Life After Webmail Reference Guide

Life After Webmail Reference Guide (An Introduction to Outlook Web Access 2007 Client User Interface) https://owa.wiu.k12.pa.us Westmoreland Intermediate Unit Information Technology Services 102 Equity Drive Greensburg, PA 15601 September 17, 2008

Contents Introduction... 3 Getting Started... 3 Logging In... 3 Reading New Messages... 5 Blocked HTML Content... 5 Deleting Messages... 6 Emptying Deleted Items Folder... 6 Recovering Deleted Items... 7 Viewing Attachments... 7 Creating and Sending a New Message... 8 Adding Attachments To Your Messages... 9 Creating a Signature... 10 Creating a Vacation Message... 11 Managing Your Contacts... 12 Searching for Contacts... 12 Adding Contacts to Personal Contacts... 14 Sending Messages To A Personal or Global Contact... 14 Creating Distribution Lists... 15 Sending Messages To A Distribution List... 15 Organizing Your Mail... 16 Creating A New Folder... 16 Moving Messages To Folders... 17 Junk E Mail... 17 Rules... 18 Creating Rules... 18 Logging Off... 19 Life After Webmail Page 2

Introduction Welcome to Life After Webmail! This booklet will serve as both an introduction and guide to Outlook Web Access (OWA) Premium Client User Interface*. The main goal of this booklet is to assist you in your transition from Webmail to OWA. We are certain that by following the guidelines in this booklet and with OWA s friendly user interface and new features; the transition will be uncomplicated. Please note that the instructions in this document assume that all settings are at the defaults. If you have changed any of the settings in Options menu, the images and instructions may be somewhat different. The images you see in the following document were taken on a Windows XP Professional PC, using Internet Explorer 6 as the web browser. Getting Started Before you will be able to access Outlook Web Access, you will need to know your account information. If you do not currently have an account or are unsure as to whether you have an account, please contact the Information Technology Department at 724 836 2460. As with Webmail, you will need to have access to the internet both dial up and high speed connections will work. Additionally, you will need to have a web browser installed (IE 5 or greater is required to run the OWA Premium Client. All other browsers will be automatically directed to the OWA Basic client.). Logging In To log into Outlook Web Access, launch your web browser and type the following into the address bar: https://owa.wiu.k12.pa.us After you enter this URL in the address bar, you will be taken to the login page, which asks you to enter your username and password. Note the security lock icon in the browser bar. This indicates a secure and encrypted connection. Life After Webmail Page 3

Outlook Web Access Login Screen, Select either Public or Private Computer Option Why Public or Private? For instance, if you are at a coffee house, you are on a public computer and would select the public option. This simply means that after 10 minutes of inactivity, you would be logged off for security reasons. If you are in the office or at home, you are on a private computer and can remain logged on for extended lengths of time. Above is an example of what you should see when you are prompted to login to Outlook Web Access: After you enter your user name and password in the appropriate spaces, you will be logged in and taken to the Outlook Web Access interface, which will look like this: Note: you do not have to enter the @wiu.k12.pa.us part of the login that was necessary with WebMail. You may enter it but it is not necessary. Life After Webmail Page 4

Your Inbox will be displayed on this screen, which is where you will find any messages you ve received (both new and old). The pane on the left is the Navigation Pane, in the middle is the Mail List, and the pane on the right is the Reading Pane. Reading New Messages In order to view your new messages in OWA, you simply position your mouse over the message you d like to read, and double click it. Your message will then be displayed in a new window, similar to this: When you are finished reading/viewing your message in OWA, and you d like to return to your Inbox, click on the button at the top right hand corner of the message window. This will close the current window, and return you to your Inbox. Understanding Blocked HTML Content By default, HTML content (images, hyperlinks, etc.) is blocked when you view your messages. This feature is designed to help protect you against spam and privacy invasions. It will also cause most systems which track whether or not you have read an e mail to be ineffective. If the message you have received is from a trusted source, and you wish to view the content, you can do so by clicking the link which says, Click here to unblock content at the top of the message. Life After Webmail Page 5

