General Advice on Email

Email functionality has not really changed that much over the years. The different email clients have all sorts of flash, bells, and whistles; but deep down inside, they are all really just the same.
Here are some helpful tips based on some of the things I've seen various users do with email over the years.

1. Preview - Ok, first thing's first. Turn off that email preview window or reading pane. Junk emailers are getting sneakier all the time, and you don't want your email client doing anything while you are reading your message. This tip allows you to tag all those "male enhancement" messages and trash them without ever opening them.
2. Folders -Some people like to create folders with the names of the various senders. They move the email messages into those folders so they can easily find them later. While I won't argue the fact that it's easy to locate a single message from one particular person that way, most current email clients have the ability to sort the messages by sender. Some even have search features that can track that one email down very quickly. What ends up happening is your mailbox eventually fills up with stuff you truly don't really need. The best tip I can give in this situation is to create folders based on function. Be descriptive too. You will recognize a folder named "Monthly Process" much more easily than "MonProc".
3. Inbox - Don't create folders inside the inbox. Your inbox is just that: an IN box. All new messages should go here. Once you've read it you are going to do one of three things: File it in one of your function folders, Act on it, or Trash it. If it's a really funny picture, you can snicker quietly to yourself and then trash it. There is a subtle satisfaction in having an empty inbox.
4. Chatting - Try not to use email for chatting. Treat email as if you are writing a letter. Have a greeting, a body, and a closing. Now, that's not to say never use email to chat. A quick and friendly "You got it!" reply never hurt anyone. Your message should be able to stand alone. How many messages have you received where you literally have to scroll all the way down to the bottom and start reading because the last sender wrote "Please handle."?
5. Forwarding - "Please send this to everyone you know!" For heaven's sake, please DON'T send this to anyone without doing a quick check to TruthOrFiction.com. Millions of chain letters, fake virus alerts, and just plain dumb stuff are passed around for years because one person didn't bother to see if that message was true or not. If you absolutely must send one of those along, please don't just forward the message. That leaves all those innocent email addresses open for anyone to harvest and sell to spammers. Create a new message, copy the subject line and the main body of the item, and then send it along.
6. Sent - Email hoarder! Yeah, you know who you are. These people save every piece of outgoing email they have ever sent just in case the FBI comes knocking on their cubicle with a warrant, and another employee is saying, "There she is! She called me a fathead!" Think about when the last time you had to find a message you sent? I bet you could get away with saving maybe 30 days or even 90 days worth of messages. If you follow the chatting tip above, those 90 days of messages won't take up that much space. The first place I look when a user calls with "My mailbox is full" is the Sent Items folder.
7. Hot Potato - A coworker sends you an email with a spreadsheet or document attached. The message itself reads something like, "Take a look at this and tell me what you think." You open the attachment and find all sorts of mistakes inside. So you reply, reattach the attachment, and list all the things you found wrong. It's not so bad when the attachment is a 2 page document, but I've seen users pass 10MB PowerPoint presentations back and forth. If either one happens to be an email hoarder, somebody's mailbox will be filling up, and I'll be getting a call. I bet you have a network or a file server that both of you have access to. Save the file to the network and send a link pointing to that file. That 10MB PowerPoint attachments stays in one place while 20 emails of "How does it look now?" pass back and forth.
8. Pictures - Alright, last one. "Have you seen a picture of my kids? I'll email you a picture." The only problem is that when you open it, you'll see an eyeball. Today's digital cameras take absolutely huge images. It is not uncommon to see images 4MB or even 5MB in size. They can never send just one picture. No, they have to send the whole album, crashing the mail server. Windows and Mac operating systems automatically change image views so they look just fine on the screen. No one really notices that 30% size adjustment at the top. Windows XP has a nice feature if you select the images you want to send, right-click on them and select "Send To". XP will then ask if you would like to reduce the size. Go ahead and try it. That 5MB picture of your ugly dog will look just as fantastic as a 79KB picture. The person receiving the message will thank you for not clogging up their inbox as well.

Now get out there and clean up that mailbox, you slacker!