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Pegasus Mail for Windows - ver. 2.42

Site Structure: (click the diamond)

Mail servers and postboxes
Compose an outgoing e-mail message
Send off queued mail and collect incoming mail.
Keeping copies of outgoing mail
Reply to a message.
Forward a message
Using Signatures
Creating storage folders for your mail
Transfering received and read mail into a storage folder.
Create and maintain a mailbook.
Create and maintain distribution lists.
System configuration
Sending and receiving attachments and other files by e-mail.
Message Templates
Setting filters.
Importing text into a message.
Finding list servers and subscribing to them.
Tips, Tricks and Traps.
Installation Problems.
Internet Support Resources.

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The first question asked is usually "Why do I need Pegasus, I do fine handling my e-mail with Netscape or Explorer". And the answer might well be "If you intend sending and receiving the odd short message then fine, you probably don't need an off-line mail client with powerful functionality". But anything over that requirement will need more, and Pegasus Mail for Windows is the clear choice for the following reasons;

Prior to browsers offering rudimentary mail capability, the ISPs themselves promoted Pegasus as the mail package of their choice. But as the ISP market in South Africa matured and began regulating itself it became necessary for them to honour the "not for resale" implications of the freeware licences. They then promoted products that were integrated into the browsers (specifically Netscape and Explorer) in their commercial "get connected" packages. This move was also motivated by the attractiveness of lower support requirements from the ISPs as the simpler mail features in browsers needed less explaining - and the users only had to learn one interface.

Mail Servers and Postboxes

When your ISP provides you with dial-up access to the internet you are also allocated an e-mail address. Along with that e-mail address is the allocation of a mailbox (which in reality is a subdirectory on the POP3 server) which is reserved for the exclusive use of storing your incoming mail that has been sent to you. It is only when you dial-up your ISP that you can access and download that incoming mail. This is an issue that creates the most confusion with new e-Mail users and it needs to be clearly understood. Skip the next two paragraphs if they confuse you as it is not critical to remember these issues. But two terms that will come in handy later include:
SMTP
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. This is the protocol used to send mail from your machine via your ISP into the internet. Computers that receive mail from users and transmit them onwards are known as SMTP Servers and they have a unique internet address which your mail client (Pegasus Mail) needs to know. MWeb clients would usually be sending to the SMTP Server smtp.mweb.co.za

POP 3
Post Office Protocol version 3. This is the protocol used to receive mail on your behalf at your ISP, store it in your mailbox, and then deliver it to you when requested. Computers that receive mail from mail senders, store the mail for you and deliver it on request are known as POP3 Servers and they have a unique internet address which your mail client (Pegasus Mail) also needs to know. Internet Africa clients in Durban would usually be communicating with the POP3 Server dbn-pop.iafrica.com

You should also be aware that mail transmissions to and from a computer on a network can be made fairly automatic and near instantaneous. This is not an inexpensive process and only becomes viable (versus individual modems and dial-up accounts) for five or more users. These systems employ an old machine (even a 286 will do) on the network as an e-mail server and all e-mail is directed to that PC which stores the mail and sends it out on an hourly (or whatever) basis. Incoming mail is collected at the same time and sent off to the different users on the network who are notified as it arrives. A permanent leased line into the network can also be arranged which makes the mail transmittal and receipt virtually instantaneous.

Compose an outgoing e-mail message - Test the system.

At this point you should be able to send a simple message to yourself and receive it provided that your system is set up to actually contact your mail server. If not, then you should move down to the "System Configuration" section and check that your main settings are OK.

To send mail, all that you need is the recipients mail address. It makes sense to copy the casing exactly as some systems are case sensitive (JoeSoap is different to joesoap). Click on "File New Message" and type in your own e-mail address in the "To:" box. (ie. joesoap@iafrica.com). You can type TEST in the "Subject" box and "This is a test" in the main message area. Then click on the "Send" icon. This places your mail in the queue. Use "File Send all Queued Mail" to actually dial up your ISP and get the mail going. You should see the text "Connecting" followed by "Sending message 1 of 1" followed by "Closing Connection" in the dialog box at the bottom of your screen. The mail message should now be waiting for you in your mailbox (or yeah, if you've gotta be bright - in your mailbox directory on your POP3 server) and you need to give the command to retrieve your mail.

