Wellesley College
Information Services
Computing Documentation

FirstClass 8.3 iconFirstClass 9
Macintosh and Windows
Wellesley Home | Computing at Wellesley | Latest FirstClass information

Index of FirstClass 9 Topics

Install, upgrade, remove FirstClass (select operating system):

Windows
Macintosh

Controller's Guide

FirstClass on the Web

Using FirstClass from off-campus

Frequently Asked Questions

Basics:

New accounts
Starting, logging in and exiting
Password
FirstClass desktop
Toolbars
Aliases and shortcuts
Quotas
Mailbox
Conferences
Printing


Messages and Documents:

Reading messages
New message, replying, forwarding
Addressing messages
Message editing features
Attachments
Unsending messages
Message history
Personal Stationery
Documents


Organizing:
Window view properties
Filtering messages
Deleting and undeleting
Sorting messages
Selecting multiple messages
Creating and using folders
Saving, archiving

Rules:
Spam rule

Features:
Bookmarks
Contacts (Addresses and Mail Lists)
Directory
Instant Message (Chat)
Presentations
Resume
Find/Search

Calendars:

Preferences:

Default mail client
Reply sender or reply all
Automatic reply
Automatic forward
more...


Using a POP client with FirstClass mail

FirstClass Features

Bookmarks bookmarks icon

A bookmark is a link to a web page, a FirstClass conference, or a FirstClass message. You can create bookmarks to objects that you open frequently. FirstClass provides a folder for these on your Desktop. If there is no Bookmarks icon on your FirstClass Desktop, File > Open > Bookmarks. Bookmarks added to this folder are set by default not to expire. The first time you open this folder, you may see a message asking if you want to be able to add Website links to your bookmarks folder directly from your browser. Click the No button.

Creating a bookmark to a Web page

The simplest method for Windows users is to navigate to the Web page you want to bookmark then drag the icon in the address or location bar from the Web browser to your open Bookmarks folder. The icon may look like one this in Internet Explorer Internet Explorer icon or it may be a special one for that web page. This method will not work in Safari (the default Web browser for Macintosh).

The following method works for all browsers including Safari and also lets you assign a name and subject to a bookmark:

  1. If there is no Bookmarks folder on your FirstClass desktop, File > Open > Bookmarks (After you do this, the Bookmarks folder will be on your desktop unless you delete it. You don't need to repeat this step next time you create a bookmark.)
  2. File > New > New Bookmark to open a bookmark window.
  3. Open a web browser to the page you want to bookmark.
  4. Drag the icon from the address or location bar of the browser to the URL field of the bookmark window.
  5. Enter an appropriate name in the Name field of the bookmark window. You can enter a subject if you like.
  6. Close the bookmark window and open your Bookmarks folder on your desktop. You will find your bookmark there. The bookmark can be dragged to your Desktop or another location in FirstClass.

Creating a bookmark to an object in FirstClass

    1. Highlight the icon for the object you want to bookmark.
    2. From the Collaborate menu choose Add to Bookmarks.
    3. The Info window opens with a description of the bookmark. Rename the bookmark, if you wish, by changing the text in the Name field.
    4. Close the Info window and save any changes. 

 

Using a bookmark

Open the Bookmarks folder, find the icon of your choice and double-click on it. You can arrange your bookmarks into subfolders.

Contacts contacts button

The Contacts folder on your desktop allows you to assign names for individual addresses (contacts) and lists of addresses (mail lists) that you use frequently. In earlier versions of FirstClass the Contacts folder was called Address Book. Your contact entries will appear in the directory but they can be seen only by you.

Your Contacts Folder belongs on your FirstClass Desktop. It will not work properly if you move it to another location such as inside your Mailbox.

Setting the view for your Contacts folder.

index card and list view buttonsEither index card view or list view will work well with your contacts. Click the toolbar buttons to switch between them. In either view, buttons on the right side of the screen allow you to jump to entries beginning with a certain letter.

contact sort menuYou can select a sort order for your contacts by choosing from the Quick Sort menu. This allows you to easily sort by last name rather than first name. The sorting uses the First Name, Last Name and Company fields in the contact records to do this sorting so be sure that they are filled out as you wish them to be sorted. Contacts that were created in an older version of FirstClass or that were imported from elsewhere may have the first and last names in the same field.

