Using LDEO WebMail

Before you can use LDEO WebMail, you must have the following:

• A web browser connecting to http://webmail.ldeo.columbia.edu/.
  • The browser must support SSL encryption.
  • JavaScript must be enabled.
• An LDEO username and password account
• An CU/LDEO CA certificate installed on the computer you are using; you will be prompted for installation, if necessary. (An LDEO personal certificate is not needed.)

Login

1. Go to http://webmail.ldeo.columbia.edu/
2. On the login screen, enter your username and password, and click Log in.
3. Select the Administrative mail server or Lamont's Main mail server

Logout

When finished with your WebMail session, click Logout at the top of the WebMail window.

Internet Explorer and Passwords: IE on Windows can be set to remember user passwords to web pages. Especially if you are not on your usual computer and log into WebMail with Internet Explorer, answer No if IE asks if you want it to remember your password. If IE is already set to store passwords, you can clear them as follows:

1. Open IE.
2. From the Tools menu, click Internet Options, then click the Content tab.
3. In the Personal Information section, click AutoComplete.
4. Click Clear Passwords, then click OK to confirm "Clear all passwords".
5. Uncheck Use AutoComplete for forms, user names, and passwords.

If you are using a browser in which the LDEO CA signer certificate is not installed, before you can continue with login you will be prompted to install the certificate, or prompted to continue.

You may also install the LDEO CA before starting your WebMail session by going to Web Certificates at LDEO. (LDEO personal certificates are not needed for WebMail. Also, because the LDEO CA is a "public" certificate, it may be left on any computer on which you install it.)

Warning Messages: Even with the LDEO CA installed on some combinations of browser and computer (for example, IE on Macintosh), you may see warning messages about insecure connection. Be assured that LDEO WebMail allows only secure connections, so you may disregard these messages.

WebMail opens to your general web frame work, which at this time it includes your inbox, and your Web calendar. Click on INBOX of messages received; messages are listed with the most recent at the top.

• To read a message, click on Date, From, or Subject for that message.
• From the message window move to the next or previous message in the list by clicking on the small down- or up-pointing arrows to the upper- or lower-right corner of the message window.
• While in the message window, act on the message by clicking on the functions just above or below the message (Delete | Reply | etc.)
• To read messages in other folders, select the folder from the drop-down menu next to Open Folder.
• To return to the message list for the current folder, click on Back to ... (for example, "Back to INBOX").

Receive Attachments

If an incoming message includes an attached file, a paper-clip icon appears with that message in the message list. When you open the message, information about the attachment appears in the header, along with a diskette icon.

To receive the attachment, click the diskette icon; you will be prompted for where you want to download the attached file on your computer. An application to open or read the file must be installed on the computer.

Compose Message

Messages to be sent are prepared in the Message Composition window.

• To prepare a new message, click on Compose at the top of the WebMail window. A new window opens in which you address and write your message.
• To save a copy of the message on the LDEO mail server, click the check box next to On Send, save a copy in 'sent-mail' folder. If the sent-mail folder does not exist, it will be created automatically. (If you perform actions which result in the Composition window refreshing, such as attaching files, you will need to re-check the box.)
• To save a copy of your outgoing WebMail messages in your usual email program, such as Eudora, Cc yourself when sending a message.
• To take final action on the message, click on the appropriate button: Send Message; Save Draft; Cancel Message. (Click Save Draft to put the message into a folder named Drafts.)

Addressing
In the To, Cc, and Bcc fields, enter a fully qualified username@host.domain (for example, mahdad@ldeo.columbia.edu).

Send Attachments

1. In the Attachments section of the Composition window, click on Browse.
2. Locate and select the file or folder on your computer; the file name appears in the Attachment field.
3. Click Attach, to the right. The Compose window refreshes, and the file name and file size are shown in the Attachments section.
4. To remove an attachment, click on the check box next to the file name, then click Remove Selected.
5. When all files to be sent are listed in the Attachments section, and you have typed in your message, click Send Message, as above.

Confirmation or error messages related to attachments are displayed at the top of the composition window.

Avoid Session Time-out

When composing a message, leave your main WebMail browser window open to the INBOX. This will prevent your session from timing out due to inactivity between your browser and the WebMail server, and loss of your message when you try to send it.

Resizing Composition Window

In some browsers, if you resize the composition window after entering text, your work will be lost. Resize the window before you start entering text, or verify that resizing will not result in loss of your work.

You must be in the message window itself to reply to, or forward the message being read.

• In the message window, click on Reply, Reply to All, or Forward to open the Message Composition window and perform the desired action, as in Send Mail, above.
• To forward a message without adding any comments, click Resend in the action menu bar. In the "Resend this message" window, fill in the To field. A resent message is delivered to the recipient without the original header information, and without indication that it is a forwarded message.

