Webmail @ Rensselaer FAQ

Webmail @ Rensselaer allows users to access their e-mail from anywhere using an HTML compliant web browser such as Internet Explorer or Netscape. The first place to look for assistance is the Webmail @ Rensselaer built-in help (click on Help at the top or the bottom of the web page). Below is some more information. We recommend that you join the WEBMAIL-ANNOUNCE-L mailing list, which provides timely announcements about changes in Webmail.

General
Starting and Quitting Webmail
Using Webmail
Webmail Options
Managing Your Webmail Quota
Web Browser Configuration and Navigation
Problems

General

1. What is Webmail @ Rensselaer?
   Webmail @ Rensselaer lets you send and receive e-mail using a web browser. Webmail @ Rensselaer is implemented using EmuMail's Webmail 4 product with many local modifications to the base product. A diagrammatic explanation of how EmuMail works can be found at http://www.emumail.com/how.html.
   
   
2. Do I have to use Webmail?
   Webmail is an additional option for sending and reading e-mail. You can continue to use your present e-mail program if you choose.
   
   
3. Can I use Webmail sometimes and another e-mail program, say Eudora, other times?
   You can use other e-mail clients in addition to Webmail but you will need to understand how each mail client handles mail left on the POP server (mail.rpi.edu) to avoid the "disappearing" mail syndrome. No mail is ever lost or actually disappears, but without an understanding of how each mail client operates, it may seem that way to you.
   
   
4. Can I use Webmail from off campus?
   Yes. You access Webmail off campus the same way you access Webmail on campus, via the URL http://webmail.rpi.edu.

Starting and Quitting Webmail

1. How do I start Webmail?
   Start Webmail via the URL http://webmail.rpi.edu.



2. What if I can't login to Webmail?
   It's likely that your web browser is not accepting cookies. To fix this:
   
   In Netscape, go to the Edit menu:
   Edit --> Preferences --> Advanced: Cookies: "Accept all cookies"
   
   In Internet Explorer, go to the Tools menu:
   Tools --> Internet Properties --> Security --> Custom Level
   --> Cookies --> Allow Per-session cookies --> "Enable"
   
   
3. How do I quit Webmail?
   You can close the web browser or click on Logout at the top or the bottom of the web page.
   
   
4. What happens if I leave my browser open and don't logout from Webmail @ Rensselaer?
   Webmail logs you off after 30 minutes of inactivity so the session expires and you need to enter your password again. There is a separate 30-second expiry for holding open databases. This shorter expiry is why the back button doesn't always work.

Using Webmail

1. Why isn't HTML code being displayed?
   To display HTML embedded in a message body, you need to select the HTML option in the Display list. Click on Display.
   
   The Full Header option in the Display list shows the message plus all of its header lines. The Basic Header option in the Display list shows the message plus all of its From, To, Date, Subject, and Attachment header lines. The For Printer option in the Display list shows the message in a format suitable for printing and starts a print dialog to print the message. The Unformatted option in the Display list shows the message in the raw format it was actually transmitted in including all header lines, message text, and encoded attachment.
   
   
2. I only have a few messages, but I'm out of quota. Why?
   The default mailbox quota is 10MB. Everything in your mailbox on the Webmail server (not the POP server), including attachments and saved outgoing messages count towards that quota. If you have a few messages in your inbox with large attachments, or a lot of mail in your outgoing messages folders you can be over quota.
   
   If you wish to change your Webmail quota, you may do so by starting Webmail and going to the Options page.
   
   You will be able to increase your quota to either 30MB or 50MB. Quota fees are $6/month for 30MB, and $12 month for 50MB.
   
   You can subsequently also decrease your quota (down to the default of 10MB), but you will be billed for the largest quota you selected during that month. However, you cannot decrease your quota below the mail quota currently being used. (For example, if you have 15MB of mail on the system, you cannot set your quota to 10MB.)
   
   Once you have changed your quota, the RCS Account User Statistics program, located at the URL http://jweb.rpi.edu:8980/rpiusage/, will display the new information; you can also check your other RCS account statistics. You may also access this page by selecting the RCS Account User Statistics link from the Academic Computing Services homepage.
   
