There's a couple of things to think about here. Firstly, the domain name. This is the name that you're identified by on the Internet. For example, VCOSS's domain name is vcoss.org.au. Google's is google.com. If you already have one of these (you may have registered one along with your website, for example), then you're halfway there. Domain names can be used for websites, email, and a number of other services. If you don't already have one (or if you're unclear on the concept), please read our introduction to domain names article.
Assuming you have a domain name now, you'll need to figure out a place to put your email. Email doesn't just go from one person's computer directly to another, it needs to pass through a series of intermediary servers before it comes to rest at a server which is considered the authoritative place for email addressed to your domain name. Like walking over to your mailbox, the computer on your desk checks the server for mail periodically and lets you know when it finds some.
Generally, there are two ways to this: run the server yourself, or get someone else to run it for you. Running an email server is not a trivial task, so unless you have a very good Internet connection and someone on staff who can take care of the server, it's probably best to get someone else to do it for you. Please read our email system comparison article for more information.
Google searchThe email you got back saying "it didn't work" usually has some kind of explanation in there. The most common problem is the recipient's address being wrong - either because it was mis-typed, or because they've moved on and you've used an old email address. Another popular reason is the email you sent was too big for the recipient's email system to handle.
The best thing to do is show the email to your technical staff, or have a look at our article about email bounces, which may help you understand what happened.
Google searchFor mostly historical reasons, the total size of an email (the written parts, plus any attachments) is severely limited. To get a larger file to someone else, you'll need to put the file somewhere they can access it, then send them an email asking them to pick it up from there.
Luckily for you, there are a number of services out there that make this very easy. At their most basic, you send the file to a website, and copy a special link that you can then send to the recipient. When they click on the link, the file starts downloading. On the fancier end of the scale, some services allow you to copy the file to a special folder on your computer, which is linked to a website where the recipient can download the file. We've got an overview of these kinds of services, which may help.
Another option, if you both use an instant message or VOIP program (like Skype, for example), is to use that program to transfer the file directly between your two computers. Have a look at our Skype overview for more information on this.
Google searchThis area is huge at the moment, and there are so many different ways to do this, depending on what you want to accomplish, what the technical level of your group is, and what kind of information they want to share.
At the most basic, there are services that let you automate creating an email list. All communication happens in email, and it's difficult to share other resources. There are other services that are designed to facilitate rich collaboration amongst a group of people - generally these require the people to go to a specific website, as email isn't sophisticated enough to enable that kind of communication.
Google searchThe most likely reason for this is that you don't have the same program on your computer as what your colleague does. Often, the version of the program matters as well. For example, Word 2003 uses a different file type than Word 2007.
You can try asking the sender to resend the file in a different format that you might be able to open. Failing this, there might be a free tool you use to view the file. We've got a list of file viewing tools that might help you.
Google searchDoing IT Better is a social justice initiative of the Centre for Community Networking Research (Faculty of Information Technology, Monash University) and the Victorian Council of Social Service, generously funded by a foundation.
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