mail Messages)
Finding Lost Messages
Using FirstClass for Temporary Backups

Separating Incoming from Outgoing Mail (Using Inbox/Sent Items Folders)

When you begin using FirstClass, all your messages are kept in a single location called your MailBox. Messages that you send, receive, and draft (but don't finish) are all kept in the same place.

Many people find it preferable to have 3 separate folders for the messages, separating sent, received, and in-process messages. If you like this idea, you can configure Firstclass to create such folders and automatically file your messages inside them. Follow these instructions to create separate Inbox, Outbox, and Sent Items folders.

• Pull down the FirstClass menu and highlight Preferences...
• Click the General tab.
• Pull down the Mailbox style menu and click Separate Inbox/Outbox.
• Click OK.
  
• Press 0 (ctrl 0 on Windows computers) to refresh the display.
• You will notice that the left-hand navigation pane now shows several new folders, including:
  Inbox (contains messages sent to you)
  Drafts (contains messages you started but haven't finished)
  Sent items (contains messages you've sent; if you un-delete a message in Sent Items, it moves to Drafts).
• You can see the contents of these folders just like any other folders you create. Just click them once to display a list of messages inside.
• You can go back to a unified (single) MailBox by repeating the instructions above, except choose Unified Mailbox in the Preferences dialog box.
  

Reply

When you reply to a message, you should make sure to include the original message in your reply. If you don't include the original message. your recipients are likely to have difficulty remembering the context of the message you send.

You may choose to reply to everyone who received the original message, or only to the person who sent the original message. It's particularly important to make a conscious choice about these two options. Many people make the mistake of replying to everyone on a message when only the sender needed the answer. This mistake sends unwanted email to many, many people, often to the whole Pike community -- a situation that's best avoided.

To reply to the sender only:

• Open the message you received and want to reply to.
• Press A to select the message text. This ensures that the message text is included in the reply.
• Click the black, down-arrow on the Reply button. From the drop-down menu, click Reply Sender.
  
• FirstClass will place the sender's name on the To: line of the new message that will become your reply. Complete the message text and send the message as usual.

To reply to everyone who received the original message:

• Open the message you received and want to reply to.
• Press A to select the message text. This ensures that the message text is included in the reply.
• Click the Reply button.
  

Tip!

If you have changed the FirstClass Preferences that govern Reply, these instructions won't work for you! See the next section for additional information.

Reply Preferences

If you usually reply only to the sender, you can change the behavior of the Reply button so that clicking it replies to the sender only. Here's how to change the preferences:

• Pull down the FirstClass menu and click Preferences...
• Click the Messaging tab.
• Click the Mail Rules tab.
• Pull down the Reply preference menu and click Reply Sender.
• Click OK.

• The Reply button will now address your reply messages only to the sender of the original message (not to everyone who received the original message).

Reply Cursor

When you reply to a message, FirstClass places the cursor at the end of the reply you're creating (after the original message text that you've included in the reply). Therefore when you send your reply, your recipients will open the message and see their original text first, followed by your reply.

Most people prefer that the reply they're typing appear before the original message text, so that their recipients see the newly-added text of the reply before they see the original message that was included for reference. You can make FirstClass place the cursor at the beginning of a reply message by changing its Preferences.

• Pull down the FirstClass menu and click Preferences...
• Click the Messaging tab.
• Click the Initial Content tab.
• Drop down the Cursor placement in reply menu and click Before Quote .
• Click OK.

Contacts: Saving Addresses You Use Frequently

You can use FirstClass Contacts to save email addresses of people outside Pike School with whom your correspond frequently. (There's no need to save email addresses of people within Pike, since you can simply type a brief portion of their names to address email to them. ) You can also use Contacts to create mailing lists (see next section).

There are three ways to add email addresses to your FirstClass contacts:

• Type the email address into your contacts listing.
• Add the sender's email address from a message you've received.
• Add an email address within the body of a message you've received.

Type the addresses into your contacts listing.

• Locate the main navigation pane. (Press 0, or ctrl 0 on Windows computers.) Then click Contacts.
  
• A new window will open where your contacts will be listed. Click the New icon.
  
• The contacts detail window will open. You can enter the information about your contact here. At a minimum you should enter the first and last names at the top of the screen. Then click the Email/URL tab, enter the email address (be sure to press return after entering the email address). You may also enter any additional information you'd like. When you have entered all the information, click Save and Close. (To discard the information without saving, click the red dot at the window's upper left corner on Macintosh or the x at the window's upper right corner on a Windows computer. When prompted, click Don't Save.)
  
  

Add the sender's email address from a message you've received.

