E-mail

Using E-mail

Using the Directory and Address Book

Avoiding Spam

E-mail Size

Using Folders

Creating a Signature

E-mail at WFU
Policy on Responsible and Ethical Use of Computing Resources

Use of Wake Forest technology resources, including your Wake Forest e-mail account, is governed by the Policy on Responsible and Ethical Use of Computing Resources. Specifically, the policy prohibits harassing e-mail, misrepresentation through e-mail, and e-mail spam.

WFU Google Mail is the standard e-mail application for All New Incoming Students during the Summer and Fall of 2009.

• All new students will be assigned a Wake Forest University Google Mail account. To access your account, go to WFU Google Mail and enter your Wake Forest University user name and password.
• Learn more about Google Mail features here.

Outlook/Exchange e-mail is used by some Wake Forest departments. Anyone using Outlook/Exchange e-mail should refer to these materials.

• While Microsoft Outlook is part of the standard load, Wake Forest discourages the use of Outlook Express. Unlike Microsoft Outlook which is a part of the Microsoft Office Suite, Outlook Express is a free e-mail program that comes with Internet Explorer. Outlook Express is more susceptible to viruses and cannot be made as secure as Microsoft Outlook.

Thunderbird is the standard e-mail application on the ThinkPad for upperclassmen, faculty and staff. Thunderbird allows you to create, send and retrieve e-mail messages, and maintain an e-mail address book. Below are some instructions for effectively using Thunderbird at Wake Forest.

Using the WFU E-mail Directory in Thunderbird to search for WFU Students, Faculty, and Staff

• Click Write.
• A new window will open and the cursor will blink in the To: field.
• Begin typing the name of the WFU student, faculty or staff member.
• The type-ahead feature will list all the WFU e-mail addresses that match. The more of the name you type, the closer the match will be.
• Scroll through the list and click the correct name.
• Press Enter key to go to the next line in the To: field
• Press Tab key to move on to the Subject field.

Using the Thunderbird Personal Address Book to Store E-mail Addresses

You can quickly add people who have sent you an e-mail to your Personal Address Book.

• Open a message.
• Click on the sender’s e-mail address in the From or CC field.
• Click on the option Add to Address Book.
• A new address book card will open for that entry.
• Type a nickname, and any additional information that you want to enter for that person.
• Click OK when you are finished. To send that person an e-mail, type their nickname in the To: field of a message.

Viewing Attachments in Thunderbird While Avoiding Viruses

• Do not open unsolicited e-mail attachments, even from friends and family. These messages can be generated by a computer virus and can spread that same computer virus via attachments.
• Messages with poorly spelled text or no text at all are often generated by a virus to spread viruses.
• When in doubt, e-mail the sender and ask if they sent the attachment before opening it.
• The Wake Forest outgoing e-mail limit is 10 MB.

Extra Protection in Thunderbird Against Spam

All incoming WFU e-mail is scanned for known spam before it is delivered to you.

PureMessage for Thunderbird and Outlook E-mail

PureMessage is a mail-filtering program that runs on the e-mail server. All ingoing and outgoing e-mail messages pass through PureMessage.

Manage your quarantined spam by visiting WFU Puremessage. Login with your WFU user name and password. Quarantined messages are deleted after two weeks.

Avoid Spam by Protecting your WFU E-mail Address and using Junk Mail Controls in Thunderbird

Spammers collect e-mail addresses from many sources. Replying to unsolicited junk messages or clicking unsubscribe links confirms your e-mail address and may encourage more spam. Enabling the junk mail controls and teaching Thunderbird to recognize junk mail can greatly reduce the volume of junk in your inbox.

To set junk mail controls

• Go to the Tools menu and click Junk Mail Controls.
• With your WFU account selected in the pull down list, click the Adaptive Filter tab and check Enable adaptive junk mail detection.
• Review the other options listed in the Settings tab. Some users prefer to have junk mail moved to the junk folder and then automatically deleted after a period of time.
• Next, train Thunderbird to recognize Junk messages and Non-Junk messages: From your Inbox, select a message. Click the Junk button in the toolbar to mark or unmark the message(s). As Thunderbird learns more about which messages you consider junk, it gets better at identifying and removing them.
• Make sure to correct Thunderbird when it incorrectly labels messages as junk by clicking the Not Junk button.

How to Avoid Exceeding the Wake Forest E-mail

Quota To ensure you receive all University communications, avoid going over the e-mail quota.

• No new e-mail is received if you exceed the 12.5 MB quota on the WFU e-mail server.
• Check your e-mail with Thunderbird regularly in order to download messages from the mail server to the ThinkPad.
• WFU WebMail leaves messages on the server, making it more likely you will reach your quota.
• Once e-mail is downloaded to the ThinkPad, the e-mail server space is available again.
• Contact the Service Desk for assistance restoring access.

Using Folders to Safeguard your E-mail in Thunderbird

Leaving too many messages in your inbox makes your messages vulnerable to viruses and corruption. Additionally if a virus makes it to the inbox it can also corrupt the inbox and result in a loss of messages. To avoid a loss of messages, move e-mail out of the inbox and into other folders.

• To create a folder, right-click on “username”@wfu.edu in the left message pane.
  WARNING: Do not create subfolders of the inbox.
• Choose New Folder from the pop-up menu.
• Type a name for the new folder.

Creating a signature file using the VCard feature in Thunderbird

To attach standard signature text to the bottom of every message follow these steps:

• Click on the Tools menu.
• Select Account Settings.
• Select “username” @wfu.edu.
• Check the box on the right, Attach my vCard to messages.
• Click Edit Card, fill in the fields and click OK.