   
3. I'm composing a message, but changed my mind. How do I cancel it?
   Click on Cancel Message.
   
   
4. Why does my session time out before I've finished composing a message?
   Webmail is currently configured to log you out after 30 minutes of inactivity. And while we understand that it's frustrating to have your session terminated, please realize that this measure was put in place as a security precaution. Since Webmail can be accessed from any computer at any location, and not exclusively from the relative privacy of your own machine, we realized that a Webmail user who leaves his session unattended at a public access computer is leaving themselves vulnerable. As a result, the automatic logout was implemented to prevent such users' sessions from falling into the wrong hands. The best solution is to compose your message elsewhere and save it as text and copy it to Webmail.
   
   
5. How do I save a copy of each outgoing message?
   By default (unchecked), a copy of every outgoing message is saved in a folder named sent-mail-mmm-yyyy, where mmm is the three-letter abbreviation for the current month, and yyyy is the current year. The DON'T save this message in my outbox. checkbox appears just above the right hand corner of the composition window. Use this checkbox to selectively save a copy of each message you send.
   
   
6. Why did Delete Selected Messages not delete all of the selected messages?
   Only the messages selected on the current screen, that is, the screen you are viewing when you click Delete Selected Messages, will be deleted. Messages selected on previous pages are unselected when you navigate to the next page.
   
   
7. Why doesn't deleting a message change the reported amount of Your Quota Used?
   Deleting a message moves the message from the current folder to the TRASH folder. To remove a message from the Webmail server, you must delete it from the TRASH folder. When you delete a message from the TRASH folder, you will notice a decrease in Your Quota Used.
   
   
8. How do I filter messages?
   To define a filter, click on Options and fill in the information under Filters:. To apply a filter, click Apply Filters. The filters apply to all messages in the current folder, not just selected messages. When creating a filter, the exact header value needs to be specified or the regular expression check box needs to be checked.
   
   
9. Under Address, there is a link Click here to perform an Internet Search for a friend or family. What does this link on the Address page do?
   This directs your query to ldap.bigfoot.com.
   
   
10. How do I print an attachment?
    When you click on an attachment, Webmail will display an approximation of the attachment (e.g., Word) or will display a File Download window. The most accurate way to print an attachment is to download the attachment and print it using the appropriate application. You can use the web browser’s built-in print functionality to print Webmail’s approximation of an attachment. Webmail's For Print display option shows Webmail's interpretation of the message on the screen for display and the printer (unless you cancel the print operation). Although most e-mail programs handle attachments separately, they are really stored with the rest of the message headers and message body.
    
    Note: Under Internet Explorer 5.5 with Service Patch 1, Webmail does NOT save attachments correctly.
    
    
11. How do I sort email by status/date/sender/subject?
    Click on the highlighted status/date/sender/subject line at the top of the index page.
    How do I reverse the sort by status/date/sender/subject?
    Click on the link a second time.
    
    
12. How do I export a message or a folder to Windows?
    To export a Webmail folder, click on Folders. In the Folders window, select a folder from the drop down list. After the Selected Folder Information: is updated, select Export Folder and then save the folder as a file on your PC. To export Webmail messages, select the messages in the Index window and click Export Selected Messages. Webmail is unaware of what kind of system (Windows, UNIX, MacOS, etc.) the folder will be exported to, and always ends each line with only a new line character (hex "0A") which is the UNIX convention. Windows systems expect each line to terminate with a carriage return followed by a new line character (hex "0D0A"). The exported messages and folders are compatible with the UNIX environment but not with Windows environment.
    
13. When are messages removed from the POP server?
    Messages are removed from the POP server when the message is deleted from the TRASH folder or when the message has been in Webmail the number of days specified by the Remove mail from POP server after N days option.
    
    

Webmail Options

• Autoload Attached Images:
  This option controls the automatic loading of attached images. The default value is No.
  
  
• Your Name:
  Use this option to set how your name appears when you send E-mail. When you enter your real name and E-mail address, your mail will list your real name before your address. For example : "fakej99@rpi.edu" would become "John Fake (fakej99@rpi.edu)".
  
  
• Your E-mail:
  If you would like to have the From: address of outgoing E-mail messages be different from the mail address you are logged into Webmail with, enter the new E-mail address in this location.
  
  
• Organization:
  Enter the name of your organization.
  
  
• Messages Per Page:
  This option sets the number of messages that are displayed per web page. The default value is 30. You can noticeably improve your performance by setting the "Messages Per Page" value to 10 or 15, instead of the default value of 30 (or any of the higher values.)
  
