Download AOL for Dummies (ISBN - 0764558110) PDF

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TitleAOL for Dummies (ISBN - 0764558110)
TagsFor Dummies
LanguageEnglish
File Size7.4 MB
Total Pages386
Table of Contents
                            AOL For Dummies, 2nd Edition
	About the Author
	Dedication
	Author’s Acknowledgments
	Contents at a Glance
	Table of Contents
	Foreword
	Introduction
		About This Book
		Conventions Used in This Book
		What You’re Not to Read
		Foolish Assumptions
		How This Book Is Organized
		Icons Used in This Book
		Where to Go from Here
	Part I: Driver’s Ed for the Digital Traveler
		Chapter 1: What You Got Yourself Into ( And What You Need to Enjoy the Trip)
			What Online Really Means
			All It Takes Is a Bunch of Stuff
			Enjoying a High-Speed AOL Experience
		Chapter 2: I Didn’t Know You Could Do That Online!
			Signing On
			Checking the E-Mailbox
			Reading the Latest News
			Eyeing the Markets
			Internet On Ramp, Next Right
			Let the Fun and Games Begin!
			Following the Ball, Puck, and Sinker
			Nailing Down the Details
			Enjoying a Little Chat
			When Problems Come Up
			Handling the Rude, the Crude, and the Socially Maladjusted
			When It’s Time to Say Goodbye
		Chapter 3: Peering through AOL’s Windows
			Starting at the Top with the Menu, Toolbar, and Navigation Bar
			Meeting Your Windows on the World
		Chapter 4: Dealing with Spams, Scams, Viruses, and Hoaxes
			Spam, Spam Everywhere and None of It to Eat
			Canning Spam with AOL 9.0
			Fooling the Bulk Mail Behemoth
			What If You Just Gave Your Password to Someone?
			If Someone Asks for Your Password, Just Say “ No”
			Viruses Come in the Darnedest Packages
			Recognizing Hoaxes: No, Bill Gates Won’t Give You $ 5,000
	Part II: Settling Into Your Online Home
		Chapter 5: Making Your Preferences Known
			What Preferences Do, Where They Live, and Why You Care
			Managing Your Personal Info and Online Personality
			Controlling How AOL Looks to You
			Communicating and Exploring Online
			Guarding Your Safety and Privacy
		Chapter 6: Doing the Screen Name Tango
			What’s in a ( Screen) Name?
			Dealing with Screen Names
			Turn a Bit and Let Me See Your Profile
		Chapter 7: Taking Away the Online Car Keys with Parental Controls
			Reviewing the Basics of Online Safety
			Starting the Controls — and Backing Safely Down Your Digital Driveway
			Tailoring Online Life with Custom Controls
		Chapter 8: Navigating the System and Marking Your Favorite Destinations
			Unlocking the Keys to Keywords
			Getting There Fast with QuickView
			Organizing the Places of Your Heart
		Chapter 9: Where’s Your Buddy? Where’s Your Pal?
			Who’s Your Buddy?
			Privacy Preferences: Please, I Vahnt to Be Alone
			Tweaking Your Buddy List Settings
			Building an Online Treehouse with Buddy Chat
		Chapter 10: AOL Companion: Look — on the Desktop! Something Small, Blue, and Useful
			Meeting the Companion
			Covering the Basics
			Flipping Through the Tools
	Part III: Connecting and Communicating
		Chapter 11: E-Mailing the World, One Mailbox at a Time
			Sending E-Mail to an America Online Subscriber
			Writing to the @’ s: Sending Internet E-Mail
			E-Mailing with Panache
			Linking with Ease
			Incoming Missive, Sir!
			Delving Into Your Mailbox
			Organizing Your E-Mail Mess( ages)
			Catching People with Your Address Book
		Chapter 12: Chatting the Day ( And Night) Away
			They Don’t Call It Community for Nothing
			Ambling into a Chat Room
			Finding Conversations among the Keystrokes
			Seeking Out a Chat Room
			Beware the Password Scammers
			Enjoying a Little Private ( Room) Time
			Attending Classes — and Enjoying Them
			Recording Your Conversations
		Chapter 13: Dropping a Quick “ Hello” with Instant Messages