Of course it's not going to go very far as it has been sent to yourself. Immediately after you have seen the "Closing Connection" message you can try "File Check host for new mail". If the internet connection is still established then redialling won't be necessary and Pegasus should immediately begin downloading the message you sent yourself. On some mail servers you may need to wait up to 60 seconds for the sent mail to be placed in the received mailbox. The dialog box at the botoom of the screen should report "Connecting", "Getting message list", "Downloading message 1 of 1" and finally "Clearing mail on host". The "New mail" folder will then automatically open and the top line item should be your message that you sent off. Double-clicking on this item will open the message for you to read.

Congratulations, you've just (phew) mastered the basics of composing, sending and receiving e-mail. And it really is as simple as that. Or almost - to really make things slick and controlled there are many other bits and pieces to get on top and we'll quickly look at those effecting the basic sending of e-mail in this section

Send and Collect Mail

The basic principles of sending and receiving mail have been covered in the section above. We now need to look at the more advanced aspects of these operations.

The Header Fields

To:
A valid e-mail address is typed into this field. You can also type in several addresses seperated by commas if you require the message to be sent to multiple recipients. If you click on the [?] icon to the right of the "To:" box you will be presented with a drop-down pickbox of the last thirty or so addresses that you sent to. While your cursor is in the "To:" box you can also open an address book and select addresses by double-clicking on the required address.

Subject:
Pegasus insists on you providing a subject and you should provide one as a matter of courtesy to the recipient. The subject will display to the user in his "New Mail" folder and messages without a subject header are likely to receive less attention on receipt.

cc:
The "Copy To:" field is subject to the same rules as the "To:" field with the exception of the fact that it is not mandatory. If you are sending someone personal mail from your work address but you want to keep a copy of the message at home then include your personal e-mail address here. Remember that the recipient will be able to see who you copied to - so that makes this the field that's used to jangle other people's chains!

The Message Body

This, somewhat obviously, is where you type the text of your message. Note that the screen-top menus gain an extra "Message" item when composing mail messages. Within this group is the option "Import text into message" which allows you to bring large tracts of pre-type text into your message. Any text intended for import needs to be "pure ASCII" or "DOS format" which is an export option offered by all modern (post 1994) wordprocessors. Speak to a support person if you need help with this one.

Watch out for attempting to arrange vertical alignment in your text. Most recipients will be using a Windows-based e-Mail reader and, with different proportional fonts over which you have no control, your carefully aligned columns will look as if they have been assembled by the village drunk. The best way to handle tabular information is to use the Tab function, but try rather to present the information in alternate dimensions.

The Option Checkboxes

The six checkboxes allow you to specify parameters which will control the way your message is received, displayed and what receipting actions it will trigger off. A configuration option under File Preferences Advanced Settings allows you to "Save Desktop State between Sessions" which means that these checkboxes will "remember" their last setting.

Confirm Reading
When the recipient opens and reads your downloaded message, then this option if on will cause a receipt message to be created and placed in his outgoing mail queue. This message will be addressed back to yourself and will confirm the date and time at which the recipient received your original message. Use the function sparingly as you could be setting up a flood of returning messages which you might not necessarily require. It can however be a useful and timeous tool to remind you to follow up an issue.

Confirm Delivery
Of limited use, this option will generate a receipt back to you when your message hits the recipents mailbox. (Hey, remember the POP3 server?) It might be used with important messages to prove that the message did reach the mailbox - especially where you think the recipient might tamper with or intercept the receipt message.

Copy Self
Listen up here, this is the important one. If your message goes astray (wrong address, POP server crash, recipient download error, among other horrors) then you may need to send a copy. Do you have one? You can have copies sent directly to the "Copies to Self" folder or you can have every message, on sending, prompt you for the name of the folder in which the copy should be stored. If you intend keeping copies for a month or two before deleting as there has been no call for them - then use the "Copies to Self" method. But if you want to keep file copies indefinitely to form a record of communication then use the method of specifying which folder the copy should be placed into at the time of sending. See the next section below on Sending Copies To Yourself.

