Using GroupWise via WebAccess a guide to getting started with email GroupWise is provided to enable people throughout the University of Nottingham to manage electronic mail on the PC desktop and via a World Wide Web (www) interface known as WebAccess. The latter version is described here. This Guide adopts a tutorial approach and assumes no previous experience of using email. Document: IS1025/Jul05 Replaces: Aug03
Title Contents Page 1. Introduction....................................... 1 1.1 What is GroupWise?...........................................1 1.2 What is electronic mail?........................................1 1.3 What you need to know before you start..........................1 1.3.1 Version of GroupWise....................................1 1.4 Understanding timing out from GroupWise WebAccess..............1 2. Starting GroupWise................................. 2 3. The GroupWise WebAccess Main window............. 3 3.1 Understanding the Toolbar.....................................3 3.2 Understanding the Folder List...................................3 3.2.1 Personal folders.........................................4 3.3 Understanding the Item List....................................4 4. Sending a mail message.............................. 6 4.1 Composing a message..........................................6 4.2 Using the Spell Checker........................................7 5. Managing mail you have received..................... 8 5.1 Replying to a message.........................................8 5.2 Deleting a message............................................8 5.3 Undeleting a message..........................................8 5.4 Marking a message unread (Read Later)...........................9 5.5 Forwarding a message.........................................9 6. Managing mail you have sent........................ 10 6.1 Checking the status of a message you have sent................... 10 6.2 Deleting or retracting a message you have sent.................... 11 7. Using folders...................................... 12 7.1 Creating a folder............................................. 12 7.2 Moving a message into a folder................................. 12 8. Using the Address Book............................. 13 8.1 Searching for an entry in the Address Book....................... 13 8.2 Addressing a message......................................... 14 8.3 Example of how to use the Address Book......................... 14 Continued IS1025: Using GroupWise via WebAccess Contents page i
9. Electronic mail addresses............................ 17 9.1 The format of email addresses.................................. 17 9.2 Finding out email addresses.................................... 17 9.2.1 Email addresses of other people at the University of Nottingham 18 9.2.2 Problems?............................................. 18 10. Some guidelines for electronic mail messages: Netiquette. 19 11. What to do if things go wrong........................ 20 12. Further information and help........................ 21 12.1 Online help................................................. 21 12.2 The IT helplines.............................................. 21 12.3 References and other documents................................ 21 Comment Sheet This publication may be subject to change without notice and the University assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions relating to it. Contents page ii IS1025: Using GroupWise via WebAccess
1. Introduction 1.1 What is GroupWise? GroupWise is a software application which can be used on PCs that have access to a network and/or the World Wide Web (www). It is a powerful electronic messaging system which facilitates collaborative working through a number of integrated features such as electronic mail (email) and calendar, document and task management. This tutorial focuses only on how to begin using GroupWise for sending and reading email, using the www interface known as GroupWise WebAccess. Please see Section 12 for information on other guides and training software. GroupWise is the University s preferred software for managing email, though it is not the only software available and supported here. 1.2 What is electronic mail? Electronic mail (email) provides a convenient way to communicate with other people who use computers. These people may be members of the University of Nottingham or others who use email anywhere in the world. It is in principle no different from letters, memos etc dispatched through internal mail systems, such as the University s, or external mail systems such as the Post Office. You can use it to send a message to an individual person or to a group of people; and you can transmit documents. Using GroupWise (as with most other electronic mail facilities) you can file messages in folders; and you can choose to keep filed copies of any or all of the messages you send. You can address messages to one person or a list of people; and you can name people to receive carbon copies or blind carbon copies. You can forward mail, and reply to mail received. In fact, for practically everything you can do with paper mail, there is an electronic equivalent. Messages sent using GroupWise can, generally speaking, be read by people using any other electronic mail program. 1.3 What you need to know before you start This document assumes that you are familiar with using a web browser. The examples in this guide were generated using Internet Explorer on a PC running Microsoft Windows. 