FirstClass: Frequently Asked Questions

How do I practice good “Netiquette” in my electronic communications?

As we increase our usage of the Internet and internal e-mail, let’s take a moment to learn (or review) the social conventions of the online community.

• Never assume your email messages are private nor that they can be read by only yourself or the recipient. Never send something that you would mind seeing on the evening news.
• Never give your password to another person. System administrators that need to access your account for maintenance or to correct problems will have full privileges to your account.
• Keep paragraphs and messages short and to the point.
• When quoting another person, edit out whatever isn’t directly applicable to your reply. Don’t let your mailing or Usenet software automatically quote the entire body of messages you are replying to when it’s not necessary. Take the time to edit any quotations down to the minimum necessary to provide context for your reply. Nobody likes reading a long message in quotes for the third or fourth time, only to be followed by a one line response: “Yeah, me too.”
• Focus on one subject per message and always include a pertinent subject title for the message, that way the user can locate the message quickly.
• Don’t use the academic networks for commercial or proprietary work.
• Include your signature at the bottom of Email messages when communicating with people who may not know you personally or broadcasting to a dynamic group of subscribers. Your signature footer should include your name, position, affiliation and e-mail address. Optional information could include your address and phone number.
• Capitalize words only to highlight an important point or to distinguish a title or heading. Capitalizing whole words that are not titles is generally termed as SHOUTING!
• *Asterisks* surrounding a word can be used to make a stronger point.
• Use the underscore symbol before and after the title of a book, i.e. _The Wizard of Oz_
• Limit line length to approximately 65-70 characters and avoid control characters.
• Never send chain letters through the Internet. Sending them can cause the loss of your Internet access.
• Because of the International nature of the Internet and the fact that most of the world uses the following format for listing dates, i.e. MM DD YY, please be considerate and avoid misinterpretation of dates by listing dates including the spelled out month: Example: 24 JUN 96 or JUN 24 96
• Follow chain of command procedures for corresponding with superiors. For example, don’t send a complaint via Email directly to the “top” just because you can.
• Be professional and careful what you say about others. Email is easily forwarded.
• Cite all quotes, references and sources and respect copyright and license agreements.
• It is considered extremely rude to forward personal email to mailing lists or Usenet without the original author’s permission.
• Attaching return receipts to a message may be considered an invasion of privacy.
• Be careful when using sarcasm and humor. Without face-to-face communications your joke may be viewed as criticism. When being humorous, use emoticons to express humor. (Tilt your head to the left to see the emoticon smile: :-) = happy face for humor)
• Acronyms can be used to abbreviate when possible, however messages that are filled with acronyms can be confusing and annoying to the reader. Examples: IMHO= in my humble/honest opinion; FYI = for your information; BTW = by the way; Flame = antagonistic criticism
• Under United States law, it is unlawful “to use any telephone facsimile machine, computer, or other device to send an unsolicited advertisement” to any “equipment which has the capacity (A) to transcribe text or images (or both) from an electronic signal received over a regular telephone line onto paper.” The law allows individuals to sue the sender of such illegal “junk mail” for $500 per copy. Most states will permit such actions to be filed in Small Claims Court. This activity is termed “spamming” on the Internet

[Permission to duplicate or distribute this document is granted with the provision that the document remains intact or if used in sections, that the original document source be referenced. © Copyright 1998, Arlene Rinaldi + Florida Atlantic University]

Other good "Netiquette" sites:

• The Core Rules of Netiquette (http://www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html)
• Business Netiquette International (http://www.bspage.com/1netiq/Netiq.html)
• Stop that hoax: http://www.nonprofit.net/hoax/hoax_big.html or that great source of anti-virus information, http://www.symantec.com

How to Deal with Pop-Up Windows or Red Flags

1. Read (or simply open) all the messages in the main folder. But that might take a long time... Or,
2. Select the folder on your desktop (by clicking ONCE) on it. This will highlight the folder. Then go to the Message menu and choose Mark as read. (This will remove the red flag from the entire folder, which means it will not open until there is a NEW message there that you haven't read.) You can do the same thing by selecting individual messages and going to the Message menu and choosing Mark as read.