Urgent
This option sets attributes controlling how your message is displayed to the recipient. When set, it will display the message in red at the top of the "New Mail" list (irrespective of date) when received by other Pegasus Mail clients. Other mail management packages may display differently. The option should only be used in extreme cases where you really do need urgent attention to be drawn to the message.

Encrypt
A password request will be asked of you, the message will be scrambled relative to the password, and the unreadable mail package will head off to the recipient with a header set to advise on arrival that encryption has been enabled. The recipients mailer will ask him for the unencrytion password (which you have communicated via other means) and, if it is correct, the message will be displayed as you typed it. This is not a high level of encryption (certainly not suitable for state secrets) but it can be a handy method of making a private system out of a public e-mail facility at the recipient's end. Note also that there is a configuration option under File Preferences General where you can choose to have Copies-to-Self of encrypted mail stored in an encrypted or unencrypted format.

Signature..(1)
Signatures are simply a quick (macro) solution to stamping the bottom of your e-mail messages with your personalised details, known as e-mail taglines. See the "Signatures" section below for instructions on how to create signatures. Pegasus will let you create up to nine different signatures which can be quite handy for the different mail you generate.

Keeping copies of outgoing mail.

The concepts of "Why keep copies?" have been discussed in the section above. Here we concentrate on the more advanced aspects of how to keep copies and you may want to skip this section if you are trying to get an overview of Pegasus at this stage.

Assuming you remember what you read above (!!!) you might now want to configure your system so that it always assumes that you want to keep a copy, it gives you an opportunity to choose not to keep the copy, and then presents you with a list of your folders for choosing which which one to keep the copy. This second step can be avoided if you wish to simply have all files go to the Copies-to-Self folder. Remember that we recommend the "All to Copies-to-Self" route only if you hardly ever keep file copies and only want a medium term backup facility - if you are still going to sort and archive selected files from this folder then you are just giving yourself a big housekeeping job for later - and the subject will be outa-sighr outa-mind by then and you'll be confused at to whether it should be archived or not. Our suggestion is set both the "Prompt Copt-to-Self" and the Prompt Copy-to-Self Folder" options ON in the configuration box.
To set this option follow these steps;

All future messages will have the "Copy-to-Self" checkbox greyed-out on the front screen and you will always be asked whether you want a copy saved, and then be presented with a folder list if you do. You can of course always rename your "Copies-to-Self" file to " Copies-to-Self" (note the leading space) so that it's always conveniently available at the top of the folder list for those messages that need only the medium term backup storage and will be deleted "en masse" at a later date.

Reply to a message received.

Having received a message you might want to send a reply back to the person who originated the message to you. Pegasus will do the work of opening a new mail message and will enter the original sender's e-mail adress into the "To:" box and repeat the "Subject:", prefaced with "(Re:)". Simply double click on the original message (which is presumably in your New Mail folder or has been earlier moved to another folder) and, once the message has been opened and the body text is visable, click on the [Reply] button. Pegasus will ask you if you wish to retain the text of the original message in your reply and, if so, whether you wish each line of "retained text" to be preceded with an icon (usually a hyphen and the right arrow "->") to indicate that it is from the original message.

This is a common method of keeping the original thread of subject matter close to hand when replying. But remember that etiquette requires that you trim down anything unnecessary in the reply - don't include the entire original message just because you can! Block text by dragging the left mouse button and use the [Delete] key to remove it from the message. It is quite acceptable to introduce white space within the original text with your [Enter] key and then type in your response comments in the applicable position. And remember that when a message contains "retained text" for three or more mailings it gets difficult to work out what was said where - so be especially brutal with the [Delete] key.

Forwarding a received message to another address

Forwarding is similar to Replying in that you select a message already received and, by clicking the [Forward] button, a copy of that message is readied for onward transmission. (The copy you received remains untouched). A "To:" box is presented for you to type in the e-mail address; and you should note that you can also use the [Down Arrow] button to pull-down a list of recently used addresses or alternatively click on the [MailBook] or [Distribution List] buttons to select an address.

Pegasus will then ask if you wish to edit the message
- respond "No" and it will be sent to your outgoing mail queue
- respond "Yes" and you will have an opportunity to amend the contents before clicking the [Send] button to despatch it to the mail queue.