1.3.1 Version of GroupWise This document is written to support GroupWise version 6.5 accessed using the web client software. GroupWise can also be accessed via a desktop client running on Microsoft Windows (95+) further information is provided in document IS1013 [2] (see Section 12.3). Access is also possible via IMAP (but not POP). 1.4 Understanding timing out from GroupWise WebAccess Specific actions, such as opening or sending a message, generate a call to the Web server. Other actions such as scrolling through messages in the Item List, composing a message without sending it, or reading Help topics do not generate a call to the Web server. If, for a period of time, you leave GroupWise WebAccess alone or perform actions that don't generate a call, WebAccess logs you out. Doing so not only provides security for your email but also ensures that the Web server and GroupWise WebAccess run efficiently. The time-out period is 15 minutes. If you try to perform an action after you've been logged out, you will be prompted to log in again. IS1025: Using GroupWise via WebAccess page 1 of 22
2. Starting GroupWise To start GroupWise WebAccess, open a web browser and go to the URL http://gwmail.nottingham.ac.uk/ (there are also links to this page from the Portal and from the Current students and Staff pages). For example: Wait till the login page appears or select a server by clicking on Go Type your username Type your password Click on Login to access your mailbox. Connections to the GroupWise email web access service gwmail.nottingham.ac.uk are automatically redirected after a few seconds to one of a number of servers, to provide load sharing and resilience in the event of them failing. If you do not get a login page, or have problems using the server you are redirected to, then you can try one of the available servers explicitly by requesting gwmail.nottingham.ac.uk again and clicking on the Go icon against one of the servers listed. However, if you suspect that the server you are using has failed as a result of you viewing a particular message or attachment, please do not try this on each of the servers in turn! The final server in the list may be shown as providing a restricted service. This will not allow message attachments (e.g. Microsoft Word documents) to be viewed in your browser, though you will still be able to download them to a file on your workstation and view them locally, if you have the appropriate software (e.g. Microsoft Word) installed. Please note that the individual servers should not be contacted directly, so as to avoid problems if that server fails, is being upgraded, or is withdrawn or replaced by one with another name. The URL of a login page should not, therefore, be bookmarked. Similarly, the initial server selection page, gwmail.nottingham.ac.uk, may change and so should not be cached, though its URL may be bookmarked. page 2 of 22 IS1025: Using GroupWise via WebAccess
3. The GroupWise WebAccess Main window When you open GroupWise WebAccess, you see the main window, shown below. The main window is the starting point for many of the tasks you can accomplish with GroupWise WebAccess. Toolbar { Folder list Item list The following sections describe the various components you can use from the main window: 3.1 Understanding the Toolbar The Toolbar displays options to view your Mailbox, compose a message, search the Address Book, view your Calendar, find messages in your Mailbox, open Help, change your GroupWise WebAccess options (for example, to set a signature or change your password), and exit GroupWise WebAccess. 3.2 Understanding the Folder List The Folder List displays the folders used to organise the messages you've sent and received. You can add additional folders to further help you organise your messages. The Mailbox folder is the default folder that is opened when you first log in. There are a number of different types of folders: System folders this introductory guide covers those most likely to be of immediate interest; Personal folders which can be shared with other GroupWise users (though sharing is not covered in this guide); Find Results folders these cannot be created using the WebAccess interface, though any created using the PC desktop interface can be viewed using WebAccess. Please see Section 12.3 for references to more detailed guides. IS1025: Using GroupWise via WebAccess page 3 of 22
The following folders are displayed in the Folder List. You can open a folder by clicking the icon. Icon Description Lists messages you've received. The Mailbox is a system folder. Lists received messages you have not yet opened. Lists items you've sent from the Mailbox and Calendar. The Sent Items folder is a system folder. After you move a sent item from the Sent Items folder to another folder, it no longer displays in the Sent Items folder. (In the previous version of GroupWise WebAccess, the Sent Items folder was a query folder that listed sent items from all folders.) Lists all appointments, tasks, and notes in your Calendar. The Calendar is a system folder, but is not covered in this guide. Lists folders you've created. The Cabinet is a system folder. Lists deleted items that have not yet been purged. The Trash is a system folder. System folders cannot be deleted. 3.2.1 Personal folders You can add additional folders to further organise your messages. For example, you could add a folder to your Cabinet to store all messages you receive regarding a specific project you're working on. For additional information about using folders, see Section 7. 