By Sharael Feist
March 12, 2001
AOL is no longer just about reading e-mail and surfing the Web. Now you can use it to keep a calendar and access digital photos too. AOL 5.0 adds some new twists to the familiar AOL service. It also improves the elements found in previous versions. For example, you can now personalize your e-mail with a signature and you can finally save your address book with ease.
Whether you’ve been using AOL for years or are just starting out, you’ll want to check out AOL 5.0.
Photos
One thing you can do with AOL 5.0 that you couldn’t do in previous versions is have your film developed online. You take your film to be developed at a participating merchant (AOL will e-mail you a list of merchants in your area) and when you turn in your film, you check the AOL box. You go back and pick up your photos as usual, but in addition, you will receive your photos online via AOL. That means no more scanning photos to send to friends and family. You can instantly send your photos out.
Here’s how to access your photos:
- Click on the You’ve Got Pictures icon on the new AOL 5.0 welcome page (or enter keyword: pictures)
- View your photos
- Email them to friends
- Save them in a photo album
- Print them
Calendar
Another fun feature of AOL 5.0 is the calendar. You can use it to keep track of appointments, birthdays, and upcoming events. Use your online calendar to check your schedule from any computer and avoid having to lug around your heavy day-planner.
Here’s how to access your calendar:
- Click on the My Calendar icon on the new welcome page (keyword: calendar)
- Add appointments, events, or birthdays to your calendar by clicking the Add button at the bottom of the calendar
- Click on the Event Directory Tab to find out events that are happening in your area and automatically add them to your calendar
Signature
Have you ever received an e-mail from someone that had the sender’s name and address at the bottom of the e-mail? It probably looked something like this:
Sincerely,
Joe Smith
Some Company, Inc.
2000 Future Way
Anytown, CA 20000
That person probably doesn’t have to take the time to type that at the bottom of every e-mail. The sender probably has what’s called a “signature.” A signature automatically adds information to the bottom of all your e-mails.
With AOL 5.0, you don’t have to type in your name, address and phone number every time you send an e-mail. You can create a signature.
Here’s how to add a signature to your e-mail:
- Click on Mail Center in your toolbar
- Scroll down to Set Up Mail Signatures
- Click Create In the Signature Name box, type in the name of the signature you’d like to create
- In the Signature Box, type in any information you want to appear at the bottom of your e-mails–your name, for example, business phone number, address, and a quote
- Click Default on/off. A little red check will appear next to the signature you would like to appear
Address Book
One of the great new features in AOL 5.0 is the ability to save your address book. You know how Leo is always saying, “Back up, back up, back up”?
You’ll also now be able to transfer your Address Book to another computer. For example, say you want to put your addresses from your desktop to your laptop computer. You’ll no longer have to worry about losing valuable e-mail addresses.
Here’s how to save your Address Book:
- Click on Mail Center in your toolbar
- Select Address Book (or enter keyword: address book)
- Click on Save/Replace
- Choose Save the Address Book for your Current Screen Name a
- Saving it to a floppy or zip disk is a good idea
- If you want to transfer this file to another computer, open AOL on that computer and click Replace Address Book for Your
- Current Screen Name