New E-mail and Mailing List Features

August 12, 2003: Improvements to Email and Mailing List tools

1. Improved Mail Manager

The current Mail Manager tool will be updated to include two new features - IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) Mail Support, and Mailing List Management. Please read below for details on these new features. All mail accounts in current mail managers will remain intact, and the Mail Manager icon will not change. The Mail Manager interface will also get a fresh look, but will keep the same easy-to-use layout. The Mail Manager layout will change slightly, as pictured below. There will now be two frames or panes:

On left pane are the following links:
  • Home - To display Home page.
  • New Address - For creating new accounts.
  • New list - For creating new list.
  • Edit list - To change settings for existing list.
  • Delete list - To delete a existing list.
  • Edit Moderators - For adding/removing Moderators for list.
  • Administer list - For administering the list.
On right pane are the settings for all existing accounts.
  • Total mail accounts
  • Autoforward settings.
  • Auto response setting. e.g. this account has also set for an autoresponse.

2. Support for IMAP

The new Mail Manager will allow for new mail accounts to be added with IMAP Protocol, in addition to POP3. Perfect for today's mobile businesspeople, IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) allows for mail to be accessed by various mail clients in various locations. Please note that no single mailbox can use both POP and IMAP at the same time. You will need to enable one or the other when setting up a new mail account. In the shortest terms, if you only access your mailbox from on PC, then the "POP3" setting is best, but if you access if from multiple computers or locations, then "IMAP" is probably better. For more information on IMAP, please see the links below.

http://www.imap.org/
http://www.coruscant.demon.co.uk/mike/imap/basics.html
http://www.e-smith.org/docs/manual/5.0/imappop3.html

3. Mailing List Management

Included in the improved Mail Manager is an entirely new Mailing List Management tool, allowing you to add, edit, and administer your mailing lists in a more intuitive and convenient way.

New "Create" screen

For the last field, list type, there are three options:

  1. Subscriber only list - All the subscribers of the list will receive the mails Sent to list. For e.g. mail to list1@test.com will be sent to all subscribed users of list1.
  2. Newsletter - Foreign subscriptions are restricted with this type of list. Subscribers can only receive mails from the list. Maintainer of the list receives posting to the list.
  3. Moderated list - All the moderators of the list will receive the mails sent to list and approve the postings. For e.g. mail to list1@test.com will be sent to all the moderators of list1. Maintainer of list is the default moderator. Users can add/remove moderators to list.

New interface for editing mailing lists

  • User can edit Maintainers Email address. Enter new address in address text box and click on Save Changes button.
  • User can edit Maintainers password by entering new password in password field and clicking on Save Changes button.
  • User can change the list type by selecting new list type and saving the changes.
  • User can subscribe new users to list by entering user address and clicking on Subscribe button.
  • User can unsubscribe existing users from list. One can select multiple users from list and click on Unsubscribe button.

Additional new interface screens