The main Messenger window consists of 4 primary areas. From top to bottom they are:

1. The menu bar (a standard windows feature with file menu, edit menu, etc.)
2. The tool bar (a horizontal series of buttons)
3. The message list where you see the headers of all your messages
4. The message area where you actually see the body of a message
5. The folder list where you see all the mail folders (inbox, sent, trash, etc.). Note that the folder list area only shows when in the "3-panel" view.

To check for new messages, click on the Get Message button on the Toolbar.  Any new messages you receive will then show in the message list. Messenger does not automatically retrieve messages from the server-- you'll need to click Get Message whenever you wish to check.

To read a message, click once on its header in the message list. The body of that message will show in the message area.

Note: If you click twice on a message header, the body of the message will appear in a separate window. Closing that window after you've read the message will not cause you to exit Messenger.

Reading Attachments
Attachments are files that can be sent along with email messages. The default for Messenger is to list attached files at the end of the regular message body as a hypertext link. It likely will look something like this: filename.doc
Clicking on the attachment file name will pop up a dialog box with two choices: Open it or Save it to disk.
Open it will launch the proper application for viewing the attachment (such as Word, if the attachment is a Word document). Save it to disk will open a Save As dialog box so you can save the file to a local drive to deal with later.

Sorting Mail
You can sort your messages by Subject, by Sender, by Date, etc simply by clicking one of the header buttons that run across the message list area.

Note: You can reverse the sort order by clicking a second time on the same button. For example, clicking a second time on the date header might change the list from having the newest messages at the top of the list to having the oldest at the top.

For more information on sorting mail, choose "Managing the Header Area" under Level III on the menu.

Deleting Mail

To Delete a message: In the message list area, click on the header of the message you wish to delete On the toolbar, click on the Delete button

Note: This moves the message from your Inbox folder to the Trash folder. To really get rid of the message you'll need to empty the trash by following these steps:

1. Click on File on the Menu Bar (Not the File button on the Toolbar)
2. Click on Empty Trash

To continue, click Sending Mail on the menu.