Reply and Forward Email Messages

You have several options for responding to messages that have arrived in your INBOX. In this section of the module, we will look at the Reply, Reply to All and Forward options.

Reply to Email

Select my reply to your email A message (or the Registration Confirmation Message that I sent when your registered for the course from your INBOX and open it.

Notice the buttons that are visible on the screen.

Clicking the Reply button will open a new message that is automatically addressed to my address:

bobjost@gmail.com

You will notice that the Subject: box automatically includes a reference to the Subject of my message. Let's change that Subject to:

Subject: email C Reply

Depending on the default settings, you may also see that a copy of the original message text has been automatically entered into the message body.

Netiquette Issue

While you could leave the entire message, it is generally considered to be a courtesy to edit that original text, leaving just a few sentences or phrases for reference. By default, space has been left at the top of the message box for your comments.

Include a comment in your reply message and Send the message when you have finished.

Reply to All

You will also notice several other options near the Reply. Be very careful with the Reply to All option. If you received a message that was sent to multiple recipients, clicking this button will send your reply to all of the addresses in the original recipient list. While that can be useful, it can also be embarassing if you accidentially send a reply intended for only one person and your message reaches dozens of others.

Forward An Email Message

Clicking the Forward button will allow you to send a message to others. You will notice that you have to enter the address of the new recipient of the message.

Space for your comments are typically left at the top of the message body section.

Open one of the messages from me in your INBOX and forward it back to me. Use this format.

To: bobjost@gmail.com

Subject: email C Forward

Include a comment at the top of the forwarded message and practice editing non-relevant portions of the original message.

Send the message.

Netiquette Issues

In a professional environment, forwarding jokes and other non-professional email messages is typically frowned upon and may even result in disciplinary action. Carefully consider the content before forwarding messages to your colleagues.

It is considered a courtesy to edit the original message leaving only the pertinent information. We all know how annoying it is to get one of those often-forwarded messages that has pages and pages of message headers.

Resisting the urge to forward "Sound the alarm! Forward this message along to everyone you know." and virus warnings is especially important in the professional environment. Forwarding those types of messages creates a lot of unnecessary traffic on the mail server and may even unwittingly pass along viruses that are attached to the messages. Just click the Delete button when you see those types of messages.

Deleting Email Messages

You will also notice the Delete button when a message is visible on the screen. This may well be one of the most important buttons on your email client. Email can quickly become clogged with old messages.

If a message is obviously not worth saving, clicking on the Delete button while the message is visible on the screen can eliminate some of the clutter. You will typically see a little window asking if you really wanted to delete the message. Clicking OK will complete the message deletion.

You may also have noticed that you can delete messages from the main INBOX screen. You can individually click the select box to the left of the message or click the box at the top of the screen to select all the messages at one time. Clicking the Delete button will remove them all at once.

Be careful when selecting this option. Most webmail applications temporarily move deleted messages to a TRASH folder where they can be retrieved. The messages aren't really deleted until you empty your Trash folder.

Next: Setting Up Your Address Book