You've Got E-Mail

Netscape Messenger and Mail

Judy Heim

Forget Your Password

Tired of typing in your password every time you send or receive e-mail? If you're not too concerned about the security of your account, you can automate the process.

In Messenger, choose Edit, Preferences. Next, in the Category window under Mail & Groups, select the Mail Server branch, click the More Options button, and check Remember my mail password. Click OK twice to save the change. In Mail, select Options, Mail and News Preferences, click the Organization tab, check Remember Mail Password, and then click OK.

E-Mail From Applications

Wish you could mail documents directly from your applications? You can, with Messenger (but not Mail). To set Messenger as the default mail program with applications such as Microsoft Word that support Messaging Application Program Interface, choose Edit, Preferences. In the Category window under Mail & Groups, select the Mail Server branch, and click the More Options button. Check Use Netscape Messenger from MAPI-based Applications, and click OK. But beware: Messenger will take precedence over other MAPI-compliant mail programs installed on your system (such as Exchange, cc:Mail, or Eudora), and disable Outlook (see "Mail Files From Applications")

Back Up Your Critical Files and Folders

After months or years of use, your address book becomes irreplaceable, and you'd like to include it in those quick backups of critical files--but where is it? In Messenger, the address book is a proprietary-format file called abook.nab in your user directory (the one probably identified as Program files/Netscape/Users/yourname, where yourname is your user name). While you're there, take time to back up the Mail folder, your preferences (prefs.js), and your bookmark file (bookmark.htm). You can also export abook.nab to an LDIF file that some mail programs can import (LDAP Data Interchange Format is a standard format for mail directories). To open the address book, press Ctrl-Shift-2; then choose File, Save As.

In Mail, you can back up the HTML-format address.htm file from the Program files/Netscape/Navigator folder. To export the file, choose Window, Address Book; then select File, Save As.

Create a Mailing List

If you frequently send mail to a select group of addresses, you should create a mailing list. In Messenger, access the address book by pressing Ctrl-Shift-2. Click the New List icon, and give the list a name and--optionally--a nickname. Drag entries from your address book, or type in any valid Internet mail addresses, then click OK. In Mail, choose Window, Address Book, and then Item, Add List. Fill out the Name and the Nick Name fields (the latter is required due to a bug in Netscape Mail), and click OK. To populate the list, drag entries and drop them on the list.

To send a message in either program, press Ctrl-M and click the Address icon. Select the list's name in the address book, click the To: button, and click OK.

Send HTML Where It's Welcome

Messenger (but not Mail) lets you send HTML-formatted messages with colorful fonts in different sizes. Some of your correspondents' mail programs won't be able to read the HTML formatting, though. To make sure everyone can read your messages, choose Edit, Preferences. Under the Mail & Groups branch, select Messages, click the More Options button, select "Always convert the message into plain text," and then click OK twice. Next, open the address book (Ctrl-Shift­2), and right-click the address of someone who you are certain can receive HTML-formatted mail. Select Card Properties, check "Prefers to receive rich text (HTML) mail," and click OK.

Create an E-Mail Signature

An e-mail signature may contain your name, title, phone and fax numbers, or a tedious quote (just keep it to four or five lines, out of courtesy). First, create the text in Notepad. Then in Messenger, choose Edit, Preferences. Under Mail & Groups, select Identity, type the path to the .txt file in the Signature File field, and click OK. In Mail, choose Options, Mail and News Preferences, select the Identity tab, enter the path to the .txt file in the Signature File field, and click OK.