NWA-PCUG Newsletter Article, September 2002
Incredimail, a FREE e-mail Program
http://www.incredimail.com
by Sigrid Foreman
sigrid@tyler.net (click to email author)


Part 2 - Finding your own Stationery

Part 1 - "My Favorite E-Mail Program" can be found in our August 2002 newsletter.

I use Incredimail for my e-mail program, and one of the nice things about it is that I can find so many different stationeries to use. The Incredimail home gallery offers a wide variety as well as animations, sounds and e-cards. All these can also be found on many sites all over the Internet.

Going to http://www.yahoo.com and typing "incredimail stationery" in the search window and will result in multiple listings that feature downloadable stationery. A popular site listing that you will see is Bomis, where you find many popular stationery sites with a short description of each. On most you simply have to click on a download button or the stationery itself and it will automatically add itself to your style box. On others it's a little more involved but instructions are usually available under help. Also listed there are some incredimail groups. A extensive list of 161 incredimail groups with description can be found at: http://groups.yahoo.com/search?query=incredimail.

To participate in most of the groups you would have to join...its FREE! and be a part of that group. Some groups require that you be on "individual mail" to be a member and some do not. By being on individual mail, you will receive and be able to "snag" all the stationery that goes thru the group. Some of these groups, in order to cut down on unnecessary mail traffic have replies going directly back to the sender instead of passing back thru the group for all to see, this helps eliminate a lot of unwanted mail for those on dialup.

To help me manage my group mail (I'm currently in 7 groups) I establish a second identity in Incredimail. Basically what you have then are 2 separate accounts in the same e-mail program. My group mail is then kept separate and does not get mixed up with my regular mail. Another thing that I did was to have each groups mail go into its own subfolder by using the message rules found under Tools. A subfolder needs to be added prior to using the Rules, and usually given a group name.

This second account can be set up thru your ISP as a second address or you can get another e-mail address from the many free or pay hosts that are available. Each server\host usually has instructions on how to setup your new e-mail address to enable you to download your mail via your POP account. You should find a host who will give you as much storage as possible. If you do not have enough storage then your group mail will be bounced back to the sender and Yahoo may think you are on vacation and suspend your account until you reactivate it. Be aware some hosts do not allow you to do this since it is in violation of their terms! services such as Juno and I believe AOL do not, while Yahoo and Hotmail do. I will list some free e-mail sites with their storage amounts at the end of this article.

Why join these groups? Oh! to "snag" the stationery and "beg" for "tags" of course!! Each message will have a different stationery, or "stat" as they are called, but some will be personalized with the senders name and they usually include a "tag" which is what is known as a digital signature and consists of a smaller image of the stationery graphic with the senders name embedded...although it does not have to be the same image as that of the stationery itself.

Snagging - When you see a stat that you like, simply click on the yellow star in the upper right hand corner of the e-mail message. It will then automatically add itself to your style box, where all your stationery is stored. Each will usually add itself to its own category and you will then have to organize it at a later date or you will have hundreds of categories. Your style box is accessed whenever you write an email by clicking on the red tab on the left side of your stationery. As you click on each category you will see a list of stat names, select each one to view the stationery. To organize stats, simply select the one you wish to move, drag and drop it into the category into which you want it to belong.

Begging for Tags: Tags are used in the same manner as a written signature. To receive a personalized tag, we "beg" for it. It is named begging in fun, not fact. All you do is request it from the person who wrote the letter and if that person made it they will usually make you one. If not, they will generally tell you who did and direct you to them! if they can remember. Tags are sent to you as attachments with an e-mail, simply click on the paper clip, and save into a folder that you have established for it.

Incredimails Signatures - are separate from and can be used in place of or in conjunction with a tag. There you can "write" your own name in the graph and it will transfer it to the signature box. Tags may also be added to the signature box. I use a time\weather bar below my written signature. The time\weather bar can be found at http://www.wunderground.com, type your town and state into the fast search window. When your forecast arrives, scroll down until you see "add this sticker..." in the left column and click on it. There you have a choice of several formats, select the one you like, highlight the bar and copy. Open a new message, go to Tools, Edit Signature and click in the box below the graph, paste in the bar by doing a "CTRL V". If you would like this with every message that you send, you would check the box "insert to outgoing messages" and "insert to reply\forward" under Tools\Options\Compose. This has to be done for each identity or it will only work for one.

Ok, I think I have covered getting yourself some tags and stats and what to do with them once you've found them, but if you have any questions, feel free to email me "sigrid@tyler.net" and I will do my best to help you with any further questions.

As promised, here are some of the free e-mail sites. These sites were compiled by Charles Misner of Catskill Herbs 'n Spice http://www.csng.net/, an IM group owner\moderator.


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