Addressing
In the To, Cc, and Bcc fields, enter a fully qualified username@host.domain (for example, mahdad@ldeo.columbia.edu).

See above for information about avoiding a session time-out while composing a reply.

LDEO WebMail keeps messages on the post office server until you delete and purge them.

1. To remove a message from WebMail:
   • In the list of messages, select the message by clicking in the check box at the extreme left of the message in the folder listing. Click Delete above or below the list of messages.
   • In the message window itself, click Delete above or below the message.
2. In the list of messages, this marks the message with a trash can, strike-throughs, and shading, but does not remove the message from the post office server.
3. To finally remove the message from the server, while in the window where you marked messages for deletion, click Purge Deleted, to the upper- or lower-right of the message list.
   Once you have purged a message it is erased from the server and cannot be recovered!

Undelete

To unmark a message for deletion, select the message, then click Undelete above or below the list of messages. (Purged messaged cannot be recovered!)

When you login to WebMail, it initially displays an INBOX folder by default, which lists messages as they are received. You may create additional folders to help manage your messages in WebMail. (A webmail-sent folder is created automatically the first time you check On Send, save a copy in 'webmail-sent' folder when composing and sending a message.)

Creation and management of folders takes place in the Folder Navigator window: click Folders in the menu bar at the top of the mailbox or message window. To see a complete list of folders, click the + (plus) sign next to INBOX, or click on Expand All

Create New Folder

1. All new folders are created as a sub-folder to the INBOX: click the check box next to INBOX to select it.
2. In the drop-down menu for choosing an action, select Create Folder.
3. In the dialog box type the name of the folder and click OK. A message at the top of the window confirms creation of the folder, or displays a message if an error occured.

Open a Folder

To go to another folder and see its list of messages, select the folder from the drop-down menu next to Open Folder at the upper-right of the WebMail window. You may also click on the folder name in the Folder Navigator window.

Move a Message to Another Folder

1. If in the message listing window, select the message by clicking the check box at the left of the message.
   If in the message window itself, begin with the next step.
2. In the Messages to drop-down menu, select the folder to which the message is to be moved.
3. Click on Move or Copy. If moving a message, it is marked for deletion in the originating folder; if copying a message, it is left unmarked in the originating folder.

Managing Folders

The Folder Navigator window is where you perform other functions, such as renaming, deleting, or downloading folders. To perform a function, select the folder by clicking the check box to the left of the name, then select the function from the Choose Action drop-down menu.

Filters Not Available

LDEO WebMail does not provide for automatic message filters which move newly received messages into different folders, based on specified criteria.

Folders and Other Email Clients

See WebMail and Other Email Clients, below.

Download Folders

As with other webmail programs, in LDEO WebMail it is not possible to move individual messages from the post office server to your local computer. You can, however, download a folder and all of the messages it contains to your computer for reading or archiving. This is especially handy if you are travelling with your laptop and wish to save on connection charges to LDEO WebMail.

To download a folder (or folders):

1. Click on Folders at the top of the WebMail window.
2. In the Folder Navigator window, click the check box by the folder you wish to download.
3. In the drop-down menu to choose an action, select Download Folder(s). A series of dialog boxes will appear.
   1. In the first box, click OK to continue with the download.
   2. In the next box, click Save File.
   3. In the last box, designate and location on your computer; click Save.

The contents of the folder are downloaded as a single text file, with the extension MBOX. The file may be opened in a text reader or in an email program such as Eudora.

Windows and Eudora

If you run Eudora on a Windows system, you can incorporate mailbox folders downloaded from WebMail. Rename the file with the extension .mbx, then move the file to where your other Eudora .mbx files are located. After closing and re-opening Eudora, the downloaded mailbox will be listed.

In LDEO WebMail you are working only with mail addressed to you@ldeo.columbia.edu and currently stored on the LDEO post office server. Messages read and not deleted/purged in WebMail remain on the server, as do folders created in WebMail. Mail addressed to you at any other domain (e.g., @hotmail.com or @yahoo.com) cannot be accessed using LDEO WebMail. Likewise, mail folders or messages stored on your local computer cannot be accessed in WebMail.

The assumption is that, in addition to occasional use of WebMail, you will manage and archive your email with another client such as Eudora on your computer. If these or another email client are set for IMAP, you will be able to access messages and folders on the post officer server, including those created in WebMail. If your email client is set for POP, you will see only the INBOX (or top-level folder) in WebMail. By default, Eudora is set to POP.

Settings in POP clients, such as Eudora, let you specify a length of time to leave mail on the post office server, or to delete it from the server after the mail is downloaded to your local computer. If you plan to use WebMail in conjunction with a POP client, be aware of any automatic actions your POP client may be set to perform. Athena or Unix users should also be aware of any automatic actions which are performed at login. Automatic operations by POP clients on your post office server mailbox may be a source of confusion when using WebMail.