Writing.Com 101

"Inbox" Tab

Your inbox is the "main page" of your Writing.Com email account. Like the inbox of any other email account, this is where emails appear (and stay) until you do something with them.

Email Breakdown
Each individual email has its own entry (or line item) in your inbox. Each email provides you with the following information, from left to right:

A status space to identify whether you've replied or forwarded the email.
A check box for moving, deleting, copying, etc.
The subject line and email's sender
The date and time the email was received
The size of the email
A "Preview" option button which will display the first few lines of the email when you hover the mouse over it.

Customize Your Email
Like many email programs, Writing.Com allows you to customize how your emails are structured. By default, they are arranged by date, with the most recently received emails on top. However, you can also arrange them by Size, Subject, or From, by clicking on the word at the top of your inbox area. Clicking on it once will arrange it by date (newest to oldest), size (smallest to largest), from (alphabetical - username not handle!), and subject (alphabetical). Clicking on it a second time will reverse the order (i.e. Date will become oldest to newest, size will become largest to smallest, etc.). Please note that your inbox and subfolders will reset to the default organization by date (from newest to oldest) once you navigate away from the page.

General Inbox Features
Your inbox has a variety of tools you can use to organize your email. At the very top of the tab under "Currently Viewing: INBOX" is a breakdown of your Email Space Used, Available Space, and Space Limit. This area essentially tells you how much of your email space is being used, how much you have left, and how much you have total. Clicking on the "?" next to Space Limit will give you more information about how your email account and its space limits work. Each membership level has different email space limits; for more information, please check out: "Free and Paid Membership Benefits"  or "Compare Free and Paid Membership Benefits" .

Above the inbox message area, you will see (from left to right):

Email Count: Displays the total number of current and new emails (e.g. "5 msgs, 0 new")
Select All | None: Select all or none of the messages on that particular page of your inbox
   Return to your Inbox, from anywhere within your email area, including subfolders1.
  Move any selected messages into a subfolder that you've created.
  Copy any selected messages into a subfolder you've created, and will leave a copy in your inbox.
  Delete any selected messages.
Mailboxes: Move or copy any selected messages into a chosen subfolder from the dropdown menu.

Below the inbox message area, you will see (from left to right):

Mark Selected Message(s) As: Choose to have any selected messages marked as read, unread, answered, unanswered, flagged, not flagged, deleted, not deleted, a draft, or not a draft. This is a great way to keep track of the status of your emails, and categorize them in a way that will help you keep track of everything you need to do.

Delete All To Trash: Delete all inbox messages and send them to the trash.

Purge Trash Folder: Empty your trash folder and permanently delete anything stored in there.

Individual Emails
When you click on an individual email, it will open to a new page with the entire email visible. At the very top of the page, you'll see "INBOX: Msg #___ of ___" and "Back to List," surrounded by double arrows (<< and >>). Clicking on either of those double arrows will take you to the previous or next email respectively, clicking "Inbox" will take you back to your inbox, and clicking "Back to List" will return you to whatever list of emails you came from, whether that's your inbox or a subfolder.

Under that heading, you'll find all the familiar email options:
         Reply: Reply to the sender only
         Reply To All: Reply to the sender and anyone cc'ed on the email
         Forward: Forward the message to someone else entirely
         Delete: Delete the email and send it to Trash
         Print: Print the email

The parentheticals next to Reply (QR), Reply to All (QRtA), and Forward (QF) will open the reply or forward in a new window, rather than opening on a new page. And to the right-hand side, you'll find the familiar buttons to move or copy the email to a subfolder.

In the shaded box just below these options, you will find the header information for the email:
         Date and Time: The date and time the email was sent
         From: The sender of the email
         To: The recipient(s) of the email
         Size: The size of the email

There are also links in this area to:
         Grab Address: Create an Address book entry for the individual
         Show Headers: View the technical email relay data
         View Message Source: Open the email content and relay data in a new window

Beneath the shaded box, you'll find the subject field and the text of the email, followed by a repeat of the Reply, Reply to All, Forward, Delete, Print, and Move or Copy features.

Finally, beneath that, you'll find a quick reply form, so you can respond to the email (Reply, not Reply to All) without navigating away from the page. You have the option of including "Gift Points"  with your reply, as well as buttons to Store Draft or Preview Email before you click the button to Send Email.

While there are many other features in the other tabs of your email account, the inbox will always be your home. This is where the new messages show up, and where you can find all the tools to manage those messages, whether it's to reply, delete, archive, or sort them.2

TIP: We recommend adding your email inbox address as a direct bookmark so when you are out and about on web, it's quick and easy to check in to see if you have new emails!

Recommended Reading

1. Email
2. "Compose Email" Tab
3. "Addresses" Tab
4. "Folders" Tab
5. "Search" Tab
6. "Options" Tab

Footnotes
1  For more information on creating subfolders, please check out: "Folders" Tab.
2  Written by Jeff