3.3 Understanding the Item List The Item List displays the contents of the folder that is currently open. By default, the most recent 25 items in the folder are displayed. Although GroupWise accommodates items other than mail messages, this guide focuses only on email and therefore all items considered here will be mail messages. If the folder contains more than 25 messages, a Display Next button appears at the bottom of the list. You can use it to display the next 25 messages, or you can choose to select more or less than 25 messages. The icon next to each message indicates its type, status, and priority. You click on the subject of a message to open it. When you open a message, all actions you can perform on it are displayed at the top of the message view. For easy access, actions that you commonly perform on messages are also displayed at the top of the Item List. You can select multiple messages by clicking the boxes to the left of them. Whenever you select messages in the Item List and perform an action on them, WebAccess updates the Item List. However, to reduce the number of times you need to access the Web server, WebAccess does not automatically update the Item List when you open a message and perform an action on it. For example, if you select a message in the Item List and move it to page 4 of 22 IS1025: Using GroupWise via WebAccess
another folder, the Item List will be updated after the move. However, if you open a message and move it to a folder, the Item List is not updated. To refresh the list, you can open the folder again or click Update at the top of the list. The following are some icons that may be displayed in the Item List: Icon Description Unopened mail message high (red), normal (white), low (grey) priority Opened mail message high (red), normal (white), low (grey) priority Reply requested high (red), normal (white), low (grey) priority One or more attachments included with the message. (Symbol is a paperclip.) Sent Item (symbol is red) There are other icons relating to appointments, notes, tasks and other items that are beyond the scope of this guide. IS1025: Using GroupWise via WebAccess page 5 of 22
4. Sending a mail message 4.1 Composing a message 1. From the GroupWise WebAccess main window, click the Compose message icon: 2. Click Address Book to add recipients in the To, CC, and BC boxes; or type a recipient's address in the To, CC, or BC box. The address can be a GroupWise user ID, GroupWise full name, or external e-mail address. Separate each address with a comma. 3. Type a subject and message. 4. (Optional) Click Spell Check to spell check the message, see Section 4.2. 5. (Optional) Click Attach to attach files to the message. (For this feature to work, your browser must support attachments.) 6. (Optional) Click Send Options to select a security setting (classification), assign a priority (high, standard, low), request a reply, or select to receive return notification. 7. Click Send. If your connection to the web server is broken while you are composing a message, your message is not lost when you click Send. It is captured and appears at the bottom of the WebAccess Login page so that you can retrieve it when you re-establish a connection and log into WebAccess again. page 6 of 22 IS1025: Using GroupWise via WebAccess
4.2 Using the Spell Checker Spell Checker lets you check messages you create for misspelled words. The WebAccess Spell Checker is a Java Applet. This means that to use the Spell Checker, your browser must be enabled for Java. Note: If you are unsure whether your browser is enabled for Java, we strongly recommend that you try this feature on a short test message. If your browser is not Java-enabled, you may be unable to exit from the spell checker without losing the message you have just composed. 1. From a message you are creating (composing, forwarding or replying), click Spell Check. 2. When Spell Checker stops on a word and suggests replacements, click the word you want in the Suggestions box, then click Replace or edit the word in the Replace With box, then click Replace or if you don't want to change the word, click Skip. Sometimes Spell Checker offers no replacement words. If this happens, click Skip, or edit the text manually in the Replace With box. The WebAccess dictionary and word lists cannot be modified. 3. When there are no more words to check, click Close. IS1025: Using GroupWise via WebAccess page 7 of 22
5. Managing mail you have received Mail you have received and have not yet read is shown in a bold font. You can read a message by clicking on the subject. You can also move messages into different folders to keep your GroupWise Mailbox organised. Using folders is dealt with in Section 7. 5.1 Replying to a message You can reply to a message you ve received. You can reply to the message s author or to everybody who originally received it. 1. Click the Mailbox icon in the Folder List, or the folder containing the message to be answered. 2. Locate the message in the Item List. 3. Click on the subject of the message to open it. 4. Click Reply to Sender or Reply All to open a Reply form. Reply to Sender sends a reply to the sender only. Reply All sends a reply to the sender and all recipients of the original message. 5. You can now proceed as when composing a new message, including adding other recipients, adding attachments and spell checking. See Section 4. 5.2 Deleting a message You can delete a message you receive and place it in the Trash. 1. Click the Mailbox icon in the Folder List, or the folder containing the message to be deleted. 