Deleting Messages If you would like to delete messages from your Inbox, there are a couple of ways to do so in the Premium client: 1) Select the message(s) you wish to delete, and press the (Delete) button. 2) Right click on the message(s) you wish to delete, and select Delete. Additionally, you have the ability to delete the message you are currently viewing, which will return you to your Inbox: 1) While viewing your message, click the (Delete) button from the toolbar. Emptying Deleted Items Folder Once you have deleted messages from your Inbox and other folders, they will be stored in your Deleted Items folder. If you would like to empty your Deleted Items Folder, select Deleted Items from the Navigation Pane and choose one of the following options: 1) Right click the the Deleted Items folder in the Navigation Pane and select Empty Deleted Items, 2) Right click on the message(s) and click Delete, or 3) Select the message(s) and press the Delete key. Life After Webmail Page 6

Recovering Deleted Items If you have recently emptied items from your Deleted Items folder, you now have the ability to recover data deleted within the past four days. This is feature in Outlook, which was not available in Webmail. To display Recover Deleted Items in OWA, click on the menu. Click on Deleted Items from the Navigation Pane. Once inside the Deleted Items screen, select the message(s) you would like to recover, then click on Recover to Deleted Items Folder, as shown below. Your messages will then be moved back to the Deleted Items folder. From there, you have the ability to move the message back to your Inbox and/or other folders. Viewing Attachments Note: The process for viewing attachments will vary depending on the type of attachment you are trying to view. Images usually display immediately after clicking on the file name. Other files (word processing documents, spreadsheets, etc.) require you to go through the following process. If you receive a message which has an attachment you would like to view, you can do so by opening the message (as previously instructed), and clicking on the actual attachment itself: Depending on your browser configuration, clicking the attachment may download automatically or display a new screen (similar to the one shown below), allowing you to open or save the attachment. To view the attachment, select Open. If saving, select a location to save the file and click on the saved attachment to view. If you do not need to edit the file, you may also select [Open as Web Page] to view the contents in a browser window. Life After Webmail Page 7

To view the saved file, navigate to the appropriate directory and double click on the file name. Creating and Sending a New Message There are a couple of ways to create a new message in OWA Premium client. you can select either one of the following: From the Mail window, 1) Press the button on the Tool Bar 2) Press CTL + N Doing either one of these things will display a new window, shown below: From this screen, you can compose your message. Enter the recipient s address in the To field, the subject of the message in the Subject: field, and any information you wish to include in the body When you are finished composing the message, click on the button at the top of the window. Your message will then be sent, and you will be returned to the Inbox. Life After Webmail Page 8

Adding an Attachment to a Message If you have a file you wish to include with your message, you can do so by adding an attachment to your message. From your New Message screen, click on the button in the tool bar. After clicking on the Attachments button, you will be shown the following screen, from which you will be able to browse your directories for the file, select and attach a file, as well as remove attached files, if you choose. From this window, click on the Browse button, to search for the file you wish to attach. be taken to the following screen, where you can locate the file: You will then Once you have located and selected the file you would like to attach, click the Open button at the bottom of the window. This will bring you back to the previous window, where you should see the file you selected under the Current file attachments: section (as shown below). You also have the option of repeating this process, should you wish to add more than one attachment. When you are finished adding attachments, click the Close button to return to your message. The attachment will be shown next to the Attachments button. Life After Webmail Page 9

Creating a Signature To automatically add a signature to your outgoing messages, click on the Options menu at the top of the screen. Scroll to E mail Signature, and click on the box next to Automatically include my signature on outgoing messages. Create your signature in the open box (shown below as "Type your signature here"). Once you have created your signature, click the Save button at the top of the screen. If you want to return to your Inbox, click on the Mail icon in the Navigation Pane. Creating a Vacation Message The vacation message feature in OWA is referred to as the Out of Office Assistant. If you will be away from your mail, and would like senders to be notified, you can do so by clicking on Options at the top of the screen. Click on Out of Office Assistant from the Navigation Pane. From here, you will see the following window, where you can turn the Assistant on or off (using the Do not send and Send options), and create/modify your out of office message. Under "Send an auto reply once to each sender inside my organization with the following message," type in your out of office message. Click the Save button when finished. Life After Webmail Page 10

