Eudora Pro Tips

These Eudora Pro 3.0 tips were originally sent via e-mail and have been archived for your convenience. Please feel free to send ideas for additional tips.

File, Print Preview    

If you want to see if the e-mail message on the screen will print correctly, select File, Print Preview. You can zoom in on the page by clicking within the page once you see the magnifying glass as the pointer. Print from this preview screen with the [Print] button or select [Close]. If the preview printout does not look like it will print correctly, make sure you close the window. Then, you can edit the message to delete any extra hard returns, blanks, or unnecessary text. Note: Check the Print Font under Tools, Options, Fonts and Display to make an adjustment there if necessary.

Editing a Message You Receive    

If you want to take out extra text or spaces before printing a message, you can edit it first. Display the message on the screen by double clicking on it. Click on the Pencil button directly above the body of the message. It is to the right of the [Blah,Blah,Blah] button. Make any editing changes and then click on the print icon (looks like a printer) and then select [Print].

Note: You can delete an entire line by selecting it with <shift>+<end> and then pressing <del>. Or, select the text by dragging the mouse over it with the left mouse button depressed. Once the desired text is selected (highlighted), press the <del> key to delete the selected text.

Thanks to Paul Martinelli and Meg Baughman for this tip!

Saving a Message to Send Later    

As you are composing a message, you might decide you don't have time to finish it but don't want to waste the work you've already put into typing it. What do you do?

To save it in a "half-baked" fashion so that you can work on it later, close the message window by clicking on the [X] at the top right corner of the message window. Then, click on [Yes] in response to the question "Save changes to...?" Saving the message puts it in the Out Mailbox and marks it with a solid circle (bullet) in the status column to the far left.

To continue working on the message, click on Mailbox from the pull-down menu (if the Out Mailbox is not opened) and select Out. (You can also click on the Out mailbox icon on the toolbar.) Then, double click on the message you were working on. You can now continue to type and then click on [Queue] or [Send] to queue the message or send it, respectively. Note: If you have queued the message, make sure you select to check your mail or to send the queued messages to get the message off to its destination. (File, Send Queued Messages)

Message Status    

Has a message been sent? If you aren't sure if a message has been sent, click on the Out Mailbox icon or select Mailbox, Out. Then, look at the leftmost column of the window on the screen. That column indicates the status. If the message in question has an "S" for status, that means the message has been sent.

Martha Garton provided that one! Thanks, Martha!

More about Message Status    

The status column appears when you have a mailbox open. If you have the In Mailbox open, you're able to tell whether you've read, replied to, forwarded, or redirected a message just by looking at that column. The options and symbols for Status are:

Incoming Messages

(nothing) (bullet) R F D

Read Not Read (new) Replied to (you've sent a response) Forwarded (sent to someone else) Redirected (sent to someone else via you)

Outgoing Messages

(nothing) (bullet) Q T S -

Unsendable (recipients have not been defined) Sendable (saved - a "work in progress") Queued (waiting in line to go out) Time Queued (will be sent by a date or time you have specified) Sent Unsent (transferred from the Out mailbox before being sent)

The Priority Column    

Some of you have been using this feature already! When you receive a message, you may notice it has a triangle or two in the "P" column to the left of the mailbox. This column represents the "Priority" of the message. Depending on the urgency of the message, you may want to draw more attention to it.

You can do this by clicking on the arrow pointing downward at the top left of your outgoing message. Since "normal" is the default priority for a message and "normal" is indicated by nothing, the box that displays the priority of an outgoing message will be blank. (Hope that's not too confusing; you may have to look at messages you create for the priority of messages to make sense!)

New message screen showing priority choices:

Resending a "Bounced" Message    

A "bounced" message is one that doesn't get to its destination. Many times this happens because of one itsy bitsy typo in the intended recipient's address. How can you send that message again to the proper address?

When a "bounced" message is returned to you, you'll see a subject line with something like "Rejected posting to..." or "Undeliverable..." Double click on the message to open it. Then, select the Redirect icon on the toolbar. Or, choose Message, Redirect. Type in the correct address and replace the subject line with something more appropriate. You may also need to delete unnecessary text from the message. [See the section Deleting within "Reply" Messages.]

Notice what is at the From: part of the message header. You'll see something like: (by way of Becky Osborne - WVU Extension ). The CAUTION here is that the recipient will have to modify the address if he/she replies to your message. You don't want his/her response to go to the "Postmaster." That will make more sense once you've used this technique on a message and can see the resulting screen.

Note: You can just as easily choose to Forward the bounced message, but forwarding puts a ">" character at the beginning of each line. This might not be as appropriate for your (original) message. You can use another method if you still have the message you originally sent; refer to the section Resending a Message.