Creating a new contact

  1. new contact buttonIf your Contacts folder is open, click the New button on the toolbar or choose New Contact from the pull-down menu next to the New button. If you want to make a new contact from outside your Contacts folder, from the File menu choose New > New Contact. A New Contact window will appear.
  2. Type the name and any other information you want to save for the new contact.
  3. Click the Email/URL tab and enter a FirstClass name or an Internet e-mail address in the business e-mail field. You may enter one address only. Press ENTER or RETURN after typing an address and a FirstClass firstclass user or Internet icon internet icon will appear.
  4. Click the Address tab and enter postal mail information if you like. This is optional.
  5. Click the Notes tab. The first and last name you entered on the first tab will appear in the Quick name field. This is the name that will appear in the directory and that you will use when addressing e-mail to this contact. You can change the quick name if you like.
  6. Click the Save and Close button. This entry will now appear in your Contacts Folder.
  7. To send a message to this person, open a new message as usual and enter the quick name in the To field.

Creating a new mail list

Note: There is a limit to the number of addresses to which you can send a message. The limit for students is 100 addresses. The limit for faculty and staff is 700 (because some administrators routinely need to send messages to a large number of their supervisees).

  1. If your Contacts folder is open, choose New Mail List from the pull-down menu next to the New button. If you want to make a new contact from outside your Contacts folder, from the File menu choose New > New Mail List. A Personal Mail List window will appear.
  2. In the Name field, replace Personal Mail List with the name you would like to use when addressing e-mail to this group. You will probably want to use a short nickname for your convenience.
  3. In the Members field you can enter either FirstClass names or Internet e-mail addresses. Press ENTER or RETURN after typing each address and a FirstClass firstclass user or Internet icon internet icon will appear.
  4. Click OK and the saved mail list will appear in your Contacts folder.
  5. To send a message to this list, open a new message as usual and enter the mail list name in the To field.

Editing addresses

Open the Contacts folder and double-click the contact or mail list you want to change. Make necessary edits and close the window to save your changes.

Deleting addresses

delete iconSelect the address you want to delete, then ether press the DELETE key or click the delete icon on the toolbar.

Sharing address lists with other FirstClass users

Contacts and Mail Lists can be attached to messages so that other FirstClass users can add them to their own Contacts folders. To do this, open your Contacts folder/Address Book and drag the entry you want to share into the header of a message. It will appear in the Attachments field. Send the message to the other person who can drag the entry to her/his own Contacts folder/Address Book.

Importing and exporting contacts

Contacts can be imported and exported in vCard or CSV (for Outlook, Blackberry or FirstClass) format. CSV files can be imported into Excel. Export of contacts does not include address lists.

  • To import, File > Import > Import Contacts. In the Files of Type field choose .vcf or .csv. Then navigate to your file and click Open.
  • To export your entire Contacts folder/Address Book, open it and select File > Export. Check the box next to All Contacts and then choose the format. Click OK and navigate to the location where you want to save the file.
  • To export particular contacts, open your Contacts folder/Address Book, select the addresses you want to export, File > Export Contacts. Check the box next to Selected Contacts then select the format. Click OK and navigate to the location where you want to save the file.

