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.

Screen shot of Options icon.

Click an option heading to set the options/preferences for that area.

Screen shot of options areas.

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.

  1. In the icon bar at the top of any page, click Options.

  2. In the Your Information column, click Personal Information.
  3. On the Personal Information page, click Edit your identities.
  4. Screen shot of the Edit Your Identities link.

  5. Select Default identity from the Your identities pop-up menu, type your signature text, and click the Create button.
  6. Screen shot of Identities window.

  7. 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.
  8. Screen shot of confirmation message.

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?

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

  1. In the icon bar at the top of any page, click Options.
  2. In the Mail Management column, click Filters.
  3. Click Edit my filter rules.
  4. Screen shot of Edit my filter rules link.

  5. Specify how you want your filter rule to work.
  6. Screen shot showing steps a-d below.

    1. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. Click the Create button.

  7. Repeat Step 4 to create more filter rules if you wish.
  8. 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.
  9. Screen shot showing ordering of filter rules.

Specifying When to Apply Filters

  1. In the icon bar at the top of any page, click Options.
  2. In the Mail Management column, click Filters.
  3. Check the appropriate checkbox to indicate when you want your filter rules applied.
  4. Screen shot of choices regarding when you can have your filter rules applied, such as when you log on or your mailbox is refreshed.

  5. Click Save Options.

Applying Filters Shortcut

To apply your filters at any time, click the Apply Filters icon at the top of your INBOX.

Screen shot of Applying Filters icon.

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:

Screen shot of garbled page requiring that page compression be turned off.

To Turn Off Page Compression

  1. In the icon bar at the top of the page, click Options.
  2. At the bottom of the Other Options column, click the Advanced Options heading.
  3. Uncheck the Compress pages checkbox.
  4. Click Save Changes.

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