  
• Polling frequency in seconds:
  Webmail checks your e-mail while you are online. Enter the time interval, in seconds that you want Webmail to wait to check for new E-mail. For example, 1800 seconds means that Webmail will check for new e-mail every 30 minutes. The default value is 15 minutes. The minimum value is 15 minutes.
  
  
• Remove mail from POP server after N days (small N for faster mail check):
  This options controls how many days mail remains on the POP server after you have read the mail using Webmail. The default value is 10 days. The maximum value is 21 days. Note that a smaller value speeds up mail reading. If Webmail is your only e-mail client, a value of 0 is recommended.
  
  Mail is removed from the pop server when:
  
  • A Webmail user "empties the trash".
  • The number of days selected in the Webmail 'Remove mail from POP server after N days (small N for faster mail check)' option has been reached.
  • 21 days have elapsed since the message was first "read" (retrieved) from the pop server.

  Bear in mind, however, that a message retrieved from WebMail will not necessarily appear as "new" when later retrieved from another mail client such as Eudora.
  
  

• Use Realtime SPAM detection:
  This option enables SPAM detection. See http://maps.vix.com for details.
  
  
• Signature:
  This section is used for editing your signature. A signature is a piece of text that gets added to the end of each E-mail that you send out. Type or paste in the text that you would like to appear at the bottom of each E-mail that you send.
  
  
• Filters:
  Use this options section to define an e-mail filter.
  
  
• Webmail Files:
  Use this options section to upload files to Webmail or to view Webmail files.

Web Browser Configuration and Navigation

1. After reading and deleting a message, I used the web browser'’s Back button to see my list of messages. The message I deleted was still in my list of messages. Why?
   To see your list of messages, click on Index. Within Webmail, you should use Webmail's navigation buttons instead of your browser's Back and Forward buttons. Webmail’s navigation buttons automatically refresh the displayed web page while the web browser’s Back and Forward buttons do not. Some Webmail web pages, such as a message formatted for the printer, do not have any Webmail navigation buttons (you don’t want to print the navigation buttons). In these situations, you must use the web browser's Back button.
   
   
2. Which web browser should I use - Netscape or Internet Explorer?
   As with many web applications and/or web pages, there are some minor differences when using Webmail with Internet Explorer and Netscape. We do not know of any functions that work with one of these browsers and not the other, but there are some differences in presentation.
   
   
3. Why do I need JavaScript enabled?
   Webmail depends on JavaScript for some of its functionality.
   
   
4. Why do I need to enable cookies?
   Webmail depends on cookies for some of its functionality. If you do not enable cookies, you will not be able to login to Webmail.
   
   Web browsers use cookies to maintain state between sessions. The http protocol is stateless, while interactive applications require maintaining and updating state. This method has been abused by some advertisers attempting to build purchaser profiles, but it was designed for the simpler purpose of allowing interactive programs using the (mostly) protable browser interface.
   
   In the specific case of webmail, cookies are how webmail knows that the browser that asks to see the message from user1@rpi.edu to user2@rpi.edu is the same browser that authenticated itself as user2@rpi.edu. There are other methods of doing this, but Cookies are the simplest and best supported. And, all the methods reduce to keeping information on the client that tie together separate sessions. In the case of webmail, the cookie keeps session information which is good for a limited lifetime, and expired once "logout" is executed. It does not maintain any password on the client.
   
   Some other email programs, such as Eudora and Pine, do not require cookies since they re-authenticate with each connection (that is they retain and resend your password, or in the case of Pine on RCS the kerberos kpop.kpop token). Once a client such as Eudora has copies of the messages, it can display them as requested. Webmail, however, is the client and so can only display messages if the browser instance asking is the same browser instance that authenticated.
   

Problems

1. How can I provide feedback on Webmail?
   Send all problem reports, comments, and suggestions to WEBMAIL-SUPPORT-L@lists.rpi.edu.
   
   
2. Webmail does not save an attachment correctly. Why?
   Under Internet Explorer 5.5 with Service Patch 1, Webmail does NOT save attachments correctly. Instead of saving the attachment, what it saves as the HTML code of the page that you wanted to download the attachment from (instead of the actual attachment.) The same problem occurs when trying to export a webmail folder. Versions of Netscape 4.7 and older do not have have this problem. Internet Explorer 6.0 does not have this problem.