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WebMail Pro is web-browser-based e-mail programs that can be used by anyone whose e-mail address ends in umn.edu, the University of Minnesota's domain.

WebMail Pro utilizes the IMAP protocol to retrieve mail. You can sort messages in various ways, categorize messages into separate mailboxes, do mass deletes, customize the interface to suit your tastes, make group lists, etc. WebMail Pro uses the same mailboxes as Pine so you can alternate between one and the other if you wish.

Sources of Trouble

If you use WebMail Pro and at a later time use a POP3 based e-mail package to fetch your mail, some inconvenient things can happen.

First, IMAP stores mail and mailbox meta-information in a dummy e-mail message which it hides from you. Going back to POP3 will expose this sneaky message, which contains a dire looking warning "Do not delete this message", without much more explanation. This alarms some people and annoys others. Deleting the message may confuse IMAP based e-mail clients when you next use them, and the message will get re-created next time you fetch mail via IMAP.

Second, if you create IMAP mailboxes (other than the main incoming mailbox that is common both to POP3 and IMAP) on the server and move any messages into them, these messages will be inaccessible to POP3 clients. Some people will think the messages have disappeared or been deleted.

Third, after using an IMAP mailer, some POP clients will think everything in the inbox has become new (which, in a strict byte-for-byte sense, it has) and re-download everything.

To use WebMail Pro:

1. Start up your web browser and go to www.mail.umn.edu
2. Click the option that says: WebMail Pro: IMAP based webmail.
3. Enter your Internet ID and password.
4. WebMail Pro will automatically fetch all new messages (and any old messages that you have not deleted) from the mail server and will list them for you in a typical inbox format.

The Mailbox:

Each message in the mailbox has a checkbox and each folder has a radio button. You can select the checkboxes to select a message and select the radio buttons to select a target destination. The actual name of the folder must be clicked to open the folder. To read a message, simply click on the subject line of the message. To check for new mail, hit the Refresh button or the little circle arrow next to the folder name.

Below is a table of functions that can be performed in the mailbox.

Reading a message:

To read a message, click on the subject line of the message. You can read, delete, forward, reply to or just leave the message as is.

Below is a table of functions that can be performed in the message:

Writing a new message:

Click on the Write New Message button. You'll get a blank form with standard to, subject and message sections. Fill in the form using WebMail's simple text editor; the editor supports standard Edit/Cut/Copy/Paste functions.

Each message has three basic parts:

1. The e-mail address of the person you are sending the message to.
2. A subject line that will be seen by the recipient.
3. The message itself.

E-mail addersses follow this format: name@address.domain -- for example, user1234@umn.edu -- in this example the domain name is umn.edu.

Tip:

Proofread addresses carefully. If you type the e-mail address incorrectly, the message cannot be delivered and will be returned to you.

Below are an explanation of each of the lines in the message form:

Shows where the message is coming from. Anything typed in this From box will appear in the From column of the recipients mailbox. Your real email address will still appear in the From box.

The To box specifies the address of the person to whom you would like your message sent. To specify an address, type the address into the text box and click either the To: button or the CC: button next to the text box.

Tip: "To:" refers to addresses to whom the message is directed toward. "CC:" (carbon copy) refers to addresses to whom the message is not directed, but to whom you would like to receive a copy of the message.

You can also enter names from your Address Book by clicking on the pulldown menu, selecting a name from the address book and click "To:" or "CC:" The address will be listed in the heading of the message.

To send to multiple recipients, continue this process by typing the address and clicking "To:" or "CC:" The addresses will be listed in the heading of the message.

To delete a recipient, click on the checkbox next to the name and click the Delete Checked Items button.

Click in the text entry box to the right of the Subject label and type the subject line. (A good subject line is brief yet descriptive. People who get many messages sometimes decide when, or if, to read a message based on its subject line.)

Attachments:

To send an attachment, first, click to the Browse: button next to the attachment text box. Navigate on your computer to the file you would like attached, select the file and click Open. Finally, click the Attach File button. The file will be listed in the heading of the message.

To send multiple attachments, continue this process of clicking the Browse button, select the file and click Attach File. The files will be listed in the heading of the message.

To delete an attachment, click on the check box next to the file and click the Delete Checked Items.

Message:

Click in the message section and type your message. Scroll bars will appear for larger messages. You can use the standard Edit>Paste command to insert information you copy from other electronic documents. You can also use the standard Edit>Cut/Copy/Paste command to move sections of the message you are writing. After you are finished writing, click the Send This Message button to have your message delivered. If you decide you do not want to send the message, click the Cancel button.

What is the difference between Reply and Forward in WebMail Pro?

A reply is a message that is sent in response to a message received, whereas, a forward is a message that is sent to another user.

In both cases, a copy of the message is created automatically and can be sent to someone else.

However, a reply will put the original sender's address in the To: line and will add an "Re:" to the beginning of the subject line. A forward will leave the To: line blank and add a "Fwd:" to the beginning of the subject line.

Forward

Use Forward to send a "pretty" copy.

When you use the Forward option four things happen:
1. A new Write Message window opens that contains the entire contents of the message.
2. The To: section is blank.
3. The subject line of the forwarded message is repeated and included the "Fwd:" label.
4. In the message section the original message is bracketed to indicate where the forwarded message begins and ends. (Tip: You can add comments or salutations to the beginning and end of the message.)

Reply

1. A new Write Message window opens that contains the entire contents of the message.
2. The To: section contains the e-mail address of the message's sender.
3. The subject line of the forwarded message is repeated and includes the "Re:" label.
4. In the message section, the > character and a space is automatically added to the beginning of each line, making it easier for you to comment on the message line by line.

To Edit or Not to Edit

Regardless of which option you select, you can delete material that is not relevant to your current posting; and, where appropriate, use ellipses (…) or a label (such as "excerpts") in indicate that material is missing. Electronic etiquette advises keeping postings brief. Common etiquette frowns on edits that distort the writer's original intent.

Viewing Raw Message Text

The raw message text is also referred to as an SMTP header. SMTP is a widely accepted TCP/IP (Internet) e-mail standard. In communications programs, the header contains detailed routing information such as addresses of the originating, handling and destination servers. Like most e-mail programs, WebMail does not display this information when you look at messages in your Inbox. However, selecting the View Raw Message Text button opens a new window with the SMTP header.

Address Book

You the address book to make a list of common e-mail addresses that you send to or other e-mail addresses that you need to have saved.

To add to the address book, click on the Address Book folder. In the Address Book, simply type in the name and the e-mail address and click Add Address.

To edit an address, select the checkbox next to the name of the address you would like edited and click the Edit Checked Addresses button.

To create a group of addresses, select the checkboxes of the name you would like grouped and click the Group Checked Addresses button.

To delete a name from the Address Book, select the checkbox next to the name and click the Delete Checked Entries button.

Preferences

Below are a list of preferences you can have set by clicking on the Preferences folde:

You can choose the appearance of WebMail by selecting a visual theme.

You can choose to have the placement of the buttons at the top, bottom or both.

This is the name recipients will see when they receive your e-mails.

The signature is text that will appear at the bottom of every outgoing message.

The attribution line appears at the tops of replies.