Using CNC SurgeWeb Email

CNC Library Information Sheet

See also CNC ILTR's Youtube videos on SurgeWeb at http://www.youtube.com/iltratcnc 

 

1. Introduction to Email

Email (electronic mail) is a fast and easy way of communicating with people, at the College or around the world with anyone else who has an Internet email address.

There are many different email packages out there. Examples include CNC SurgeWeb, Microsoft Outlook, Hotmail, Gmail, and so on.

CNC SurgeWeb is the College package for students and employees. It is web-based and can be used anywhere where you have Internet access. This handout describes how to use it.

2. Getting an Account

You will need a CNC computer account to access email. Computer accounts are automatically issued to currently enrolled students (at the time they register and pay fees) and to current employees. The system that manages accounts is called CNC Connect. To find out what your Username is, and to set your Password, check the instructions posted at http://tinyurl.com/cncconnect or go directly to CNC Connect at http://www.cnc.bc.ca/cncconnect/

Username: plettk (e.g. your last name and first initials or initials/numbers)

Password: _____ (e.g. the password you've set up in CNC Connect)

Your Username becomes part of your email address: username@cnc.bc.ca  -  e.g.  plettk@cnc.bc.ca

To correspond with someone else, you need to know their email address

e.g. chulka@cnc.bc.ca  - a person with username chulka at CNC

e.g. kathyplett@hotmail.com - a person with username kathyplett at hotmail

e.g. can-freenet@cunews.carleton.ca - a group with username can-freenet at Carleton

Looking for addresses? A list of College email addresses is posted on the CNC website at http://www.cnc.bc.ca/ - click on the "Contacts" link on the top right of the page. Finding external addresses is harder. There is no one place to find all email addresses. Examples of address searching tools can be found on the Library menu at http://www.cnc.bc.ca/library/ under "Web search". But these can be hit and miss. Your best bet is to phone a person, get their email address and keep it handy. Put your own address on business cards and regular mail. If you get an email message from someone you’ve got a good ‘clue’ - their address will be part of the message.

3. Using CNC WebMail

1. Connect to the Internet

at CNC: go to any lab station and login to the network with your Username/Password

or - at home: connect to your commercial Internet account

or - at any other Internet station anywhere in the world (Internet Cafe, library) go to Step 2

2. Open a browser (e.g. Internet Explorer, Firefox) - go to CNC at http://www.cnc.bc.ca/

- choose SurgeWeb Email from the "Attending" (student) or "Working" (employee) menu

 

the direct address for WebMail is: https://mail.cnc.bc.ca/surgeweb

3. Login

Enter Username: _______

Enter Password: _______

Click on Login

4. Read your mail

• The Inbox will list all messages you have received, as shown on the first page of this handout. The first message will appear in a preview box at the bottom of the screen (if you prefer, double-click on the message list at the top, to show the full screen).

Attachments: photos will be shown as small images that you can click to View or Download. Other documents will be shown as just filenames. Click on the filename to open the file so that you can view or save it. If you cannot open the file, you may not have the right software (e.g. someone sends you an Excel file, but you don't have Excel on your computer). The system may prompt you to go and get the software. 

• Continue reading by clicking on the down-arrows at the top right of each message (or click on message lines in the Inbox)

• Delete a message by clicking on “Delete." You can select more than one message to delete using checkboxes. Deleted files are stored in the Trash folder. You can still retrieve them while you are in the session by going into the Trash folder and moving the message out of it (back to the Inbox or to another folder). Once you logout, your Trash is permanently deleted.

• Reply to a message by clicking on "Reply" - or select "More Actions - Reply-All" from the pull-down menu at the top, to reply to everyone who got the original message. A new screen pops up. The entire text of the original message is shown, so you can reply to parts of it, edit it, add comments, etc. Click on "Send." A copy of what you sent will be stored in the Sent folder.

   

• Forward a message on to another person by selecting "More Actions - Forward" from the pull-down menu at the top. A new screen pops up. Enter the email address of the person you are forwarding the message to. The entire text of the original message is shown, so you can edit it, add comments, etc. Click on "Send." A copy of what you sent will be stored in the Sent folder.

