Click the New Msg button on the toolbar. The message composition window will open, as shown below:

As with the main Messenger window, there are 4 sections you should be aware of. From top to bottom, they are:

1. The Menu Bar (standard windows feature; File menu, Edit menu, etc.)
2. The Tool Bar (similar to the Main window, but there are different buttons here)
3. The Header Area (This is where the addresses of recipients are placed or typed)
4. The Composition Area (where you type the body of the message)

Addressing a Message

Netscape Messenger at Oakton works with a database of Oakton users to assist you in addressing internal mail. All mail sent, internal and external, must be to an Internet-style address (jsmith@oakton.edu). Messenger will help you input the address either by searching for it or by inserting it after you type in all or part of a recipient's given name.

Click in the 1st line of the header area (next to where it says "To:")

You can now either:

Type the address of the person you wish to send to. To send to OCC employees, type all or part of a name and wait for the email address to be filled in by the program.    and students, type the recipient's login I.D.  To send to people outside of OCC, you can use a standard internet address (jsmith@isp.com).  Note: When sending outside Oakton, we no longer have to type in additional characters-- "WPO4MHS," etc. as was needed with WPMail and DaVinci. Just type the actual internet address (jsmith@isp.com).

OR

Click on the Toolbar's Address button and select (click on) a name from one of the address books.  For more information on selecting addresses from an address book, click here.

You now have several options for filling in the address.
 

Option	Action	What Happens
Option 1	Type the first part of the email address of the recipient (the part before the "@")	For Oakton recipients, should start a directory search which will fill in the recipient's full name and the rest of the email address For non-Oakton recipients (who are not in your personal address book), you'll get the message "No Matches Found." You'll need to type in the rest of the address (the part after the "@")
Option 2	Type in all or part of the recipient's name (not the email address)	Depending on how unique or complete, the program will either immediately fill in the rest of the name and the email address; OR... "Multiple Addresses Found" will appear on the line. If you then press Enter, a window will pop up with a list of possible recipients to pick from.
Option 3	Click on the   button on the toolbar.	The Messenger Address Book will open. Here you can search for names in all the Oakton directories, your personal address book, and outside search engines. For detailed information on how to use the Address Book, click here.

In Messenger, the name or address of each recipient will go on a separate line in the header area (as opposed to DaVinci and WPMail where everyone went on the same line, separated by commas). Hitting the Enter key after typing in someone's address will drop the cursor down to the next line where you can type in another address. There is virtually no limit to the number of people you can mail a message to.

You can change the receipt status of a recipient by clicking on the "To:" button.

 This will produce a drop menu with the other options (cc:, bcc:, etc). Click on the option you prefer and the "To:" button will change.

After you've entered in all the recipients, Tab to the subject line and type in a subject for the message.

Tab to the Composition Area and type your message.

CAUTION: While Messenger will allow for text formatting in the message area, you generally should reserve this for email sent within Oakton. Non-OCC recipients may not be using Messenger and would have to dig through the HTML coding to read your message. For more information, select Formatting Text on the menu.

When you've finished composing your message, click the Send button. The message composition window should close and return you to the main Messenger window.

To continue, click Replying on the menu.