Email Basics

Email
Email is a service which allows us to send the message in electronic mode over the internet.
It offers an efficient, inexpensive and real time mean of distributing information among
people.

E-Mail Address
Each user of email is assigned a unique name for his email account. This name is known as E-
mail address. Different users can send and receive messages according to the e-mail address.

E-mail is generally of the form username@domainname. For example, [email protected] is

an e-mail address where nimal is username and gmail.com is domain name.

 The username and the domain name are separated by @ (at) symbol.

 The domain name part of an e-mail address is not case sensitive.

 Spaces are not allowed in e-mail address.

E-mail Message Components

E-mail message comprises of different components: E-mail Header, Greeting, Text, and
Signature. These components are described in the following diagram:
E-mail Header
The first five lines of an E-mail message is called E-mail header. The header part comprises
of following fields:

 From

 Date

 To

 Subject

 CC

 BCC

FROM

The From field indicates the sender’s address i.e. who sent the e-mail.

DATE

The Date field indicates the date when the e-mail was sent.

TO

The To field indicates the recipient’s address i.e. to whom the e-mail is sent.

SUBJECT

The Subject field indicates the purpose of e-mail. It should be precise and to the point.

CC

CC stands for Carbon copy. It includes those recipient addresses whom we want to keep
informed but not exactly the intended recipient.

BCC

BCC stands for Black Carbon Copy. It is used when we do not want one or more of the
recipients to know that someone else was copied on the message.

GREETING

Greeting is the opening of the actual message. Eg. Hi Sir or Hi Guys etc.
TEXT

It represents the actual content of the message.

SIGNATURE

This is the final part of an e-mail message. It includes Name of Sender, Address, and Contact
Number.

Advantages
E-mail has proved to be powerful and reliable medium of communication. Here are the
benefits of E-mail:

 Reliable

 Convenience

 Speed

 Inexpensive

 Printable

 Global

 Generality

Reliable
Many of the mail systems notify the sender if e-mail message was undeliverable.

Convenience
There is no requirement of stationary and stamps. One does not have to go to post office.
But all these things are not required for sending or receiving an mail.

Speed
E-mail is very fast. However, the speed also depends upon the underlying network.

Inexpensive
The cost of sending e-mail is very low.

Printable
It is easy to obtain a hardcopy of an e-mail. Also an electronic copy of an e-mail can also be
saved for records.
Global
E-mail can be sent and received by a person sitting across the globe.

Generality
It is also possible to send graphics, programs and sounds with an e-mail.

Disadvantages
Apart from several benefits of E-mail, there also exists some disadvantages as discussed
below:

 Forgery

 Overload

 Misdirection

 Junk

 No response

Forgery
E-mail doesn’t prevent from forgery, that is, someone impersonating the sender, since
sender is usually not authenticated in any way.

Overload
Convenience of E-mail may result in a flood of mail.

Misdirection
It is possible that you may send e-mail to an unintended recipient.

Junk
Junk emails are undesirable and inappropriate emails. Junk emails are sometimes referred
to as spam.

No Response
It may be frustrating when the recipient does not read the e-mail and respond on a regular
basis.
 How to create an Email
If you want to send emails to other people, you will need to obtain their email addresses.
It's important to learn how to write email addresses correctly because if you do not enter
them exactly right, your emails will not be delivered or might be delivered to the wrong
person.

Email addresses are always written in a standard format that includes a user name,
the @ (at) symbol, and the email provider's domain.

The user name is the name you choose to identify yourself.

The email provider is the website that hosts your email account.

Some businesses and organizations use email addresses with their own website domain.
Webmail providers

Today, the top three webmail providers are Yahoo!, Microsoft's Outlook.com (previously
Hotmail), and Google's Gmail. These providers are popular because they allow you to access
your email account from anywhere with an Internet connection. You can also access
webmail on your mobile device.

Setting up your own email account

Choose one of the webmail providers for sign up for your own email account

 Yahoo! Mail: Click Create Account

 Outlook.com: Click Sign up
 Gmail: Click Create an account

Get to know the Gmail interface

When you're working with Gmail, you'll primarily be using the main Gmail interface. This
window contains your inbox, and it allows you to navigate to your contacts, mail settings,
and more.

Click the buttons in the interactive below to learn about the different parts of the Gmail
interface.
If you have created a Gmail account, you can start sending email messages. Writing an email
can be as simple as typing a message or you can use text formatting, attachments, and
a signature to customize your message.

Sending email

When you write an email, you'll be using the compose window. This is where you'll add
the email address of the recipient(s), the subject, and the body of the email, which is the
message itself. You'll also be able to add various types of text formatting, as well as one or
more attachments. If you want, you can even create a signature that will be added to the
end of every email you send.

The compose window

Click the buttons in the interactive below to learn about the different parts of the compose
window.
To send an email:
1. In the left menu pane, click the Compose button.
2. The compose window will appear in the lower-right corner of the page.

3. You'll need to add one or more recipients to the To: field. You can do this by
typing one or more email addresses, separated by commas, or you can
click “To” to select recipients from your contacts, then click select.
 4. Type a subject for the message.
5. In the body field, type your message. When you're done, click Send.

If the person you are emailing is already one of your contacts, you can start typing that
person's first name, last name, or email address, and Gmail will display the contact below
the To: field. You can then press the Enter key to add the person to the To: field.
Adding attachments

An attachment is simply a file (like an image or document) that is sent along with your
email. For example, if you are applying for a job, you might send your resume as an
attachment, with the body of the email being the cover letter. It's a good idea to include
a message in the body of your email explaining what the attachment is, especially if the
recipient isn't expecting an attachment.

Remember to attach your file before you click Send. Forgetting to attach a file is a
surprisingly common mistake.

To add an attachment:

1. While composing an email, click the paper clip icon at the bottom of the
compose window.
 2. A file upload dialog box will appear. Choose the file you want to attach, then
click Open.

3. The attachment will begin to upload. Most attachments will upload within a
few seconds, but larger ones can take longer.

4. When you're ready to send your email, click Send.

You can click Send before the attachment finishes uploading. It will continue to upload, and
Gmail will automatically send the email once it's done.
Email formatting

Gmail allows you to add various types of formatting to your text.

Click the formatting button at the bottom of the compose window to see different
formatting options.

Click the buttons in the interactive below to learn about different formatting options in
Gmail.
Adding a signature

A signature is an optional block of text that appears after every email you send. By default,
Gmail does not include a signature, but it's easy to create one. It will typically include
your name and some contact information, like your phone number or email address. If
you're using Gmail at work, you may want to include your title and your company's
address or website.

1. Click the gear icon in the top-right corner of the page then select Settings.

2. Scroll down until you see the Signature section.

3. Type your desired signature in the box. You can also change the font,
add other formatting, or insert an image if you want.
 4. Scroll down to the bottom of the page then click Save Changes.

You should keep your signature brief. Instead of listing all of the phone numbers, email
addresses, and mailing addresses where you can be reached, just list the most
important ones.

Keep in mind that your signature will be seen by many different people, so you may not
want to include your home address or anything too personal. Even if you only email people
you know, someone can still forward your email to someone else, which can reveal your
signature to even more people.

References
[1] https://edu.gcfglobal.org/en/gmail/managing-email/1/
[2]
https://www.tutorialspoint.com/internet_technologies/e_mail_overview.ht
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