Moving a mail list to and from Excel

To move names from Excel to a mail list (Windows):
  1. Arrange the windows on your screen so that you can see both the Excel file and the open mail list. The Excel file can either have the entire name in the same column, or first and last names in adjacent columns. First name must precede last name.
  2. excelSelect the entire list in Excel by dragging. If your list is in two columns, be sure to include both columns in your selection.
  3. Place your mouse on the edge of the selected cells where the pointer changes to a plus sign with arrows.
  4. Click and drag to the Members field of the mail list.
  5. A FirstClass user icon FirstClass user will appear next to any name in the list that is recognized by the FirstClass directory. If a name has no icon next to it, it may be spelled incorrectly or be another form of the name used in FirstClass. Look up the name and edit it in the list.
  6. This process may clear the names from the Excel spreadsheet. If you need to save the names in the spreadsheet you can retrieve them by going to the Edit menu in Excel and choosing Undo Clear.
To move names from Excel to a mail list (Mac):
  1. Select the entire list in Excel by dragging. If your list is in two columns, be sure to include both columns in your selection.
  2. Copy the list. From the Excel menu choose Edit > Copy.
  3. Open a new message in FirstClass, select the body section of the message and from the menu choose Edit > Paste plain text.
  4. Select the entire list in the message and from the menu choose Edit > Table > Convert to table.
  5. Select the table and drag it to the Members field of the mail list.
  6. A FirstClass user icon FirstClass user will appear next to any name in the list that is recognized by the FirstClass directory. If a name has no icon next to it, it may be spelled incorrectly or be another form of the name used in FirstClass. Look up the name and edit it in the list.
  7. This process may clear the names from the Excel spreadsheet. If you need to save the names in the spreadsheet you can retrieve them by going to the Edit menu in Excel and choosing Undo Clear.

 

To move names from a mail list to Excel:
  1. Open the mail list, permissions window, or message with the list of names in its header.
  2. Open a new message. (The body of this message will be used in an intermediate step to edit the list of names.)
  3. Arrange the windows on your screen so that you can see both the Excel file and the open mail list.
  4. Click the first name on the mail list to select it.
  5. SHIFT-Click the last name on the list. All names between and including the first and last name clicked will be highlighted.
  6. Position your cursor on the icon before the last name on the list. Drag the list of names to the body of the open message window. All highlighted names should follow. The list will show in the new message as a string of names without spaces between them. Rearrange these names into a list with one name on each line.
  7. Launch Excel with a new spreadsheet and from the menu choose File > Open.
  8. Select the entire edited list in the FirstClass message window, then drag the selection into the Excel spreadsheet. This should place the names into individual cells in a column. First and last names will be in the same cell.

Printing contacts

Contacts can be printed in several formats including labels.

Back to Top

Directory directory icon

To see a list of all FirstClass names, click the Directory button on the toolbar. A Directory window will appear.

In the Show section there are checkboxes labeled Contacts, Conferences, Local, and Remote. (You won't need the Remote checkbox.)

  • directoryIf the Contacts box is checked, your Personal Addresses and Personal Mail Lists (from your Address Book/Contacts folder) appear marked in alphabetical order with an index card icon index card icon. These names can not be seen by anyone else.
  • If the Conferences box is checked, Wellesley FirstClass conference names appear in alphabetical order with a conference icon conference icon
  • If the Local box is checked, FirstClass names of individual users appear in alphabetical order and are marked with a personal e-mail icon firstclass user.

If you begin to type a name into the Search field at the top of the Directory window, the long Directory list will shorten to include only those names that match the pattern you have typed.

If a user's name appears in bold letters, he/she is currently logged into FirstClass.

If a person's name appears in italics, he/she is currently logged into FirstClass but has set preferences to automatically decline chat invitations.

If a user has a resume defined you can see it by double-clicking on the name or selecting the name then clicking the Resume button.

You can use the directory to send messages. See the New Message section.


Back to Top

Instant Message (Chat) chat icon

FirstClass includes the ability to have a real-time dialog with other FirstClass users. This feature is now called Instant Messaging in FirstClass, however the term "chat" is also used. During a chat session, each user can type text that is displayed for everyone participating in the same session. Some conferences include chat room icons to allow for subject-specific chats among users of that conference, however, you can invite other FirstClass users to temporary sessions that last until the last participant leaves.

For more details about using the Instant Messaging feature, read the Help files. Help > Contents then open Client Help and look up or search for the specific help you need. If you have a chat window open, Help > About this Window.

