How to Establish an E-mail Account
- WKU E-mail Accounts -- If you are a WKU student, you are required to maintain the email address assigned to you by the university. If you wish to use another email account rather than the WKU account, you should set your WKU account to "forward" all mail to your preferred account. If you have mail forwarded to your preferred account, be sure to select the option to "delete" mail off the WKU server once it is forwarded. If you don't, you may go "over quota" and all messages will be bounced back to the sender and not forwarded.
- Free E-mail Accounts -- There are several good free E-mail services available on the Internet. These services are typically very good and typically give you more flexibility than a WKU account. Below are the top three webmail providers with some of my personal comments. If you use an account other than your WKU account as your primary account, choose your email address wisely since others will base judgements about you on how they perceive your address. For example, hotstuff@hotmail.com may not be a wise choice.
- Gmail -- Gmail [Google Mail] is, in my opinion, the absolute best web-mail in the business. Lots of "bells and whistles" plus over 7 gigabites of storage. I receive and send everything from Gmail even though it looks like messages went to and came from WKU. Your E-mail address would be XXXXX@gmail.com where XXXX is an identity you choose as long as it hasn't been chosen by someone else. The web address to establish an account is: http://mail.google.com
- Yahoo -- I have a Yahoo account as well and have found Yahoo to be very good and I typically have very little problem obtaining my messages. Your E-mail address would be XXXXX@yahoo.com where XXXX is an identity you choose. The web address to establish the account is: http://login.yahoo.com/.
- Hotmail -- Is a powerful package and is basically an equal to Yahoo but I prefer the two above. Your E-mail address would be XXXXX@hotmail.com where XXXX is an identity you choose. The URL to establish an account with Hotmail is: http://login.live.com/.
- If you currently have an E-mail account at home through an Internet Service Provider (ISP) such as AOL, InsightBB, Comcast, etc. etc. these accounts are fine as well for online courses. They typically provide you with service which works well.
E-mail and Net Etiquette
The Do's and Don'ts of E-Mail and Behavior on the Net
- Anticipate and provide all information needed. Provide all relevant information/details in the email message so the person receiving the email doesn't have to send another email to request additional information. This is especially important if you need help. For example, send your student ID number in the email if the person receiving the email might need it to help you.
- Always include a meaningful subject line. For Hospitality Management students, the format for the email should be the Course Number / Your Name / Subject of Your Email. For example, CFS-171 / J Smith / Question about homework for this week. If the email does not involve a class, leave off the course number -- Your Name / Subject of the Email.
- Be concise and to the point. Long emails can be discouraging to read. However, make sure all relevant information is included.
- Use proper spelling, grammar and punctuation. An email message is NOT a text message. Do not use shortcuts that you would use in a text message. Proper English usage is important for understanding the message. Use spell check and remember that punctuation is important.
- Answer quickly. Check your email at least once per day and answer messages right away. If you send a message asking for help or information, expect a return message so checking your email frequently is important. Don't send an email which will require a response and then fail check your email for three or four days.
- Read all email before you send it. Many people don't read their email before they send it so they miss all the spelling punctuation errors and areas where the email may be confusing.
- Don't ues all CAPITALS. If you use all capitals, it means you are shouting -- this can be annoying and trigger an unwanted response from the recipient. A corollary to this is don't use all small letters either -- it gives the perception of lack of education or laziness.
- Emotionally charged emails. If your email is emotionally charged, walk away from the computer and wait to reply -- sometimes waiting until the next day is best. Review the sender's email again so that you are sure you are not reading anything into the email that simply isn't there.
- Formatting. Don't use patterened backgrounds, fancy fonts and/or multiple font colors. Backgrounds and fancy fonts make emails harder to read.
- Don't send a new message as a reply to an old message Never use an old email to hit reply and start typing about an entirely new topic.
- Don't forward chain letters. Never, ever send or forward a chain letter even if your best friend sends it to you and says it it legit!! As a corollary to this, big companies don't do business via chain letter. Bill Gates is not giving you $1000, and Disney is not giving you a free vacation. You can relax; there is no need to pass it on "just in case it's true."
- Don't forward virus warnings. You should never forward any email containing any virus warning unless you first confirm it at an actual site of an actual company that actually deals with virii. Try: http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/hoax.html And even then, don't forward it.
- Watch your words! You may think that what you say is easy to understand, but sometimes words can be
misunderstood. Be concise and to the point.
- Don't "flame" people. If you send critical or unprofessional comments to someone [known as "flames"] it can cause you more problems than it is worth. If you have a problem with someone, deal with it in person.
- Very few people like "spam." Junk e-mail, known as "spam" is annoying at best. Most people just delete it without reading it.
- There is no such thing as a private e-mail. Before you click on "send," consider what may
happen if the message is read by someone else - like the boss.
- Keep attachments to a minimum. Don't send unsolicited attachments especially if the attachment is an executable [.exe] file. A corolary to this is never open an executable file which is attached to an unsolicited e-mail message.
- Never assume anything. While you may be an Internet pro, and familiar with the lingo and various emoticons (like the
popular smiley face :-) and others), don't assume the recipient is as tech savy as you are.
- Trim the headers on forwarded messages. If you absolutely MUST forward that 10th-generation message from a
friend, at least have the decency to trim the eight miles of headers showing everyone else who's received it over the last 6 months. It sure wouldn't hurt to get rid of all the ">" that begin each line.
- Don't send a "wide load." Make sure that you are sending messages that have less than 80 characters in a line -- 60 is best. Otherwise the recipient must scroll from left to right so see the whole message. A lot of people get annoyed and just delete the message.
Links
A Quick Guide to Writing a Professional E-mail -- for a job or a professional business transaction.
The Core Rules of Netiquette
The Netiquette Quiz -- Test your network etiquette knowledge -- a fun quiz.
Netiquette Guidelines -- A comprehensive guide to communication on the net.
Return to my Homepage
E-Mail at:
rich.patterson@wku.edu
Date last Modified: August 11, 2010
All contents copyright (c) 1999 - 2010
Richard F. Patterson