• Open a message you've received.
• Press ctrl and click on the sender's name (right-click on a Windows computer) . FirstClass will display a menu of options.
• On the menu, click Add to Contacts Folder. FirstClass opens the contacts detail window.
• Check the information that FirstClass has entered, and add any additional information you'd click.
• Class Save and Close. (To discard the information without saving, click the red dot at the window's upper left corner on Macintosh or the x at the window's upper right corner on a Windows computer. When prompted, click Don't Save.)

Add an email address from the body of a message you've received.

• Open a message you've received.
• Press ctrl and click on the email address in the body of the message (right-click on a Windows computer). FirstClass will display a menu of options.
• On the menu, click Add to Contacts Folder. FirstClass opens the contacts detail window.
• Check the information that FirstClass has entered, and add any additional information you'd click.
• Class Save and Close. (To discard the information without saving, click the red dot at the window's upper left corner on Macintosh or the x at the window's upper right corner on a Windows computer. When prompted, click Don't Save.)

How to use the contact when sending email

• When you wish to send a message to the contact you've just saved, simply open a new message as usual.
• Click on the To: line.
• Type all or part of the contact's first or last name and press return. FirstClass will enter the email address for your contact or, if more than one name matches what you've typed, will show you a list of possible matches. If you see a list of matches, click the one you want and press return.
• Complete the message and send it as usual.

How to change or delete a contact

• Locate the main navigation pane. (Press 0, or ctrl 0 on Windows computers.)
• Click Contacts. FirstClass will display the list of Contacts in the right-hand pane.
• To edit a contact, double-click the name. FirstClass will open the Contacts detail screen. Make any desired changes, and then click Save and Close.
• To delete a contact, click the name once. Then click the Delete icon at the top of the screen.

Mailing Lists

If you frequently send email to the same group of people, you can save their email addresses into a mailing list.You can then send email to the whole list simply by typing the list name on the To: line in a new message.

Create Your Own Lists

• Start FirstClass and open your MailBox, as usual (so that you see a list of messages). (Press 1, or ctrl 1 on Windows computers.)
• Click the down-pointing arrow next to the New icon in the FirstClass toolbar and then select New Mail List from the drop-down menu. Or press  2 (Ctrl 2 on Windows).
  
• You will see a screen like the following. Click in the Name area and type a name for your mailing list.
• Then type each email address, one at a time, in the Members: area. Press return after each member's address. (Each email address will appear on a separate line.)
  
• When you have entered all addresses, click OK.
• When prompted, click Save. Your mailing list has been created.

How to use the mailing list when sending email

• To send a message to the list, create a new message as usual.
• In the To: area, type all or part of the name of the list (e.g., 21st Century Committee) and press return. If more than one list or recipient matches what you've typed, FirstClass will display a list of matching choices. Click the one you want and press return.
• Complete the subject and body of the message, and send the message as usual. Each person on your mailing list will receive a copy of the message.

How to delete the mailing list

• Start FirstClass and open your MailBox, as usual (so that you see a list of messages). Or press  1, or ctrl 1 on Windows computers.
• Click Contacts in the left-hand navigation pane.
• Click once on the name of your mailing list in the right-hand pane.
• Click the Delete button at the top of the screen.

How to change the mailing list

• Start FirstClass and open your MailBox, as usual (so that you see a list of messages). Or press  1, or ctrl 1 on Windows computers.
• Click Contacts in the left-hand navigation pane.
• Double-click your mailing list in the right-hand pane. FirstClass will open a window that shows the name and members of your mailing list.
• You may type a different name for the whole mailing list if you wish. Or you may add a member by typing the member's name at the end of the list and pressing return. To delete a member, click once on the member's name and press the delete key.
• When you have finished, click OK. Your changes are saved.

Signatures

You can include a "signature" in your email messages that adds your full name, title, and any other contact information you wish.

To create the signature

• Pull down the FirstClass menu and click Preferences...
• Click the Messaging tab.
• Click the Initial Content tab.
• In the Signature Text area, type the signature as you wish it to appear in your email.
• Click OK to save your signature.

How to use your signature when sending a message

• Create a message, as usual.
• Complete subject, the recipient's name, and the text of the message.
• Position your cursor at the bottom of the message.
• Click the Signature button on the toolbar just above the message text.
  
• FirstClass will add your signature wherever you have placed the cursor.

Folders (Organizing Mail Messages)

As you accumulate mail messages that you need to save, you may wish to organize them by saving them in folders. For example, if you have several mail messages pertaining to a student, you can create a folder for the student and place all the messages within it. Organizing messages into folders makes it easy to find them at a later time.