NOTE: it's important to be careful what you say in an Out of Office message, since it potentially could go out to anyone, including spammers. You might say something along the lines of "I will be out of the office until xxx and will not be checking email. If you need immediate assistance, please send a message to xxx, or call xxx." You may also be even more vague: "I will not be checking my email until xxx. If you need immediate assistance..." Basically, try not to give out any details, like I'm "out of town", "at a conference", "on vacation" etc. to imply that perhaps no one will be at home. Be aware that Out of Office message replies will confirm your e mail address to spammers. Issues to consider: 1. An auto response tells anyone who sends you mail that you are away from your office implies that no one will be attending to your office, system, accounts and other services. 2. An auto response confirms your e mail address to spam senders as a valid e mail address (potentially generating more spam for you). Creating a Vacation Message for External Senders New with Exchange 2007 is the option to send a separate message to external senders either to those in your Contacts or to anyone outside of your organization. The "organization" is defined as those on WIU Exchange servers. Click on Out of Office Assistant from the Navigation Pane. From here, you will see the following window, where you can turn the Assistant on or off (using the Do not send and Send options), and create/modify your vacation message. After filling out the internal Out of Office message (as shown above), scroll down to and select the checkbox next to Sent Out of Office auto replies to External Senders (as shown below). Then choose between the Contacts or outside my organization options. Type your external Out of Office message. With Exchange 2007, you now have the ability to modify the text formatting as well. Click the Save button when finished. NOTE: it's important to be careful what you say in an Out of Office message, since it potentially could go out to anyone, including spammers. You might say something along the lines of "I will be out of the Life After Webmail Page 11

office until xxx and will not be checking email. If you need immediate assistance, please send a message to xxx, or call xxx." You may also be even more vague: "I will not be checking my email until xxx. If you need immediate assistance..." Basically, try not to give out any details, like I'm "out of town", "at a conference", "on vacation" etc. to imply that perhaps no one will be at home. Be aware that Out of Office message replies will confirm your e mail address to spammers. Issues to consider: 1. An auto response tells anyone who sends you mail that you are away from your office implies that no one will be attending to your office, system, accounts and other services. 2. An auto response confirms your e mail address to spam senders as a valid e mail address (potentially generating more spam for you). Managing Your Contacts In Outlook, your e mail addresses are saved as Contacts. By clicking on Contacts in the Navigation Pane, any personal contacts you ve added will be displayed as shown below: Searching for Contacts If you would like to look up information about a personal Contact or district employee (phone number, e mail address, department, etc.), by using one of the following methods: 1) Click in the (Find Someone) box in the toolbar and type the name of the person (e.g. Jane Doe) and click Enter on your keyboard. Select the appropriate person and either click on the Alias (GAL (Global Address List) entries) or e mail address to start a new message, or Life After Webmail Page 12

2) Click on the (Address Book) button. Doing so will launch the following window to be displayed, where you can search both your personal Contacts or the (GAL). The GAL is the default search and contains the names and e mail address of most people on WIU Exchange servers. Enter the information in the search field (shown with Jane Doe typed in the box below). Click the button to do a search, and your results will be listed below the search field (as Jane Doe s is below). If you would like to send a message to a contact listed, select the person and click the (New Message) button. If you are finished with this search and would like to return to your previous screen, click the (Close) button. Life After Webmail Page 13

Adding Contacts to your Personal Contacts List If you would like to add a new contact to your personal contacts list, click Contacts in the Navigation Pane, then click the button. Enter any contact information you would like to retain, as shown below: When you have entered any contact information you wish to save, click the which will then return you to your personal Contacts list. button, Sending Messages to a Personal or Global Contact If you would like to send a message to a personal Contact or Global Contact, you can do so by one of the following ways: 1) Create a new message, click the button to search for and select the contact you wish to send, or 2) Select a contact from your Contacts and click the (New Message to Contact) button, or 3) In the Address Book or Find Someone search window, search for and select recipient, and click the appropriate e mail address to start a new message Life After Webmail Page 14