   

• Redirect a message to another person by selecting "More Actions - Redirect" from the pull-down menu at the top.  When they get this they will be able to Reply directly to the original sender of the message (their address, not yours, will be in the "From" line)

   

• If you think you have received a new message since you logged in, click on Inbox-"Refresh" (link in left column)  to get these new messages.

5. Compose new mail

Click on “Compose” to send a new message. A box pops up. Enter the following information:

 To: plettk@cnc.bc.ca <-- the email address of the person you are sending mail to

If you have people in your contact list, you can just click the "To" button to select them

If you are sending mail to another person at CNC, you can just enter their username. You don't need to enter the @cnc.bc.ca part of the address - e.g. To: plettk

Multiple addresses: enter a comma space between each - e.g. plettk@cnc.bc.ca, kathy@hotmail.com

Add copies to other people - "Toggle cc / bcc / options "
Cc: enter the email address of anyone you want to “copy” on the message
Bcc: enter the email address of anyone you want to get a “blind copy” (the person listed in the “To:” line will not know that the message has also been sent to the person on the “Bcc:” line)

If you want to retain Cc: and Bcc: lines in all future emails, click on "Toggle / options" and check box to "Retain options"
 

Subject: about your report  <-- enter a subject, keep it short and informative

Text of message: <-- enter the text of the message in the message box

The text “wordwraps” so you don’t have to hit the Enter key at the end of every line - just do this when you want to start a new paragraph. Plain text is preferred, although you can add bold, resize font, etc. if it's really necessary. 

 

Links:

The text can include links, such as Internet addresses (http://www.disney.com or just www.disney.com) and email addresses (kathyplett@hotmail.com). The person who gets the message will be able to click on these addresses and go immediately to a site or send mail to a person. Tip: Copy/Paste an address from a web browser; avoid using the 'link' button in the message box which doesn't always work properly.

Attachments:

 

If you want to attach a file, such as a Word Processed document or a Spreadsheet, click on "Attachments" - "Attach new" - Browse to browse through your computer’s directories and find the file - click "Open" to add it. Keep adding other files as needed. Note: the person receiving your message must have the right software to read the file. For example, if you send an Excel or Word file to someone who doesn’t have these applications, or your version of them, they won’t be able to open them. For Word files, prefer making them into a PDF which everyone can view.

 __ Priority <-- click on Priority-High box if you want the recipient to get the message highlighted in red

__ Request Confirmation <-- click on "Request Confirmation-Read or Deliver" box to have recipient confirm they got the message

__ Signature <-- if you have a signature file it will add it by default (click blank on signature menu to NOT include it). See more on Signature files below

“Send” - when you are finished, click on "Send." A copy of what you sent will be stored in the Sent folder.

"Save Draft" - click this if you're still working on a message and want to save it temporarily in the Drafts folder. Note that the system saves messages automatically to Drafts every minute, so you won't lose the content if you are called away for any reason.

6. Print

To print a message, when you are viewing the message go to "More actions-Print" pull-down menu. A separate Print box will come up.

7. Logout

Before you logout, you might want to clean out some folders. You don't have to worry about the "Spam" and "Trash" folders (they are dumped regularly) but other folders, like the "Drafts" folder which stores mail you have temporarily been working on, and the "Sent" folder, which stores copies of all messages you have sent, can just grow and grow. Delete unwanted messages from folders to free up storage in your mailbox -- e.g. click on Sent folder, click on boxes for messages you want to delete (or Select-all), click Delete button. Storage space is limited. Students normally have 25 MB, employees normally have 200 MB.

Click on Logout (top right) to finish the session. IMPORTANT: Don’t just click on the X box in your browser - this does not log you out of email! Someone else can get into your account if you don’t logout properly.

