Anatomy of a Message

The principal parts of an e-mail message

The principal parts of an e-mail message are header, body, and attachments. The header is similar to the addressing on a paper envelope, the body is the actual letter, and attachments are like enclosures.

The Header

The header is like a paper envelope showing destination, return address, date stamps and sometimes route markings. It also shows the subject of the message.

Components of the Header:

• Date: The sender's mail program will date stamp the message.

• To: If you are creating a message, you may put in one or more e-mail addresses separated by commas.

• Cc: Send people courtesy copies.

• Bcc: Send a "blind" copy to another person. The "To" and "Cc" people won't know. If you are sending a group of people and don't want everyone to see the addresses, enter them as Bcc.

• From: Tells you the name and Internet address of the person who sent the message. When you are creating an e-mail, the program will put in the address and name you gave when you setup the software.

• Other: There may be other lines that mark the path the message took through intermediate mail servers. Server addresses will show in the Received and Resent-From lines.

• Subject: Condense the main point of your message to three or four words. Your readers will thank you.

The Body

As in any letter, it is a nice practice to open with a salutation - a simple Hi will do; then proceed quickly to the matter at hand, and close with your signature. The signature should include, at the very least, name and e-mail address.

The signature

The signature you use in your e-mail message is your chance to hang out a shingle and let others know what you do, where you work, and how you can be reached. It saves you time in typing your contact information.

People become quite creative in the use of keyboard characters to provide some illustration, and may, as whim strikes, include witty quotations. Nonetheless, brevity is valued.

Most e-mail programs have options for setting up a signature and adding it to outgoing e-mail. Check the Help section for your program.

Attachments

Many mail programs are MIME-compliant, meaning that the Multi-purpose Internet Mail Extensions allow you to directly attach files of any format to your outgoing e-mail message. The receiving mailer, assuming it is also MIME compliant, is instructed by MIME on how to handle the attached message. Most e-mail programs will launch the appropriate viewing program: Word to view a document, a web browser to look at an html page, or a graphic viewer to display an image. The File-Attachment feature is most useful for sharing word documents and digital photos. Be aware, however, that the recipient must have the right software to work with the files you send

TIP Virus Alert: Attached files can carry viruses that will damage files on your computer. Protect yourself. See E-Mail and Viruses.

Where to next?

Practice these pointers about the e-mail message in Send E-Mail exercise.