FirstClass™ System Overview

FirstClass™ is an electronic messaging and conferencing system, designed for ease of use and high speed. It can be used as an electronic mail system,  a bulletin board system or a combination of both. With FirstClass™ you can do the following:
 
   •  Send and receive mail & files to/from other users 
   •  Browse, contribute and subscribe to special interest "Conferences"
   •  Browse the user directory
   •  Exchange files using the attachment feature
   
All of this is presented in the familiar Macintosh graphical user interface so you don't have to learn a new system in order to enjoy FirstClass.

The FirstClass DeskTop
 
After you login to FirstClass a window is opened with the title "DeskTop". This is your FirstClass DeskTop and it is your starting point in the system. It is similar to the Macintosh desktop since all conferences and files can be accessed by starting at the desktop. When you first login you will see a number of items on the desktop: your MailBox where private messages are sent and received, the News conference, accessible to all users, where public information is posted, the Help folder where the online help documents are stored and the Conferences icon which provides access to all the public (or "open") conferences. You can double click on any of these icons to open them up and browse the information contained within.
 
FirstClass allows you to have multiple windows open at once so you can quickly switch between tasks. You can be reading your mail, then switch to a conference, then check out the information in News - each in a different window.

The FirstClass Menus
 
The top bar of the screen contains the pull-down menus for FirstClass. The menus are grouped according to the functions they provide: 
 
◊ File provides commands to operate on files such as Delete or Close.

◊ Edit provides editting commands such as Cut and Paste as well as commands to change personal information such as your logon password. 
 
◊ Message provides the electronic mail commands such as "Send" to send a message.
 
◊ Conference provides commands for conferences.
 
◊ View provides commands to change the way you view the information on the screen. It also provides a handy "Tile Windows" function which arranges all your windows in a tile pattern on the screen to reduce clutter.

Logging Out
 
To log out of FirstClass just choose "Quit" from the File menu.

The FirstClass 2.0 Palette

Searching for files and mail

FirstClass contains a powerful built-in search feature. You can search within messages and documents for a word, or you can search for items based on the subject, file name, attachment name, to/from names and even the content of the item.

Searching within a message or document

If you have a message or document open (such as this one), you can search for words within the text by pulling down the File menu and choosing Find ⌘F. Enter the text you are searching for in the dialog box that appears, and press the Find button. FirstClass will scroll the document to the position where the words appears, and highlight it for you. To find the next word pull down File and choose Find Again ⌘G.

Searching for messages and documents

You can search for an item within your mailbox, within a conferences, or within a set of conferences. To begin a file search, open the target object that you wish to search, for example: your mailbox. Pull down the File menu and choose Find ⌘F. A search form will appear, which allows you to specify the search criteria. The search form contains a box to enter the text to search for, and a set of checkboxes which control where to look. The checkboxes have the following effect:

Search subject/file name: search in the Subject  field of messages and in the file name  field of files and documents. This is the fastest of the search options.

Search sub conferences & folders: If the search encounters a sub-folder or conference, it will continue searching inside the folder. This allows you to search large portions of system, and it may take a long time. As an example, you could search the help system (where this file resides), including the sub-folders by checking this option.

Search content of documents: Search the text contained in the message or document. This option will make the search take longer because each message or document must be opened and searched.

Search attachment names: Search the text in the attachment name  field of any message with attachments. If you are looking for an attachment only, check this box (and possibly the Search sub conferences & folders box) only.

Search “From” name: Search in the From  field of messages. This can be used to show all messages from a specified person.

Search “To/CC” names: Search in the To  or Cc  list of messages. This can be used in your mailbox to show all messages sent to a particular person.

The search starts when you press the Search button. A new window is opened (the search list ), which is used to display items which match the search criteria. Searching is performed in the background  so you can continue to do other things while the system is searching. You may open items in the search list as soon as they appear, without waiting for the search to finish. The current conference or folder being searched is displayed in the top right corner of the search list. When the search is complete, a beep sounds and the top right corner will appear blank.