Paul Martinelli and Mary Lou Schmidt, thanks for the inspiration.

Resending a Message    

I don't know who learns more at district trainings — the participants or the instructor! At the recent Western District training, I learned something very helpful. You can use Message, Send Again to resend a message but still be able to change information in the message header and the message body. Hopefully, everyone else knew about this command. If not, here's how to resend a message:

1. Open the Out mailbox (or the mailbox where the "sent" message is stored).
2. Highlight the message you want to resend.
3. Select Message, Send Again.
4. Make any changes to the message header (To:, Subject, etc.) and to the message body.
5. Once you are ready to send the message, click on the [Send] or [Queue] button to send the message.

I'm glad people like Denise Honaker keep me up-to-date! Thank you, Denise, for that very helpful tip!

Reading Messages on Another Computer    

Yes, this is possible, but you lose the ability to reply, transfer, forward, etc. while you're reading the message. If you want to pull up your messages — say in WordPerfect — you can do so. Select the messages you want to save to a diskette or other directory. [Select a range of messages by pressing the left mouse button and the <shift> key or non-contiguous files by pressing the left mouse button and the <ctrl> key.]

Once the messages are selected, choose File, Save As. You will see a dialog box similar to WordPerfect's File,Save As window. (Make sure you insert a diskette if you will be saving to Drive A: or B:.)

Eudora will suggest a filename based on the subject line of the first message selected. However, you might want to give the file another, more appropriate name. A name like MAIL.601 or something similar might help you remember the contents (e-mail message from June 1). Change the location (drive and/or folder) for the file if necessary.

Make sure you click on the box next to Include Headers. That way you'll be sure to know who sent what e-mail message.

Once you've decided on the name and location, click on [OK]. Retrieve the file with either WordPerfect or Word.

Kudos to Helen Hardman for this tip!

Making Nicknames on the Fly    

I know for a fact some of you keep old messages just for the sake of being able to reply to a person and not have to type the e-mail address!!! Here's a way to create those Address Book entries you've been putting off.

As you are reading a message, select Special, Make Address Book Entry. You'll see a nickname inserted for you. I usually change it to something shorter and easier to remember. Once you're happy with the nickname, click on [OK]. Voila! You have a new nickname for the person who sent you the message you're reading. Note: You can also just highlight the message from the mailbox listing to create a nickname this way, too.

The next time you want to send a message to that person, simply type the nickname and Eudora will fill in the rest of the address.

Note: If the nickname does not expand to the complete e-mail address after you move to the body of the message, you may need to check Tools, Options, the Miscellaneous category to see if "Automatically expand nicknames" is selected.

Trashing the Trash    

You can empty the Trash mailbox of the messages you've deleted a couple of ways: (1) Special, Empty Trash; (2) Tools, Options, Miscellaneous, Empty Trash when Exiting. However, another easy way to really get rid of deleted messages is to open the Trash mailbox (Mailbox, Trash), select all (<ctrl>+A) the messages, and click on the trashcan icon on the toolbar.

Thanks, Rich Fleisher, for that very practical tip!!!

Filtering "Your" Stuff    

As Mindy Mall and I were talking the other day, she gave me a great idea for a tip. She wanted to set up a filter to transfer any mail sent to either of her e-mail addresses - MMALL2@WVU.EDU or MMALL@WVNVMS.WVNET.EDU - into a mailbox named "MALL." That way Eudora would sort out mail directed to her — not just to her via a mailing list such as ESALL-L— and put all those messages into one mailbox. This would save her from "rooting" through messages to find the ones directed to her. (All of us know by now we get messages we don't ask for!)

Steps to Set Up a Filter

1. Select Tools, Filters.
2. Click on the [New] button.
3. Select <Any Header> from the choices next to Header. You could just select <To:>, but a message might have your address in the <Cc:> part of the message, and you don't want it to "slip through!"
4. Then, type the criterion in the box to the right of the "contains" box. For Mindy this would be: MMALL (upper- or lower-case).
5. Click on the first box under "Action" and select "Transfer To" from the choices.
6. Click on the wide bar next to "Transfer To" and select the mailbox. If you don't have a mailbox created yet, click on New and set one up.
7. Close the Filter window and respond [Yes] to save the changes.

Thanks, Mindy!

Retrieving Attachments    

You can access attached files a couple of different ways: (1) double click on the file and load both the file and the application (e.g., WordPerfect 6.1) or (2) launch the application and then access the file. If an attached WordPerfect 6.1 file does not have a .WPD file extension, Eudora will ask you where the application (program) is stored, etc. This is kind of a nuisance, so the quickest way to go to a WordPerfect file is to load WordPerfect first and then direct it to the attached file.

