Advanced Features of Webmail
Most students and staff who use their free university email accounts access them through Webmail instead of using a client to retrieve the messages and store them on their computer. Webmail has many benefits including the fact that you can store your messages on the University's servers and access them from anywhere you have Internet access. It also includes many advanced features which you may not be aware of. The following is a listing of some of these advanced features which may make your Webmail life easier.
If you click the Folders button, you will see a listing of all the folders in your mailbox. They should include your Inbox, Sent E-mail folder, and your Trash folder. Every month, Webmail will automatically prompt you to rename your Sent Mail folder to archive it. The format of the name is "sent-mail-<abbreviated month>-<Year>".
From the folder listing, you have a number of options to choose from. Under the "Choose Action" menu, you can create, rename, and delete folders. You can also empty (erase all messages in the folder) and download the folder as an .mbox file. Downloading a folder can be helpful if you do not plan to use Webmail any longer, but want to keep an archive of your messages.
If you click the Options button, you will see three columns. The first is called "Your Information", the second "Mail Management", and the third "Other Options".
Under "Your Information" most of the categories are self-explanatory, except for "Personal Information". If you click on Edit your Identities, you can add what are called "Identities" which allow you to specify your From address (the address that the message appears to be from), Reply-To addresses (if someone replies to your message, the email will be sent to the address you specify), and your signature (a short message that will automatically be placed at the end of every email you send). There are also check boxes below these options that allow you to put a line of dashes above your signature to better separate it from your message, an option to decide whether you want include your signature when you reply to or forward a message, and also another option to automatically save all mail that you send into a sent mail folder, and specify that folder. Before you change any of these options, you need to select to Default Identity at the top of the "Identities" page. Also after changing any of the above options, remember to save the changes.
Under "Filters", not only can you edit your filter rules you an also determine the frequency at which they are run and select whether or not to notify you when a rule has been applied. To edit the rules, click Edit your filter rules. You can then select how to filter which messages. This can be extremely helpful when used in conjunction with the spam filter that the University of Iowa has. You can find out more information about avoid spam and using the filters in Webmail by clicking here.
Also under "Mail Management" is "Deleting and Moving Messages", which allows you to change whether or not when you delete a message a copy is placed in the trash as opposed to a strike through line being placed through the messages title until you click Purge Deleted. If you ever go over your mailbox quota, you will have to switch this option so that the messages your are trying to delete are not just being copied to the trash folder. Yet another selection is "Maintenance Options" which has to do with renaming and deleting old sent-mail folders automatically.
If you click the Search button, you will be taken to a page where you can search through all the folders in your mailbox for a specific word or words. You can specify if the results should include messages that you have either already read or already replied to, as well as being able to specify the dates that the message was sent/received.
By clicking on Address Book, you will be presented with a page allowing you to search the University of Iowa "White Pages" (also known as LDAP). You can also search, browse, add, and remove entries to your personal address book. Another important feature present is the ability to import and export your address book in multiple formats.
The Logout button is the most important menu button of all. Never end your Webmail session by just closing the browser window; always click the logout button first!
You can also find more extensive information about Webmail from the ITS E-Mail Support pages about Webmail. This page is located at http://cs.its.uiowa.edu/email/webmail/.
Last Updated: 04/24/2008