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28.03.2008 - Website has been removed as it is no longer active
www.dunedinnorth.co.nz
Many people call their Internet Helpdesk to complain about broken email only to find that a friend has sent them a huge attachment which is clogging things up. If you just have to send a big attachment to someone but want to avoid blocking up their mailbox then there might be another way, and it won't hold up your email either.
Email was never really designed to carry attachments, so it's surprising it handles them so well. Neveretheless, countless Internet Helpdesk calls arise from someone trying to get their email and finding that either nothing seems to happen or that it just won't happen at all. They call for help and after investigation the Helpdesk worker figures out there's an attachment blocking up the works. They delete it and normalcy ensues.
As an astute reader of CommunityNet Aotearoa you'll know to keep the size of attachments as small as possible, but sometimes you just have to send large files.
Find out the size of a file by viewing its Properties (Windows) or by using Get Info (Mac). Windows users: Right click on the file and choose Properties. Now look at the section where it says: Size on disk.
Mac users: Hold down Control, click on the file and choose Get Info. If necessary click on the triangle beside General and look at where it says Size.
Some files - e.g. audio, video, and high quality photos just have to be big to give good enough quality. But often Microsoft Word and PowerPoint files are much bigger than necessary due to "embedded objects" or unnecessarily high quality graphics. I've seen a 2 MB file that could be reduced to 46 KB without losing anything. This is worth a future Tip; for now, just search on 'compress' in Word Help to list ways to make large files smaller.
Some senders "Zip" attachments. "Zipping" compresses them and makes them smaller. Unfortunately, viruses sometimes arrive as something claiming to be a zip file and so some email systems won't allow zipped files through.
Still, it's worth a try. Here's how. Let's say you have a file called BigDocument.doc. Let's say it comes in at a whopping 2 megabytes. In Windows XP right click on the file and choose Send to Compressed (zipped) Folder. In my trial this created a zipped copy of the file, which was only a little smaller than the original.
BigDocument.doc
In Mac OS X select the file and hold down the Control key while you click. Choose Create Archive of "BigDocument.doc" from the menu. Again, you'll find a zipped copy of the file which should be smaller than the original.
How much smaller a file becomes when zipped depends on many factors. Sometimes zipping can even make a file bigger, but it's always worth a try.
How big is too big to send by email? Opinions differ. My guideline is about 300 kilobytes unless I have a prior arrangement or I really understand my recipient's setup. I know of at least one person who had to pay about $300 in phone costs (while in Samoa) to receive an attachment she didn't want. In fact, she'd asked people not to send attachments while she was overseas.
Some people have slow Internet connections, limits on their email, high costs to connect. It's as well to be careful.
If zipping didn't make the file small enough to email then it could be a good idea to find another way to get it where it's needed. How about putting it on a CD and posting it? How about putting it up on your website for the recipient to download?
You've no website, or you don't know where to start? Then try out YouSendIt at www.yousendit.com. This service makes 'sending' large files very very easy. You can read the Privacy Statement and Terms of Service at the website.
Want bigger, better screenshots? Click on the thumbnails below.
The recipient gets an email with instructions about how to get the file. All they really have to do is click on a link and wait while the file downloads into their computer. The file is automatically removed after seven days and you can remove it any time.
Next time you have to send a large email attachment think twice. Would you be better off to send it another way?
[July 2005] If you make files such as Word documents or PDFs available for visitors to download or you send attachments be careful how you name the files.
When you write a Microsoft Word document, or any other document for that matter, there comes a crucial moment when you Save the file. At that time you have the chance to give your file a filename. Microsoft Word will often suggest the first few words of your document as the filename and you may decide to use that. When I did that with this Tip the suggested filename was (I'm not kidding here!):
If you make files such as Word documents or PDFs available for visitors to download be careful how you name them.doc
That's a total of 112 characters!
That's not a problem if all you're intending to do with that file is save it on your computer and perhaps print it off on your own printer, but if you email it to someone else, put it on a CD or want to add it to your website for people to download then you are creating a lot of potential problems.
The thing about the Internet is that it's been going for about 40 years. It includes hundreds of thousands of different computers and computer systems. Your email attachment or your web page will pass through many different systems on its way from where it is to where it's going.
Many of those computer systems are quite modern and can deal with long filenames without problems, but some of them are old or just plain ornery and can't handle long filenames. You may find that if you use a long filename on your document weird things happen.
There are also problems connected with some characters that we mght commonly use in filenames. For example, a colleague recently sent me a file with the name: When the role doesn't suit the volunteer.doc.
When the role doesn't suit the volunteer.doc
This file caused me all kinds of problems. I couldn't get the file onto my computer; I couldn't change the name and I couldn't delete it. Why? Not because the name was long, but because it had an apostrophe in it!
Even spaces are difficult: a file name like this: guidelines for users.doc becomes this when it's on the web: guidelines%20for%20users.doc. See those %20 things? That's what the spaces turned into.
guidelines for users.doc
guidelines%20for%20users.doc
If you have a file you want to send as an attachment or have connected to a web page for visitors to download there are some guidelines which will make it a better experience for everyone.
Past Website tips are all available on CommunityNet Aotearoa.
In June there were extensive updates to several How-to Guides: IT and Internet, Volunteer Toolkit, Risk Management.
AccEase and their team of testers with disadvantages have just tested the CommunityNet site, using a range of assistive technologies.
CommunityNet was designed with accessibility and usability as a priority, and we were delighted to hear that this was the best site AccEase's panel have tested in the last year. We meet Web Accessibility Level 1 guidelines and are also very close to meeting the more stringent WAI Level 2 and 3 and e-Government web guidelines as well.
They've made a number of suggestions for improvements, for usability and to meet the higher levels. We will be carrying these out as soon as possible. We'll keep you posted.
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