Using FirstClass Mailbox

From TechHelp - MCLA's Technology Help Center

Using the Features of the MCLA E-Campus – FirstClass System

FirstClass Mail

Whether you are sending a message to someone else’s personal mailbox in the E-Campus system, posting to a public conference, or sending a message to someone outside the system using an email address, you are using the same function: FirstClass mail (email).

FirstClass mail is managed through your mailbox. Mail has built-in word processing features. You can use, fonts, colors, tabbing, and tables. You can paste or drag and drop images right into the body of an email – no need to attach them. Of course, if you send images to people outside the system, you will need to attach the images to allow them to be viewed!

Tip: The E-Campus system uses real names for all users inside the system. No need to remember email addresses for anyone within the MCLA community. Just type in a part of their name in the To: field and press return. The name will be entered for you, or you will see a list of names from which you can choose.

Tip: You can check the Directory to see the names of the users on the system. Choose COLLABORATE from the menus at the top, then Directory.

A conference is simply a place where mail messages are grouped by type and purpose. There are conferences for discussions, for events postings, for announcements, and so on. Rather than send a message to each individual user, the system encourages you to post in a single public location for all to see.

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Using Mail

Your mailbox holds all of your incoming and outgoing mail. To open your mailbox, double-click the mailbox icon.

When you open your mailbox you see a list of mail files, showing the sender, the subject of the message, and the date and time it arrived or was sent.

A red flag next to a message means that a new message has arrived and is unread, while

a white flag indicates that the message has been created but not yet sent.

You may also notice a tiny document or paperclip icon indicating that an attached file was sent or received with a message.

To read a message, double-click on it. A new window will open which has two sections, the top shows the message header information (From, Subject, To and CC) and the bottom contains the message body or text.

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Composing a New Message

To begin a new message, choose “New Message” from the MESSAGE menu or click the “New Message” button in the toolbar. This is the envelope icon on the top left.

A new, empty message is created and displayed in a new window. Note that the message already includes the sender’s name (your name). The date and time will appear on the message once it has been sent.

Tip: If you open a conference to which you want to send a message and you have access to post, the message item will be pre-addressed to that particular conference.

In the message header, click in the subject field and enter a subject.

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Addressing Messages to User Mailboxes or Public Conferences

· To address the message, In the To: and CC: (Carbon Copy) fields, enter individual’s name or address, or a list of names in the fields. Press Enter/Return after each entry.

(The “CC” field functions in the same way as the “To” field, each person in either field receives the same copy of the message.)

You do not need to know the "email address" of others who are on the same system. The Directory of users on the system allows you to enter partial names. The directory will find the correct name and complete the address. This is helpful if you cannot recall a person’s last name or the correct spelling of a name. If a number of similar names are available, a list will appear from which you may choose.

If you make a mistake when entering a name, you may delete the name from the To: field by clicking once on the name, and pressing the delete key on the keyboard. You must press Enter/Return after each name added or deleted from the To: field.

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Sending Messages

When the message is complete, choose “Send” from the MESSAGE menu or click on the SEND button in the toolbar.

A red postage stamp will appear on the top left corner of the message to indicate that the mail message has been sent. If the message isn’t addressed properly, an error may appear on your screen, or the “Send” command may be unavailable. If this occurs, check that the message is addressed correctly; be sure to press Enter/Return after each name.

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Unsending Messages

Even after you’ve sent a message to another user, you can unsend it to make corrections, send it to a different person, or add additional recipients to the message. Select the message from your mailbox, or open the message, and select “Unsend” from the MESSAGE menu and your message will be retracted from its destination. A hollow or white flag appears next to the message in your mailbox, indicating that the message is incomplete. You can open the message and make any additions or corrections to the message, or the names of recipients on the message. When ready, select “Send” from the MESSAGE menu to resend the message.

Note:

A message addressed to a user outside of FirstClass (i.e., an internet message) cannot be unsent. You may only unsend messages from the original copy in your mailbox. If you have deleted your copy of a message, you cannot unsend it.

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Replying to Messages

You may use the “Reply” feature to automatically produce an addressed reply message with an automatically generated Subject. To reply, open the message to which you wish to reply, and select “Reply” from the MESSAGE menu (or click on the reply button in the toolbar). This command uses your Reply Preferences, which can be set in the Preferences window.

