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AOL to AT&T Worldnet Service
When you're using an online service like AOL, you click on an icon and a program opens. Everything you do online is done within this program - e-mail, chat, etc. When you use a standard ISP (Internet Service Provider) like AT&T Worldnet Service, you can pick and choose from a variety of applications.
With AT&T Worldnet, you can start simply by using Web-based e-mail, chat and news, or, you can use one of many available Internet applications. It's YOUR choice!
When you first connect using the AT&T Worldnet Connection Manager, your browser will automatically open to the att.net home page. You'll see the following (larger and in glorious color) below the AT&T Worldnet logo.
Reading your e-mail, chatting, shopping or getting help is just a click away. It can't be any easier than that. Make yourself familiar with what is outlined on the AT&T Worldnet Welcome AOLumni page, the AT&T Worldnet Service Web Site Tutorial, the AT&T Worldnet New Users Guide and the WURD Internet Tutorial.
We've outlined some of your options and tried to answer some of the questions that you might have below.
Connecting
You can connect by double clicking on the AT&T Worldnet Service icon on your desktop or from the Start menu.
This will bring up the dialer window shown below. You do not have to specify a screen name to connect. If it doesn't start to dial automatically, click the Connect button and your modem will begin dialing and establish the connection.
Tip:
When you're finished with your Internet activities, you might have to manually disconnect the dialer. You can do this by right clicking (clicking your right mouse button) on the AT&T Worldnet icon in your system tray. The system tray (systray for short) is normally found in the lower right hand corner of your screen, and usually contains the clock.
The WURD Connection FAQ includes Frequently Asked Questions about connecting to AT&T Worldnet Service and information on where you can go for help with your connectivity problems.
Browsing
Browsing on AT&T Worldnet Service is a bit different than browsing on AOL. For one thing, you can use any browser that you want. Pages that you weren't able to see properly (but probably didn't know it) will show up in all of their glory.
For more information about using your browser, check the Help menu to see if there's a tutorial available. We have links and information for some of the more popular browsers here.
The more you know about how your browser works, the better your browsing experience.
Now that you know how your browser works, read the WURD on Searching. This will give you some ideas on finding information on the Internet.
Tip:
If you want to transfer your favorites from AOL to Internet Explorer, follow the procedure outlined in Microsoft Knowledge Base article Q241198.
The WURD Web FAQ includes Frequently Asked Questions about surfing the Web and information on where you can go for help with your browser.
Each account can have up to six e-mail IDs (screen names) so each member of your family can have his/her own. You'll find information on additional e-mail IDs (screen names) in our E-Mail FAQ, and a list of available features (including the e-mail screener) here.
You have several e-mail options with AT&T Worldnet Service. You can either use the AT&T Message Center, or you can use a regular e-mail program. We have instructions for setting up most of the popular e-mail programs. Each member of your family can have his/her own identity/profile. We've outlined several options in our E-Mail FAQ. If you're new to e-mail, read our tutorial, E-Mail.
If you wish to access your AOL e-mail while connected to AT&T Worldnet, please check out the Accessing the AOL Mail System using IMAP & Authenticated SMTP - An Unofficial Guide page.
Tip:
If you want to transfer your address book from AOL to your Outlook Express address book, the easiest way is to send an e-mail message to everyone in your address book from your AOL account telling them your new AT&T Worldnet e-mail address. Include your new AT&T Worldnet e-mail address in the To, CC or BCC field of the message so you will get a copy of the message too. Retrieve the message in Outlook Express from your AT&T Worldnet account. Open the message, and select Add to Address Book and then Everyone on To List from the Tools menu.
You can do the same thing with Netscape 4.x by right-clicking in the message window and selecting Add All to Address Book. Other e-mail programs might have the same capability. Check the Help files for information.
Another Tip
If you want to send e-mail containing clickable links to your friends using AOL 5 or earlier, you have to type the HTML code or their e-mail reader won't recognize it as a link. For example, if you wanted to send them a link to the WURD, you would put the following in your message to make it a clickable link in their e-mail reader.
<a href="http://www.wurd.com">WURD</a>
If your friend uses AOL 6 or later, just send the message in HTML rather than plain text.
The WURD E-Mail FAQ includes Frequently Asked Questions about using e-mail on AT&T Worldnet Service and information on where you can go for help with your e-mail problems.
Chat
Chatting on AT&T Worldnet Service is easier than ever. You can choose between several Web-based chat services, use an instant messaging program or join other chatters on Internet Relay Chat.
- Web-based - Use your browser to chat with other people.
- Instant Messaging - Contact lists, chat, etc.
- Internet Relay Chat - Talk in groups or privately.
The WURD Chat FAQ includes Frequently Asked Questions about chatting on AT&T Worldnet Service and information on where you can go for help with your chat problems.
Personal Web Pages
With AT&T Worldnet Service, you can claim 10 megs (25 million bytes) of Web space for each e-mail ID, for a maximum of 60 megs. You can do a lot with 60 megs... you could put over 1500 eggplant recipes there if you were so inclined. You'll find almost everything you need to know about personal Web pages in our WURD Web Designer's Handbook.
Tip:
If you currently have a Web site at AOL or elsewhere, you can put it at AT&T Worldnet Service by saving your pages to your hard drive and then uploading them to the AT&T Worldnet personal Web page servers. You'll have to get the information needed for downloading your current pages from your current Web hosting service. You should be able to find the information needed to download your pages from AOL starting here. You could also use something like PC Magazine's Site Snagger to grab all of the files on your old Web site. We have instructions for several FTP applications at WURD for uploading the pages to the AT&T Worldnet servers. Read our FTP Tutorial if you're unfamiliar with basic FTP procedures.
Once you get your AT&T Worldnet personal Web page established, add it to AT&T Worldnet Community Port for everyone else to see.
Tip:
If you want to send the new location to your friends on AOL, be aware that some AOL browsers have a problem with the ~ in the AT&T Worldnet personal Web page address. In this case, using a vanity URL is probably the best way to go. As an alternative, the AOL user could substitute %7e for the ~ in the address. This makes it recognizable for the AOL browser.
The WURD Personal Web Page FAQ includes Frequently Asked Questions about personal Web pages and information on where you can go for help with your personal Web page problems.
Newsgroups
Newsgroups are equivalent to AOL's forums. AT&T Worldnet Service has over 19,000 newsgroups available on its news feed at this writing. You can learn about using newsgroups by reading the WURD Newsgroup tutorial.
The AT&T Worldnet help newsgroups are also one of the best ways to get help with AT&T Worldnet Service. You can either use the webnews interface, or use a regular newsreader. We have configuration instructions for some of the most popular newsreaders.
The WURD News FAQ includes Frequently Asked Questions about newsgroups on AT&T Worldnet Service and information on where you can go for help with your newsreader problems.
Additional Information
We also have the following WURD pages concerning AOL and other online services:
- AOL and AT&T Worldnet Service
This page explains how to connect to AOL through AT&T Worldnet Service using the BYOA (Bring Your Own Access) plan. - The WURD Online Services FAQ
This page includes Frequently Asked Questions about online services, and information on where you can go for help with using an online service with AT&T Worldnet Service.