America Online (AOL) is an online service for surfing the Internet, sending and receiving e-mail, storing addresses, and doing a few other things besides. The cost of the service is $23.90 (AOL usually offers free service for the first month or two). Chances are if you bought your computer at a big-time electronics store, it comes with the AOL icon on the desktop. Having that icon doesn’t mean that you have to subscribe to AOL, but lots of people do. AOL has many fans and many detractors. In general, people who fall on the novice side of computing favor AOL over the hardier, more sophisticated programs for handling the Internet because AOL is easy to use. Starting from one place, you can surf the Internet and trade e-mail messages. AOL’s keywords (you’ll find out more about them shortly) make it possible to visit Web sites without having to enter cumbersome Web site addresses. This article explains how to handle e-mail and surf the Internet with America Online.

Installing AOL

If AOL isn’t installed on your computer, you can either install it from a CD or download the program from this address on the Internet: www.aol.com. As part of the installation, you will be asked for a screen name and a password. You will need this name and password each time you log on to AOL. If you have trouble with the installation or trouble connecting to the Internet with AOL, call 800-827-6364. If you get frustrated and want to cancel the service, call 888-265-8008. You can learn about AOL’s cancellation policy by entering the keyword Cancel in the Keyword dialog box.

Signing On to AOL

You must sign on to AOL each time you run the program. To sign on, either double-click the America Online icon on your desktop or click the Start button and choose Programs -> America Online -> America Online. You see the Choose your screen name if you have more than one, enter your password, and click the Sign On button.

A Short Geography Lesson

When you start AOL, you see a window screen. I wager that the menu bar and row of buttons along the top of the screen are not foreign to you they are found in lots of computer programs. From left to right, here are the things that may make the AOL screen seem unusual:

-  Quick Start window: This window is designed to help you do things quickly. It includes buttons found elsewhere in the AOL window. Click its Close button if you don’t care to see it. To display it after you have closed it, click the Quick Start button.

-  Next and Previous buttons: Click these buttons to retreat to or go forward to windows either in AOL or on the Internet that you have visited recently.

-  URL Address box: Enter a Web address here and click the Go button to visit a Web site. You can click the down-arrow and select a site from the drop-down list to revisit a site you visited recently.

-  Search button: Click the Search button to open a new window and search the Internet.

-  Favorites: Click the Favorites button (or its drop-down arrow) to visit a site you bookmarked because you wanted to visit it again. When you signed up with AOL, you chose a “Toolset” and “Line Up” for the Welcome screen that appears when you start AOL. If you would like to rethink those choices, click the Change This Screen link in the lower-left corner of the Welcome screen. You will be presented with a series of dialog boxes for constructing a Welcome screen.

Handling Incoming E-Mail

Mark Twain was wrong. He said that nothing is certain except death and taxes. What is just as certain as those inevitabilities is this: Anyone who has an e-mail account will receive ever-increasing amounts of e-mail. Besides reading this mail, the person will have to devise strategies for sorting and organizing it. These topics are covered in the pages that follow.

Reading incoming mail

When someone sends you e-mail, you hear the words “You’ve got mail” and a flag rises on the Read button in the upper-left corner of the screen. The number beside this button tells you how many messages are waiting to be read. By moving the pointer over the Read button, you can see a drop-down list with senders’ names and message topics. To open your Mailbox and read the mail, click the Read button. Here are instructions for reading your mail:

-  Reading a message: Double-click a message or select it and click the Read button to open it. The message appears in the Message window. After you open a message, it is moved to the Old tab. You can read it by opening the Old tab and double-clicking it there (click the Keep As New button to move a message from the Old tab back to the New tab).  -  Deleting a message: Click the Delete button to remove a message. Messages you delete are sent to the Recently Deleted folder. To recover a message, open the Recently Deleted folder, select the message, and click the Restore button. To open the Recently Deleted folder, open the Manage Mail tab and select the folder in the My Mail Folder list. To find a stray message in the Mailbox window, enter a word you remember from the message’s title or text in the Quick Find box and press the Enter key.

Receiving a file

You can tell when someone has sent you a file because a little page appears behind the standard message icon on the left side of the Mailbox window.  -  To download the file now, double-click its name, click Yes when AOL asks if you really want to download it, and select a folder for storing the file in the Download Manager dialog box.  -  To retrieve the file later on, click the Download button and choose Download Later. When you want to see the file, choose File -> Download Manager. You see the Download Manager window. Select the file you want to open and click the Finish Download button. You can find the file in your C:\My Documents folder.

Managing your e-mail

If you receive e-mail from many different parties, I strongly suggest creating e-mail folders for storing your mail. That way, when you want to find a message from someone, you will know where to find it. Herewith are instructions for creating folders for e-mail and moving e-mail to different folders.