Additional reply options are available by selecting “Reply Special” from the MESSAGE menu. These include

· Reply with Quote – selecting this option includes the text of the original message in your reply and annotates the text as a “quote” from the original sender

· Reply All – sends a reply to the sender and any other recipients of the original message

· Reply Sender – sends a reply to only the sender of the message, removing the addresses of any other recipients of the original message

· Reply Conference – sends a reply to the conference in which the original message resides, eliminating the address of the sender or any other recipients of the original message

· Reply Originator – sends a reply to the original sender of a forwarded message, eliminating the address of the sender who forwarded the message to you

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Forwarding Messages

If you receive a message that you wish to forward to someone else, or if you wish to re-send a copy of one of your own messages, you may use the “Forward” feature to create a complete, unaddressed copy of the message. To forward a message, highlight or open the message, select “Forward” from the MESSAGE menu, address the message and send it.

Messages which have been forwarded will show a list of the previous senders in the “From:” field.

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Viewing a Message’s History

Every message you create or receive has a history. This history records everything that has happened to the message on the system: when a message was created, when it was sent, when another E-Campus user has read a message you have sent, or when an internet message has left the system. The history of a message is viewed by selecting “History” from the MESSAGE menu, when a message is either open, or selected.

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Message Expiry and Disk Space Limitations

The E-Campus system takes measures to clear itself of older messages and make space available for new ones by deleting messages after a set expiration period. Conferences may have a custom expiry depending on the nature of the conference.

Most messages in public conferences are set to be automatically deleted after 30 days or less. Course areas are usually set so that messages do not expire.

Personal messages (i.e., those in your mailbox) are set to never expire on the E-Campus system. However, you do have a limit on how much space you can use. Once you’ve used your allocated space, you will have to save old messages and clean up your mailbox to send new messages.

There is an indicator at the top of the screen to let you know how much space you have left.

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Saving & Printing Messages

You may wish to save a message and its contents as a file on your computer. To save a message as a text file on your computer, open the message (it must be open!) and choose “Save As…” from the FILE menu. The subject of the message is entered as the default file name, and the computer prompts you to designate a location in which to save it. Click the SAVE button to save the message.

If your computer is connected to a printer, you may print any message. To print, select “Print” from the FILE menu. The printed message appears exactly as it does on the screen, including the message header.

Tip: Summarize many messages into a single document to help you to organize and save your information.

The summarize feature essentially “stitches” a series of messages together in one document, which you could then Print, or Save as a file to your computer or floppy disk.

Begin by selecting several messages, holding the SHIFT key to select multiple messages, or hold the COMMAND or APPLE key (Macintosh) or CTRL key (Windows). With messages selected, select “Summarize Selected messages” from the COLLABORATE menu.

A new document window opens, and slowly the message header and text information is extracted from the selected messages and appears in the document window. If you’ve selected a large number of messages, this process may take a few minutes.

CAUTION: The summary window is only temporary, and will disappear when closed. You must save or print it in order to keep it! Page Breaks are inserted automatically between each message; please keep this in mind if printing!

This feature may allow you to delete messages more readily, to clean up your mailbox, or essentially archive messages from your MailBox to a floppy or your computer’s hard drive. You may also wish to archive a conference (such as a committee or other private conference).

CAUTION: This process does not also summarize attachments, only message text and the heading (to/from/subject/date) information.

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Deleting Messages

You may delete any messages in your own mailbox at any time. To delete a message, click on the message once in your mailbox to select it, then press the delete key on the keyboard. Or, select “Delete” from the FILE menu. FirstClass always asks if you’re sure you want to delete the message. Deleted messages cannot be recovered.

Note: you cannot delete messages from conferences which have been sent by other users; you may delete your own messages, however.

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Undeleting Messages

When you delete a message (or a file, or group of messages, or a folder), The FirstClass E-Campus system hides these from your view. In order to recover them, you must first bring them back into view by selecting “Show Deleted Items” from the VIEW menu. All of today’s deleted items reappear in their original locations with a tiny trash can icon next to them. Next, select the item(s) to be recovered and select “Undelete” from the FILE menu. The message has been recovered fully. You may now “Hide Deleted Items” by selecting this option in the VIEW menu.

CAUTION: Undelete is only available for items deleted the same day. Every evening/early morning Trash Collection is processed by the server automatically, which purges all deleted items from the server. After Trash Collection has completed, a new “day” has begun, and the previous day’s deleted items are unrecoverable.