Special Features

Folders

The system supplies some standard folders for filing your mail: Inbox, Draft, Sent, Spam and Trash. There is also a section of "More Folders." Click on the arrow beside "More Folders" to see a list of all folders. Click on a Folder name at any time to view what is in the folder. If you want to add a folder -- e.g. you want to file away all messages you get from your buddy “Bob” -- click on the "More Folders" "Manage" link in the left frame and create a new folder by entering a name, e.g. Bob, and selecting how it should be filed. It can be filed as a main folder under "More Folders" or you can make this a sub-folder by selecting one of the folders that are already listed. The next time you read a message from Bob, you can move the message into the Bob folder to store it. Move a message using "More Actions-Move to folder" pull-down menu, or just Drag/Drop the message into the folder.

Drag and Drop

Drag and Drop is a great feature in this email system. Simply highlight (left click) on a message in your Inbox list and drag it into a folder in your folder list. For more on Drag and Drop, check CNC ILTR's Youtube video at http://www.youtube.com/iltratcnc

Contacts

Contacts can be stored in folders by group (e.g. Colleagues, Family, Friends) and you can create more folders, for example by department or class, so that mail can be sent to the whole group at once.

The Contacts list is broken down into two sections: Personal address book (your own folders), and Address directories (CNC contact lists). Important note! - the key place for all of your personal contact names is in the folder called “All Contacts.” This is a master list of all of your contacts. Names must be in this folder, in order for you to move them into any sub-folder.

Add a contact from the CNC list to one of your folders

In this example, we will add an existing name from the CNC contact list to your “Colleagues” folder. The steps are as follows: open CNC list (click on All addresses, or pick a department list) - choose a person (click on the name; their contact details will come up) – click on “More actions-Copy contact” This puts the person in your “All Contacts” folder. You can now open that folder and Drag/drop the name into your “Colleagues” folder. Once a name is in your “All Contacts” folder it can be Drag/dropped into many different folders.

Add a contact who is not on the CNC list

If the person has an external address, for example a Friend not on the CNC list, you will create a New contact, add them to your “All Contacts” folder, and then drag/drop them into one of your group folders. The steps are as follows: In the main contacts screen, click on “More actions-New contact” – OK – enter details about the person (e.g. First Name, Last Name, Email) – click Done. The person is now stored in your “All Contacts” folder. Go back into Contacts – open “All Contacts” – Drag/drop the name into the “Friends” folder.

Create a new group folder

In this example we will create a new folder for “library” and store names in it. Click on Contacts – “Create a new group” – enter name (library) – OK. The folder will now appear in your folder list. Next, add names to the folder by Drag/Drop from your “All Contacts” folder (as described above, all names must first be put into this folder).

Send mail to group

Once a group folder has been created, you can send mail to everybody in the group at once. Go to Compose message” - in “To” box enter the group name (e.g. library – the name of the group folder you have created) – and create and send the message. It will go to the whole group; you can verify this by looking at your copy in the “Sent” folder. Another way to do this is to click on “To” button – select “Groups” tab – select the Group folder (e.g. library) – Close - then create the message and send it.

Delete group

Click on the red-x to the right of the group name to delete any group you have created. Note, this will not delete contacts in the group, which are still stored in your “All Contacts” folder. You can’t delete the three main groups that come with SurgeWeb (Colleagues, Friends, Family).

Delete a name in a group

Click on the red-x to the right of the individual’s name to delete them from the group.

Selection Boxes

When you are scanning your list of messages, you can select one or more of them (click the Select boxes) and then delete them all at once (click on "Delete") or file them in a special folder (using "More Actions-Move to folder" pull-down menu) or forward all of them on to someone else ("More Actions-Forward").

Options

Go to Options-Preferences (on the top right menu bar) to adjust settings.

Change Password

Note: Only for alumni/people no longer at CNC. Current CNC users should make all password changes in CNC Connect in order to synchronize all of their logins (see section 2: Getting an Account above).