Why does my Reply go to People I Don’t Want?

By default, all new user accounts are set up with the reply preference set to “Reply Automatic.” “Reply Automatic” works very much like “reply all”, which means that if you get a message that was sent to more than one person and you simply click the Reply button, your message will go to everyone who got the original message, rather than just the sender.

Most people want to reply only to the sender, most of the time. To change your preferences to “Reply Sender,” go to Preferences and choose the Messaging tab (shown below), and under Reply preference, choose “Reply Sender.” This will eliminate the risk of sending messages to people you don’t mean to send them to.

If you want to Reply All sometimes, you can do so by going to the Message menu and choosing Reply Special/Reply All.

Using a Signature Line in FirstClass

Wondering how to add text at the bottom of every message you write, such as your name and contact information? Here's how!

1. Go to Preferences
2. Go to Messaging tab
3. Under Initial Content, you can make changes to your signature. You can have it apply to all new messages or not. See below for more information.

Adding signatures to selected messages:

If your preferences do not tell FirstClass to automatically add your signature to all new messages, you can add it to a specific message by choosing Edit > Insert > Insert Signature with the message open.

How to Redirect (Move) the Messages of Your Current First Class Account to Your New First Class Account:

1. Sign on into your First Class account by typing oldfc.antioch.edu in the Server Address field. Then, enter your previous User ID and password as you have done in the past (with your name and usual password).
2. Once you’ve logged in, Ctrl+click (Mac) or Right-click (Windows) on your Mailbox icon. Choose “Rules.”
3. A new dialog box will open, called “Mailbox Rules.”
4. In the Menu Bar, click “New Advanced Rule.” (Note: If you have other “Rules” set to redirect mail, you need to delete them at this time!) In the Name field, type “Redirect to New Server.” For the “When” pulldown menu, select “Run Manually.” For the “If” pulldown menu, select “Any.” Underneath the “If,” select “Always” in the pulldown menu. For the “Then” pulldown menu, select “Redirect.” In the blank space to the right of your pulldown menu, type in your current Antioch e-mail address (the one you’ve had all along).
Here is a screen capture showing what the new Advanced Rule will look like:
5. Then, click the “Save” button. Close the “Mailbox Rules” window.
6. Now, go ahead and open your mailbox (double-click the icon to open, as usual). At this point, you will have to take the messages you wish to redirect and take them out of any folders you have within your Mailbox. (Just put the e-mail messages into the mailbox itself.)
7. Now, select (highlight with your cursor) the messages you wish to transfer from your old mailbox to the new one. These will be the messages you are redirecting to the new server. You must select (highlight with your cursor) the messages before you can redirect them to your new mailbox. Leave these messages selected/highlighted.
8. Select the “Message” pulldown menu from the First Class menu bar. When you click “Run Manual Rules” your messages will begin to transfer to the new server.
9. Select “Collaborate” from the pulldown menu and click “Connect.”
10. You will get another FirstClass login screen. Sign in to the Server by typing fc.antioch.edu in the Address field. Then, type in your seven-digit Student ID as your User ID and use your usual password.
11. At this point, your redirected e-mails should appear in your Mailbox.

NOTE: Mailbox rules only work on messages in your Mailbox. If you are using folders to organize your mail, you will have to transfer those messages to the Mailbox itself before you can redirect them.

IT recommends that after you have redirected all your selected messages, upgrade to the newer version of First Class 8.326 (or higher), as well: http://www.firstclass.com/ClientDownloads/8326ClientHomePage

How Do I Change My FirstClass Password?

1. Go to the Collaborate menu
2. Choose “Change password”
3. Type in your old password
4. Type in your new password
5. Retype your new password
6. Click OK.

1. Click on Preferences (left side of screen)
2. Click “Change password”
3. Type in your old password
4. Type in your new password
5. Retype your new password
6. Click Save