Getting to those Attachments with WordPerfect's QuickList!    

When you go to WordPerfect first to retrieve attachments, let the QuickList feature help you quickly list the attachment folder (directory). Once you have WordPerfect loaded, click on the Open File icon (or File, Open). You should see QuickList and Directories in about the middle of the window. If you don't see both of these, click on the [QuickList] button to the right of the window. Then, select Show Both. To add "Eudora Attachments" to the QuickList listing, click on the [QuickList] button. Next, select Add Item.

Note: The folder (directory) listed below and shown to the right is recommended for those who share a computer. The folder C:\EUDORA\ATTACH is the common starting point for all the lower-level attachment folders. If you do not share a computer, you may want to type C:\EUDORA\ATTACH\___ where ___ represents your initials. If you installed and customized Eudora Pro as recommended, this is the folder (e.g., C:\EUDORA\ATTACH\RRO) where Eudora puts all your attachments.
For Directory/Filename type: C:\EUDORA\ATTACH For Description type: Eudora Attachments Once you have entered the QuickList directory name and description, click on the [OK] button.
From now on, when you have WordPerfect loaded and want to retrieve a WordPerfect 6.1 file you received as an attachment, double click on Eudora Attachments under "QuickList." WordPerfect will automatically take you to the C:\EUDORA\ATTACH subdirectory. Appearing under "Directories" will be all of the attachment subdirectories for you and your co-workers (if you share a computer). Double click on your "initials" to display the attachments you've received; the files will be listed in the left part of the window under "Filename." You may be surprised at the number of attachments listed there!

Making WordPerfect Attachments Easier to Retrieve    

Do you know why you can retrieve some attachments by double clicking on the filename, while other attachments just kind of sit there?

It has to do with the file extension. Eudora Pro is smart enough to know that files ending with .WPD were created with WordPerfect 6.1. When Eudora encounters that extension in a filename and you double click on the filename, it loads WordPerfect and the attached file.

So how can you help recipients of YOUR messages? Make sure you name WordPerfect 6.1 files you send via e-mail with a .WPD extension. For example, if you type a file about 4-H camp guidelines and plan to send it via e-mail, name it something like CAMPGUID.WPD. Remember, filenames can be eight characters or less plus .WPD as the extension.

Note: Your version of WordPerfect may default to the .WPD extension. Just make sure you don't type a period at the end of the filename, or WordPerfect won't add the extension (CAMPGUID. vs. CAMPGUID). To check to see how your copy of WordPerfect is set up, select Edit, Preferences from WP's pull-down menu. Double click on File. Then, make sure "Use Default Extension on Open and Save" is selected and that WPD is typed in that box. Click on [OK] and then [Close].

Everyone can thank Darell Hicks for insisting this was an important tip. Thanks, Darell. I appreciate your suggestions!

Blank Line in Signature    

Have you ever noticed an e-mail message with the person's signature right under the person's name as in the excerpt below? Ideally, there should be a blank space to help the recipient distinguish between where the message body stops (with "Becky") and the signature begins (with "Rebecca").    [Review - The "signature" is the optional block of information at the end of the message that lists the sender's name, address, phone and fax numbers, etc.]

Follow the steps below the excerpt to place a blank line in your signature file.

----------------------------- excerpt of message ---------------------------------

...blah, blah, blah. Please give me a call or send an
e-mail message if I can be of additional help.

Becky
Rebecca R. Osborne            voice:  304/293-4221 ext. 3413
Extension Specialist            fax:  304/293-6611
- Computer Training
West Virginia University
  Extension Service
516 Knapp Hall - PO Box 6031
Morgantown WV 26506-6031     e-mail:  ROSBORNE@wvu.edu

------------------------------ end of excerpt -------------------------------------

For those of you who use a signature in your messages, you probably have Eudora set up to attach the signature to each outgoing message automatically. Further, you probably don't think about pressing <enter> after typing your name at the end of the message to allow a space before the signature. Here's how to add a space between the message closing and the signature so that every time the signature is added to the message, the blank line will already be there.

1. Select Tools, Signatures.
2. Then, click on the signature file you want to change.
3. Your cursor will now be in the body of the signature file.
4. Press the <enter> key at the topmost position of the file to put in the blank line before the body of the signature.
5. Save the signature by closing the window and then responding "Yes" to "Save changes to...?"
6. To check how your signature appears, send a message to yourself. If it's not exactly what you want, follow the preceding steps to make changes.

If you need help in setting up a signature file, refer to the Eudora manual or to the Eudora Pro User's Guide (developed internally). If you don't have a copy of the user's guide, please let me know and I'll send you one.

