How To Use E-Mail

Opening Secure Shell (E-Mail)

• On a PC
  1. Click on the START button at the bottom-left of the screen.
  2. Find Secure Shell in the pop-up menu and click on it.
   
• On a Macintosh
  1. Double Click on the Secure Shell icon on the Desktop, or
  2. Click on the Apple Menu in the upper left-hand corner and slide down to Secure Shell.
   
• For Both PC and Macintosh
1. Click on the OK box in the New Connection dialog box.
2. The SSH (Secure Authentication) box will ask you to enter your user name and password.
• Type in your e-mail login name at the login prompt and press the Enter or Tab key.
• Type in your e-mail password at the passphrase prompt and press Enter.
• The prompt after the ($) sign will be flashing at the bottom of the PINE screen. This is a signal that it is waiting for you to give it a command. Type pine (all lower case letters) after the $ prompt and press Enter.
 

Using PINE

The Main Menu in Pine

The Main Menu in Pine allows you to access the following procedures:

• ? - HELP
• C - COMPOSE MESSAGE
• I - MESSAGE INDEX
• L - FOLDER LIST
• A - ADDRESS BOOK
• S - SETUP
• Q - QUIT

Pine allows you to navigate through its Main Menu by using the arrow keys (or the greater than > and less than < keys) to move up and down the list (highlighting the procedure you want) and pressing Enter, or by pressing a single letter key (i.e., ?, C, L, A, etc.) to open a procedure.  

The Command Line at Bottom of Screen

All screens in PINE will display a listing of various commands available at the bottom of the screen. Use these commands as a guide to execute various procedures. There are two types of commands:

• Control key commands: Control key commands are signified by a letter with a small caret ( ^ ) in front of it (the caret symbol is above the number 6 on the keyboard). These commands are implemented by holding down the Control key and pressing the letter key indicated. For example, the command to send an e-mail message ("across" a distance) is: ^ X . Notice that you don't actually press the (^ or 6) key: use the "Ctrl" key to the left of the space bar for this step, in conjunction with the letter key being pressed.
   
• Single letter commands: (These are different from the Control, or ^ letter commands.) Single letter commands are implemented by pressing only that particular letter on the keyboard. For example, the command to View a message is: V

HELP

You should become familiar with the commands that allow you to carry out the most typical procedures in PINE, but if you get stuck you can always look at the command line when you need a hint. The most helpful command of all is the Help command (? or ^G for "Get Help"). PINE has an extensive help file and you can access help from anywhere in PINE by holding down the Control key and pressing G.

COMPOSE MESSAGE

• To: enter an e-mail address.
• CC: enter several e-mail addresses, separated by commas, to send carbon copies of your message to others.
• Attachments: Instructions for attachments can be seen or downloaded at the VIS Online Tips & Guides page.  
• Subject line: enter a few keywords to describe your e-mail subject.
• Message: Type in the message text.
   
• Spell Check: Spell check your message using the following instructions:
  1. Hold down the Control key and press the T key on the keyboard.
  2. Check the spelling of the words that appear in the editing line near the bottom of the screen: not all spell-check entries are necessarily wrong.
  3. Backspace over the word if it is misspelled, retype it with the proper spelling, and press Enter.
  4. If you wish to keep the word, or believe it to be correct, press Enter and the spell-checker will skip that particular word. When the checking is done, the message "Done Checking Spelling" appears, and you are ready to send the message.

• Send the message using the following instructions:
  1. Hold down the Control key and press the X key on the keyboard. The message bar displays the message "Send Message?"
  2. Press Y (Yes) to send the message, or N (No) to go back to the message.
  3. Hold down the Control key and press C to cancel the entire message. The message bar at the bottom of the screen will ask you if you really want to Cancel Message. Press Y for Yes, N for No.

MESSAGE INBOX

When you receive e-mail messages they are sent to your INBOX. Access your e-mail messages by highlighting FOLDER LIST on the Main Menu screen in PINE and press Enter.
 

FOLDER LIST

• INBOX - a list of e-mail messages that have either not been read or have been read, but not saved to other folders or deleted.
• Saved-messages - a default folder for messages you save.
• Sent-mail - a default folder that saves messages you send. These messages are listed by date, and once a month PINE requests that you move messages to a dated Sent-mail folder or periodically requests that you delete these folders.