			Online Telepathy with Instant Messages
			Intercepting Messages with the IM Catcher
			Turning Off Instant Messages Because Sometimes You Just Want to Be Alone
			Catching Password Scammers
			Taking Instant Messaging Anywhere with AIM Express
		Chapter 14: Posting On the Message Boards and Joining the Groups
			Winding Your Way through the Message Folders
			Reading, Replying to, and Generally Browsing the Messages
			Free Online Toolkit with Every [email protected] AOL! Act Now!
		Chapter 15: Reading, Keeping, and Sharing Thoughts with an AOL Journal
			Browsing the Virtual Journal Shelves
			Sharing Comments with Others
			Creating a Journal of Your Own
			Adding Entries to Your Journal
			Tossing In a Quick Entry with IMs
			Adding a Picture ( Instead of 1,000 Words)
			Speaking Your Thoughts So Others Can Hear
	Part IV: Diving Into the Fun Stuff
		Chapter 16: Finding People, Places, Things, and Information
			Finding People: Sniffing Out Friends, Acquaintances, and Other Novel Folks
			Finding Places: Tracking Interests and Meeting Informational Needs
			Finding Cool Programs and Nifty Files
		Chapter 17: Cruising the Internet
			AOL. com Basics
			So Just What Is This Internet Thing?
			E-Mail the Internet Way
			Topic Hopping on the Web
			Newsgroups Talk about the Craziest Things
			FTP Downloading for the Nerd at Heart
		Chapter 18: There’s Music in the Wires
			Pushing Guitars Through the Internet Takes More Than Strong Biceps
			Tuning the Online Radio
			Jamming to the Music Videos
			Turning Your Computer into a Jukebox with MP3s
			Buying and Burning Your Favorite Songs
		Chapter 19: Tracking News, Weather, Markets, and More
			Getting the News
			The Weather Outside — Is It Frightful?
			Watching the Markets
	Part V: Secret Tricks of the AOL Gurus
		Chapter 20: Customizing Your Online Persona
			Designing the Profile of Your Dreams
			Expressing Yourself in IMs, Desktops, and Toolbars
		Chapter 21: Dressing Up Your Software with Fresh Buttons and a New Menu
			Dancing the Toolbar Tango ( Or Is That the New Button Bop?)
			Building a Welcome That Matches Your Mood
			A Menu to Call Your Own
			Dressing Up Your Menus with Favorites
		Chapter 22: Spinning a Web ( Site) of Your Own
			Why You Might ( Or Might Not) Want Your Own Web Site
			Stuff to Do Before You Build
			Building a Place to Call Homepage
			Doing It Yourself in the Great Out There
		Chapter 23: Sampling AOL’s Advanced Tools
			Taming Your E-Mail with Communicator
			Putting AOL in Your Palm ( And Your Pocket PC)
			Connecting through the Web
			Reach Out and Touch Your E-Mail
	Part VI: The Part of Tens
		Chapter 24: Ten Fun Things to Do Online
			Decoding Digital Terminology
			Strolling through the Children’s Art Archive
			Ferreting Out Long-Lost Friends and Businesses, Wherever They May Be
			Tripping through the Coolest Online Areas
			Sending Online Cards, Flowers, and Other Things That Smell
			Playing with Your Mind ( In a Good Way)
			Downloading the Best Software
			Tracking Packages All Over the World
			Practicing a Foreign Language
			Collecting Free Stuff from the Government
		Chapter 25: Ten Things That Can Go Wrong ( And How to Fix Them)
			Yodeling to AOL Tech Support
			The IM Catcher Doesn’t Catch Anything
			The Computer Almost Signs On
			The Host Isn’t Responding to You
			The System Rudely Kicks You Off
			America Online Doesn’t Say a Word
			File Downloads Take Too Long
			A MIME File Starts Motioning from the Mailbox
			Your Internet Mail Comes Back Undeliverable
			An Extra Window Appears Every Time You Sign On
			The New Item on Your Go To Menu Goes to the Wrong Place
	Index
Document Text Contents
Page 1

by John Kaufeld

Foreword by Ted Leonsis
Vice Chairman and President AOL Core Service

America Online, Inc.