Copying and Pasting an Address    

If you are using Windows-based software, you can very easily copy an e-mail address from any part of the header (From:, Cc:, etc.) or from the message body to the To: line. This is especially helpful if you want to reply directly to a person who has posted a message to a list and don't want to reply to the whole list. Follow the steps below to get an idea how this works.

1. While reading the message, drag your mouse over the original sender's e-mail address. For example, in this message you would drag over my address in the From: part of the header.
2. Once it's highlighted, press <ctrl>+C to COPY the address to your computer's clipboard. [The Clipboard is a temporary storage area you don't see.]
3. Then, select reply by choosing Message, Reply or the toolbar Reply button.
4. Delete what is at the To: part of the message (possibly the ESALL-L address).
5. Make sure the insertion point (shown by blinking cursor) is on the TO: line.
6. Press <ctrl>+V to PASTE the address at the insertion point.

Copy and Paste come in handy to copy URLs, e-mail addresses, portions of messages, complete messages, etc. Note: You can only have one piece of information in the clipboard at a time. Once you COPY (<ctrl>+C) or CUT (<ctrl>+X) again, the previous information is overwritten in the clipboard with the "copied" or "cut" information. You can also use the Edit pull-down menu to access Copy, Cut, and Paste.

Deleting within "Reply" Messages    

When you reply to a message, delete the irrelevant part of the message. In this message, you would delete everything but the information to which you were replying. Then, you would place your cursor under the remaining text and type your response there. So, how's this done?

1. Select what text you DON'T WANT by dragging over it with the mouse. (This might take some practice until you get the hang of it.) If you're hesitant to use the mouse, you can use the <shift> key and the arrow keys to select text.
2. Once the text is highlighted, press the <del> key.
3. Position the cursor where you want your response and begin typing!

Sort by Clicking on Column Button    

Something I find very handy is sorting messages by one of the columns (Who, Date, Subject). If I can't find a message I know I received from a particular person, I'll open the mailbox where I think it should be and sort by Who.

To sort by a particular column, simply click on the button at the top of the column. If you want to sort in "sender" order, click on the Who button. Then, scroll down through the names (listed alphabetically by FIRST name) until you find the message you are looking for.

ALWAYS put the messages back in Date order by clicking on the Date button at the top of that column. That way you will see the messages in chronological order or the order in which they arrived.

Creating a Mailbox    

As you read a message, you may decide you want to save it in an electronic version (but not in the IN Mailbox). A solution would be to create a mailbox to store the message and similar messages. While you are reading the message, select Transfer and then New. Type a name for the mailbox and click on [OK] or press <enter>. For the message you are reading now, you might want to create a mailbox named "Eudora Tips" so that you can keep this and additional messages containing tips about Eudora Pro. Caution: The message will be transferred automatically unless you select "Don't transfer, just create mailbox."

To check to see if the message was transferred, click on the Mailbox pull-down menu item. Then, click on the mailbox you just created, and you should see the message listed. Note: The next time you want to transfer another Eudora tip, select Transfer and click on the mailbox name (Eudora Tips).

Closing Mailboxes    

It's a good idea to close mailboxes before you close Eudora so that when you open Eudora the next time, you won't see a cluttered screen.

To close a mailbox, click on the control menu button (lower button to the left with a mailbox on it) and select Close. Or, double click on that "mailbox" button. (The 16-bit version of Eudora Pro will have a button with a character resembling a hyphen — not a mailbox.)
You can also click on the lower "X" at the top right of the screen to close the window.

Mailbox Uses    

Steve Bonanno has found a neat way to organize e-mail messages. He creates a folder for a particular project or subject area such as community and economic development (Comm and Econ Dev). Then, he creates both an In and Out mailbox within that folder. Using filters, Eudora automatically sorts incoming messages to the Comm and Econ Dev - In mailbox and outgoing messages to the Comm and Econ Dev - Out mailbox. [The moving of messages could also be done manually.] Using the Comm & Econ Dev folder and In & Out mailboxes helps Steve know at a glance the mail he's received related to the project or subject area and what messages he has sent.

The captured screen below should give you an idea of how your screen might look.

Setting Up the Folder and Mailboxes:

1. Select Mailbox, New.
2. Type the folder name (Comm and Econ Dev) and make sure you mark "Make it a folder." Click on [OK].
   
   
   
   
3. Next, type one of the mailbox names (In or Out). Click on [OK].
4. To create the second mailbox under the newly-created folder, select Mailbox. Using the mouse, move to the "Comm and Econ Dev" folder and then move to "New." Type the second mailbox name (In or Out) and click on [OK].

Good job, Steve! Thanks for sharing.