About Chat

The Chat feature of FirstClass lets you communicate with other users directly in a forum setting. The other users are known as the "Chat Participants". There are two types of chat: Topic based and Private Chat. 

Topic Based Chats

Topic based chat appears as an icon, usually in a conference, and is named according to the topic which is to be discussed within. If there are currently some participants within the chat, a chat balloon is shown beside the chat icon. To enter a Topic based chat, simply double click on the icon. A chat window is opened and your entry into the chat is announced to the other participants.

Private Chats

Private chats can be created at any time by pulling down the Conference Menu and choosing Private Chat. A chat window appears with yourself as the sole participant and you may then invite other users into the chat. You can have more than one chat window open at once, if you wish.

The Chat Window

Chatting is done in a Chat Window. You type your message into a text box, and when you press Enter, the text appears immediately on the screen of each participant. The chat window shows the current list of participants, which is kept up to date as users leave or join the chat. An Invite button is provided to allow you to invite other people into the chat session. When you press the Invite button, a list of the logged-in users appears, and you may select one or more names from the list using the mouse. When you close the list, the selected people are presented with a chat invitation window, from which they may accept or decline the invitation.

There are two check boxes in the chat window: Scroll Lock and Sounds. Scroll Lock locks the text part of the window so that it does not scroll as chat messages arrive. This is useful if you wish to copy a portion of the text to the clipboard, while a chat is active. The Sounds check box is used to enable the chat sounds feature, which provide sounds as chat events (such as someone joining the chat) occur. 

The Invitation Window

When you are invited to chat, a Chat Invitation Window will appear, accompanied by a sound. The invitation window shows the name of the chat and the person who is inviting you to chat. There are two buttons: Accept and Decline. To accept the invitation and join the chat immediately, press the Accept button. To decline the invitation, press the Decline button or simply close the invitation window. You may also leave the invitation window alone, and accept the invitation later (the inviter may have left by this time, however).

Chat Transcripts

To save a transcript of the chat on a local disk pull down the File menu and choose Save As... . The transcript will be saved in text format and will contain chat lines from the moment you entered the chat.

About Preferences

Each user may set preferences, to customize the way that FirstClass operates and appears. To open your preferences, pull down the Edit menu and choose Preferences. A scrolling window will appear containing your preferences.

Message List Preferences

Show conference items in reverse order

This option reverses the sorting order, and the order that items are sent from the server, when conferences are displayed. When you do not have write permission to a conference, the View/Sort options are not saved. This option allows you to have the newest items sent first, which is very useful if the conference has a lot of items in it and you are connecting via modem.

Show only unread items in conferences and mailbox 

This option sends only the items you have not seen (those items with an “Unread Flag” on) from the server. It is useful when you only want to see new items in a conference, and when a conference has become very large. It also operates on your mailbox, however outgoing messages are also shown. Note that use of this option can make conferences appear to be empty, if there are no unread items in them.

Chat Preferences

Don't accept invitations

This option prevents other users from inviting you to chat, if you wish to work undisturbed. Your name will appear in italics in invitation lists, and if users try to invite you they are informed that you do not wish to chat at this time.

Sounds during chat and invite

This option can be used to turn chat sounds on and off.

About Résumés

Résumés are used to provide other users information about yourself. You can type as much information as you wish into your résumé file.

To edit your résumé file go to the desktop window, pull down the Edit menu and choose Résumé. If this is the first time you have used the résumé feature then your file will be empty. Type in any information that you wish other users to know about yourself. Click on the close box to save your changes.

To view the résumé of someone who has sent you a message, open the message, and double click on the "From" name. The person's résumé will be displayed. You can also display the résumé of anyone in the To: or Copies: list by double-clicking on the name you want.

You can also view résumés from a directory list window by double-clicking on any name.