AOL
®

FOR

DUMmIES
‰

2ND EDITION

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Page 2

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Page 193

As address books go, this one’s simple. It handles entries for single screen
names or big, honking mailing lists (assuming that you’re into large, noisy
name collections).

� For an individual, the Address Book holds the person’s real name, screen
name, or Internet e-mail address, Web site address, phone numbers,
postal mailing address, and various notes describing the entry.

� For a mailing group, the entry consists of a descriptive title and a list
of the assembled crowd’s e-mail addresses.

The Address Book lists both individual entries and groups in one master alpha-
betized list. Better still, America Online now stores a copy of your Address
Book in a safe, secure corner of its big computers out in Virginia. Now your
Address Book is available every time you sign on to America Online — even
when you use someone else’s computer to sign on with the Guest option!
(I probably shouldn’t be this excited about the Address Book, but it’s the
nerdy side of me showing through — down, nerd, down!)

Adding Address Book entries
Before you can use the Address Book to send messages, you have to put some
addresses in it. With that marginally deep thought in mind, here’s how to add
new items to your Address Book:

1. Open the Address Book by choosing Mail➪Address Book on the main
menu or by clicking the Address Book button in a New Mail message
window.

The Address Book window pops up, all bright and cheery.

2. To add an entry for a person, click the Add button. To build a group
entry, click the Add Group button.

A blank Contact Details or Manage Group dialog box appears.

3. Fill in the appropriate spaces in the dialog box and then check your
work carefully, especially the e-mail address entry (or entries, as the
case may be).

When making a Group entry, choose e-mail addresses that you have
already included in your Address Book or carefully type any other
America Online screen names and Internet e-mail addresses that you
want. Type the new addresses one after another, with commas separat-
ing them, as shown in Figure 11-4.

167Chapter 11: E-Mailing the World, One Mailbox at a Time

16 558110 Ch11.qxd 12/4/03 9:36 AM Page 167

Page 194

Although capitalization doesn’t count here, spelling definitely does! For
example, you can enter my screen name any way you want (JKaufeld,
Jkaufeld, jkaufeld, or jKaUfElD all count), and America Online figures out
that you mean me. If you put in jkaufield (with an i), however, the system
gets all confused and doesn’t send the mail to me.

To turn your about-to-be-created Address Book group into a full-blown
online clubhouse through America Online’s new [email protected] system,
click the Yes option next to the fateful question “Do you want to share
this group” and then follow the other instructions that appear. For more
about [email protected], flip ahead to Chapter 14.

4. After you finish, click OK.

The new entry pops into the Address Book window, in alphabetical order.
If you made a new shared group item, America Online automatically
whisks you away to the Make a Group window inside [email protected] Just
follow the instructions, make no sudden moves, and hope that no tele-
marketers call right then.

Repeat the process until your Address Book overflows with friends, acquain-
tances, business associates, and other online contacts.

If you want to make an Address Book entry for someone who just sent you an
e-mail message, just click his or her e-mail address in the message the person
sent. That displays a special Info dialog box with a simple button for adding
the person to your Address Book. If the person uses AOL, you also get buttons
to put him or her on your Buddy List and to see the person’s online profile.

Figure 11-4:
Mix and

match
America

Online
screen

names and
Internet

e-mail
addresses

in the same
group.

168 Part III: Connecting and Communicating

16 558110 Ch11.qxd 12/4/03 9:36 AM Page 168

Page 385

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