2. Locate the message in the Item List. 3. Select the message, then click Delete at the top of the Item List or Click on the subject of the message to open it, then click Delete in the message window. The message is removed from your Mailbox or folder. The status of the message is also updated in the sender's Mailbox to show you've deleted it. As long as the message remains in your Trash, you can undelete it. 5.3 Undeleting a message You can undelete a message you deleted unless you have emptied the Trash. A message emptied from the Trash cannot be undeleted. 1. Click the Trash icon in the Folder List. 2. Select the message, then click Undelete at the top of the Item List or Click on the subject of the message to open it, then click Undelete in the message window. The message is moved from your Trash to the folder from which it was originally deleted. page 8 of 22 IS1025: Using GroupWise via WebAccess
5.4 Marking a message unread (Read Later) If you have opened and read a message, you can mark it as unread. This will change the message s icon in the Item List back to that of an unopened message. You might want to mark a message as unread if it requires further action or if you don t want that message to get lost among the other opened messages in your Item List. 1. Click the Mailbox icon in the Folder List, or the folder containing the message to be marked unread. 2. Locate the message in the Item List. 3. Select the message, then click Read Later at the top of the Item List or Click on the subject of the message to open it, then click Read Later in the message window. Using Read Later does not change the status of the message in Properties. For example, if you have opened a message, then marked it unread, the sender of the message still sees the message status as Opened in Properties. 5.5 Forwarding a message 1. Click the Mailbox in the Folder List, or the folder containing the message to be forwarded. 2. Locate the message in the Item List. 3. Click on the subject of the message to open it. 4. Click Forward (in the message window) to open a new message. The original message is included as an attachment to the new message. 5. You can now proceed as when composing a new message, including adding other recipients, adding further attachments and spell checking. See Section 4. IS1025: Using GroupWise via WebAccess page 9 of 22
6. Managing mail you have sent After you ve sent a message, it is stored in the Sent Items (system) folder. You can check its status to see if it has been delivered, read, deleted, and so forth. You can also retract a message, providing it has not been opened. You can also move messages into different folders to keep your GroupWise Mailbox organised. Using folders is dealt with in Section 7. 6.1 Checking the status of a message you have sent 1. Click the Sent Items icon in the Folder List. 2. Locate the message in the Item List. 3. Click on the subject of the message to open it. 4. Click Properties. 5. For more detailed status information, click Other Properties. page 10 of 22 IS1025: Using GroupWise via WebAccess
6.2 Deleting or retracting a message you have sent 1. Click the Sent Items icon in the Folder List. 2. Locate the message in the Item List. 3. Click on the subject of the message to open it. 4. To delete the message from your Mailbox only, click Delete from This Mailbox. or To retract the message from your Mailbox and from all recipients' Mailboxes, click Delete from All Mailboxes. A mail message is retracted only if the recipient has not yet opened it. IS1025: Using GroupWise via WebAccess page 11 of 22
7. Using folders 7.1 Creating a folder 1. In the Folder List, click Add Folder. 2. Type a name for your new folder in the Folder Name box. 3. Select the place in the Folder List where you want to add the folder. By default, the folder will be added as the first folder in the Cabinet. For example, to add a folder to the Cabinet on the right, below the current folder called Reports, you would click on the Down button to the left of Reports. See also information on the right. 4. Click OK. Click on the + by the Cabinet to open it (click on - to close it). Click here to create a new folder within the folder called Reports. Click here to create a new folder in the Cabinet and below the folder called Reports. 7.2 Moving a message into a folder You can move messages you have received and messages you have sent into a folder. 1. Click the Mailbox in the Folder List, or the folder containing the message to be moved; or to move a message you sent, click the Sent Items icon in the Folder List. 2. Locate the message in the Item List. 3. Select the message to be moved, then click Move at the top of the Item List or Click on the subject of the message to open it and click Move in the message window. 4. Click the folder where you want to move the message. If you are moving it to a folder in the Cabinet, you may first need to click the + next to the Cabinet to display the Cabinet folders. Select the message, and click Move Then click the folder to receive the message page 12 of 22 IS1025: Using GroupWise via WebAccess
