The Email Function on the iPAD
Before going to the Mail icon, let’s take a quick look at some of the settings pertinent to the Mail function:
Go to Settings from Home page, Select “Mail, Contacts, Calendars
See the Accounts and Mail items.
ACCOUNTS – You may have one or more email accounts (e.g. iCloud & Gmail)
Add Account - this is where you link your iPad to your email account if you already have an account, or add a new email account.
FETCH NEW DATA – I have “Push” on – automatically grabs new emails and displays on your screen when your email is updated. With Push off, you can manually fetch your email or set it to fetch every so often. Recommend having “Push” on.
MAIL SETTINGS: Investigate what each setting does - Preview, etc.
Email “signature” – establish a standard “signature” and parting words on your email here.
MAIL:
Tap the “Mail” icon on the home screen to access your email messages.
Put the screen in “Landscape” mode by turning it. It presents an easier format to use all of the features.
Review the labels on the Top Left Side of Screen: Displays emails for account chosen (i.e. iCloud, Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) – See the 3 words at top – Mailboxes, iCloud, and Edit.
§ Middle word – iCloud – it is (for me) one of the 2 Email Accounts I have set up. Sometimes it can be advantageous to have more than one, using one for all advertisements and potential junk mail and another more secure one for family, friends, and personal dealings.
§ Mailboxes – there are several standard mailboxes you will routinely use - Inbox, Drafts, Sent, Junk, Trash – review them
§ Set up VIP mailbox, and/or Flagged and Attachments as separate mailboxes. Start at main “Mailboxes” (at top of left column) screen. VIP, Flagged and Attachments are generic labels that can be applied to email from all accounts (if you have more than one). Tap on “Edit” - see list of several to choose from. Check next to Flagged and Attachments to have those emails with Flags or Attachments grouped in the related mailbox. Check “ VIP” to set up a separate mailbox for those special people in your life. Tap on “add VIP” and type in their names and email addresses. You can also select VIPS from your contacts. Once VIP’s are set-up, tap the “circled i” to see your list and add or delete VIP’s.
§ Creating additional mailboxes can help you organize your emails if desired. Practice - Let’s set up one called Coupons and Discounts. Do so by tapping on “Edit”, (from left side column titled Mailboxes) then “new Mailbox” (at bottom on left side). Type in the Name of your new mailbox and “Save” or “Cancel” if you change your mind. Note that if you have more than one email account, select the account first, then “edit”, then tap New Mailbox at bottom of the screen.
§ Tap “Done” after adding, back to list of Mailboxes. Tap done again if no more changes.
§ Note that tapping on a word in blue will complete an action step or take you to another action option. If not sure of what you got yourself into, you can always tap cancel.
Reading your emails:
§ Select Inbox to see emails received. The blue dot indicates it is unread.
§ Tap on the email you want to see on right side of screen.
§ Review the icons on upper right and how to use them – Flag, File, Trash, Reply or Forward, Compose a new email.
§ Scroll down to see more emails, once in an email make larger using two finger spread, pinch to resize etc.
§ Talk about what is a thread. Threads are related emails. You can “organize by threads” by turning that function on in Settings.
§ Use the “search” box (top-left under mailbox description) to find a particular email by name, or subject or key word. Have option to start search in the current mailbox and expand to All Mailboxes if not found.
§ Use the Edit function on the list of emails on the left side to Mark, Move, or Trash. Must select which of the emails to take action on 1st, then the action. Can select all or individual emails.
Practice:
o Delete an email, go to Trash mailbox and “Move” it back to your inbox.
o Select an email with a coupon or discount and move it to the “coupon” mailbox we set up earlier.
o To really delete an email, access the Trash mailbox, review for anything you want to save. If there are none to save, you can tap “edit”, then “Delete All”. DO NOT DO THIS without being sure you don’t want to save anything in Trash. You can always “Move” and email from the trash back into your inbox.
§ Update the list of emails, by pulling down with 1 finger just above 1st email shown. Note at bottom that it tells you when last updated.
§ Review the vertical display of emails and the differences. This view eliminates left side clutter if want to focus on a specific email. See navigation arrows up and down at top of screen to view other messages. Can swipe left to right to see list of emails, again to change mailboxes, etc. Tap on right side somewhere to eliminate left column view.
§ Attachments in an email – some attachments, like pictures are displayed in body of email; some must be accessed by tapping on box – e.g. a PDF document.
CREATE A NEW EMAIL: Tap box with pen – Upper Right Corner
§ Describe how to use to, cc, bcc, + button.
§ Putting in a Subject is good.
§ Typing tips – auto capitalization, auto correct, auto insert words – be careful what you may end up with – always proof read your emails before sending. Note that you can delete typed test using back arrow with an X. The built in iPad keyboard has no forward delete like you may be used to on your PC or Mac.
§ Repositioning the cursor.
§ Add a standard signature in Settings – can remove the sent from my iPAD if desired.
§ Create a draft, save it, send it later.
§ Find your draft later in the “draft” mailbox.
References:
IPAD Guide – download from the App Store – Free
SCOTutor – Short narrated videos on almost everything. Get at App Store for $1.99. Is not necessarily updated for iOS7 but it is still very helpful because a lot of things have only changed slightly.
Buy the “Missing Manual for iPAD”. Get at Amazon, iTunes, other book stores. It is very good, simply stated instructions on how to use your device. Cost is approx. $16.
Other on campus help – Trouble Shooting Sessions every other week at 9:30 – 11:00 – Eureka 105 – Pac Polin. You can also send an email to rsiosseminar@gmail.com for Pac to describe your problem, set-up an appointment or get an email response.
Come to Noontime Topics class 12:00 – 12:45 in Mariposa 1000