I would like to mention a few things IT related that I think beginners should take note of. The issues tend to be Windows related. People who are not using Windows have probably made an informed decision and will be aware of many of the issues I mention here.
Documents should be distributed using standard file formats - PDF or HTML. PDF and HTML are international standards for document formats. There is also a new international standard file format,
Open Document Format, but it will be some time before everyone is able to read the files without having to download something to allow viewing. Be aware that PDf files should display in the same layout as created and HTML files can display in a layout determined by the viewer. If your word processor does not come with a PDF saver/creator then you can install a virtual printer that instead of printing on paper it will create a PDF file. CutePDF (link below) is one of these. Microsoft Word is not a document standard.
Viewing files from other people. Unfortunately not everyone distributes files in standard file formats so why not tell them about it when you get files in non-standard format. Each new version of a word processor saves the files in a way that is often incompatible with previous versions. This does not mean that you have to install the same application as others. You do not have to buy and install Microsoft Office to be able to read Word or Excel files. OpenOffice is a free alternative that will read Word, Excel and PowerPoint files and is a very competant suite of office applications. By default it saves its files in the new international file format that I have already mentioned but this can be changed. It also has a built-in PDF file creator, you therefore do not need a virtual PDF printer. Microsoft had to remove their PDF creation button from the new version of Office but I believe there is a free download from them that puts the feature back in.
File collaboration If you want people to be able to edit your file then you need to contact them to find out what file format you can both work with. This is often an old version of Word eg. Word 97 with a file extension of .doc. If you don't know what a file extension is then please make sure you keep your virus protection up-to-date. HTML will also work. Collaboration can be done on the internet - Google have on-line word processors where you can give other people edit access to your files. In this way a document can include the input from several contributors with very little effort on the originators part.
Viewing PDF files PDF files can be viewed using the free Adobe Acrobat reader which will also read the document out loud to you if you want. The Acrobat reader is usually part of a new computer installation but can be downloaded from the Adobe web site. Downlaod the reader - not the full Adobe Acrobat. (link below) There are other free PDF file viewers, Foxit being one of them. (link below) For a reasonable price Foxit can be enhanced so that you can put notes or highlighting against the text of a PDF file, this is then saved as part of the PDF file.
Email format Email was designed for sending plain text but over time the email viewer has been enhanced to display content that is formatted as RTF (Rich Text Format) or HTML (Hyper Text Mark-up Language). HTML can contain links and formatting with improves the user experience but there is a risk that malicious people can send viruses this way. It is therefore safer to format emails that you send as "plain text" and to display emails as "plain text". Your email client should have these options somewhere. Often the format of an email you send can be set to "Plain Text only", "HTML only" or "HTML and Plain Text" - the latter allows the recipient to display the email in a save way by just using plain text.
Email attachment size Email should not be used for sending large files. Never send an email that is larger the 10MB - this may change as connection speeds increase, but in most cases the email is this size due to lack of preparation. Any file that is attached to an email gets encoded as text and then is wrapped up within the email. It is not sent in the original file format and so a lot of processing has to go on at both the sending and receiving end. Every time the recipient wants to view the attachments this processing has to take place unless they detach the file from the email. When sending an email with attachments think of why you are sending it. Always prepare or create the files so that they are suitable for emailing. If it is a photo then crop the image and reduce its resolution to suit the purpose. If it is a scanned document then scan at a suitable resolution.
Preparing suitable files Take note of the file size of images whether they have come from a camera or a scanner. If they are to be attached to an email or added to a document change the size and resolution to suit the purpose. Scan documents at a suitable resolution, not at the full resolution of the scanner - full resolution can produce enormous files - 150 DPI greyscale is usually more than adequate. Only scan as colour if needed. For scanned images that are to be emailed make sure you save as a compressed file format such as JPEG. Image files in documents seldom need to be more than 400 pixels wide. For scanned documents that are to be attached to email save as PDF. If lots of files need to be sent attached to an email then send several email - limit the total size of the attachements to 5 MB or less. Many email servers have limits on the size of an email so if you are not careful they will simply not get through. Also remember that if a recipient has difficulty downloading your email this may be blocking them from getting email from other people that was sent later. Larger files can be transferred using other more suitable methods. FTP (File Transfer Protocaol) is designed specifically for the transfer of files, as its name suggests. Web sites exist for this purpose. Most internet users will have space at their Internet Service Provider for this purpose. Web sites can also be used. One of the main things with this is that the recipient controls when they download the files so that it suits their needs. This can be added to as required with links to sites that people find useful.