8. Using the Address Book The Address Book stores information about people, resources, and organisations. You can use the Address Book to search for information or to add email addresses to a message you are composing. GroupWise WebAccess includes an HTML version of the Address Book and a Java version. When you open the Address Book, the Java version is displayed. You can switch between versions after you've opened the Address Book. The Address Book consists of the following: GroupWise System Address Book: There is one GroupWise system address book which includes everyone who has a GroupWise mailbox in this University. You cannot modify the system address book. Personal Address Books: By default, GroupWise provides one predefined personal address book with your name as the title, but you can create more. You can use your personal address book to add email addresses and information for people, resources, or organisations not defined in the system address book or you may wish to gather together addresses for people engaged in a specific piece of work. You can also add detail, such as phone numbers, to entries in your personal address books, whereas you can t modify the system address book. Frequent Contacts Address Book: You have one Frequent Contacts address book. In the Windows version of the GroupWise client, your most frequently or most recently used addresses are automatically added to the Frequent Contacts address book. In GroupWise WebAccess, you must manually add addresses to this book. Addresses added by the Windows GroupWise client will also appear in the GroupWise WebAccess Frequent Contacts address book. LDAP Address Books: The LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) address-book can be configured to search external directories, but is outside the scope of this guide. 8.1 Searching for an entry in the Address Book 1. From the GroupWise WebAccess main window, click the Address Book icon to open the Address Book. By default, the Address Book opens the GroupWise address books. 2. In the Address Books list, select the address book you want to search. You can choose from the GroupWise system address book, Frequent Contacts or a personal address book; or you can choose LDAP. 3. Select the number of entries you want displayed at one time. The default displays 25 entries at one time. To list the first entries (25 by default) in the selected address book, leave the search conditions boxes empty. To search for a specific entry, use the search conditions boxes to define the Address Book fields and information you want to search. GroupWise WebAccess supports the * (asterisk) and? (question mark) wildcards. When searching a field, you can use * to represent multiple characters and? to represent one character. For example, if you define a First Name begins with jo* condition, the search will return all entries whose first names start with JO (John, Joel, Jose, and so forth). If you define a Last Name contains s?n condition, the search will return all entries whose last names contain S and N separated by one character (Sanders, Johannson, Larsen, and so forth). The HTML Address Book and LDAP Address Book allow you to enter two search conditions. The Java Address Book, however, lets you enter more than two conditions. IS1025: Using GroupWise via WebAccess page 13 of 22
4. Click Search Address Book (or Search) to display a list of entries that match your search conditions. If you decide to send a message to an address you have found, you can click To, CC, or BC to indicate the recipient type and then click Mail to open a new message. 8.2 Addressing a message 1. Click Address Book to open the Address Book. By default, the Address Book opens to the GroupWise address books. 2. In the Address Books list, select the address book you want to search. You can choose from the GroupWise address book, the Frequent Contacts address book, or a personal address book; or you can choose LDAP. 3. Select the number of entries you want displayed at one time. The default displays 25 entries at one time. 4. To list the first entries (25 by default) in the selected address book, leave the search conditions boxes empty; or you can search for an entry as described in Section 8.1 above. 5. Select the entry you want to add to the message's recipient list, then click To, CC, or BC to indicate the recipient type. 6. If you are using the HTML Address Book you can add multiple recipients at one time by selecting the check boxes in front of the recipients' entries. In the Java Address Book, you must add each recipient individually. 7. After you've finished selecting the message s recipients, you can complete the message and send it as described in Section 4. 8.3 Example of how to use the Address Book Please see opposite and following page. Please note that the HTML address book is used in this example. page 14 of 22 IS1025: Using GroupWise via WebAccess
If you want to search for entries in address books, you can specify the search criteria. You can choose which address book to search. (To create a new address book, see Address Book Options ) Once you have specified your search criteria or with the fields still blank if you want to look at the entire address book click Search IS1025: Using GroupWise via WebAccess page 15 of 22
Check the boxes against the names of the people you wish to send a message to, then click To (or CC or BC) to add them to your list of recipients. If you wish, you could now repeat this process, adding people to the To, CC or BC fields from another address book. When your recipient list is complete, click the Mail button then complete your message as normal and click Send page 16 of 22 IS1025: Using GroupWise via WebAccess