A forwarded message will always have a few extra lines of text introduced to the top of the message text area to indicate where and when it came from initially. The "Subject:" will be as it was with a (Fwd:) prefix. These items, of course, can be edited out and then there would be little to indicate to the new recipients that this is not an original message. Unless, of course, they knew you were incapable of crafting the plaguarised message.

Using signatures

When you send an e-mail message, your full name (if it has been correctly configured in your e-mail programme) will be buried away in the message header and the recipient's mail package will extract that name and show it alongside the message subject in his New Mail folder. So the recipient sees "Joe Soap" and not "joesoap@iafrica.com". But we are all creatures of habit and this is a sort of letter after all. How do we know that the recipient doesn't want to pick up the phone and call you, or better still put a fat cheque in the snail mail to you. Hmmm, problem. No letterhead for him to get these details.

And this is where signatures come in. You can specify up to nine different signatures with Pegasus (helpful for family and shared office e-mail accounts) wherein you can set out your postal, telephone, fax and other details. The checkbox just above your message body will default to attach "Signature 1" to the bottom of your message, but by clicking it off and on again you can choose from all nine signatures. Note that Pegasus attaches the signature when the message is actually sent off, you can't preview the signature - not even when it's in the outgoing mail queue.

We would caution you against including an advertising slogan or a cerebral quote (known as a tagline) as these are often inappropriate relative to the tone and the message and the views of the recipient. At the time of composing the message to your local priest you are often not thinking about raunchy tagline you wrote three months ago. ASCII art (pictures created through the innovative use of puctuation marks and symbols) and smileys :-) are also considered juvenile and don't help in getting you taken seriously. And also consider that most recipients today will be using proportional Windows fonts in their readers and your artistic endeavours just won't line up like you thought.

Creating a Signature
Click on File Preferences Signatures and select Signature 1 and click on the [Edit] button. Change the Name to a recognisable mnemonic and then enter your own details into the middle dialogue box (headed "...sent via the Internet") as follows; 

          =================================================
          Joseph Soap        e-Mail:  joesoap@iafrica.com
          -------------------------------------------------
          P.O.Box 26547, Durban 4000, South Africa
          Tel:  27 (31) 543-7845     Fax:  27 (31) 543-8967
          =================================================
..... and then click the [Save] button when finished.
It is a good idea to start and end with a horizontal line of some type to clearly demarcate the signature. And, in the signature creation box, start with a carriage return (hit [Enter]) as this will make sure that there is a clear blank line between the last text in your messages and the start of the signature.

Create storage folders.

Pegasus uses the concept of "folders" to store all received mail. Some of these folders are created automatically by the system for administrative purposes (such as the New Mail folder and the Deleted Mail folder) while most of the other folders are created by the user for archiving purposes. As a general rule it is suggested that you create as many folders as you need, and whenever in doubt create another folder. The more you have, the more ordered your archives can be. And you can create a hierarchy by using prefixes. ie. "Cl-Eng Xyz Co" to signify "Client - Engineering - Xyz Company". All Clients would be listed together, with those of the Engineering Division as a sub-group. You can create new folders from the [Folder] button, from the menus via File Create New Folder or from the folder sub-menu which appears at the time of saving to a folder.

Note that the Folder item on the menuline will allow you to re-order the contents of any folder on various date, subject and sender criteria. This can be especially useful when hunting a folder for particular mail item. The [Reindex Folder] item from the Folder menuline is used when the indexes used to order the contents of a folder become corrupted. When that happens you will be presented with a box which will suggest that you highlight the folder name and select [Reindex Folder] from Folder on the menuline.

Transfering a message to a different storage folder

Mail received comes directly into your New Mail folder. You may have (not recommended) set the option to transfer it into the Main folder after exiting the New Mail folder. In either event, recently received mail resides in one of these two folders forever, and will build up to unmanagable levels unless you do something about them.

So after reading the new mail you either reply, forward, delete or move it to an archive folder. And to achieve the latter you simply highlight the message, click on the [Move] button, and select the folder name into which the message is to be moved. At this point, if you so wish, you could create a new folder to store the message in.