To create a folder

• Start FirstClass and open your MailBox, as usual (so that you see a list of messages). Or press  1, or ctrl 1 on Windows computers.
• Click MailBox (or Inbox) in the left-hand navigation pane.
• Locate the New button in the top toolbar. Click the down-pointing arrow at the right side of the New button. When you see a menu of options, click New Folder.
  
• FirstClass creates a new folder and names it New Folder.
• Immediately type a new name for your folder and press return. (If you miss this step, see To rename a folder to correct the difficulty.)

To rename a folder

You should give your folders descriptive names.

• To rename a folder, press and hold the ctrl key and click the folder once (on Windows, right-click the folder). FirstClass will display a short menu.
• On the menu, click Rename.
  
• Immediately type a new name for your folder and press return.
• If you make a mistake in the name, press return. Then repeat the previous steps.

To place a message into a folder

To organize your messages, you must move them from their current location into the desired folder.

• Start FirstClass and open your MailBox as usual. You should see a list of messages.
• Navigate so that you see the message you want to move.
• Click once on the message you want to move.
• Click the Move To Folder button in the top toolbar.
  
• FirstClass will display a list of folders beginning with MailBox or Inbox. To see all the folders inside the MailBox or Inbox, click the right-pointing arrow next to MailBox/Inbox so that it points downward and displays a list.
  
• Click the folder name where you wish to save the message.
• Click OK.

To open a folder and see the messages inside

• Locate the main navigation pane. (Press 0, or ctrl 0 on Windows computers.)
• Notice the gray arrow to the left of MailBox (or Inbox). If the arrow is pointing to the right, click it once. The arrow will point downwards, and you will see your folders.
• Click a folder to display its messages in the right-hand pane.
• To return to the messages in your MailBox (or Inbox), click MailBox (or Inbox).

To delete a folder

• Click the folder once.
• Click the Delete icon at the top of the screen. A small Trash icon will appear near the folder. Overnight, the folder will be deleted permanently.

To separate folders from other messages in your MailBox/Inbox

• To keep your mail organized, you may want to keep your folders in a separate window from your messages.
• Pull down the View menu, highlight Split, and then highlight either Split Horizontal or Split Vertical.
  
• FirstClass creates a new window pane for your folders.

Important notes!

• It is best not to create folders inside other folders. Due to limitations of the FirstClass interface, it is difficult to view the contents of these interior (2nd-level) folders easily.
• While it is tempting to double-click folders to open them, you can inadvertently create a tangle of windows that are difficult to navigate. It's best to open folders from the left-hand navigation pane, by clicking them once.

Finding Lost Messages

FirstClass has a powerful feature that allows you to find messages by their sender, date, or any word within them.

• If necessary, open your Mailbox. (Press 1, or ctrl 1 on Windows computers.) Then click MailBox or Inbox.
• Pull down the Edit menu and highlight Find..., or press F (ctrl F on Windows computers).
• FirstClass displays a window like the one below.
• Type the word or email address you want to search for in the Find: area.
• Make sure the Include: menu displays "Everything" and has a checkmark before Subcontainers.
• Click the desired options in the Look in: area so they show a checkmark.
• Click the Find button to start searching.
  
• FirstClass opens a new window that shows a list of messages matching your criteria. Double-click any message in the list to view it.
• When you are finished, close the window by clicking the red dot at the window's upper left corner on Macintosh or the x at the window's upper right corner on a Windows computer.
• Note! You can stop the search at any time by clicking the Stop button in the top toolbar.

Using FirstClass for Temporary Backups

When you are at Pike, you can backup documents by synching your laptop/desktop. Synching places a copy of all your documents on our FacultyHomes server. However, there are times when you are not at Pike but are working on important documents . You can backup these documents temporarily by copying them into FirstClass.

Before you begin, remember that your space in FirstClass is limited (you have quota). You should therefore use FirstClass to backup documents selectively, and you should make sure to delete the backup copies from FirstClass as soon as you return to Pike and synch your laptop.

To backup documents by copying them into FirstClass

• Start FirstClass.
• Locate the Documents folder in the main navigation pane. (Press 0, or ctrl 0 on Windows computers.)
• Drag any documents you wish from your laptop or desktop into this Folder.
• To see what's inside Documents, click Documents in the main navigation pane.
• To delete backup copies, click the document to delete, and then click the Delete button in the top toolbar.
• To download a backup from FirstClass to your computer (for example, if you've lost the original document), click the document to download once. Then pull down the File menu and click Download... FirstClass displays a window where you can choose the location on your computer where you wish to download the document. Navigate to the desired location and click Save. (Or click Cancel if you change your mind.)