 

Signature File

A signature file includes key contact information about yourself that can be placed at the bottom of any message you send. It will automatically appear there, unless, in the ‘compose’ screen, you pull down the Signature menu and select the blank space (i.e. no signature file). To add a signature file, follow these steps: click on top right “Options – Preferences” – go to “Advanced” tab, scroll down to “Message send mode” and choose “html” from the pull-down menu – then without hitting Save, go back to General tab and enter your signature file in the box. You can customize it by changing font, size, color, but keep it fairly simple and short since the space is limited to 970 characters including html tags. After you’re done click Save, then test it out by Composing a new message to yourself, to see how it looks.  To view these instructions, check the CNC ILTR's Youtube video at http://www.youtube.com/iltratcnc

Example

-----

Katherine Plett

Library/Media Services Director

College of New Caledonia

3330 – 22^nd Ave.

Prince George BC V2N 1P8 Canada

250-562-2131 local 5298

email plett@cnc.bc.ca

http://www.cnc.bc.ca/library/

Forwarding

You can forward all of your incoming mail to another email address. This might be useful if you are away for a long time or if you prefer to get all your email in some other program (instead of SurgeWeb). Go to Options - Preferences - Filtering and Spam Control tab - Forward "configure" - enter the alternate email address in "Forward to" box - click "Delete original message" so that you don't duplicate all messages in SurgeWeb as well as your other account - click Save.

 

Holiday "Out of Office" Message 

You can tell people you will be away for a while, by entering a Holiday message. Go to Options - Preferences - Filtering and Spam Control tab - Holiday autoresponder - click on Configure - click on Enable - click on "Only respond to messages addressed specifically to this account" - select "Only send once ever" - enter Subject line (e.g. Absence message) and enter the text of your message (e.g. "I'll be away until August 15. If you have urgent business, please contact..."). Click Save at the end. Don't forget to change these settings when you get back!  For more on this "Out of Office" function, check CNC ILTR's Youtube video at http://www.youtube.com/iltratcnc

 

Screen Layout

You can choose to see only a list of messages on the main screen, instead of a list and a preview window with the first message showing. In Options-Preferences, click on Screen layout tab, change “Message preview window” to “None – no preview window displayed.” Click Save. Then click Reload page - or just wait for the change to appear next time you login. This is one of many different layout options you have - for more, view CNC ILTR's Youtube video on "Interface Overview" at http://www.youtube.com/iltratcnc

You can also adjust the size of the boxes on your main screen at any time by just pulling the frames on the boxes. For example, if you want to increase the size of the left menu to show longer folder names, just put your mouse on the frame of the box and drag it to the right. Or if you want to see more of the preview message, put your mouse on the top of the message box and pull it up.

 

Resize Image Attachments

In Options-Preferences-General tab, if you like, you can resize images that you attach to messages, so they will be a standard size (we recommend the smaller size 640x480).

 

Add more buttons to your main menu

In Options-Preferences-Customize tab, you can add more buttons to your main menu. For example, some people prefer to have a “Print” button right on the menu (instead of having to pull-down the “More options-Print” menu). In the Customize tab, click on the box for “Print”, then Save. The change will appear next time you login.

Filtering Rules

Note: You will not need to use this section. Junk mail ("spam") is automatically checked when it enters the college and if there are suspicious things in a message (e.g. a lot of exclamation marks, dollar signs, words all in capital letters) it will be flagged as ***Spam*** in the subject line.  If you want to further customize the way your email is handled by the anti-spam system, please contact the CNC helpdesk at helpdesk@cnc.bc.ca

 

Switch to Basic – Switch to Mobile

The Options pull-down menu includes two other choices. Switch to Basic is for rural users (basic text interface). Switch to Mobile is for those who wish to get their email by mobile/cellphone.

More Neat Stuff! Blogs - you can set up a blog (a web log, or journal). This is a fun way of posting information on the internet. The library has put together an information sheet on setting up a blog called "Blogs 101". It's on the Library "Information Sheets" menu at  http://www.cnc.bc.ca/library  Calendar - lets you to keep track of meetings, classes and other schedules. Photos - lets you share photos and files. The access to the photos and files appears as a web site link that you can give out. You can choose to share files publicly or use the private folder which only you can access. Search - lets you search the contents/subject lines of all your email messages. Labels - allow you to mark messages with one or more tags such as “Important” or “Personal” - a bit like flagging a message with a star but more flexible. Click on Labels “Manage” and read the Notes on the Use of Labels before creating your own labels These and other options are described more fully in the online Help Manual, posted under the Help button.