Tip: You can highlight several files for similtaneous moving by holding the {Ctrl} key down while you click on the message.

Creating and using a mailbook.

Mailbooks, (which you can think of as e-mail addressbooks) can be created for as many groups of recipient types as you wish. This can lead to locating problems as you try to think if Joe Soap is in listed under "Soap" in the Main book, or under "Soapsud Industries" in clients or is he in your Personal book. Some sort of structure will be needed if you are keeping multiple books. But most users start off with just the one phonebook and we'll presume that this is where you are at.

The mandatory fields to be filled are the "name" and "e-mail address" fields. Don't use any dividing commas in the name field - if you must (and it's recommended) list the surname first then you can use a semicolon [;] to act as the divider before the first name. And watch the e-mail address carefully as you enter it here, especially if it contains "i", "1" or "l" as these are all commonly miscopied.

Tip: To paste an e-mail address to a message, just double click on the name and it pastes automatically to the underlying message form. And if you didn't start with a "New Message" form then Pagasus will automatically open one for you and fill in the e-mail address at the same time.
Tip: To transfer your mailbooks from one system to another, see the "Tips & Traps" section at the end of this document.

Creating and using a distribution list.

A particularly strong feature of Pegasus Mail is it's mass mailing capability which is controlled by the creation of Distribution Lists. These are simple text based lists which Pegasus refers to at the time of sending a message to your SMTP host to ensure that the message is copied to all e-mail addresses entered on the list. Unlike some other systems Pegasus does not detail the entire list in your e-mail message header (and perhaps thereby disclose your client lists to the world) and only the list title is shown to a recipient.

When entering addresses into a distribution list it is recommended that you include the recipients name in quotations, it makes it easier to maintain the list and helps avoid duplications when the list starts growing.


     i.e. "Soap, Joe"     joesoap@iafrica.com
This will also ensure that the message arrives correctly addressed to Joe Soap.

Tip: To transfer your distribution lists from one system to another, see the "Tips & Traps" section at the end of this document.

System configuration

If your configuration is not set up properly you could be losing out on features and/or sending the wrong information out to the world with your messages. The configuration suggestions that follow assume that yours is a stand-alone dial-up connection to the Internet

File Network Configuration

POP3 host is the server where your mailbox is located. (remember the Post Office Protocol) A typical entry would be dbn- pop.iafrica.com.
User name is that portion of your e-mail address that precedes the "@" sign. ie. the joesoap from joesoap@iafrica.com
Password can be left out - and if it is then you will need to enter your password every time you load up Pegasus. Enter your password here and you will no longer be prompted for it. The password itself will still be safe from prying eyes, but anyone could download your mail or send mail in your name. We suggest leaving it entered anyway as the password barrier won't stop anyone from accessing your folders, and anyone can make mail look like it's come from you. So the security issue perhaps is not so critical.
SMTP host is the server you use to upload your mail off into the internet. (remember the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) A typical entry would be dbn-smtp.iafrica.com.

File Preferences General Settings Advanced Configuration Options

TCP/IP timeout value is good at 30. Don't ask why, just set it to 30.
From field: is just that. This is what will show in that field.
Use this "From" field to form the SMTP envelope Check it ON.
Send mail at once without placing in queue is best left unchecked. Even if you are on a live LAN connection to the internet by leaving this switch off you get the opportunity to edit queued mail. If your connection is dial-up this switch would cause your system to redial your ISP every time you complete a mail item.
Use in preference to LAN mailer for Internet mail should be unchecked.
Use for all outgoing mail is checked ON.
Send any mail in the queue during idle checks should be OFF.
Connect to POP3 server on TCP port 110.
Do not download mail larger than 0 KB. This means that any size mail will download. Set this to 1000 for example and mail items greater in size that 1mB will be left on the server - eventually they'll bounce back to the owner. If you are prone to (tut, tut) flaming, then setting this to 1kB will bounce all mail back from your mailbox, and will cut you off from the world!
Check for new POP3 mail every 0 secs idle.
Count messages when polling but don't download should be OFF.
Allow checks when WinPMail is minimised should be OFF.
Delete mail from host once successfully retrieved should be checked ON. Never deleting mail means it builds up and up forever. But say you manage mail from home but check it from the office - leaving this OFF means you can see what's waiting during the day, and it will download again (and be deleted) once you retrieve it from home.
Check whenever the new mail folder is opened should be OFF unless you want Pegasus dialling your ISP everytime you click on the [New Mail] folder. But an option is to leave ON if you have a permanent live internet connection.
Download only unread mail should be OFF.