Highlight the message you wish to read and press V for Viewing or press Enter. The message will appear on your screen.

Dealing with Messages

There are several options in PINE for dealing with messages you receive.

• Saving - Press the S key to Save a message. You can do this either while you have the message on the screen or while you are still viewing the Index of messages. You will be asked if you want the message saved in the default folder, Saved-messages. You may select the Enter key to confirm the selection or use the guides at the bottom of the screen to find the folder you want the message saved in. If you wish to create a new folder, type in the name for the new folder (i.e., eng 301), and PINE will ask you if you want to create that folder. Press Y for Yes. The folder will be created and the message put in it. If you do not specify a folder name, the message will be saved in the default folder: Saved-messages. Immediately after you save the message, there will be a message displayed telling you that the message has been saved to the folder you selected--and has been deleted. The actual message has not been deleted entirely, only from your current INBOX folder .

• Replying - Press the R key to Reply to a message. You will be asked if you want to include the original message. Press Y for Yes or N for No. You may be asked if you want to reply to all recipients. Press Y for Yes or N for No. Type in your reply and send the message using Ctrl X ( ^X ).

• Forwarding - Press the F key to Forward a message to someone else. You must then type in the e-mail address of the person you are forwarding the message to, and you may also add a message of your own before sending it out.

• Deleting/Undeleting - You can mark a message for Deletion by pressing the D key either while you are viewing the message or in the Index. Deleting is a two-step process and using D will only mark a message for deletion. To erase the file completely, you must hit the X key or when you quit PINE, you will be asked if you want to eXpunge the files marked for deletion. Press Y for Yes. You can Undelete a file before expunging it by pressing the U key while viewing the file or while in the Index.
   
• Printing e-mail messages:
   
  • Setting up the Printer (You should only have to do this once.)
    1. Highlight SETUP in the Main Menu and press the Enter key.
    2. Press P for printer.
    3. Scroll down the page using the arrow keys, and highlight the "personally selected printer" option and press Enter.
    4. Press A for add printer. You will be asked for the name of the printer.
    5. Type in the name of the printer (student lab) and press Enter. You will be asked to enter the command line.
    6. Type in "lp -dcl218". Press Enter.
    7. Press S for Select.
    8. Press E for Exit.
    9. Press Y for Yes to save the new configuration.

  • Printing the Message
    1. Highlight the message you want to print in the Index, or select the message for viewing. Printing can be done either from the Index or while viewing the message. If you print from the Index, be sure the message is highlighted first. Unlike most commands in PINE, the print command uses the percent (%) key to print a message. The P is already being used as a command to view Previous message.
    2. Press the % key to print, and the Y key for yes to the "Print Message?" question.

Using the ADDRESS BOOK

The ADDRESS BOOK allows you to send e-mail messages using nicknames or aliases in place of full e-mail addresses. For example: you may wish to simply type in "Mom" in the TO: section of Composing a Message, rather than typing in the entire address line: Mom@aol.jetstream.com. PINE will read the shorter nickname and match it with the e-mail address assigned to that nickname in the ADDRESS BOOK. It is also possible to send e-mail messages to entire groups of people with a single alias (or group) name. Use the following instructions to enter e-mail addresses and group names to your address book.  

• Adding Single Addresses
  1. Go to the ADDRESS BOOK from the Main Menu.
  This will bring up the ADDRESS BOOK LIST
  2. Press "@" for Add New. You will get a screen to fill out with a nickname, a fullname, and an address line.
  3. Type in a nickname (for example: Mom).
  4. Next, type in the full name of that person (Joan Hughes).
  5. Type in the full e-mail address:( i.e., hughes@allcitys.alltowns.com).
  6. Hold down the Control key and press X for saving the file just entered, and exiting the address book.
  7. To use the shorter name in mailing out messages, just enter the nickname in the TO: space, and PINE will enter the nickname's actual name and address as soon as you leave the address line.