9. Electronic mail addresses 9.1 The format of email addresses Most email addresses appear to be in two parts, for example: James T Kirk <James.Kirk@enterprise.uss> The first part in quotes ( James T Kirk above) is a descriptive display name and the second part in <angle brackets> (<James.Kirk@enterprise.uss>) is in fact the full email internet address. Here are some examples of the form of internet email addresses of people or facilities locally: staff-it-helpline@nottingham.ac.uk student-it-helpline@nottingham.ac.uk d.a.simpson@nottingham.ac.uk Freda.Bloggs@nottingham.ac.uk egxemp@nottingham.ac.uk An internet address is in two parts with the @ ( at ) character between them. Before the @ comes the local-part. For members of staff at the University of Nottingham, this is normally based on the person's actual name; for students this is normally their username. After the @ comes the domain-name 1 which is nottingham.ac.uk or can be system.dept-name.nottingham.ac.uk The dots in both parts are important. Spaces are not allowed in local-part or domain-name. They are allowed on either side of the @ character, although they are usually left out. Upper and lower case letters are interchangeable within the domain-name but, strictly speaking, should be typed as specified in the local-part (though email addresses are very rarely treated in a case-sensitive manner). Here are a few examples of the form of email addresses from elsewhere in the world. These are fictitious examples: do not try mailing to them! Tony.Blair@house-of-commons.org.uk paint-workshop@ici.co.uk j.chirac@premier.fr ucgadkw@frmto81.terena.nl vanepp@rpi.edu windows-support@microsoft.com If you are in doubt about the form of an address you have been given, consult the relevant helpline (see Section 12). 9.2 Finding out email addresses Often a friend or colleague will have given you their email address, or you will have obtained one from a letterhead or other stationery, an advertisement, newspaper article etc. In such cases, you should simply type the address you have obtained on the To: line when you compose a message. There are search facilities on the University s web pages to help you to find out addresses of people you wish to contact. However, always bear in mind that sometimes the only way of finding out an email address is to contact the person by other means and ask them. 1. The domain is normally the equivalent of either an entire university, institution or other organisation, or is the name of a specific computer system or server. The term site-name may occur in other documentation, but the term domain is one that you are likely to encounter in messages generated by the software that manages email communications. IS1025: Using GroupWise via WebAccess page 17 of 22
9.2.1 Email addresses of other people at the University of Nottingham Not everyone at this University has a GroupWise account, but for those who do, the recommended method of addressing is to use the GroupWise Address Book feature. If there is no entry for a person in the Novell GroupWise Address Book, you can use the LDAP Address Book (see Section 8) or the search facilities on the web. (Staff email addresses are also printed in the internal telephone directory, but the online information derived from the LDAP or the web pages is likely to be more up-to-date.) For reasons of privacy and because of past experience of harassment, only students who have confirmed they wish to be included in a directory can be found in there. However, if the student directory fails to find the person you are seeking, a facility is provided which can forward mail to a student, to make a first contact. To use this facility, send an email message to student-lookup@nottingham.ac.uk with the Subject: field containing the first name and surname of the person you are trying to contact. For example, To: student-lookup@nottingham.ac.uk Subject: Jo Smith Hello Jo, this is Chris Jones. Please mail me back. If the person's mail address can be found, the message will be forwarded to them for their attention. If there is more than one possible match, the closest matches will be returned to you, together with course details, allowing you to refine your enquiry. 9.2.2 Problems? If the address you try doesn t exist, your message will be returned to you indicating failure to deliver. You may then need to (re)check the Directory, or contact the individual by some other means to check your information. See also Section 11. page 18 of 22 IS1025: Using GroupWise via WebAccess
10. Some guidelines for electronic mail messages: Netiquette Once you get into the habit of using electronic mail, you will find that composing, sending and forwarding messages is very easy. Unfortunately, it is also easy to compose quick, illconsidered messages to people you might not know very well, and these can be misunderstood. The following guidelines, often called Netiquette, are therefore recommended when using electronic mail: Be clear, brief and logical and use descriptive titles in the Subject: line. A well-organised, to-the-point message is more inviting to the overwhelmed reader than five screens full of single-spaced text. It is best to stick to one topic per message. If you are Replying to a message just for the sake of getting a person s email address right, but you are not responding to the original Subject, then change the topic on the Subject line to correspond to your current message. Never forget that the person on the other end is human. Never send anything when you are angry or upset. If you are upset at something or someone, wait until you have had a chance to calm down and think about it. Although it isn t possible to save a draft message when you are using GroupWise WebAccess, you could cut-and-paste what you have already written to, say, a Notepad file to save it for use later. Be careful what you say about others. Think twice before you post personal information about yourself or others. Be careful with humour and sarcasm. It is easy to misinterpret a message without the voice inflections and body language of one-to-one communication. If you are in any doubt about a message that you have received, check back. Was that silly message a joke, or did you misunderstand it? Do not rely on the privacy of electronic mail. Mail will not normally be seen by other people, but electronic mail is not suitable for confidential information. Also, please be aware that messages may not actually have been sent by the person they appear to have come from. IS1025: Using GroupWise via WebAccess page 19 of 22