Creating a folder for storing e-mail

To create new folders for e-mail, start by selecting the Manage Mail tab in the Mailbox window. On the left side of this tab is the My Mail Folders list, which lists the folders where your e-mail is stored. Follow these steps to create a new folder:

1. Click the Saved on My PC folder. All new folders become subfolders of this folder.

2. Click the Setup Folders button and choose Create Folder. You see the Create New Folder dialog box.

3. Enter a folder name and click the Save button. Be sure to choose a descriptive name. The name of your new folder appears under the Saved on My PC folder in the folders list. Moving e-mail messages to different folders Follow these steps to move an e-mail message to a different folder:

1. Select the e-mail message.

2. Click the Save button and move the pointer over On My PC on the drop-down list. You see a list of folders.

3. Select the folder you want to move the e-mail to.

Composing and Sending E-Mail

In order to get invited to parties, you have to issue a few invitations. And in order to get e-mail, you have to send out e-mail. In this section, you will find instructions for composing e-mail messages, replying to or forwarding messages, and sending files.

Writing an e-mail

Follow these steps to compose and send an e-mail message:

1. Click the Write button or press Ctrl+M.

2. In the Send To: box, enter the address of the person who is to receive the message. If the address is on file in your Address Book, all you have to do is type the first two or three letters to see a list of e-mail addresses that begin with those two or three letters. Choose a name from the list to enter the whole address. To send the same e-mail to more than one person, press Enter to go to the next line of the Send To: box, and enter another address there. Enter an address in the Copy To: box if you want to send a copy of the message to someone.

3. In the Subject: line, enter a descriptive subject for the message.

4. Enter the body of the message in the Write box. You can format the message by clicking the Bold or Underline button, for example. However, only people with e-mail software capable of reading formats will see the formatting in your e-mail message.

5. Click the Send Now button to send the message. Or, to postpone sending it, click the Send Later button. You see the Send Later dialog box. Click the Auto AOL button to schedule a time to send the message. To send the message later on your own, click the Read button to open the Mailbox window. Then click the Manage Mail tab and select the Mail Waiting to Be Sent folder in the My Mail Folders list. Finally, select the message and click the Send button.

Replying to and forwarding messages

Replying to and forwarding messages is a cinch. All you have to do is click the Reply, Forward, or Reply All button in the Message window. Immediately, a Write Mail window opens with the sender’s e-mail address and subject line already entered. Write a reply or scribble a few words at the top of the forwarded message and click the Send Now or Send Later button.

Sending a file

Follow these steps to send a file to someone else:

1. Address and compose the message as you normally would.

2. Click the Attach File button in the Write Mail window. You will find this button in the lower-left corner of the window. You see the Attached File(s) dialog box.

3. Select the file or files you want to send and click the Open button. To select more than one file, Ctrl+click the files. The name of the file or files you want to send appears on the bottom of the Write Mail window. If you change your mind about sending a file, select it and click the Detach File button.

4. Click the Send Now or Send Later button.

Maintaining an Address Book

You can keep street addresses and phone numbers as well as e-mail addresses in the AOL Address Book. Keeping e-mail addresses is worthwhile because you don’t have to type an e-mail address to address an e-mail message if the address is listed in the Address Book. AOL fills in addresses from the book automatically. Choose Mail -> Address Book to open the Address Book. Here are instructions for doing this, that, and the other thing with addresses:

-  Entering a new address: Click the Add button. You see the Address Card for New Contact dialog box. Fill in the pertinent information on the different tabs and click the Save button.

-  Changing address information: Select a name and click the Edit button. You see the Address Card for New Contact dialog box. Change the information there and click the Save button.

-  Deleting an entry: Select a name and click the Delete button.

Exploring the Internet in AOL

As well as conventional ways to search the Internet, AOL offers keywords. Instead of typing an unwieldy Web site address, you can enter a keyword. As long as that keyword corresponds to one of AOL’s channels, you go to an AOL channel, a Web site with many links to the subject in question. For example, entering the keyword “autos” takes you to an AOL-maintained Web site with links to many sites that concern cars. Exploring the Internet by keyword isn’t the big deal it used to be. The Internet is much easier to search and navigate than it was when AOL invented its keyword scheme. AOL subscribers can use Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator to search the Internet. I recommend doing just that. Those browsers are much easier to use than AOL’s, in my opinion. You, of course, are entitled to your opinion, and to that end, here are instructions for exploring the Internet with AOL:

-  Entering a keyword: Click the Keyword button on the Quick Start bar and enter the keyword in the Keywords dialog box, or type the keyword directly into the Web site address box. If the keyword is associated with an AOL channel, you go to the AOL Web site. Choose Keyword -> Explore Keywords to see all the AOL keywords.

-  Surfing the Internet: Enter an address in the Web site address box and click the Go button.

-  Searching: Click the Search button to go to an AOL-maintained site for searching the Internet. (This site is by no means the best place to start an Internet search. Try starting at www.google.com instead.)

-  Bookmarking your favorite Web sites: When you come across a Web site you want to revisit, bookmark it. Click the Heart button and, in the Favorite Places dialog box, choose Add to Favorites -> Favorite Places. Next time you want to visit the Web site, click the Favorites button and choose the Web site’s name in the Favorites window. Don’t forget to click the Previous or Next button to go backward or forward through Web sites you have visited.