Initiating an instant message session

    1. To initiate a temporary session, click the Instant Message button chat icon on your FirstClass Desktop side bar or Collaborate > Instant Message . An Instant Message window will appear.
    2. On the right side of the window is the Participants list. Click Invite at the bottom of the window for a list those who are currently logged in to FirstClass. The list will not be in order because people log in and out, however you can sort the list if you click the Name column heading. (The list will alphabetize by full name.) If a person's name appears in italics they have set their preferences to automatically decline chat invitations. Click the name of the person with whom you want to chat then click Select.
    3. At the other person's computer a window will appear and a tone will sound, inviting her/him to chat. If the person accepts the invitation, this name will appear in the Participants list. Anyone participating in the chat can invite others during the chat.
    4. The space in the lower left is where you will enter text. The other participants can not see what you have typed until you decide to submit, but an icon typing next to your name in the participant list indicates that you are in the process of typing. To submit your input either click Send or press RETURN or ENTER on your keyboard.
    5. After you have submitted your input it will appear in the space at the top left of the window along with the combined conversation of all participants.
    6. To allow future participants to read what they missed, the host (person who initiated the chat) may click the Setup tab and check Enable catch up. The text that any participant types will be stored from the time Enable catch up was checked until the host unchecks the box, and the stored text can be read by any person participating in the chat regardless of when they join. If a participant other than the host checks the Enable catch up box, there is no action.
    7. Only the chat's host can save a transcript. To save a transcript, click the Setup tab and check the Save transcript box. This will save everything from the point the Save transcript box was checked. When the last participant leaves, a private instant message transcript will be sent to the Mailbox of the host. (A chat room transcript will be saved in the chat room's transcript pane.)
    8. To exit, first announce to the other participants that you are leaving, then close the Instant Message window.

Instant message setup

The default chat name is Instant Message for the host and Chat for other participants. This name appears at the top of the window. If you would like to give it another name, click the Setup tab and enter a new name in the Name field.

If the host checks the Moderated box under the Setup tab, other users can only send a message to the chat if the moderator selects them. Participants signal that they would like to speak by clicking the Hand Up button.

Participants

To temporarily stop participating in a session without leaving, click the Pause button. A coffee cup icon will appear next to your name.

To ignore a participant, select her/his name in the participants list then click Ignore. The name will change to gray. Messages from this participant will not appear in the top window on your computer. To reverse this, select the name and click Ignore again. If you reverse the ignore status, all of that person's past input will appear in the message window.

Presentations presentation

 

You can use FirstClass to create a slide presentation. The entire set of slides will be in the same document divided by page breaks.

When you are creating your presentation, be sure your monitor is set at the lowest resolution that you expect to use when viewing the presentation. If you do not do this, you may find that your content does not fit properly in the presentation slides.

Creating a presentation file

    1. If you want to set a default font for presentation text, Edit > Preferences. Click the Content tab and make your selections in Presentation Text section.
    2. Open either your FirstClass Desktop or your Mailbox, depending on where you want to save the presentation.
    3. File > New > New Presentation
    4. Set the document to Presentation View if it is not set already. View > Content View > Presentation View.
    5. Enter your text and images. Formatting is done the same way as for any message. See Message editing features. Note that you can add a background image or color. Editing and resizing of images can be done using the keyserved version of Fireworks on campus.
    6. Separate the slides of your presentation with page breaks. Edit > Insert > Insert Page Break or hold down the CTRL key while you type the ENTER key. To move from one slide to another while editing, use either the up and down arrow keys or the PAGE UP and PAGE DOWN keys.
    7. To identify the presentation you can add a name and title to the header. To expose the hidden header, click the downward facing pointer shown circled below. You will be able to see the header fields and enter identifying information.

      Presentation Show Header


      Hint: When you enter a name, use the word "presentation" to distinguish the file from other items. e.g. Biology presentation.


    8. When you close the presentation it will be saved in the window where you opened it.
 
 

Viewing a presentation file

  1. Double-click the presentation file to open it.
  2. View > Show Presentation.
  3. To move from slide to slide either
    - click the mouse button
    - type the SPACEBAR
    - type the up and down arrow keys
    - type the PAGE UP and PAGE DOWN keys
  4. When you are done, type the ESC key.

Resume resume icon

 
 

You can provide information about yourself to other FirstClass users by creating a resume. Unless you have been told that your account was set up otherwise, your resume can only be seen by other FirstClass users on campus. Resumes are a useful way to identify yourself to the community and to provide contact information. If you have a name that is similar to someone else's, a resume will allow users to check that they are contacting the individual they intend to contact.

