This user guide in intended to point out the basic features and executions in the new Mailmonkey webmail system. Please take the time to read this document and the FAQ before you login. This document is meant only for users of the Mailmonkey webmail system, those choosing to access Mailmonkey via Outlook Express or similar, can skip this document for now, but are encouraged to read the FAQ before logging in to their account.

In order to keep this easy, I'll concentrate on the most popular features.

There is no preset limit to the size of your mailbox. However, I strongly urge you to frequently go through you emails and delete all unneeded correspondence; especially attachments.

Your account is available 24 hours a day via mailmonkey.net and at your convenience through Outlook Express. For more info about choosing between the two, see FAQ.

Your email account is intended for private use and will not be monitored. Spamming is not permitted on Mailmonkey. No one is allowed to send spam from their mailmonkey account. You are encouraged to opt out of any spam you receive and report abuse.

All accounts have been preset, so you should only need to log in. Go to the login page and enter your username before the pre-entered "@mailmonkey.net". Then hit LOGIN. You'll then be taken to your inbox.

Your username and password are those that each of you sent to me. All should be entered in LOWERCASE. If you find you can't successfully login, notify me immediately; I probably typed your password wrong.

When you first log in, you should have at least one new message from me welcoming you to the new Mailmonkey. The default display for messages is newest on top. However, there is an ORDER BY option on the right of the screen. Here you'll find more sorting options than you'll ever need. You can make a selection and hit APPLY RULES to re-order.

The main menu on all pages includes the familiar commands of INBOX, COMPOSE, SEARCH, PREFERENCES, ADDRESSES and LOG OUT. INBOX will reload your inbox and check for new mail. COMPOSE allows you to send a new email. SEARCH will help you find a saved email by keyword. The SEARCH feature is the only thing on this that doesn't work properly, try to avoid it if you can for now. PREFERENCES allows the user (that's you) to set use personal and email preferences. ADDRESSES allow access to a simple addressbook. LOG OUT will end your session requiring you to log in again to continue.

The top display count shows the number of messages on the page compared to the number of total messages. The date/time and size of each message is displayed as well.

To read a message simply click on the Subject Heading of the message.

To delete a message without reading it, check the box aside the message and select DELETE from the SELECT... option box. The message will then be instanly deleted. There is no Trash Can or warning.

To email the sender of a message without reading it, click on the sender's name/email address.

To select/deselect all the visible messages, click either the up or down pointing arrows located all the way to the left.

Indicating a file attachment(s), a paperclip icon will appear next to a message.

To read a message click on the Subject Heading of the message. The message display should be familiar.

To add the sender or other recipients to your Addressbook, click on the book icon next to their email. Clicking on their name or email address will open a new email addressed to them.

Attachments. An unfamiliar line may be the ATTACHMENTS header. Here will be listed all documents attached to this message and their sizes. VIEW AS TEXT will open a new window that will display the attachment in text form, this is only useful to view a text message. Other files will just look like code. VIEW will attempt to open a new window and display an image of the attachment here. Obviously, this is most useful when receiving an image file. Using either VIEW AS TEXT or VIEW will not download the attachment, it is being read from the POP server.
To download the attachment to your hard drive, select DOWNLOAD. Do not right click on DOWNLOAD and Save Link As..., this will not get you the file. Single click on DOWNLOAD to get the file transfer window and proceed. Note: the file transfer window may be headed with "Downloading email.attachment.php", this is normal, ignore it and movie on.

Other familiar mail handling commands on the message display are Reply :: Reply to all :: Forward :: Forward as attachment :: Delete. You should know how to use these.

The Compose window should be familiar, too. But here's some stuff we need to go over:

Your entire Addressbook appears to the right, with each entry's name visible. Select those names to be included on the recipient list and then hit either TO, CC, or BCC to have their names appear in the proper recipient field. (I love this feature!)

To send an attachment(s) hit BROWSE... to locate the file on your disk, and then hit ADD ATTACHMENT. Repeat this for each file, but try not to send more than three attachments in any one email, please. You must click ADD ATTACHMENT or your file won't get sent with the email.

Selecting REQUEST READ RECIEPT will send you an email reply when the message has been viewed in the recipient's inbox (though not necessarily read). You can see how useful this tool can be I'm sure, however, I'm uncertain how this will act when sent to multiple mailbox addresses

The PRIORITY and SENSITIVITY options probably won't do much considering the small amount of users we have on this service, so it's best to leave them on the NORMAL setting for now.

APPEND SIGNATURE will add your defined signature to the email footer, although it will also be prewritten on the page if you so choose.

To send the email click SEND, located at the top and bottom right of the message body.

The email client used for MailMonkey, is the result of an exhaustive search involving downloading and previewing of over 20 different email client software packages. This is absolutely the best one of the bunch. It is based on v-webmail by Richard Heyes. Using what limited coding knowledge I have, I was able to edit some of this software to better fit our use of it.

This software is not necessarily the final version. Improvements and upgrades are a very real possibility in the future. This new software which is entirely hosted by me, coupled with the new server I've arranged should allow for a great email experience for all!

I want to thank you all for sticking with MailMonkey. Contrary to popular belief, I don't make money from this web site. If you'd ever like to show your appreciation for this service, please purchase your next book or DVD from the Amazon.com links on the homepage.