Email inbox overflowing?

Is your email inbox overflowing? There IS something you can do about it. Here are 2 ways to handle it:

1. Create rules within your email program. You may already have your spam filter enabled. This is simply a rule built into your email program, which sends messages identified as spam to a specific folder.

You can set rules for other messages as well, which bypass your inbox and send the messages directly to a designated folder or to the trash.

For example:

• If you subscribe to listservs or other email lists, you can have them automatically sent to one folder, or a separate folder for each list.
  
  
• On the lists you subscribe to, if there are people who continually post annoying or offensive messages, you can set your email program to delete messages from those people before they even appear in your inbox.
  
  
• Tired of those stupid jokes forwarded by Aunt Betty, but don't have the heart (or the guts) to ask her to stop sending them? Create a rule that will send all messages from Aunt Betty to the trash. OR, you can specify that only certain messages from her go to the trash - such as those with FW: in the subject line (or however your email program displays forwarded messages.)

For specific instructions on how to create rules, click on the Help section of your email program,


2. Subscribe to newsletters, ezines, email lists and website updates on the web.

The most convenient way to read these is via RSS feeds (RSS stands for "really simple syndication.") Here's how they work:

A website or blog owner sets up their content to be distributed as a "feed" to the web. You can pick up feeds from dozens - or hundreds - of sources and read them all on one page in your web browser.

You'll need an RSS reader, which you can set up for free. Try Google Reader, Netvibes or Bloglines.

Whenever you come across web content that you would like to subscribe to, look for the little orange RSS symbol like you see in the upper right corner of this page, and click on the link that says "subscribe."

Next time you open your RSS reader, all the updated content will be there for you. If you were getting updates via email, you can cancel them - thus making your inbox all that much lighter.

Not all email list services offer RSS feeds, unfortunately. But most of them do have web interfaces, where you can read the messages at the list archives page, rather than in your email.

Even though this is not as convenient as RSS (because you need to go to a separate web page for each list that you subscribe to) there is an advantage over downloading list messages to your inbox. If you read the messages online, you can access them from any computer that is connected to the Internet.


Pauline
teachmeinternet.com