File Preferences General Settings

Personal Name is the text that appears as the sender's name when your mail is displayed in the recipients received New Mail folder.
Open new mail folder at startup, if checked, will do just that. Set it as you wish.
Preserve deleted messages until exit should be ON. This is a good one. Any mail you delete during a working session (until you exit from Pegasus) will be moved to a new folder called "Deleted Messages". This folder will be deleted once you exit but, until then, all deletions are recoverable from this file. One day you'll be glad you left it on.
Ask for confirmation before deleting. Well, do you live dangerously or not? Your choice, but the cautious option would be to leave it ON.
Leave read new mail in new mail folder. Ok, listen up here. If you leave this checked ON, then mail builds up in your New Mail folder. If it is OFF, then mail is transferred to your Main folder every time you close the New Mail folder. If you have no Main folder your new mail vanishes into oblivion - a bug - watch it. Some people like to keep the New Mail folder fo just that, while others keep the New Mail folder as a big in-tray and clear outstanding issues from there. Up to you, but don't delete your Main folder if this option is checked OFF.
Encrypt copies to self of encrypted mail. Well, if you encrypted it you didn't want anyone else reading it! If that anybody is near your PC you'd not want the copies on that PC to be unencrypted. Up to you, just don't forget your password if you do leave the option ON.
Offer advanced options for replies should be checked ON.
Save desktop state between sessions is a minor issue. ON or OFF. It means that if you exit Pegasus with the folders dialogue open then it will open the folders dialogue the next time you load up Pegasus.
Use system colors in list windows is usually OFF.
Folder for copies to self is where you specify the folder name that copies will be placed in. Set it to "Copies to self" for now, but you may have to create this folder first. We recommend that you should use the Message option to have the system prompt you for a folder name when "Copies to Self" is being triggered. This subject is covered under the "Send and Collect Mail" section above. (see Option Checkboxes Copy Self.)
Default reply address may not necessarily be the e-mail address from which you are sending the message; it might be the e-mail address that you actually want the recipients to reply to when they hit the [Reply] button. Could it be that you (Gasp...!) send personal e-mail from your office machine.

Sending and receiving attachment files.

All e-mail packages have the ability to send a file (or several files) along with the message. The recipient receives the message and instructs the e-mail package to unencode the attachment and recreate the original file. Although this procedure causes the most grief with new users, once mastered it becomes just another mundane task.

Sending Attachments

Almost any type of file can be sent in this way. Firstly, prepare a message in the normal way. Then click on the [Attachment] button. A dialog box opens which displays sub-directory names in the right hand box and the files from that sub-directory in the left hand box. The trick now is to know how to navigate (or browse) your way around your drives to find the file you want to send.

By default, Pegasus opens the sub-directory dialogue box in the directory in which it is installed. On most systems this is the C:\PMAIL sub- directory. If your target file is loaded on a diskette you can move directly to the bottom of the sub-directory list where other system drives are listed. But if you need to browse the drive then move to the top of the list and double-click on the two dots [..] which indicates "the next directory up the tree". The sub-directory pointer will then be at the root directory of the drive and you will see all directories off the root. Click your way down to the directory you want and then move to the dialogue box on the left to double-click on the file to be sent. Pegasus writes the name of that file up to the top "Files to be attached" box and you can now click on [Send] to place the message item (with its attachment) in the "Mail Queued for Sending" queue. The original file on your disk will be left untouched.

The "Encoding Type" box normally defaults to "Mailer decides" which is usually sufficient. But if your recipient has trouble in unencoding the attachment then you should click this box to try the "MIME" format. If that fails, then ask the recipient to find out what coding system their mail client software prefers and try to choose that format on the next attempt.
Tip: If you send files larger than 1mB then some systems will refuse to accept them. Netiquette (internet etiquette) requires that files in excess of 500kB should not be sent unless the recipient is aware of the size and has requested the transfer. Someone who pays by the minute for on- line time won't appreciate your unsolicited animated Xmas card of Rudolph the Reindeer up to tricks if the delivery download takes one hour!

