Selfsufficientish.com

I am sure everyone on ISH knows all about them but this is just in case....There are plenty of excellent free E-Cards available and with very little computer savvy and a little time it is possible to use these to spread all the peace joy and love you like in an amusing or entertaining way.
What is an E-Card? An E-Card is simply an electronically generated webpage that has been created with a computer program such Flash. They range from the very basic picture card which you may or may not be able to personalise to incredibly complex animated confections which allow you to insert your own message and signature.
In order to send and receive E-Cards both parties must have both an internet connection and an Email address. Just like any other email it is possible to send your E-card to one or many recipients which makes it an excellent solution for sending greetings to work colleagues and acquaintances.
A particularly popular provider is Care2 which describes itself as ‘the world largest online community for healthy and green living’ as part of their mission is to reduce landfill and paper use they offer a free E-card service which can be found at http://www.care2.com/ecards/. Care2 has some of the most original and interesting free E-cards available and as they have many contributors a very varied range of styles and moods are on offer. Once registered at Care2, you can look at the cards on offer by searching the online galleries. Once you have selected the E- card you would like to use, it is a good idea to follow the step by step instructions and send the first one to yourself as a dry run as even if you look at a preview it is best to see the E-card as your recipients will.
One word of warning, you do not need to download any software to your computer in order to use E-card services, if a site asks you to download anything at all, do not use it, as they may put unwanted programmes such as adware or malware which can compromise your security. However there are plenty of safe sites offering free E-cards so as long as you make this a golden rule you should be fine. E- cards are a cheap and fun way to send your holiday greetings for free.
As I said at the top sorry if everyone knows about E-cards but you never know, might save someone a few bob

i dont like receiving e cards.. as usually it means someone has given my email addy away.. and it will be sold on and spam will be mine...

if you want to sent an email thingymas message, why not find a nice picture, edit it, add a nice message and then email that? also free

Absolutely not... you will be SPAMMED to death and so will the person you sent the card to!

I get really annoyed if anyone sends these to me

Oh and Incredimail... don't even go there they have so many holes it's ridiculous also they keep copies of your emails on a server for anyone to read and should they wish sell any interesting details on!

Security at it's slackest is incredimail

Well, there is another way and it is to actually join a web-site which sends e-cards but has a clear policy of not using your details or the e-mails of the persons you send the e-cards to. I only know of one of those sites, and I think they are simply the best as their cards are simply beautiful little animated stories with a lovely music, but I am pretty sure there are quite a few. But for using these sites, you need to be a member and there is a membership fee. For the site I use it is£7.25 per year or £11 every 2 years. Truly this is not much money when you use their services for birthdays, Christmas, new Year, Easter, Halloween etc... While I have noticed that many people in the UK are quite against e-cards for the reasons stipulated above, or because they believe that the old paper cards are such a great decoration for the house, many other countries have embraced e-cards and would not consider going back to paper cards. So if your only concern is security, it is worth looking into those other sites. And if you simply love paper cards, well this thread is not for you...

Hi all I have to say that we have been using Care2 for 3 years now and they have never spammed us, AT ALL, nor anyone we have sent their cards to. I use them for my Christmas and Birthday cards with no problem whatsoever. I will edit the post to remove the other sites I mentioned, as people seem to have had probs with them but I totally stand by Care2!

Can't stand the things, there is no thought or effort gone into them. You can't decorate your living room with them no can you cut them up in later years to make gift tags. I don't even usually bother to open the bloody things as they are horribly tedious and full of irritating music and stupid graphics of flying santas and the like. You can't write a letter in with them and why does EVERYBODY assume that EVERYONE in the world has computers? They don't, there is a whole older generation out there who only know what snail mail is.

Do e-cards still come with virus too? It used to be as good as downloading screensavers for getting computer problems.

'So if your only concern is security, it is worth looking into those other sites. And if you simply love paper cards, well this thread is not for you... '
If your only reason to read a thread is just to respond by having a rant because you know you hate what it is about, seriously why bother?
It was just a suggestion, I have my own reasons for using Ecards, I am a long way from home and seriously cannot afford the post to send cards back to the UK to all the folk I would like to be in touch with. I also have umpteen colleagues who are travelling home to places all over the world and paper cards are not much use to them. Of course I can and will write to those who don't have a computer. (why am I even telling you this, probably in a vain attempt to fend off another lecture)
Once again I have to reiterate I have had no probs with Care2, with spam or viruses and this is the ONLY site I am advocating. I just thought some other Ishers might be in the same position as me. To be honest at work we are competing to find the cheesiest ones we can! For a laugh, cos tis the season to be jolly...

I'm like you Red, I always use my own photos and then personalise them with photoshop before emailing them individually. I think cards are incredibly wasteful, but I still print out and post one to my mum and a couple of other oldies without t'internet.

GOOD GRIEF!! I'm off to dismember myself from ISH! (don't know the technical term) I just can't compete with the standards of taste and decency of the 'regulars'.

The biggest laugh of all is my name is actually CHRISTMAS!

I also send a mix of paper and e-cards as suits the person I am in touch with and none of my friends have so far been rude enough to refuse a message sent with love and chosen with care and the money saved in buying cards and stamps this year has bought school supplies for a year for three children through UNISEF and I regard this as more in keeping with the meaning of Christmas than increasing the profits of the post office.

organicsi wrote:'So if your only concern is security, it is worth looking into those other sites. And if you simply love paper cards, well this thread is not for you... '
If your only reason to read a thread is just to respond by having a rant because you know you hate what it is about, seriously why bother?
It was just a suggestion, I have my own reasons for using Ecards, I am a long way from home and seriously cannot afford the post to send cards back to the UK to all the folk I would like to be in touch with. I also have umpteen colleagues who are travelling home to places all over the world and paper cards are not much use to them. Of course I can and will write to those who don't have a computer. (why am I even telling you this, probably in a vain attempt to fend off another lecture)
Once again I have to reiterate I have had no probs with Care2, with spam or viruses and this is the ONLY site I am advocating. I just thought some other Ishers might be in the same position as me. To be honest at work we are competing to find the cheesiest ones we can! For a laugh, cos tis the season to be jolly...

if they work for you then thats great - and you want to share the option - nice - but I replied as i wanted to save people from inadvertently handing out email addresses without realising the possible consequences. the reality of these free ecard places is they are not doing it to be jolly - they are offering the service for a reason. it might only be a bit of advertising on their website or something relatively harmless, or it might be harvesting the emails used.but they are not doing it out of love, they are gaining out of it.

you dont need to get upset because people disagree - thats how forums work. different opinions are shared.

I have to admit that I still buy the old fashioned Christmas Cards and like receiving them. Although in my defence I try to buy Charity Cards (and yes I know that only a small percentage goes to the Charity) and all the cards we receive I do give back to a place that recycles them, although I am not a lover a Te£co they usually take them for the Woodland Trust, I also save a few to make tags for the following year.

Sue

I am not upset, I just do not enjoy being lectured and patronised, 'you dont need to get upset because people disagree', to be honest I feel that I have been. I just made a suggestion, and if you read my posts you will find I have not made any negative or superior comments about what other people have said they prefer to do about sending Christmas greetings.Some of the other posts do; 'Can't stand the things, there is no thought or effort gone into them' ,If you also read my original post you will have seen my 'word of warning'.
As I said, I am not upset, it is just today I realised perhaps Ish ishn't the place I thought it was. Sad really I was just getting into it...