Hi Billy
[Warning: this post is a little off topic because it is about Mozilla
Thunderbird, not OpenOffice.org. But since we often let people know that
the Mozilla software works together well with OpenOffice.org, I hope that
it is not too off topic!]
Adrian :
I have Mozilla Thunderbird but maybe not the same program as yours.
I'm sure it would be the same version as mine. Even if the version numbers
aren't identical, they should have the same functionality.
There is a setting on Mozilla to "see" all attachments "inline."
Guess that this means all attachments will be made visible,
or am I wrong about this ?
That's right, but what what is more interesting to you are the features
for creating an email, rather than viewing them.
First, you will need to set up your account settings for sending email,
though. (I'm not sure whether you want to receive your email with
Thunderbird. If you do you will have to set that up as well.) You can do
that by selecting Edit / Account Settings from the menu and selecting
"Outgoing Server" and entering your mail settings there. (If you want to
receive mail in Thunderbird, you will also need to click on "Add Account"
and enter those settings.)
Actually, all I want is to be able to send plain text with graphic arts
visuals that no-one has to bother to click to see, just like a real
magazine. If someone sends me attachments this is not a concern.
I just want my E-Zine to look professional when it gets sent out.
Anything relevant you can tell me about Mozilla would be appreciated.
This is exactly what I used to use Thunderbird for. If you would like to
see one of my newsetters (for a charity called Advocacy and Relief for
Children), I can send you one to your personal email address. I believe
attachments are stripped from this mailing list. Please let me know if you
would like to see one.
Once your account is set up, click the second icon ("Create A New
Message"). Just above the body section of the email, you will see icons
for changing fonts and adding bullets etc. Make sure you only use fonts
that your recipients are likely to have installed. It is best to use the
first few options which are font types rather than actual fonts. These
should be correctly interpreted by any email program.
Also of interest are items on the "Insert" menu, such as "Insert Image",
"Insert Table", "Insert Link". You can use tables to set your email out
with a multi-column sort of look, perhaps with images in one column, and
articles in the other. Adding different background colours to some cells
of the table can give your email a more professional look if you do it
well.
Speaking of images, you will want to keep the size of your email down to a
minimum. People don't want to wait half an hour to download a huge email.
So keep your images to a minimum, and keep your images small. This may
involve using a graphics program to resize your images. Inserting a large
image and resizing it in the program does not reduce the file size of the
program - it will still be huge, even though it looks small. Assuming that
you're using Windows, you may want to have a look at a program like XNView
(www.xnview.com) if you don't have a program like that already. If you're
after a very full featured graphics program (note: full featured means not
easy to master), then I recommend The Gimp (www.gimp.org).
If you don't finish creating the email in one sitting, make sure that you
select "Save" rather than "Send". You will find your email saved in the
Drafts folder. I find it as good idea to create folders for each project,
and copy backups of these draft emails into those folders.
You will also want to look at how to organise your recipients in
Thunderbird's address book. You should find that fairly easy. Thunderbird
lets you have multiple address books, and you can organise each address
book into "lists".
You will certainly have a lot to learn! You have chosen a bit of a
challenging project. And as you continue to make more magazines, I'm sure
you'll be discovering new features and new ways of doing things.
And this is the beauty of Open Source software. Software from multiple
vendors - OpenOffice.org, Mozilla and Gimp - all working together
effectively. That's what I love!
Adrian
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