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WebMail 3.0 User's Guide

Contents:

Introduction

WebMail 3.0 is a Web-browser-based e-mail program that can be used by anyone whose e-mail address ends in @metnet.edu. WebMail 3.0's greatest asset is speed, which translates to a lighter load on the central systems e-mail servers and thus provides a faster environment for all WebMail users.

What's New?

  • New Look!
  • Spell Checker
  • Quicker!
  • CC and BCC are hidden until needed
  • Attachment icon indicator
  • Select All/deselect All on page
  • One-click to add sender to Address Book

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What's IMAP?

  • IMAP = Internet Message Access Protocol
  • An IMAP e-mail client stores all of your mail on a central server, giving you access to all your messages, old and new, anywhere a Web browser is available.

Read Mail

  • Check for New Mail
  • Unread messages are highlighted in yellow, with all text bold and underlined.
  • To read an unread message, click anywhere within the yellow highlight.
  • To read a previously-read message, click on From, Date, Subject, or anywhere on the white space
  • Perform Message functions:
    • Mailboxes: Return to the mailbox(es) (mailboxes=folders)
    • Write a New Message: Create a new message
    • Reply to All Recipients: Reply to the sender and all other recipients of the message
    • Reply to Sender: Reply to the sender of the message
    • Forward: Forward the message to another sender. NOTE: any attachments must be manually re-attached.
    • Move Message to: Move the message to another mailbox (folder)
    • Delete: Mark the message as ¿to be deleted¿. The message will remain marked until you check Un-deleted or Permanently Removed.
    • View Raw Message Text: View the detailed SMTP header of the message
    • Add sender to Address Book: Add the sender¿s name and address to your Address Book
    • << Previous: Navigate to the previous message
    • Next >>: Navigate to the next message
    • Delete & next >>: Delete the current message and navigate to the next message
    • << Delete & previous: Delete the current message and navigate to the previous message
    • Log Out: Clear your authentication credentials from your Web browser

Send Mail

  • Click on the Write a New Message button. You'll get a blank form with standard To, Subject, and Message sections.
  • Fill in the form using WebMail's simple text editor; the editor supports standard Edit/Cut/Copy/Paste functions.
  • Click the Send This Message button (two locations: upper left panel, or directly below the message field).
  • From: anything typed in this box will appear in the "From" column of the recipient's mailbox. WebMail inserts your real e-mail address after this information, surrounded by <>.
  • To: the recipient's e-mail address. Use commas to separate multiple addresses.
  • CC: (Carbon Copy) the e-mail address(s) of the person(s) you want to receive a copy of the message. This/these will be visible to all recipients of the message. Use commas to separate multiple addresses.
  • BCC: (Blind Carbon Copy) When sending an e-mail, if you BCC someone, you're sending them a copy of your e-mail, but not allowing the recipients in the To or CC fields of your e-mail client to know that the BCC recipient(s) was sent the message as well. Use commas to separate multiple addresses.
  • Subject: Click in the text entry box to the right of the Subject label and type a subject line. (A good subject line is brief yet descriptive. People who get many messages sometimes decide when, or if, to read a message based on its subject line.)
  • Message: Click within the Message section and type your message. The window will automatically grow to make room for larger messages. Use standard Edit>Paste commands to insert information you copy from other electronic documents. You can also use the standard Edit>Cut/Copy/Paste commands to move sections of the message you are writing. When you are finished writing, click the 'Send This Message' button to deliver your message. If you decide you do not want to send the message, click the Cancel button.

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Delete Mail

  • To delete one or more messages, click the check box to the left of the message, then click Delete Checked.
  • The mail is marked as deleted and is not immediately removed from your mailbox, allowing you another opportunity to undelete it.
  • When you are certain you will not need the deleted message(s), click on Permanently Remove all deleted messages.

