Internet Basics 2
Lesson 3: Communicating on the Internet
Lesson 3: Communicating on the Internet
Objectives
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:
o Explain how e-mail works.
o Write and send e-mail messages.
o Manage e-mail messages.
o Identify the features of online communities.
o Explain how instant messaging works.
o Explain how the Web authoring software is used to
create and publish Web pages.
How e-mail works
o Electronic mail (e-mail) is an electronic form of the
traditional postal mail.
o An e-mail message can reach the recipient’s e-mail
account within a few seconds.
o You can also send pictures, data files, audio, and
even video clips with your e-mail messages.
How e-mail works (cont.)
o To exchange e-mail messages with other people,
you need to have an e-mail address for yourself.
o You can obtain an e-mail address by opening an
account with an e-mail service provider.
o You need to know the e-mail address of the person
to whom you want to send the e-mail message.
How e-mail works (cont.)
E-mail Address
An e-mail address has two parts separated by the @
symbol: johndoe@example.com
Information
Description
someone
This is the name you use to create your e-mail address. People recognize
the e-mail address with the help of the user name. When you open an
account with an e-mail service provider, you can specify your user name.
The user name that you specify should be unique. The e-mail service
provider checks if the user name you provide already exists. If it exists,
you need to provide another user name.
@
The @ symbol separates the user name from the remaining part of the email address.
example.com
This represents the domain name of the mail server, where all your e-mail
messages are stored.
How e-mail works (cont.)
o In addition to having an e-mail address, you need
to ensure that your computer is connected to the
Internet.
o You also need to have an e-mail client on your
computer to send and receive the e-mail
messages.
How e-mail works (cont.)
There are two types of e-mail clients, local and
Web-based.
o Local e-mail clients are installed on your computer,
and you can use them to save e-mail messages to
your hard disk. Microsoft Outlook® Express is an
example of a local e-mail client.
o Web-based e-mail clients : You can send and open
e-mail messages by using the Web-based e-mail
client. MSN Hotmail® is an example of a Webbased e-mail client.
Opening a Hotmail account
1) Click Start, and then click Internet Explorer.
2) In the Address bar, type http://www.hotmail.com
(http://www.hotmail.com) , and then click Go.
1) To create your Hotmail e-mail address, click Sign
Up.
2) In the Country/Region box, click the list arrow, and
then click your country or region in the list.
Opening a Hotmail account (cont.)
5) In the E-mail address box, type the user name that
you want to appear before @hotmail.com, and then
click Check Availability.
6) Type your password in the Password box.
7) Retype your password in the Retype password
box.
*If you forget your password sometime in the future,
MSN provides you an option for resetting your
Hotmail password.
Opening a Hotmail account (cont.)
9) In the Secret answer box, type your secret answer.
10)If you have another e-mail address, you can type
that address in the Alternate e-mail address box.
11)In the Enter your account information section,
type the relevant details in the First name and Last
name boxes, and then select your Gender.
12)Click the list arrows for the Month and Day, click
the relevant details, and then type your birth year in
the empty box.
Opening a Hotmail account (cont.)
13)Click the State list arrow, and then click the
relevant item in the list.
14)Type your zip code in the Zip code box.
15)Click the Time zone list arrow, and then click your
time zone in the list.
16)Click the Occupation list arrow, and then click your
occupation in the list.
Opening a Hotmail account (cont.)
17)Type the characters you see in the picture in the
Characters box.
18)Click MSN service agreement and MSN privacy
statement to read the agreements. Type your email address as shown in the highlighted text box,
and then click I Accept, your Hotmail account is
created.
Writing and Sending E-Mail Messages
o You can create e-mail messages and send them to
multiple people in different parts of the world.
o Each e-mail message is made up of two parts, the
header and the body:
oThe header is similar to the envelope of a postal
letter. It includes information such as the e-mail
address of the sender and recipient and the subject of
the e-mail.
oThe body is similar to the letter inside an envelope. It
includes the text message and any attachments.
Writing and Sending E-Mail Messages
Practices
We will use the email account you created (Hotmail) to learn how to
write and send messages.
Writing and Sending E-Mail Messages
Practices
Step 1
The e-mail program has been opened and the e-mail
account has been signed into for you. To begin a new
message, click New Message.
Step 2
To specify the e-mail address of the recipient, click in
the To box, and then type the recipient’s email
address.
Step 3
To specify the subject of your e-mail, click in the
Subject box, and then type a brief subject.
Writing and Sending E-Mail Messages
Practices
Step 4
To type your message, click in the message box, and
then type your message.
Step 5
To attach files to your message, click Attach.
Step 6
The list shows you the types of files you can attach:
Pictures, Files, or Contact Information. To attach a file to
your message, click File.
Writing and Sending E-Mail Messages
Practices
Step 7
To select the relevant file from your computer, click
Browse. For this exercise, click Web Site Insertion
Order, and then click Open.
Step 8
To return to your message, click OK.
Step 9
Just as you end a letter by signing your name, in an email message you can add personal signature
information.
Writing and Sending E-Mail Messages
Practices
Step 10
To send your message, click Send.
Step 11
Your message is sent to the intended recipients. To view
all the messages that you have received, click Mail.
Step 12
All the unread messages are highlighted. To open one
of the messages, click on it.
About Online Communities
o Online communities are formed by groups of computer
users.
o Some Web sites provide tools that allow you to
exchange ideas and information in an open interactive
forum.
o Some Web sites allow you to add your responses or
views to an ongoing conversation when other users
are not online.
o Some online communities provide a facility for sending
e-mail messages about the details of discussions.
Different types of online communities
Type of online
community
Description
Newsgroups
Newsgroups are online discussion forums
dedicated to specific topics.
Chat groups/rooms
Chat groups or rooms are Web sites that
you can use to communicate instantly with
other people who have logged on to the
same Web site.
Blogs
Blogs are online diaries or journals. You
can post articles, daily events, or your
thoughts on any subject.
Instant Messaging
o allows you to communicate with other computer
users over the Internet.
o is similar to a telephone conversation; the only
difference is that you are typing your conversation.
o works just like a chat room, but it allows only your
friends and colleagues to see if you are online and
start a conversation.
Instant Messaging (cont.)
o To use instant messaging, you also need instant
messaging software along with an Internet connection.
o After you install the software, you need to create an
account. You need to provide a user name and
password.
o After you have created your account, you can log on and
add the user names of your friends and colleagues who
use the same instant messaging application. When you
log on, the people in your list will know that you are
online and can send messages to you.
Instant Messaging (cont.)
o To send a message to someone who is online, you
need to double-click the person’s name on the list. A
window will open, and you can type your message in
that window.
o Most instant messaging applications allow you to
change your status, such as Online, Busy, Away, or
Out To Lunch.
o In case you do not want the people in your list to see
that you are online, but you would like to send
messages to some of them, you can set your status
as Appear Offline.
Publishing on the Web
o Web pages are files saved on a network server and
made available on the World Wide Web.
o The process of making Web pages available to other
computer users is called publishing.
o Expert users can create a Web page by using a simple
text editor, such as Notepad.
o Anyone can produce refined pages using specialized
Web authoring software, such as Microsoft Office
FrontPage® 2003, which makes it easy to publish your
Web pages on the WWW.
Create and publish a Web page

