PostOffice is a versatile,
web-based IMAP email program that allows you to read, sort, compose, send, and
delete email, all through your web browser. The PostOffice can be used by any or all
of the email accounts on your virtual server. PostOffice uses the IMP software
developed by horde.org (For more information, please visit http://www.horde.org/imp/about/). Compaq laptop batteries
To access your PostOffice
mailbox, point your browser to the following URL,
where domain.com is the actual domain name of your virtual server:
http://mail.domain.com/postoffice/
The following Login screen
welcomes you to the PostOffice program:
Enter your Username and Password to login to the PostOffice. Then, click the log in button. When you log into PostOffice, you are taken directly to the Inbox. The
below figure
demonstrates a sample Inbox that contains two new messages:
From the Inbox, you can
read, reply to and delete email, or move it to a different folder.
The PostOffice web
interface includes a menu on the left panel of each page, as shown below. The PostOffice menu includes the following links:
Folder list.
The folder list [INBOX] is a dropdown menu of all the mail folders to which you
are currently subscribed. You can switch to a subscribed folder by
selecting the name of the folder from the dropdown menu.
Check Inbox. The
Check Inbox link takes you directly to the inbox, and triggers the
PostOffice to send and receive messages.
Compose. The
Compose feature allows you to compose and send email messages, and
includes the ability to attach files.
Contacts. The
Contacts feature allows you to create and maintain an online address book
of personal contacts.
Folders. The
Folders feature allows you to create, rename, and delete mail folders.
Preferences. The
Preferences feature allows you to edit the signature, full name, and
"From" line that appears in messages you send. You can also
change your preferred language.
Logout. The Logout
link logs you out of the PostOffice program.
The following sections
explain in greater detail features that are available through the PostOffice
program.
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Managing Your PostOffice Email Messages
You can read an email
message by clicking on the Subject link associated with the
message, or reply to the sender by clicking the From link.
Incoming messages display
the following properties:
Date | From | Subject | Size
To view a message, click
the Subject link for the email message from within your Inbox or another
subscribed folder. Once you open a message, you can reply directly to the
sender, forward it to another recipient, or delete the message from your
mailbox.
Composing Email Messages
To compose a new message,
either click the Compose link from the PostOffice menu, or reply directly
to a message in your mail folders by clicking on the email address of the
sender.
When you create or reply to
a message, a new browser window opens and displays the form for composing a
message (see below figure for an example of a composed message).
An email message
consists of several headers, followed by the message body. The following
header fields are required to successfully send an email message:
From – Displays to the recipient who the message is
coming from. You can edit the From header by clicking the Preferences
link from the PostOffice menu.
To – The address or addresses you wish to send the email
to. If you clicked on an email address, that address automatically appears
in the To header of the email message.
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In addition to the required
From and To headers, you can also fill out the following optional
fields for your email message:
-
Cc (Carbon copy) – Any additional email address or addresses to which you wish to send a copy of the message. The Cc field is often used to indicate to the recipient that you do not expect a direct response.
-
Bcc (Blind carbon copy) – Bcc is the same as Cc, except that the recipient's address does not display in the To header of the message. The Bcc field is often used to confidentially include a recipient into an email discussion.
-
Subject – Although the Subject is optional, it is good practice to always include a subject with your email message. A subject makes it easy to locate a message at a later time.
-
Attachment – If you know the location of a file on your computer that you wish to attach to the message, type the path into the Attachment field. Otherwise, click
Browse to search your computer's folders for the file. Once you locate the file, click
Attach to include it in your email message.
Finally, you can write and
send your message, or cancel the message to close the window.
Moving and Copying Email Messages
To move or copy a message
to another folder, select the destination folder from the drop-down box labeled
"Selected mail to:" and click either Move or Copy. You
can only move or copy a message into an existing folder; you can create new
folders by clicking on the Folders link on the left menu, as explained in
the Managing Folders section of this guide.
Deleting Email Messages
To delete a message, check
the box to the left of the message and then click Delete. A garbage can
icon appears, showing that the message is marked for deletion. The message will
not be permanently deleted until you click the Empty trash link.
Managing Your PostOffice Contact List
To manage your
contacts, click the Contacts link from the PostOffice menu. A form
appears, as shown in the below figure, which allows you to perform the following actions:
-
Add, modify, or remove a contact from your Contact List
-
Select and Insert a contact into the To, Cc, or Bcc field of an
email message
Adding Email Contacts
To create a new email
contact, follow the steps below:
1. Click the Contacts link from within
PostOffice. The Contacts form appears.
2. Fill in the following information for the contact you wish to add:
Address. Type a valid email address for the contact.
Nickname. Type a unique name for the contact. The nickname can be entered into the To header of your message as a shortcut to the full email address.
Fullname. Type the full name of the email contact. The full name will display in the To header of a message the contact receives from you.
3. Select Add Contact from the dropdown menu and click Submit.
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Modifying Email Contacts
To update an existing email
contact, follow the steps below:
- Click the Contacts link from within PostOffice. The Contacts form appears.
- Choose the name of the contact from the dropdown list and click Select.
- Make the desired changes to the address, nickname, and/or full name of
the email contact.
- Select Add Contact from the dropdown menu and click Submit.
Adding a Contact to an Email Message
When sending an email
message, you can enter the Nickname of an email contact into the To field
of your message, or click the Contacts link within the message to select
an entry from your contact list. You can then choose to insert the email contact
into the To, Cc, or Bcc field of the email message by clicking the appropriate Insert
into… button.
Setting Your PostOffice Preferences
To customize your PostOffice settings, click the Preferences link from the PostOffice menu. A form for updating your preferences appears, as shown in
the below figure. From this page, you can perform the following actions:
- Edit the default signature, full name, and From header that you wish to display in the email messages you send through
PostOffice.
Change the language settings for all the PostOffice text. This option does not affect text that is created within an email message or header.
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Adding and Updating Your PostOffice
Preferences
To add a default signature,
type the text into the box provided. The signature will be added to the end of
any email you send using the PostOffice program.
Similarly, your full name
and "From" line entries will be added to the From header, in the
format:
"Full Name"
Additionally, if English is
not your preferred language, you can choose from Czech, Danish, German, Spanish,
French, Dutch, Belgian Dutch, Norwegian, Portugese, Brazilian Portugese,
Russian, Slovak or Swedish. This will change the text created by PostOffice
itself, but will not change any text within an email or field.
To activate your default
settings, click the Save preferences button.
Managing Your PostOffice Folders
To manage your PostOffice
mail folders, click the Folders link from the PostOffice menu (refer to Figure
5
). A form for managing your folder subscriptions appears, as shown in the
below figure.
The folder manager
allows you to perform the following actions:
Subscribe
folders. Subscribed folders appear along with the Inbox
in the dropdown folder list of the PostOffice menu. By default, new
folders are automatically subscribed.
Unsubscribe
folders. When you unsubscribe a folder, you can no
longer view messages within that folder.
Create new folders in your mailbox.
Rename folders within your mailbox.
Delete folders from your mailbox.