Editing your resume

    1. From the File menu choose Open > Resume

      resume

    2. Type your name in area provided at the top of the resume as shown in this illustration.
    3. The tabs (Voice/Fax, Email/URL, Address, Notes, Attachments) are the same as the ones the Contacts form. You can enter information here that other FirstClass users will see. To reveal or hide the area where you enter your information, click on the triangle indicated by the red circle above.
    4. Type any information you think would be useful to other users in the bottom rectangle of the resume. You can select the font, color and size of your text. You may experience problems editing your resume if you include several images and lots of formatting.
    5. If you like, you can paste a picture in the top left square of the resume. Use either JPG or PNG format. If pasting does not work, you may need to drag the picture to the body of the resume first and then to the square. If the picture is very wide or high, only a corner of the picture may be visible in the main resume window; however, you (and others) can double-click on the picture to see it in its entirety.
    6. Close the resume to save your changes.
    7. You can edit your resume at any time by following this same procedure.
 

Sound files and other attachments in resumes

 
 

To add an attached file to your resume, click the Attachments tab then click the Browse button and navigate to the file you would like to attach. To delete an attachment, select it from the list and type the DELETE key.

 
 

Previous versions of FirstClass allowed users to add sound files to the header of their resume. If your resume had a sound file in a previous version, you will find it in the Attachments tab.

Viewing another FirstClass user's resume

    1. One method is to find the user's name in any message header then double-click on the person's name to see the resume.
    2. You can view resumes by choosing names from the Directory. See the Directory section in this document for instructions.

Search/Find  find

 
 

To make your search as quick as possible, use the checkboxes to limit the search to a period of time, certain locations etc.

    1. findOpen the window that you would like to search through. (If you would like to search through your entire Mailbox, open your Mailbox. If you would like to search through just a particular mail folder, open that folder. If you would like to search through a conference open that conference.)
    2. Edit > Find...
    3. If the search window is abbreviated and you want to use additional options, click the More options checkbox to expand it so that it looks like this picture.
    4. In the Find field, type in the text (e.g., a word or a name) you would like to search for. You can search for the name of an item or person, text in message headers, in the body of messages and in message history.
    5. In the Look for field, specify the type of item you are looking for: container (conference or folder), message, document or file. Another option is Everything.
    6. In the field labeled Only items created or modified in the last, choose the shortest period of time that will produce a successful search. Choosing the blank -- will expand the search for any date. Another option is to choose a range of dates in the next two fields.
    7. If the folder, conference or mailbox that you are searching contains other folders or conferences, you can choose to search inside of these as well. If so, check the Subcontainers box and in the Max depth field specify how many levels deep you want to search. Another option is No Limit.
    8. If you want to search through items on your desktop but don't want to search through Wellesley Conferences or other conferences that don't belong to you, check the box labeled My containers only.
    9. Many folders and conferences display items in lists. If you want the search to match the text you entered in the Find field with an item that has this text in the Name, Subject or another list field, check the box labeled Subject/name and other list fields. If you are searching for a folder or conference, check this box.
    10. If you are searching for a message, in the Content search field specify which parts of the message you want the Find function to match with the text you entered in the Find field.
    11. You can save this set of search criteria to use again by clicking the Save Search button. The search will be saved in the mailbox, conference or folder where you are now searching. Note that you can't save a search if you don't have permission to save items in this area, such as a conference that you don't control.
    12. In most cases, do not check the box labeled Use layout from searched container for results window. Doing so may prevent you from seeing in which sub-folder or sub-conference your searched item is in, because most folders and conferences do not include an "in folder" column.
    13. The items matching your search criteria will be listed in a new window. You can double-click on any item in this window to open it. If any of the messages is in a sub-conference or sub-folder below the one you were searching, the In Folder field of this window will tell you where it is located. (You might have to scroll to the right of the window to find the In Folder field.) You can delete items from this window or drag them to other locations.
    14. If you want to save the search, click the Save Search button. The search will be saved in the conference or folder you have been searching, but you can drag it to the toolbar if you prefer. If your folder or conference is in a split window, the saved search will be on the top or left pane.

Who's Online on line

 
 

To see a list of users who are currently logged in to FirstClass, click the Who's Online button on the toolbar . If a person's name appears in italics, she/he is logged into FirstClass but has set preferences to automatically decline chat invitations.