Reduce image resolution When embedding images in documents reduce the image resolution to suit
before putting it in the document. Embedding a high resolution image and dragging the borders to suit the size of display does not change the size of the file. If this is not done then a document that contains several images that have been reduced to display only 3cm x 2 cm say can finish up still being an enormous file. There are exceptions to this rule - perhaps you are creating a document that is to be sent to a printer so you want the image to be high quality. If this is the case it would be a good idea to talk to the printers. There are several free image editors available. You probably have one that was installed with your camera or scanner software but a simple, no frills, viewer/editor is IrfanView. (link below) This allows you to view directories of images and perform simple tasks like cropping, changing resolution and enhancing colours.
Email Clients Most Windows installations will come with a free email client that is called
Windows Live - it was known as
Outlook Express - that can be configured to work with email from several accounts. In this way you can set it up to collect email from your personal account provided by your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and your parish council email account. Folders can be created within the Inbox to store emails under particular headings. Emails can be dragged in to these folders as required. Rules can also be configured so that when an email arrives it is automatically moved to one of the folders. If more than one
sending account is configured then you will have the option to choose which account is to be used to send the email. Selecting the Parish Council account will then show that the email has come from the Parish Council and the Reply-to will be set appropriately.
If you want to keep your Parish Council email completely separate a different email client can be installed - Mozilla Thunderbird (link below) is one such option. Thunderbird would then be used to send and receive Parish Council email.
Links in emails Never follow a link in an email that takes you somewhere you might need to login with private details. Banks or similar organisations should never send an email that contains a link to a page where you need to login. If you do get an email that suggests you need follow a link to login report it to your bank. If you want to login always type the normal web address into your web browser.
Web browsing Windows comes with Microsoft Internet Explorer or it can be downloaded and installed free of charge. The mapping system used by Bradford appears to only work with Internet Explorer. It is estimated that more than 30% of users normally use a browser other than Internet Explorer which therefore means that these users will either not be able to use the mapping system or will switch to Internet Explorer if they want to use the mapping system. Mozilla Firefox (link below) has in the region of 22% of the browser share as of May 2009. Firefox has certain advantages over Internet Explorer - for the purposes of Parish Councils the main advantage is that an extension called DownThemAll can be installed that greatly simplifies the process of downloading planning application files when using the
Parish Council Planning Application System. Another browser that also has a very effective email client built in is Opera. Both Opera and Firefox are usually quicker than Internet Explorer and comply with international standards more closely.
Virus Protection There are many
security programs that can be used and one that is often installed with new computers is provided by
Norton. This is usually an effective application but will often need paying for after a trial period. The simplest thing to do is continue with this and pay each time. If you do much web browsing or get emails then it is essential that your virus protection system is kept up to date. This should be done once per week or before you get your emails or do any web browsing if that is a longer period. If you don't want to continue paying for the Norton system then there are free alternatives.
AVG Free (link below) is a popular anti virus system that will also scan emails.
Windows Defender from Microsoft can also be installed to check for a different kind of hazard.
SpyBot Search and Destroy (link below) is also a good application to update and run every few months.
Unexpected attachments Emails can pretend to come from others and can include content that includes a virus or trojan. If you get an email that is out of character for the sender - eg.
You must see this or similar then treat the attachment or link with suspicion. Email the sender to confirm that it was from them.
Virus hoax At the moment (July 2009) there seem to be few of these going around but you should be aware that there are such things. These can be from friends and often list a set of actions that must be taken to protect you from the virus that does not exist. This can involve deleting important files that will cause problems with your computer later. If you think you have been sent one of these you can use Google to search for the email subject and see what results you get. Alternatively visit the
McAfee hoax page and look for something similar to the email you have been sent.
You can get download applications to help with all this.
Adobe Acrobat PDF reader from
here.
Foxit PDF reader from
here.
CutePDF from
here.
Open Office from
here.
IrfanView from
hereMozilla Thunderbird and Mozilla Firefox from
hereOpera web browser and email client can be downloaded from
here.