11. What to do if things go wrong Most of the time, electronic mail works without trouble. Sometimes things do go wrong, however; and it is not always clear where the problem lies because mail is delivered by cooperation between several parties. Electronic mail messages are normally delivered locally within minutes, elsewhere within a few hours. If you get no response to a message, the most likely explanation is that it has been delivered and ignored, or it hasn t yet been read. There are times when messages appear to have vanished somewhere, but this is unlikely. If a message was sent within the local GroupWise system, you can check its progress by looking at the Properties of the Sent Item: click on your Sent Items container, click on the relevant message and choose Properties from the toolbar the properties sheet will tell you whether the message has yet been opened (but do bear in mind that someone can open a message without actually bothering to read it!). However, if your message left the GroupWise system, it will remain logged as unopened. If you have addressed a message incorrectly you will usually get a failure message back, via email. Such messages are not normally sent by people, but are generated automatically by the software (programs) that provide the email facilities. These messages are often rather cryptic, but they always contain useful information. Try to determine what/who generated the message, and which part of the address, the local-part or the domain-name (see Section 9.1) has led to the failure. If the problem is with the local-part usually expressed as User unknown or Unknown local user you can send a message to postmaster@domain-name to ask what is wrong with the mail-name and specifying clearly the name and department (or other relevant information) of the person you wish to contact. Postmaster is an address that should be available at every place accepting email, and this is normally serviced by a real person. If the domain-name is wrong, it is more difficult to know what to do. Consult the relevant helpline (staff-it-helpline@nottingham.ac.uk or student-it-helpline@nottingham.ac.uk, see Section 12) you can forward the failure message to the helpline with any additional information you have gleaned. Don t delete a delivery failure message too soon, however, as your original message is! usually returned to you within it and it can be extracted and re-sent when you correct your mistake. page 20 of 22 IS1025: Using GroupWise via WebAccess
12. Further information and help 12.1 Online help GroupWise has its own online help facility access this by clicking Help on the top toolbar. On the local web pages, a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and answers can be accessed from the Support & Contacts>Guides, Publications & FAQs menu on the Information Services homepage. FAQ pages are also maintained by Novell on their Cool Solutions site at www.novell.com/coolsolutions/gwmag/ask_the_experts.html from there you may also want to investigate the vault in the Articles and q&a section. 12.2 The IT helplines If you want help with GroupWise (or any other IT topic), you can contact the relevant helpline: student-it-helpline@nottingham.ac.uk ext 13333 1 staff-it-helpline@nottingham.ac.uk ext 16677 1. 12.3 References and other documents [1] IS1016: Using IT facilities at the University of Nottingham [2] IS1013: Getting started with GroupWise for email on the NetWare (PC applications) service [3] IS1017: GroupWise: managing your email while you are away [4] IS1020: Why should I use my University email account? These documents can be obtained from most IS Service Points, or from the Support & Contacts>Guides, Publications & FAQs menu on the Information Services homepage (see above Section 12.1). If you have difficulties obtaining any of them, please contact the relevant helpline (see above, Section 12.2). Novell also provide a number of publications which can be obtained from www.novell.com/documentation/lg/gw65/ Information about all IS services and facilities is available on the World Wide Web from URL 1. These are extensions at University Park, so a prefix may be needed e.g. 73 from QMC or City Hospital, or (0115) 95 if you are calling from outside the University telephone system. IS1025: Using GroupWise via WebAccess page 21 of 22
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Comment Sheet To: Documentation feedback CCC South Building University of NottinghamNG7 2RD IS Publication: Using GroupWise via WebAccess This Guide is intended to help you start using GroupWise to manage your electronic mail, using the world wide web browser interface. If you feel there are inaccuracies or omissions that should be rectified, or have any suggestions to improve future editions, please comment below. Where appropriate, please quote the relevant page and chapter/section number. From Name:... Dept:... Date:...