Forward Mail

  • Click on the message you would like to send on to somene.
  • Click Forward.
  • A new Write Message window opens, containing the entire contents of the original message. Each line begins with at least one > (greater-than character), indicating that it is part of a forwarded message and allowing you to comment line-by-line.
  • Enter the recipient's e-mail address in the To: field.
  • The Subject field begins with "Fwd:" and repeats the original subject line.
  • Use WebMail's Cut/Copy/Paste features to add, delete, or move text.

Reply to Sender

  • Click Reply to Sender to reply to the original sender of the message.
  • A new Write Message window opens, containing the entire contents of the original message. Each line begins with at least one > (greater-than character), indicating that it is part of a forwarded message and allowing you to comment line-by-line.
  • The sender's e-mail address fills the To: field, and a blank field below allows you to add more e-mail addresses.
  • The Subject field begins with "Re:" and repeats the original subject line.
  • Use WebMail's Cut/Copy/Paste features to add, delete, or move text.

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Reply to All Recipients

  • Click Reply to All Recipients to reply to the sender as well as everyone who received the original message.
  • A new Write Message window opens, containing the entire contents of the original message. Each line begins with at least one > (greater-than character), indicating that it is part of a forwarded message and allowing you to comment line-by-line.
  • The recipient's e-mail addresses appear under the To: field, and a blank field below allows you to add more e-mail addresses. To remove any single recipient from the list, click the X next to the recipient's e-mail address.
  • The Subject field begins with "Re:" and repeats the original subject line.
  • Use WebMail's Cut/Copy/Paste features to add, delete, or move text.

Attachments

Attaching Files

  1. Click Browse to navigate your computer to the file you'd like to attach to the message.
  2. Select the file and click Open.
  3. Click Attach (this actually uploads the file to WebMail).
  4. Repeat steps 1 and 2 as necessary for attaching multiple files.

Receiving Attachments

  • Click on the Attachment icon or Name.
  • You will be prompted to either Open it (if you have a program on your computer that can read this type of file) or Save it to disk. Note: If the attachment appears garbled when it opens or if WebMail prompts you to save the document to disk, then you probably don't have the right software to read or convert this attachment. This is the most common problem that people have with attachments - you may need to contact the sender to find out what software is needed to open the file.

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Spell Check

  • View the message you wish to Spell Check.
  • Click the Spell Check button.
  • The original message is displayed, with potential corrections listed below. The unrecognized spellings/words are highlighted, and a number of suggestions are listed, as well as a blank field for you enter your own correction.
  • Click on a suggested spelling/word to correct it, or type in a change and then click on change.
  • Click Finished when done, or click Cancel to leave Spell Check.
  • A message will display, asking whether you're finished with your spelling check. Click OK to save the changes, or Cancel to revert to the original version.

Create a Mailbox

  • Use Mailboxes (folders) to organize your WebMail messages. This helps you keep track of messages and keep your Inbox relatively small. Keeping a small number of messages in your Inbox will minimize the time it takes to open and display your e-mail messages.
  • Select Create a New Mailbox
  • Enter the name for the Mailbox in the blue box next to the New button.
  • Click the New button
  • The Mailbox you created becomes the active folder. To return to the In-Box, click on In-box in the Mailboxes list.

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Store a Message in a Mailbox

  • Locate the message(s) you want to move, then click in the check box next to each e-mail message you wish to move to another folder. (You can select multiple messages.)
  • From Move Checked to: pull-down list, select the mailbox where you want to move the message to.
  • Click the Move Checked to: link.
  • Your checked message(s) is(are) now marked for deletion and moved to the mailbox selected.

Delete a Mailbox

  • Delete all the messages in the Mailbox you're removing
  • Once it's empty, this sentence will display: This Mailbox is Empty. Delete It?
  • Click on Delete It? to delete the mailbox. You'll be returned to the In-Box.

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Address Book

WebMail's Address Book allows you to save names and e-mail addresses, insert them into other messages, and import/export address books from/to other mail programs.

