IT 7360: Technology for Educators
Software Help Sheet
Unit 2: Reach out and Touch Someone/Someplace
E-mail Work Sample
Using Panther and Pine
Unit 2: Reach out and Touch Someone/Someplace
E-mail Work Sample
Using Panther and Pine
Logging In
Your PawPrint ID was assigned at the same time as your Panther ID and
they should share the same password. If you were a student at GSU prior
to the adoption of PawPrint IDs, your Panther password may be different
from your PawPrint password.
3. From the options available, select NCSA Telnet or Panther and double-click (these labels are often changed in the lab, but one of the two should be there.)
If you clicked on Panther, a Telnet connection to Panther will open.
If you open from NCSA Telnet, you will need to specify that it is to Panther that you wish to connect. From the menubar, select File, then Open Connection. In the window that appears, select panther.gsu.edu and click on Open or OK.
4. At login>, type in your Panther userid (something like gs05mbs). Press Enter.
5. At the password>, type in your password and press Enter.
Note: is this is your first time logging in, type in your temporary password and press return. You will be prompted to enter a new password and then asked to confirm it. Your new password must be between 6 and 8 characters and contain both letters and numbers (alphanumeric). Remember this password – you will need to enter each time you log in.
Once you have successfully logged into Panther, you will see a line of text called a prompt that should look something like the following:
{0}:panther:/gsu01/mst/userid/>
We’ll refer to this prompt as a Panther prompt.
6. At the Panther prompt, type in Pine and press Enter.
Pine is a (somewhat) user-friendly menu driven electronic mail program that operates on UNIX machines. It is free for the University to use it, so we do. Pine allows a user to read and compose e-mail to other users and to save messages to folders. A handout for Pine is available in the Main Computer Lab in Library South Building room 109.
To compose a message, press C and Enter. A blank message template will appear.
8. In the To: line, type in an email address. Since you need to send an e-mail to your instructor, you might want to type in your instructor’s e-mail address.
Hint: if you are sending e-mail to someone whom also has a Panther address, you do not need to enter the entire address, only the portion that comes before the @panther.gsu.edu. For e-mail to someone outside the Panther system, you will need to type in the full address.
Caution: The Panther system is case-sensitive and all e-mail addresses are in lower case. If you have your caps lock on, or use capital letters in any way to send e-mail to someone on the Panther system, the address will not be recognized. Most other e-mail systems are not case sensitive.
After you enter an address, press Enter.
The address is actually a series of directions that determine to where the e-mail will be delivered.
Userid@computerlocation.domain
The userid specifies an individual’s e-mail file. The computer location specifies the register name of the host computer (e.g. Panther). The domain (actually the top-level domain) indicates what type of institution operates the host computer. There are only a handful of top-level domains:
com = for-profit or commercial organization
org = not-for-profit organization
mil = military site
gov = government-affiliated institution
net = internet service provider
jp = Japan
se = Sweden
In order to have a e-mail message waiting for you to read later in this handout, you might want to send a copy of your message to yourself by entering your e-mail address. In regular practice, this is not necessary to do, as Pine automatically saves a copy off all the messages you send in a sent-mail folder for that month. Panther will prompt you each month whether or not you wish to delete the previous month’s sent-mail (so as to conserve Panther disk space).
10. If you would like to send a copy of the message to a folder you have created on the Panther computer, at the FCC enter the folder name.
11. Tab to the Subject line. Please always enter a subject so that when someone receives your e-mail, they have some idea what it’s about and whether or not it is urgent. Enter a short subject.
12. Tab to the body. It is here that you enter your message. Enter a short message keeping in mind "netiquette" discussed in class. Some brief netiquette rules:
;-) = wink
>;-> = devilish wink
:-( = sad
:’-( = crying, boo-hoo
:-D = laughing, ha-ha
:-0 = surprise
:-O = big surprise
<:-O = really big surprise
:-I = non-committal;
hmmmm
When you have finished, send your message. Observe the menu at the bottom of your screen. You will see that /\X should be pressed to send your message. /\ is the symbol for the Control key (bottom row, outermost key). To send your message, while holding down the Control key, press the X.
Pine will ask you if you want to send the message. Type Y for yes.
(No need to press enter.) You will receive a message at the bottom of your
screen telling you that the message was sent and a copy was saved to your
sent-mail folder.
14. To read E-mail messages, from the main Panther menu, press F for Folders.
An index of all received e-mails that haven’t been deleted or read will appear. If an N precedes a message, it is a new message.
15. Using the up and down arrow keys move to a message to read. To see the message, press Enter.
The message will appear on the screen. Follow the menu commands at the bottom of the screen to maneuver through the e-mail (especially if it is longer than a single screen).
16. To reply to the sender with your own e-mail, press R.
You will be asked if you wish to include the original message in the reply. If you are answering questions or adding comments to something written, this might be a good idea. Press Y for yes if you wish to include the original. You can then delete the unneeded original lines of the message using the /\K command to cut a single line of text. Using the up and down arrow keys, you can insert your responses/reactions in to the original message, facilitating clear communication.
After you complete your reply, press /\X to send the reply.
17. To forward a message to a third person, with the original e-mail open and in view, press F for Forward. A new message heading will appear. Type an address in the To: line. You can also add your own message at the top of the body where it says Message Text. The original message follows.
Press /\X to forward the message.
18. Marking a message for deletion.
Note: E-mail will remain in you INBOX until you delete it. When you use up your allotted e-mail space on Panther, you will get a nasty message from Panther warning you to clean up your INBOX. It is a good idea to delete unwanted messages as you read them, before INBOX maintenance becomes a chore.
If you read a message, and are certain that you will no longer need it, simply press D for delete. The message will be marked for deletion. When you log out of Panther, you will be asked if the messages should be deleted.
If you accidentally mark a message for deletion, or change your mind, press U for Undelete.
Delete and Undelete work from both open messages and from the INBOX index (make sure you are on the line of the message you wish to delete/undelete).
19. Closing an e-mail.
To return to the INBOX index from an open e-mail, press I for index. You will return to your index list of your INBOX.
Messages marked for deletion will be preceded with a D. New, unread messages will be preceded with an N. Read messages that have not been marked for deletion will have no precedent.
20. To return to the main Pine menu, press M for Main Menu.
22. Press A for Add New.
23. As a nickname, type in a short identifier, such as IT3210 (no spaces).
24. Tab to Full Name. For the Full Name, type in a slightly longer descriptor, such as IT 3210 – Tuesday 1pm
25. Tab to Addresses. Following the on-screen directions, type in several e-mail addresses, separating them by commas. Don’t worry if your addresses hop to the next line. Make sure you have entered the addresses correctly (No typos! No spaces except after the commas!)
26. When you are through, exit and save your distribution list by typing /\X.
28. Press Q for Quit. You will be asked if you want to expunge messages marked for deletion. Type Y for Yes.
29. At the Panther prompt, type exit and press Enter to close the connection.
Remember to log off any lab computers so as not to give away all of
your PawPrint allotment to some dishonest lab user.
