Internet Mail Questions

Mail questions:

1. How do I set up my e-mail software to send and receive mail?
2. How do I address mail?
3. How can I mail text files?
4. How can I mail binary files?
5. How can I auto-forward mail to another address?
6. How can I find someone's e-mail address?
7. How can I create a distribution list to send a message to a lot of people?
8. For Delphi members: How do I change my e-mail address?
9. For Delphi members: How do I send e-mail to a member when I don't know the person's e-mail address?

1. How do I setup my e-mail software to send and receive mail?
   If you want to receive and send mail from Delphi (or other ISPs) using mail software like Outlook, Eudora, or Pegasus or the mail capability of Netscape or MSIE, you need to enter the correct addresses, your username, and your password. In general, the address to receive mail from is pop.yourdomain.com. Some software will have you add your username to that address, so that you list username@pop.yourdomain.com. To send mail, generally use the form smtp.yourdomain.com. There are many variations to these addresses, so check with your e-mail provider for exact addressing. The pop and smtp prefixes are common, and to collect and send mail from other addresses, you often use the same form. If in doubt, check with your provider.
   Recent versions of Outlook Express, Eudora Pro and Pegasus allow you to set up more than one receive address, so you can collect mail from different accounts. Most providers will let you collect mail from a remote address, but not all do.
2. How do I address mail?
   To send mail, you must know the correct address and fill it in at the To: prompt. Simple Internet mail addresses consist of a Username, an @ symbol, and the address, which will consist of at least two words, separated by periods. For example, this is a correctly formatted address:
   

   To:  jsmith@delphiforums.com
   

   There is never more than one @ symbol in an address. Rarely, you will encounter an alternate form of address that uses exclamation points (called bang addresses) instead of an @ symbol or one in which there are several levels of addresses in which one or more % symbols act as secondary @ functions.
   All addresses (other than those with exclamation points) must end with a correct domain. The domains may be any of these:
   
   • com
   • edu
   • gov
   • int
   • mil
   • net
   • org
   • a two-letter country code.
   A recent international meeting approved the use of new top-level domain names. Implementation dates remain to be worked out.
3. How can I mail text files?
   Unless you are sure that your addressee can receive separate files, it is best to include a text file as the text of the message itself. In Eudora, you can do this by clicking on the Attach file icon (the one to the right of the left and right arrows) and inserting the filename of the file to be attached, as prompted. Before mailing the attachment, select Special/Settings/ Attachments and click on the box labelled "Put text attachments in body of message."
4. How can I mail binary files?
   Not all addresses can receive binaryfiles by e-mail. It requires a compatible mailer. If you are not sure, ask your addressee if their mailer supports MIME. If so, using Eudora, you can attach the binary file by clicking on the Attach file icon (the one to the right of the left and right arrows) and inserting the filename of the file to be attached, as prompted. Before mailing the attachment, select Special/Settings/ Attachments and make sure the MIME button is checked. If your addressee cannot accept MIME, you can still check uuencode or binhex, and the file will be encoded into either of these two text forms. Your addressee may need to decode them separately, but decoders for uuencode and binhex are very common for all systems. Binhex is primarily used by Macintosh computers.
   If your mail software will not handle the automatic encoding, you can use appropriate software such as uuencode or WinCode for PCs, or binhex or stuffit for Macs to do the job offline, and then send the file as a text attachment.
5. How can I forward mail to another address?
   Most mail providers give you a way to forward e-mail automatically to another address. Check your provider's documentation for the exact methods. Unix shell systems usually allow you to create a file named .forward (dot forward) in your workspace, which is a text file consisting of the forwarding address, such as easiertips@gmail.com
   Whichever system you use, it is a good idea to test it with a test message after you set the forwarding.
   
6. How do I find someone's e-mail address? Most online services will not give out personal information like e-mail addreses. On the other hand, some people register them and make them widely available. Other e-mail addresses are collected from usage.