• Adding Grouped Addresses
  1. Go to the ADDRESS BOOK from the Main Menu. This will bring up the ADDRESS BOOK LIST.
  2. Press "@" for Add New.
  3. You will get a screen to fill out with a nickname, a fullname, and the address. To set up several address for one nickname (or group name), enter the group name in the Nickname or Fullname line.
  4. Next, type in all the address you want on the Address line, separating each with a comma and a space. For example: eccles@vancouver.wsu.edu, johnsonw@vancouver.wsu.edu, dorr@vancouver.wsu.edu. You get the idea. (This really comes in handy for group activities.)
  5. Hold down the Control key and press X for saving and eXiting.
  6. To use the group in mailing out your messages, just enter the nickname (or group name) in the TO: space and the message will be distributed to everyone in that group.

• Accessing Addresses from the COMPOSE MESSAGE Window
  1. Return to the Main Menu, and navigate to the COMPOSE MESSAGE window.
  2. From the TO: line, press Control-T (Ctrl T), then press Enter. Using the arrow keys, scroll down the page to select the name of the person you are sending the message to, and press Enter.
  3. If selecting a group name, scroll down to the Distribution Lists at the botom of the ADDRESS BOOK and press S to Select or just press Enter.
  4. To select only specific addresses out of the grouped Distribution List, select the list, press Enter, and backspace through the addresses you don't wish to include when sending your message.

• Changing Addresses
  1. To update or change an address, you must be in the address index.
  2. Press the greater than key (>) after using the up or down arrow key to highlight/select the address you would like to update.
  3. Pine will then show you a screen with the last entries made to that particular address.
  4. Press U for Update. Edit any changes you would like to make, and press ^X to save changes and exit from that entry. You will return to the ADDRESS BOOK INDEX.

SETUP - Putting Your Signature on your E-mail Messages

It is often nice to have your signature already included at the bottom of your e-mail messages. You can have a signature appended to your messages by using the following instructions.  

• Creating your Signature
  1. Logon to Telnet just as if you were opening your e-mail account. STOP at the $ prompt.
  2. Type the following at the $ prompt: 

     pico yourname.signature using your first name for yourname, and including the period between names. Press Enter.

  3. Enter the information you want for your signature.
  4. Hold down the Control key and press X to save the file you just created and Exit the PICO editor.
  5. Press Y for Yes to save the file. You should now be back at the $ prompt.

• Setting the Configuration
  Please ask a computer lab representative for assistance BEFORE making any changes to the configurations. Instructions are located in the Power User Guides section of the Vancouver Information Technology page.
• Changing your Signature.
  1. Use the arrow keys to highlight Setup in the Main Menu and press Enter.
  2. Press S for Signature. You will enter the PICO file editor with your signature file open and ready for editing.
  3. Edit the file with your desired changes.
  4. Hold down the Control key and press X to save and Exit.
  5. Press E to Exit the SETUP menu and return to the Main Menu.

Forwarding your Mail

You can forward your WSU Vancouver mail to another e-mail address if you wish by creating a forward file in your UNIX account.

1. Open a Telnet session as if you were going to read your mail.
2. Login with your user name and password, but do NOT type pine at the $ prompt.
3. Type in pico .forward (all lowercase letters, with the space and the period). You will see a blank editing screen in the PICO editor.
4. Type in the e-mail address you want your mail to be forwarded to. This should be at the very top and left-hand side of the PICO screen with no spaces, paragraphs or other text. Just the address (for example: eddie@aol.com).
5. Hold down the Control key and press X. This will save the .forward file in your UNIX directory.
6. Send a test message to yourself to make sure the forward option works.

• Type pine at the $ sign prompt.
• Compose a test message to yourself.
• The TO: line of your message should have your WSU Vancouver e-mail address on it, not the forwarding address. (for example: eddie@vancouver.wsu.edu).
• Send the message.
• Check your other account to see if that message arrived. If it doesn't, you may need to use the PICO editor again to make sure the forwarding address is correctly entered, by typing pico .forward at the $ sign prompt to bring up that file.

EXIT E-mail

• Highlight QUIT from Main Menu or press Q. You will be asked if you really want to quit PINE. Press Y for Yes.
• You will then be asked if you want to expunge any messages that are marked for deletion. Press Y for Yes or N for No.
  Type exit (all lowercase letters) at the UNIX $ prompt. This logs you out of the system. It is important to include every step of the exiting procedure since improper exiting could mean leaving your e-mail account open and accessible.

Other Related Reference Guides you may want to look at are:

• FTP
• FETCH
• Attachments in PINE E-mail

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