__     __ __     __ __     __      web's eye view                     9-23-96
| | /| / /| | /| / /| | /| / /      alan levine                          
| |/ |/ / | |/ |/ / | |/ |/ /       Maricopa Center for Learning & Instruction
|__/ |__/ |__/|__/  |__/|__/        http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/
==============================================================================
May Mrs. Kirshman, my 10th grade English teacher, forgive me for what I'm about to write:

        Friends, Maricopans, lend me your ears; 
        I come to bury A1, not to praise A1. 
        The evil that bad messages do lives after them; 
        The good is oft interred in your WASTEBASKET.
        
I've never been fond of using A1. It is a credit to our organization that we make such wide use of it as a means on communication. 

You have to use A1 for Maricopa internal communication.

You do not have to use it to communicate with the external Internet world. If you are reading your Internet mail forwarded to your A1 account, or (even worse) dealing with it at "$MAIL" we will now show you how to make your life easier. Well, at least that portion of your life spent reading e-mail.


Why?
----
Would you rather read mail on a scrolling text window? Would you like to edit with your mouse instead of arrow keys? Would you like to save a mail message directly to your hard drive? Would you like to organize your incoming and saved messages in windows that you can see? Would you like to attach and receive items like word processor documents, spreadsheets, graphics? Would you like to be able to click on a URL I have typed in a message and go directly to that web site?

Read on.

E-Mail 101
----------
It may be confusing, but you really only have one email account. You log onto it and then you jump into the A1 system. Any mail that comes from a non-Maricopa address arrives at your account and, depending on how you have set up A1, it either is forwarded and read in the A1 environment, or it sits in your account where you may read it via VAX mail. Or, as we will show you below, how you can read it in the more flexible environment of your web browser.


Turning off Autoforwarding of VMSMAIL
-------------------------------------

You should make sure first that your Internet e-mail is not sent to A1. 

From your A1 screen for "Electronic Messaging", tiwce, do the command for NEXT SCREEN where you will see the option:


                        VC  VMSmail forward cancel
    
    
(or you can just type VC and press return)


What is my Internet Address?
----------------------------
Next we will tell you how to set up your web browser to read the mail. But first you must know what your Internet email address. It will look something like:

    mylastname@mycollege.maricopa.edu
    

but it is not always just your last name; if there are 3 SMITHS at Mesa Comunity college, it might be something like:

   smith_j@mc.maricopa.edu
   

If you do not know your exact email address, we have set up a little web page form to help you figure it out:

   http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/mcccd/decoder.html
   
You simply have to type in the name that you use when you first log into the computer and select what college you are located at. The decoder will do the rest.

Configuring Your Web Browser
----------------------------
Now we will give you the minimum information you will need to set up your web browser for reading and sending Internet mail messages. The exact names of menus and buttons may differ depending on which web browser you are using; the following are for NetScape, version 2.0 and later. 

Let's assume you have done the step above and have determined that your email address is "smith_j@mc.maricopa.edu"

1. Select "Mail and News Preferences..." from the "Options" menu
2. Click on the tab labeled "Servers"
3. In this dialog box you are telling the web browser where the computer is that hosts your email account. In the fields labeled "Outgoing Mail (SMPTP Server:) and "Incominmg Mail (POP) Server:" put whatever is on the right side of the "@" symbol in your email address; in this example it would be

     mc.maricopa.edu
     
4. Now you must tell the browser the name of your account. In the field labeled "POP user ID" type everything on the left side of the "@" symbol; in our example this would be:

     smith_j
     
5. You will probably want to check the radio button that says messages are "removed from the server" which means they will be deleted once they are downloaded to your desk to computer (and keep you email account from maxing out).

6. Also, you will want to fill in some of the information under the "Identity" tab -this is what will be inserted on your outgoing mail. Note that you can create a signature file (in any text editor) that you can assign from this screen.

7. We leave the other settings to your exploration pleasure. For details, see "Mail News and Bookmarks" for:
 
NetScape 3.0 
 http://home.netscape.com/eng/mozilla/3.0/handbook/

8. To check your mail, just click on the small envelope icon in the lower right corner of the NetScape window or select "NetScape Mail" from the "Windows" menu.


Questions
---------

1. Can I read my A1 mail in NetScape?

    No. You still need to conduct all of your A1 communication in A1.
    
2. What if I need to send an email FROM my web browser to an A1 account?

    You can do this! There is another email address that you can use 
    that will send the mail directly to your A1. Disitrct ITS has
    created a nifty search form where you can find this address:
    
         http://www.dist.maricopa.edu/its/webdial/