Using mail.umich.edu for E-Mail on the Web, continued
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U-M Information Technology Central Services * S4297 * July 2002
Appendix A: Setting Options/Preferences
You can set a number of preferences -- or options -- in mail.umich.edu. To make selections, click the Options icon at the top of any page.
Click an option heading to set the options/preferences for that area.
Appendix B: Creating and Using a Signature File
A signature file contains text that automatically appears at the bottom of each e-mail message you compose.
- In the icon bar at the top of any page, click Options.
- In the Your Information column, click Personal Information.
- On the Personal Information page, click Edit your identities.
- Select Default identity from the Your identities pop-up menu, type your signature text, and click the Create button.
- Confirmation that the change you have made to your default identity -- adding a signature file -- has been made will appear at the top of your window.
Appendix C: Setting Mail Filters
You can use mail.umich.edu to filter your mail by automatically deleting or filing messages with certain characteristics that you specify. You do this by defining filter rules (for example, deleting all messages from a particular address) and then telling my.umich when to apply those rules (for example, every time your INBOX is refreshed).
Why Use Filters?
- To organize your incoming e-mail:
- You might, for, example, have all the mail from a listserv that you subscribe to filed in a folder. You can then review those messages at your leisure without them cluttering up your INBOX.
- You might, for example, have all the mail from one of your professors filed in a folder for easy reference.
- To reduce your exposure to SPAM
- You might, for example, have all the mail with the word "advertisement" deleted.
- You might, for example, have all the mail from a particular SPAM sender deleted.
NOTE: If you set a filter to delete certain mail, that mail will be marked for deletion, but will remain in your mailbox until you purge deleted messages.
WARNING! Define your filter rules carefully to avoid inadvertently deleting or filing important mail.
Defining Filter Rules
- In the icon bar at the top of any page, click Options.
- In the Mail Management column, click Filters.
- Click Edit my filter rules.
- Specify how you want your filter rule to work.
- Check the checkbox(es) next to the field names you want to filter by. If for example, you want to filter mail from a particular sender, check the From checkbox.
- In the Text field, type the text by which you want to filter. This might be an e-mail address, a word, a name, or a phrase.
- Click either the delete message or move message to radio button, depending on what you want to happen to the filtered mail. If you want the messages moved to a folder, select that folder from the select folder pop-up list.
- Click the Create button.
- Repeat Step 4 to create more filter rules if you wish.
- Specify the order in which you want the filters applied by ordering the list of filter rules. Filters are applied in the order they appear in the list.
Specifying When to Apply Filters
- In the icon bar at the top of any page, click Options.
- In the Mail Management column, click Filters.
- Check the appropriate checkbox to indicate when you want your filter rules applied.
- Click Save Options.
Applying Filters Shortcut
To apply your filters at any time, click the Apply Filters icon at the top of your INBOX.
Appendix D: The Software Behind mail.umich.edu
The e-mail software used for mail.umich.edu is called IMP, which stands for Internet Messaging Program. IMP is written by the Horde Project. For more information about the Horde Project and IMP, see the Horde Project's web page.
Appendix E: What to Do If a Page Looks Garbled
Some web browsers on some machines may have trouble displaying pages properly when you use the browser's Back button to move from page to page.
If you get a page that looks something like this (with a big chunk of exposed Javascript), you can correct the problem by turning off page compression:
To Turn Off Page Compression
- In the icon bar at the top of the page, click Options.
- At the bottom of the Other Options column, click the Advanced Options heading.
- Uncheck the Compress pages checkbox.
- Click Save Changes.
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