4. "Netiquette" Rules for Online Communication

Here are a few common-sense rules to follow when you are doing email. Although the focus is on business email, the rules apply equally to personal mail. Special thanks to Jill Vickers (CNC Nechako) for providing us with the list...

1. In general, messages should be short and to the point.

Email is not a good place to write lengthy messages as it's difficult to read many screens of text.

2. Business email equals a business letter.

Be as professional in a business email as you would be in a business letter, e.g. correct grammar, no spelling errors, correct set-up, etc.

3. Make sure that you use a meaningful Subject line...

so that your reader will have a clear idea of what the message contains. ALWAYS use a Subject line.

a. Good example - "Subject: My Feedback on the Taylor Article."

b. Poor example - "Subject: Interesting Stuff."

4. Include your "signature" at the bottom of your messages.

Your signature footer should include your full name and any contact information you wish to share (company name, phone number, fax number, etc.). This can be set up automatically on most email programs.

5. Use all caps sparingly.

Capitalize words only to highlight an important point or to distinguish a title or heading. Capitalizing whole words that are not titles is generally seen as SHOUTING. Most email programs have all the usually formatting features of Bold, Italics, etc., which you can use to make a stronger point.

6. Be professional and careful in what you say about others.

Electronic messages are easily forwarded. Don't say anything you wouldn't want to see quoted in the newspaper!

7. When reacting to someone else's message, address the ideas, not the person.

Antagonistic messages are called "flames" and flaming someone is bad Netiquette. If you are angry or upset when writing an email, wait a while and read it again later before sending it – you'll probably change it too! Again, this should never happen in business email.

8. Be careful when using sarcasm and humor.

Without face-to-face communications your joke may be viewed as criticism. "Emoticons" – tiny pictures made from ordinary ASCII characters that are meant to be looked at with your head tilted to the side, e.g. :) – can be used to put a personal "face" on your messages. A link to some popular "Emoticons" is given on the Library's "Web search" page under Newsgroups. These are not usually used in formal business emails.

9. Don't overuse acronyms.

Acronyms can be used to abbreviate when possible; however, messages that are filled with acronyms can be confusing and annoying to the reader. Examples:

IMHO = in my humble/honest opinion

FYI = for your information

BTW = by the way

Again, these are not usually used in formal business email.

10. Be careful not to get too personal too fast.

Electronic communications environments can seem surprisingly intimate. In just a few exchanges, you might be tempted to share your life's story with someone you actually don't know very well!

11. Be respectful of other, diverse opinions.

Remember that the Internet brings people together from around the world. Don't assume that everyone shares the same views or background.

12. Don't include any obscenities in your messages.

You never know who you might offend! To get a certain point across, you might use a mixture of ASCII characters like "@#%$" instead. Even this would not be used in business email.

13. Don't forward messages without asking first.

It is considered extremely rude to forward someone else's email or bulletin board postings without permission.

14. Don't send commercial "advertisements" or forward "chain mail" electronically to your co-workers.

While you're at work, you should not be sending personal items. Even personally, these are very annoying and many people request you do not send them ads or chain mail. If you forward the same message indiscriminately to many people, this is called "spamming" – some email programs can be set to refuse to accept "spammed" messages.

15. Be aware of potential compatibility problems when sharing electronic files.

Even though you may be able to "attach" a file to an electronic message, your recipient(s) may not be successful in opening your file on the other end. Check with them before sending the attachment as to whether they can open a Word document, etc. Alternatively, "attach" a file to a message by copying and pasting it into the body of your email instead.

16. File manage email messages

Decide whether to print, delete or keep emails. To keep emails, set up a subject folder system so they do not get out of hand. If you automatically keep copies of all "Sent" messages, go into that folder regularly and delete ones you no longer want. Do this often or they will become overwhelming in number.