Compose
The Compose screen looks something like this:-
This works similarly to other mail clients. To compose a message
enter the address of the recipient in the To: field and the
address of anyone who should also get a copy in the Cc: field.
If you want more than one address in a field put a comma between the
addresses. You can use addresses from your addressbook either
by typing the nickname (alias) or by selecting
the Addressbook icon from the main toolbar and then choosing
the recipients you want.
Enter the subject of the message into the Subject: field.
Then type your message into the main message box.
You can also cut-and-paste text into the message box. Once you have
finished your message, select the Send button.
Description of the options obtained by using the buttons on
the screen follows.
The buttons
This section describes the buttons on the default page. If you have
enabled Manage -> Preferences -> Extra Compose -> Enable manual line
wrap options there will be some extra buttons on the bottom row.
These are described at the bottom of this page.
- By the headers:-
- Expand - if you have typed a nickname (alias) from your
addressbook you can check that you have chosen the correct one
by using this.
When you select this button the full address is substituted for
the alias.
If the alias does not exist in your address book then the
default domain (typically @cam.ac.uk, depending on your setting
in Manage -> Preferences -> Extra Compose) will be
added instead.
The status line will change to reflect the result of
the action, for example after Expand-ing the To:
field:-
Status:Header To Lookup Complete |
- Rich Headers - the standard header fields are
To:, Cc: and Subject:. Selecting the
Rich Headers button gives other header fields. These are
- Bcc: - for use if you wish to send a copy of the
message to someone but do not wish the other
recipients to see that you have sent a copy to that
person
- Fcc: - in which you can enter the name of a mail
folder to which you want the message copied
(the default is sent-mail)
- Reply-To: - by default a reply will come to your
address as it appears in the From: field. You can
use this if you wish any reply to come to a different
address.
- Above the message body part:
- Large - takes you to another screen
with a larger form area for the body part. The
size of this form area is defined in
Manage -> Preferences -> Extra Compose.
- Clear Headers - Clears all message headers.
- Clear Body - Clears all text entered in the body of
the message.
- Undo - Undoes the last action.
- Import - takes you to a screen from which you can browse
your local file system and choose a text file to include in the body of
the message. Files produced by an application such as a word
processor cannot be included in the body of a message, but should be
attached to the message using the Attachments button.
- Attachments (0) - takes you to a screen from which you
can browse your local file system and choose a file to send
as an attachment to the message. Once you have done this
the button changes to show the number of attachments that
will be sent with the message.
- Below the message body part:-
- Check Spelling - this will check the body of the message
and allow you to accept suggested alterations, leave the word
unchanged or add the word to your personal dictionary. Once the
spell check has completed the status field will summarise, for
example:-
Status:
Spell Check finished (0 changes made) |
- Cancel - cancels the message and returns you to the
Webmail page you came from.
The status line will change to reflect the action:-
Status:Draft message cancelled |
- Postpone - the draft is saved to the mail
folder defined to hold these messages
(default postponed-messages)
and you are returned to the Webmail page you came from.
The status line will change to reflect the action:-
Status:Draft message postponed |
If you have messages in the postponed messages folder then when
you select Compose you get the option to continue with a
postponed message or start a new one.
- Send - triggers an immediate send and returns
you to the Webmail page you came from.
- Save copy - This check box controls
whether a copy is automatically saved. The default for this,
saving a copy to sent-mail, is set in
Manage -> Preferences -> Extra Compose.
Other aspects, such as the size of the text area for the body part,
the use of a personal name, and whether a signature is included or not,
depend on choices made under Manage -> Preferences -> Compose and
Manage -> Preferences -> Extra Compose.
If you have enabled Manage -> Preferences -> Extra Compose ->
Enable manual line wrap options then there will be two extra options
on the line below the message body part:
- Line Wrap - wraps the message to a line length
defined in Manage -> Preferences -> Extra Compose ->
Line Wrap at. The default is 76 characters.
- Line Wrap on Send - wraps the text of the
message as part of the action of sending the message.