Receiving Attachments

A black square alongside a message in the New Mail folder indicates that a file is attached. The only real difference with receiving files is that the message, once you've clicked on it in the New Mail folder, will split into two parts. The first will be marked "Message" and clicking on that will display the sender's message text. The second line will be marked "Binary attachment" and clicking on that will pop a dialogue box up that identifies the attachment and offers you the opportunity to save it to disk. Clicking on [Save] will present sub-directory dialogue boxes and you use the same methods as in "Sending attachments" to select the destination directory.

Tip: It is common practice to create a directory called DOWNLOAD that is used to temporarily store files downloaded from the internet. It is a good descriptive name and is conveniently close to the front of the alphabet to facilitate finding it quickly in sub-directory dialogue boxes.
Tip: If at all possible, scan any files received via the internet for viruses before using them if you are not absolutely sure of the source. This applies particularly to any unsolicited mail.

Message Templates

Every now and again some palooka asks you the same question (by e-mail) that you've answered ten times before. This is your opportunity to use message templates! And it's dead simple! But don't use the Save Message and Open Saved Message facility. When you send off the previously Saved Message then the item is deleted from the "Saved Messages" list so that won't help for future use.

All you need to do is compose the message that you need to send (without a signature checkbox checked) the message off to yourself. Pump in all the text you need - and be verbose because you'll be using this over and over again. When it arrives, move it to a new folder called "Template Messages". Then when you need to use the message as a template simply open the folder, select the message you want, click on the [Forward] button and proceed as normal. A fast and neat method of creating and using templates!

Setting filters

Using filters is perhaps an advanced feature, but it is a simple concept to grasp and can be an extremely useful function. It enables you to specify "trigger text" in the header fields and it will execute instructions on what to do with that message when one arrives that contains the trigger text. e.g. You are being hassled by joesoap@iafrica.com who keeps sending you price-lists for his range of aromatic soaps for your dog. Simply set up a filter that deletes all mail received with the text "joesoap@iafrica.com" in the "From:' header field.

Filters are particularly useful when you receive a lot of mail but would rather read it in bulk at a later time (if at all). Maybe you belong to a mailing list group but don't want the 30 messages a day cluttering up your New Mail folder. Simply have all mail with that particular "From:" field e-mail address moved directly to a folder.

Tip: Setting up a filter to delete mail with the trigger text "Make Money" in the "Subject:" field (and perhaps another for "$$$") will filter out a lot of junk mail. Try to set this up and then send yourself a message with "Make Money" in the subject field to see if it works.

Importing text from a file

You may have a considerable amount of text currently in a word processor file which you wish to include within the message text section for e- mailing. You need to convert the word processor text to a clean ASCII text file and then import that file into a message.

WordPerfect users can "Save As" the file (or a blocked section) as a "Type:" "ASCII (DOS) Generic Word Processor" which will create a file that contains only clean ASCII text without formatting characters. When you open a "New Message" in Pegasus an additional item "Message" is available on the top menuline. Click on there and you will see the option "Import into Message". On selecting that option you will be presented with the usual sub-directory dialog boxes to find the text file you created. When you double-click on that filename it will be read into your current message at the cursor location.

Finding and subscribing to list servers.

MailLists work with e-mail messages and are a method of creating a forum whereby everyone in the group can read all mail between everyone else. Any e-mail messages sent to a ListServer are re-sent out to every member; and this can be thought of as an interactive newsgroup as you are forced to read all messages in the process of clearing your e-mail. If a subject is primary and important, then a maillist membership is probably better than your occasional lurking in a relevant newsgroup.

And in essence, a ListServer is just that; a computer somewhere that manages a mailing list. It knows for example that 1000 people belong to a particular list and, everytime someone sends an e-mail message to the server, it simply redirects the message to each and every member of the group. The controlling software is automated in that you can e-mail a ListServer asking for information on a particular group and can automatically join or leave the list with subscribe/unsubscribe commands. If you ask a particularly stupid question then the chances are that someone out there is having a bad enough day to figure they'll feel a bit better by telling you what an idiot you are; either by direct personal e-mail or, worse, through the group.