You can use one of the
FrontPage templates to
create your Web page.

The template provides a
layout with placeholders
for the different types of
content you want to
include.
Create and publish a Web page (cont.)

FrontPage provides a
number of templates.
Depending on your
purpose for designing
the Web page, you can
select one of the
templates.
Create and publish a Web page (cont.)

Depending on the
template you select, a
number of files are
generated. Index.htm is
the home page of your
Web site.
Create and publish a Web page (cont.)



The Index.htm page
contains placeholders for
information about you and
links to your favorite Web
sites.
The first line of the home
page usually has a
heading.
To change the style of the
heading, you can click
one of the styles in the
Style box.
Create and publish a Web page (cont.)

You can include your text
by selecting the relevant
text to be replaced, and
then typing your own text.
Create and publish a Web page (cont.)

You can present
information in the form of
a bulleted list or a
numbered list to help
visitors to your Web site
to grasp information
quickly.
Create and publish a Web page (cont.)

You can add hyperlinks to
your Web site to provide
extra information to your
visitors. Select the words
to be hyperlinked, and link
them to the relevant files.
Create and publish a Web page (cont.)

You can add clip art and
photographs to make your
Web site more interesting.
Create and publish a Web page (cont.)

There are a number of
clip art images available.
You can search for a clip
art image of your choice
by typing the relevant
category.
Create and publish a Web page (cont.)

After you have selected
the image or the
photograph you want to
include in your Web site,
click the arrow on the
right side of the clip art,
and then click Insert.
Create and publish a Web page (cont.)

After you have included
all the text, pictures, and
links in your Web site, you
need to save all the
information.

After you add some
information to your Web
site, you need to preview
the contents of your Web
site before making more
changes or finalizing it.
Questions