Add a New Address

  1. Click the Address Book link to open your Address Book.
  2. Click in the field to the right of New, under Name, and enter a contact name.
  3. Tab over to or click in the Address field and type in the full e-mail address.
  4. Click the Add button. Once an entry is added, it will appear in a pull-down list next to the address fields when you write a new m.essage.

Add an Address from a Message

  1. Click on the From: person's e-mail address to add it to your Address Book.
  2. If successful, you'll see Added: person to address book.

Edit an Address

  1. Check the box next to the name/e-mail address or group you want to edit.
  2. Click Edit and make changes
  3. Click Apply Changes
  4. You can simultaneously select more than one name/e-mail address or group to edit.

Delete an Address

  1. Check the box next to the name/e-mail address or group you want to delete.
  2. Click Delete to permanently remove e-mail address information
  3. You can simultaneously select more than one name/e-mail address or group to delete. Deleting a group will not delete the names/addresses within your address book.

Create an Address Group

  1. Group: click the check box next to each address you'd like included in a Group.
  2. Click Group. You'll be prompted to Name: the group.
  3. Press Enter/Return to accept the changes. Once an entry is added, it will appear in a pull-down list next to the address fields when you Write a New Message.

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Use the Address Book

  1. Use Write to from within Address Book to send a single e-mail message to a one name/address, a group of names/addresses, or multiple names/e-mail addresses and/or groups.
  2. Check the check box next to each name/e-mail address and/or group you want to e-mail.
  3. Click Write To The selected recipient (s) will appear in the e-mail message you send.

Address Book Menu

  • The second To: field within the Write a New Message window displays all of the addresses in your address book.
  • Click the downward-pointing triangle to view all of your addresses.

Export Address Book

  • This feature allows you to save a copy of your address book into a file format recognized by other e-mail applications. The three export formats are plain text, .VCF, and LDIF.
    Note: This can only export your entire address book.
  • Plain Text (text that is understood by all programs):
    1. Click the as Plain Text link
    2. Click Save to Disk
    3. Click OK This option saves your address text file to your default download location, usually your desktop.
  • .VCF (Virtual Card File; a format recognized by many programs, including Outlook):
    1. Click the as .VCF (for Outlook) link
    2. Click Save to Disk
    3. Click OK This option saves your address text file to your default download location, usually your desktop.
  • LDIF (a structured text file used for sharing information between E-Mail clients, including Netscape):
    1. Click the as LDIF (for Netscape) link
    2. Click Save to Disk
    3. Click OK This option saves your address text file to your default download location, usually your desktop.

Import Addresses

This feature allows you to convert data into the common file format of an application.

  1. Click Browse.
  2. Locate the LDIF file (.ldif) or the .vcf file (.vcf) you want to import.
  3. It will be named your internet ID-address book. Click the file once and click Open
  4. Click Import
    Note: Text files cannot be imported, and only unique addresses will be imported.

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Settings

  • Click the Settings option to personalize your e-mail settings. Click Apply My Changes to accept the changes.
  • "Real" Name: characters in this field are inserted in front of your e-mail address in all outgoing mail messages (example: student stud1234@umn.edu).
  • Signature field characters will automatically append to every new message you send. A signature should be brief (no more than a few lines) and should contain contact information, such as department or phone number. Avoid using the [Tab] key to align text. The spacing may look different or uneven on others' displays. Instead, use dashes or commas to separate text phrases. For best results, include a few blank lines before you enter your text.
  • Attribution line: is added above the quoted text of Reply messages. The default is "n DATE, NAME wrote:" and can be customized to include ADDRESS as well. WebMail will fill in the correct date, sender's name, and sender's e-mail address.
  • Page Size: by default, WebMail displays 10 messages per page. You may customize this, but keep in mind that longer lists display more slowly.
  • Sent-mail Mailbox: To save a copy of all messages sent, select sent-mail from the dropdown list.
  • Extra Header Lines: this is a special programmer field; leave it blank unless you are very familiar with RFC822 headers.

WebMail General Guide

WebMail 2.0 Guide

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