But, on the whole, maillists can provide the quickest way for you to get up to speed on a selected subject. And once you have subscribed you will probably "lurk" for some time; taking a passive stance by reading the mail flow without responding or initiating mail of your own. Some maillists are huge with over 10000 members and others can be as small as only 10 members. But that's not to say that traffic on the bigger group will necessarily be greater, some small groups are extremely active with vigorous and productive interaction.

How to Find MailLists of interest

Most maillist members stumble onto relevant ListServers through their presence in the newsgroups and, to a lesser extent, from Website information. But there are methods of proactively finding maillists of interest, and the best of these must be the Liszt Website on the WWW which stores details on over 50000 ListServers.. And, for this example, we assume you're an enthusiastic flyfisherperson (and how's that for political correctness)!

  1. Fire up your browser and key in the URL http://www.liszt.com/
  2. Enter FLY FISH as the relevant keywords for the search
  3. ..... and the search engine should return around six matches.
  4. You browse these, read the short descriptions, and decide you need further info on two lists before subscribing.
  5. For the FLY FISHING CLUB ...
    Mail the command "information flyfishing" to listserver@whitman.edu
  6. and for the FLY FISHING DIGEST ...
    Mail the command "info flyfish" to listserver@lsu.uky.edu

Joining a Mailing List

So now you load up your e-mailer (Pegasus?) and send an e-mail:
               TO: listserver@whitman.edu
          SUBJECT: -normally blank-
          MESSAGE: information flyfishing
and do the same for the Digest Maillist

Within 30 seconds or so of "Sending All Queued Mail" you can download your new mail and you should have received a long message from each of the two ListServers detailing the subject and nature of the group and giving you some indication of the number of daily messages that you should expect to receive as a member. And there will generally be an invitation for you to join by providing you with subscription information. And this is usually no more complex than sending a message back with the message content reading "subscribe flyfish".

Try it. (Well, for a subject that interests you - not necessarily fly fishing!) Not only does it make you comfortable with the mechanics of maillists but you'll also be picking up extra e-mail skills which you'll need to handle the larger incoming mail flow.

Tips, Tricks and Traps.

Setting up PMail to work under DOS
An important resource that details step-by-step the procedures to follow to make an old 286 or 386 mono machine capable of linking to an ISp's e-Mail facilities using dynamic IP address assignment. Many say it can't be done. Wrong! It can, click here to be enlightened.

Hmmmmm. Still some work to do on this section....... If you need an urgent solution to any of these issues then please let us know and we'll give it top priority.

Tip: Avoiding Downloading Large Files

Tip: Keep Updating Pegasus

Tip: Multiple Users from one Pegasus site

Trick: Copying Mailbooks and Distribution Lists between sites

Trick: Repairing Corrupt Spooler Files on your POP3 server

Installation Problems.

The Pegasus installation is pretty bulletproof and relatively foolproof, but things can still go wrong.

Users often need to know how to get a Pegasus Mail icon onto their Win95 desktop. Fortunately, this is a no-brainer problem. Right-click your Start button on the TaskBar and click Open. Then click on Programs and a window (looking like the Windows 3.1 Program Manager) will open showing all your first level "Program" choices as folders. Click on Pegasus Mail and you'll see the Pegasus options. Next step is to create a shortcut. Click once only on the "Pegasus Mail" icon (which starts up Pegasus) to highlight it. Then right-click once to present the pull-down menu choices; one of which will be "Create Shortcut". After clicking on this item a new icon will appear in this group called "Pegasus Mail (2)". Now click once on this icon to highlight it and then drag it out from this group onto a visible open space on the desktop in the background behind the windows. After you close the "Windows" down you'll find the new Pegasus mail shortcut on your desktop.

Internet Support Resources.

Han's Pegasus Mail Links
Includes several FAQs, the 10 most often asked questions, links to utilities and distribution and support sites, the Mercury knowledgebase, file converters, plug-ins, reference documents and many other Pegasus resources.

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