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Navigating Among Options

The options you see depend on where you were when you clicked the Options icon. If you were in your INBOX, you will see mail options. If you were in your address book, you will see address book options. Use the Edit options for pop-up menu to select different sets of options.

• Mail options apply just to the mail part of mail.umich.edu.
• Address Book options apply just to the address book.
• Filters options apply just to the server-side filters application within mail.umich.edu.
• Global options apply across mail, your address book, and your filters.

Click the various options to see what you can set.

IMPORTANT! If you experiment with different options, be sure to remember—or write down—the original settings in case you need to return to them.

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Setting Number of Messages per Page

1. In the tool bar at the top of the window, click the Options icon.
2. From the Edit options for pop-up menu, select Mail.

   

3. Under Other Options, click Mailbox and Folder Display Options.

   

4. In the box next to Messages per page in the mailbox view, type the number of messages you want to see per page.

   

5. Click the Save Options button at the bottom of the window.

   

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Setting Which Page to Go to When Opening Mailbox

1. In the tool bar at the top of the window, click the Options icon.
2. From the Edit options for pop-up menu, select Mail.

   

3. Under Other Options, click Mailbox and Folder Display Options.

   

4. From the When opening a new mailbox for the first time, which page do you want to start on? pop-up menu, select the page you want to see when you open a mailbox (such as your INBOX).

   

   In that same window, you might also want to set the sort order for your message display. From the Default sorting criteria pop-up menu, select how you want your messages sorted. Just below that, from the Default sorting direction, select the order in which you want your messages sorted for display.

   

5. Click the Save Options button at the bottom of the window.

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Setting New Mail Notifications

1. In the tool bar at the top of the window, click the Options icon.
2. From the Edit options for pop-up menu, select Mail.

   

3. Under Other Options, click New Mail.

   

4. Select the sound you want to hear when new mail arrives. To hear one of the sounds click the Play button in the bar next to it.

   

5. Click the Save Options button at the bottom of the window.

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Choosing Your Own Color Scheme

1. In the tool bar at the top of the window, click the Options icon.
2. From the Edit options for pop-up menu, select Global Options.

   

3. Under Other Information, click Display Options.

   

4. From the Select your color scheme pop-up menu, select a color scheme.

   

   You might want to try several different ones to see what they look like and which you prefer. Pick one, save your changes, and see if you like it. Change it again if you don't. Here are just a few of the more than 25 options available:

   

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Choosing Your Preferred Language and Time Zone

1. In the tool bar at the top of the window, click the Options icon.
2. From the Edit options for pop-up menu, select Global Options.

   

3. Under Your Information, click Locale and Time.

   

4. From the Select your preferred language pop-up menu, select the language of your choice. The language you select will be used for all menu items, icon names, and labels—including those in the Options part of mail.umich.edu.

   IMPORTANT! Be sure to select a language you understand or you may have difficulty changing back to another language.

   

5. If you are reading and sending mail from a time zone other than the one for the Ann Arbor/Detroit area, you can select the time zone you are in for more accurate display of message-sent and message-received times. From the Your current time zone pop-up menu, select the time zone you are in.

   

6. Click the Save Options button at the bottom of the window.
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Creating an Identity

IMPORTANT! It is against University policy to misrepresent yourself or assume a false identity or the identity of another person. Any identity you set up and use must be your own, legitimate identity.

If you have more than one role from which you send mail, you may wish to set up additional identities. You can then select from different name formats, e-mail addresses, and signatures when sending mail. For example, if you use mail.umich.edu to send informal, personal messages and also messages from yourself in some official capacity, such as a club officer or as an employee of a particular University department, you might want to set up multiple identities such as these:

• Personal example. To have your mail sent so that it shows up as from your nickname and personal e-mail address (that is, for example, something like Babs Jensen <bjensen@umich.edu>), you would create an identity as follows:

  Identity's name: My informal identity

  Your full name: Babs Jensen

  Your From: address: bjensen@umich.edu
  (NOTE: This must be an e-mail address.)

  You might also include an informal, standard signature, such as "--Babs."

• Club officer example. To have your mail sent so that is shows up as being from you in an official capacity (that is, for example, something like B. Jensen, U-M Club Secretary <bjensen@umich.edu>) you would create an identity as follows:

  Identity's name: My club officer identity

  Your full name: B. Jensen, U-M Club Secretary

  Your From: address: bjensen@umich.edu
  (NOTE: This must be an e-mail address.)

  You might also include a formal, standard signature, containing your title, name, the club street address, and other appropriate contact information.

Here's how to set up an additional identity:

1. In the tool bar at the top of the window, click the Options icon.
2. From the Edit options for pop-up menu, select Mail.

   

3. Under General Options, click Personal Information.

   

4. From the Select the identity you want to change pop-up menu, select Create a new one.

   

5. Type a name for your identity, the name you want to appear when you send mail, and your From address.

   

6. Scroll down to the bottom of the window and type your signature in the Your signature box.

   

7. Click the Save Options button at the bottom of the window.
8. To use your new identity, compose a new message as you normally would, and select the identity you want to use from the Identity pop-up menu.

   

TIP: We recommend that you send yourself a message from your new idenitity to test it and make sure it everything shows up the way you want it to. For example, a message sent from the sample identity created above would look like this:



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Compose Messages in HTML

Composing messages in HTML (the mark-up language used for formatting web pages) allows you to use formatting such as bold and italic text, colored text, different font sizes, and more in the messages you send. If you use HTML composition, mail.umich.edu will actually imbed two copies of the e-mail message in the message—one using plain text and one with the formatting. Recipients whose mail programs can display HTML-formatted messages will see your formatting, and recipients whose mail programs cannot display HTML will see the plain text version.

On a Per-Message Basis

You can choose HTML composition on a per-message basis by selecting the Switch to HTML composition link in the window where you compose a new message.



For All Your Messages

1. In the tool bar at the top of the window, click the Options icon.
2. From the Edit options for pop-up menu, select Mail.

   

3. Under Message Options, click Message Composition.

   

4. Check the checkbox next to Compose messages with an HTML GUI by default (if browser supports the feature).
5. Click the Save Options button at the bottom of the window.
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Check Spelling Before Sending Messages

1. In the tool bar at the top of the window, click the Options icon.
2. From the Edit options for pop-up menu, select Mail.

   

3. Under Message Options, click Message Composition.

   

4. Under the Create stationery and form responses heading, check the Check spelling before sending a message checkbox.

   

5. Click the Save Options button at the bottom of the window.
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Additional Resources

Visit ITCS's Information System to obtain ITCS computer documentation and other resources. A list of relevant documents follows:
Using web.mail.umich.edu: Getting Started (S4297)

Using Server-Side Filters to Manage/Organize Your E-Mail (Including Accept and Block Lists) (S4325)

Using web.mail.umich.edu: Address Book (S4330)

Using web.mail.umich.edu: Attachments (S4331)

Using web.mail.umich.edu: Mail Folders (S4332)

ITCS's Online Help Desk provides a variety of computing help resources.

For further help with mail.umich.edu, send e-mail or phone (734) 764-HELP.

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