Message Management
Mail
Folders
Your mail is organized into different folders, or storage locations. Standard
storage locations vary depending on your mail server settings. You can
also create folders and specify locations for filtering
incoming mail.
Standard Storage Locations
Incoming messages are normally stored in a folder called Inbox.
When you enter mail to read new messages you will see those in your
Inbox
by default. To select any other folder, click the folder name on the folder
list.
Unless you change "Copies & Folders" preferences,
copies of messages that you send are saved in a folder called Sent.
Also by default, deleted messages are transferred to a folder called
Trash.
If you decide to save a message to send later, you may place it in a folder
called Drafts, then come back to finish it at any time (this folder
will be created automatically the first time you want save a message).
Notes:
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IMAP Users: The folder list shows both server mail folders (under
the heading imap.csun.edu) and Local Mail folders. The default
Inbox, Sent and Trash folders are located on the incoming mail server (imap.csun.edu).
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POP Users: All mail you receive will be downloaded to your computer.
Therefore, you'll only see a list of Local Mail folders — which
includes Inbox, Sent, and Trash.
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Creating New Folders
In addition to these standard folders, which are created by the application,
you may create other folders as needed for organizing your mail messages.
Folders can be arranged hierarchically (i.e., folders within folders).
To create a new folder, select New Folder from the File
menu. In the "New Folder" dialox box enter a name for the new folder in
the "Name:" text box and choose a folder from the "Create as sub-folder"
drop-down list (for example, choose "Local Mail" if you want the new folder
to be sub-folder that folder).
Notes for IMAP Users:
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Remember that your list of folders will include folders on the mail server
(imap.csun.edu) as well as Local Folders.
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While it is possible to maintain and manipulate mail folders on both the
server and your desktop, it is a good idea to move mail
from your Inbox to folders on your workstation within a reasonable
time frame. This keeps the server from getting overloaded.
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Searching
for and Sorting Messages
You can search for a message by subject, date, sender, body of message,
priority, "To" or "CC". Choose Search Messages from the Edit
menu. In the "Search Messages" dialog box, first select the folder you
want to search. To search all folders on your local workstation select
Local
Mail. Then select or enter the specifics of your search in the boxes
provided. If you wanted to locate all mail messages that had "budget" in
the subject line, for example, you would choose/enter "Search for items
in Local Mail where the subject contains budget".
To sort your messages click on the column above the message list to
sort on that column (e.g., Subject or Sender). Click a second time to reverse-sort
the column.
Moving
and Deleting Messages and Folders
Deleting a Message
To delete the currently selected message, you can click on the Delete
icon on the toolbar at the top of the message window — or you can tap the
DELETE
key on the keyboard! The message is then moved from the current folder
to a folder called Trash (or handled some other way — as specified
in preferences
for Mail & Newsgroups). POP users will have only one (local) Trash
folder. IMAP users will see a Trash folder on both the mail server
and in Local Mail.
Messages in a Trash folder may be viewed (like messages in any
other folder) until the Trash folder is emptied. They can be retrieved
from Trash and moved into another folder if you change your mind about
deleting them (provided you haven't emptied the folder in the meantime).
Files that are moved to the Trash folder can be removed permanently
by selecting Empty Trash... from the File menu.
Moving a Message to a Different Folder
To move a message from one folder to another folder, select the desired
message from the message list, then click the File icon on the toolbar
(NOT the File menu item) and choose (click) the destination folder from
the list of folders that appears.
If you're an IMAP user, you can move mail messages in folders on the
server to different folders on the server, or to folders under Local
Mail (which is stored in your own computer) — and vice versa.
Making Multiple Selections for Moving or Deleting
Messages
To select more than one message to move or delete, you can hold down the
CTRL
key and click on each message. Other multiple selections can be made by
choosing Select from the Edit menu and selecting one of the
following:
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All — to select every message in the folder,
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Flagged — to select messages you've previously flagged, or
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Thread — to select a message and all its replies.
Selected messages are highlighted. You may then delete them move them (to
the same location), as previously described.
Deleting a Folder
To delete a folder (and all messages it contains), do the following: From
the Communicator menu choose (click) Tools and then click
Message
Center. Highlight (click) the name of the folder to be deleted, then,
from the Edit menu, select Delete.
Filtering
Incoming Messages
You can have incoming messages automatically stored in particular folders
by creating a message mail filter. A filter is a "rule" for routing a message.
For example, to store all messages from a mailing list ("listserv") called
"mathwhiz" that you've subscribed to, begin by creating a new folder. Pick
an appropriate name, such as "Math Whiz".
Next, from the Edit menu, select Message Filters and then
click the New button. Enter a name for the filter (e.g., "mathwhiz"),
then specify the action that is to be performed. With appropriate use of
the dialog box you could specify the rule as "if to of the message
contains
mathwhiz".
Many other filtering options are available, such as filtering by subject
or priority level. To see what they are, explore the options in the dialog
box.
You may deactivate a filter by selecting Mail Filters, then unchecking
the name of the filter. To reactivate the filter, make sure that there
is a check to the right of its name.
Notes to IMAP Users:
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You can filter mail to folders on both the mail server (imap.csun.edu)
and your desktop computer (Local Folders).
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While there may be some mail that is best stored on the server (so that
you can access it from both on and off campus), it is a good idea to move
most filtered messages to sub-folders of Local Mail. This keeps the server
from getting overloaded.
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