Navigation
Email Help
Navigating your email:
Folders
You may wish to navigate to your class email page in order to see what is being discussed below. You should find a link to email (depending on the instructor's course design) on the homepage and/or the navigation bar on the left side side of the page. Among other things, you will be presented with a list of possible folders for your email. Your list may be different than the list shown below. The four folders shown below are the default folders for WebCT classes.
- Inbox: Contains all messages that have been received.
- Outbox: Contains all messages that have been sent.
- Draft: Messages that you have written, but not sent.
- All: Contains all messages, both sent and received.
Menu buttons
There are menu buttons above the list of folders. These buttons are used for a variety of purposes.
- Use the Compose Message button for a new email message.
- Use the Search button to search your email message with several possible criteria.
- There are several options available to you under Message Settings.
- With the Options: Folders button, you can create new folders here. You can also rename or delete folders.
Reading Messages
After choosing a folder to view, you should see something similar to the picture above. In this case the view is "Threaded." You can tell this since Threaded is not in a button, but Unthreaded is in a button, waiting to be pushed (which would set the page at Unthreaded if clicked). Threaded means that the messages are arranged by Subject and Author. Note the triangles in the first column, some pointing down and others pointing to the right. The arrows pointing to the right indicate that there are threaded messages that could be viewed. The triangles pointing down expose the subject and author of the messages within that thread.
If you note the exposed messages near the bottom with the subject of "Personal Information" an... you will see that the first message is from the student to Ralph Stanley. The second message is slightly indented and shows an arrow. This indicates that this is a reply (from the person logged in) to the student. Threaded messages will show this indentation as replies to messages are made. This is generally more obvious in Discussions.
Unthreaded mail will show the messages in the order they were received or sent. Utilize folders to keep messages arranged and the mailboxes clean.
Explanation of mail commands
- Mark All As Read Marks all messages as if they have been read.
- Update Listing Works like the refresh button for the mail frame.
- All Shows all messages, read or unread. If selected, the "Show All" will NOT be in a box.
- Unread Shows only unread messages. If selected, the "Show unread" will NOT be in a box.
- Compile By clicking in the check box next to the subject line you select a message. Compile will create a single page with all the selected messages shown. This is very convenient for consolidating messages.
- Mark As Read Marks selected messages as read.
- Mark As Unread Marks selected messages as unread.
After reading the email
After reading your email you can reply by pushing the "Reply" button. If you wish to include the text of the email in your reply, push the "Quote" button. You can forward it to others by pushing the "Forward" button. To save the message to your computer, click "Download."
Writing an email
You can start writing a new email by clicking "Compose Mail Message" in your mailbox. A box will pop up looking like the picture above. Click the "Browse" button next to the "Send to:" box and click on the person to whom you wish to send an email message. You can select more than one person by clicking names while holding down the control key. Type the subject of your email into the "Subject:" box and then write your email in the "Message" box.
Attachments
To add an attachment to your email, click "Browse" next to the "Attachments" box. Navigate to the file you want to attach and open it. Click "Attach file" to attach the message to your email.
When you are ready to send, you can click "Preview" to see how your message will look after it is sent. Click "Send" to send your message.