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 FirstClass
Tips & How-Tos
The following are some useful tips and how-tos to help you use FirstClass.
You can also find these and other tips in the FirstClass Help conference in BISD News (on your FirstClass desktop).
Do you have a tip or how-to for using FirstClass? Click here to submit it!
When you are in a browser and want to bookmark a site, instead of using the bookmark feature of the browser, drag the URL to your First Class desktop and it will create a "Bookmark Folder" on your FC desktop.
(If it doesn't create the folder automatically, go to File -> Open -> Bookmarks and it will create it)
After that, any site that you want to add to your bookmarks, just drag it into the Bookmark Folder.
This way, you can have your bookmarks with you on any computer, even when using a browser to access your FC desktop.
You can change the background image of your FirstClass desktop or folders.
The only catch is that the picture must be on the harddrive of each machine that you use the client on for it to show up.
Here's where you put it:
Windows: C:\Program Files\FirstClass\Images
Macs: Open your hard drive -> "FirstClass Client" -> "Images" folder
Then, from your FirstClass desktop, go to View -> Change View Properties.
Under the Background tab, the picture you just put in the images folder will appear in the Image drop-down menu.
You can change the icons in FirstClass.
For messages or calendar events/tasks, click the icon in the top left corner and a box will popup with all the available icons to choose from.
For documents, folders, or conferences, right-click (Macs: click and hold) and choose "Properties" (Macs: Get Info).
Click the icon and choose from the list.
If you have too many icons on your FirstClass Desktop, you can clear up some of the clutter by "splitting" it.
By going to View -> Split and choosing either horizontal or vertical, you can divide your Desktop and separate your mailbox, calendars, conferences, etc. from your uploaded files and documents.
The next time you want to create a cute document to send, create it using Word (or AppleWorks) like you normally would.
When you are ready to send it, go to Edit -> Select All and then Edit -> Copy.
Next, open FirstClass and create a new message.
Then, while in the body of the new message, go to Edit -> Paste.
Everything you copied from your Word document should paste into the FirstClass message, including the graphics.
You can provide information about yourself for other users by creating a résumé. To do this:
- Choose File -> Open -> Résumé.
- type your name at the top of the résumé.
- Copy your picture to the clipboard, then paste it in the top left corner of the résumé, if desired.
- type any information you think would be useful to other users in the bottom pane of the résumé. For ideas about what to write, view the résumés of other users on your system.
- Close the résumé to save your changes. You can edit your résumé at any time by following this same procedure.
You can view other people's résumés by opening the FirstClass Directory, typing their name in the "Pattern" field, selecting their name and then clicking the "Résumé" button.
To search a conference or folder (including an external folder or drive) for items that contain specific text:
- Open the conference or folder.
- Choose Edit > Find.
- type the text you want to find at "Find".
- Turn on the appropriate search options.
- Click Find. As items are found that match the search criteria, they appear in the search summary window. The name of the conference or folder currently being searched appears in the top right corner of the window.
- Double-click an item in the search summary window to open it.
You don't have to wait for the search to finish before you open items in the window.
When the search is complete, FirstClass beeps.
You can cancel a search in progress by closing the search summary window.
To open items in the search summary window in order, choose Conferencing -> Navigation -> Next Item or Previous Item.
If you monitor a conference or folder frequently, you may want to put a copy of its icon directly on your Desktop. This copy acts like a standard Windows shortcut or Mac OS alias.
Having the icon on your Desktop lets you see at a glance whether there are unread messages, and allows you to access the conference or folder directly from the Desktop by double-clicking the icon. If you put a conference icon on your Desktop, you also add yourself to that conference's list of subscribers.
To put a conference or folder icon on your Desktop:
- Select the conference or folder.
- Choose Edit > Add > Add to Desktop.
To delete a conference or folder icon from your Desktop:
- Select the icon.
- Choose File > Delete, or press Delete.
Deleting the icon has no effect on the original conference or folder.
To find out where the original conference or folder is located, select the copy, then choose File -> Properties (Windows) or Get Info (Macs). The path to the original is shown at "Where".
To search for specific text in a message or document:
- Open the message or document.
- Choose Edit -> Find.
- type the text you want to find.
- Turn on the appropriate options. "Match whole words only" retrieves only complete words (the search text "sun" will not retrieve "sunshine"). "Match case" retrieves only text that matches the capitalization of your search text.
- Click Find Next to search forward or Find Previous to search backward.
- FirstClass scrolls to the first occurrence of the text and highlights it.
- Continue clicking Find Next or Find Previous until "None found" is displayed in the dialog box.
Before you open a message, a red flag appears beside it. After you open the message, this flag disappears.
To remove the unread flag from a message without opening the message, select it, then choose Message > Unread.
Shortcut: Control-click (Windows) or Option-click (Macs) the message in the read/unread status column.
To make the unread flag reappear on a message that has already been opened, select the message, then choose Message > Unread again. This can be useful in certain circumstances, such as making the message attract your attention the next time you log in. If you select a block of mixed read and unread messages, then choose Message > Unread, only unread messages are affected; their flags are removed.
If there are unread messages in a conference, an unread flag appears beside the conference icon. To remove all unread flags from messages in the conference, select the conference icon, then choose Message > Unread.
If you cannot turn unread flags off and on, you have not been given authority to do this.
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