Creating Distribution Lists If you often send messages to the same group of people, it may be beneficial to create a Distribution List. You can do this from any of the Mailbox views (e.g., Inbox, Contact, Calendar). Click on the window: drop down menu and choose Distribution List. Doing so will display the following In this window, you will create the name of your distribution list in the field provided for List Name. From there, you will need to add the names of contacts you would like added to this list. You can do this by either typing the names or e mail addresses into the field provided, or you can click Members to search for a Global Address List entry or Contact entry to add to the list. If using the Members button, select the names from the GAL or Contacts, and click on the button and OK. Click the Add to List button, to add the name(s) to the list. The contacts will then be listed individually below, as shown below. When you are finished adding names, click the button, and you will be returned to your Contacts window. Sending Messages to a Distribution List Once you have distribution lists created, you can send a message to a select group of people without adding each contact individually. There are a couple of options for doing this: 1) Create a new message, click the To field, then click Contacts on the Navigation Pane, then double click on the distribution list to add it to the To field, or Life After Webmail Page 15

2) Select a Distribution List from your Contacts by either highlighting the distribution list and click the (New Message) icon, or double click the distribution list and click the (New Message to Contact) button to create a new message. Organizing Your Mail As messages begin to pile up in your Inbox it gets difficult to locate particular items. For this reason, it is helpful to organize your mail. In order to create new folders to organize your mail, or view the current folders you have, make sure you are in the Folders view. Clicking on the Inbox button in the Navigation Pane should display any folders you currently have created, as shown here: Creating a New Folder If you would like to create a new folder from this view, right click on the location you want to create a subfolder, and select Create New Folder An empty box will appear under (as shown below). Type in the file name and hit the Enter key on your keyboard. The folder list will then expand, displaying your subfolder. Life After Webmail Page 16

Moving Messages to Folders Once you have folders created, you can start moving messages from one folder to another. and drag the message(s) to the appropriate folder in the Folder List Highlight Junk E Mail OWA (as well as Outlook 2003/2007 client) comes equipped with a tool to evaluate whether or not a message you receive should be treated as Junk E Mail, based on a number of factors (time message was sent, content of message, structure of message, etc.). This filter does not have the ability to single out any single sender, or a certain type of message. This filter is set to a low setting by default, but you have the ability to modify these settings. Any messages caught by this filter are automatically moved to a Junk E Mail folder. This folder is automatically set up when you create your mail account. To edit your Junk E Mail settings, click on Options at the top of the screen, then click on Junk E mail from the Navigation Pane, as shown here: From here, you have the ability to modify your Junk E Mail filters. You can turn your Junk E mail filter on and off. Additionally, you can also create and modify people to your Safe Senders, Safe Recipients and Blocked Senders lists. Click Save when finished. Life After Webmail Page 17

Rules You have the ability to manage your mail by using Rules to automatically filter your incoming messages. After you create the Rules, they will be effective in both OWA and Outlook client. To display Rules in OWA, click on the menu. Click on Rules from the Navigation Pane. This will display any rules you currently have, and allow you to create and edit rules. Click the Save button when finished. Creating A New Rule To create a new Rule, click on the which will display the drop down menu options. button or drop down menu from the Rules screen, Select the requested action. A Rule Description window will be displayed. Fill out the following fields, clicking on the blue linked words (e.g. specific words), to enter the requested criteria, as shown below: Life After Webmail Page 18

In this example, we have filtered any messages sent to the user containing the word Staff Meeting in the Subject line, to have them automatically moved to the Staff Meetings folder. You can select/change the desired folder by clicking on the blue link. When you are finished creating your rule, click the Save button to return back to the Rules page. There are several options for filtering incoming mail, as you can see from the previous window. can filter by sender, as well as automatically deleting or forwarding incoming messages. You In addition to the built in Junk E mail filtering, the University currently uses a product called PureMessage. This tool scans and flags incoming messages at the server level, and marks potential spam messages as spam? in the subject line, before distributing it to an individual s Inbox. Therefore, if you create a Rule to move anything which includes the word spam in the subject to the Junk E Mail folder, you can further minimize your chances of receiving junk mail in your Inbox. It is a good idea, however, to check this folder occasionally, should there be messages erroneously marked as SPAM. Logging Off When you are finished using OWA, please remember to log out of your session by clicking the Log Off button in the tool bar. It is important to understand that OWA automatically closes its connection to your mailbox after a period of inactivity, to protect your account from unauthorized access. If your session ends, refresh your browser and log on again. Life After Webmail Page 19