ITS Knowledge Base

You can create filters or Rules, as they are known in Mail.app, to ease the filing of messages.

1. Go to Preferences and select Rules from the list.
2. You can add rules that look for various strings and act on those messages that contain the string. For example, anything coming from “Helpdesk@southwestern.edu� could be moved automatically to a mailbox titled, “Helpdesk emails.�

E-Mail Storage (Quota) refers to the network-based storage for your e-mail. This space includes your InBox as well as folders such as Sent-Mail, Spam, Deleted Messages, and folders you have created. The space taken up by messages stored in these folders counts against your e-mail disk quota. If you delete and puge e-mail from these types of folders, you free up storage. This space is your quota.

Southwestern University supplies every user with a default 400MB of remote e-mail storage. If you reach 90% of your quota, you will receive an e-mail warning message. If you reach 100% of your quota, you will no longer receive incoming messages. Anyone sending a message to your e-mail address will be informed that your account is over quota.

When you receive a notice that your e-mail storage is almost at capacity, you should do some housecleaning in your Inbox or other folders. Whether you use Webmail, Thunderbird, Mail.app or some other e-mail client it is possible to bring your Inbox back under quota.

Here’s what you can do:

1. Delete and purge unneeded messages from your InBox, Sent-Mail and Trash folders.

2. Move e-mail from the server to local folders. Below are links to instructions on moving e-mail to local folders for the most commonly used e-mail clients at SU:

• Thunderbird (Win, Mac OS X)
  
• Mail.app (Mac OS X)
  
• WebMail

3. Stay on top of your disk storage (quota) by checking your status periodically:

• Thunderbird
• Webmail
  

And, as always, you may call the ITS Helpdesk for support, (512) 819-7333.

E-Mail Storage (Quota) refers to the network-based storage for your e-mail. This space includes your InBox as well as folders such as Sent-Mail, Spam, Deleted Messages, and folders you have created. The space taken up by messages stored in these folders counts against your e-mail disk quota. If you delete and puge e-mail from these types of folders, you free up storage. This space is your quota.

Southwestern University supplies every user with a default 400MB of remote e-mail storage. If you reach 90% of your quota, you will receive an e-mail warning message. If you reach 100% of your quota, you will no longer receive incoming messages. Anyone sending a message to your e-mail address will be informed that your account is over quota.

When you receive a notice that your e-mail storage is almost at capacity, you should do some housecleaning in your Inbox or other folders. Whether you use Webmail, Thunderbird, Mail.app or some other e-mail client it is possible to bring your Inbox back under quota.

Here’s what you can do:

1. Delete and purge unneeded messages from your InBox, Sent-Mail and Trash folders.

2. Move e-mail from the server to local folders. Below are links to instructions on moving e-mail to local folders for the most commonly used e-mail clients at SU:

• Thunderbird (Win, Mac OS X)
  
• Mail.app (Mac OS X)
  
• WebMail

3. Stay on top of your disk storage (quota) by checking your status periodically:

• Thunderbird
• Webmail
  

And, as always, you may call the ITS Helpdesk for support, (512) 819-7333.

How to save your folders to your local computer

1. Select “Folders” from Webmail’s Menu bar. Then select the mail box(es) you want to save (such as “INBOX”).
   Choose “Download Folder(s)” from the Actions Drop-down.
2. Webmail will create one mbox file with all the selected folders merged into one. Select the “OK” button when presented with this information.
   
3. Save the file to your computer. It will be titled something similar to .mbox”

NOTE: This process only saves folders to your local computer. If you are trying to free up disk space (quota) you still need to delete and purge unwanted e-mails.

Reading .mbox files in Mozilla Thunderbird

1. Close Thunderbird
2. copy your .mbox file to
• On Windows XP/2000, C:\Documents and Settings\[User Name]\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default\Mail\Local Folders\, where xxxxxxxx is a random string of 8 characters
• On Mac OS X, the path is usually ~/Library/Thunderbird/Profiles/xxxxxxxx.default/Mail\Local Folders\

3. Start Thunderbird. Your folder should be listed under “Local Folders�.

How to save your Address Book to your local computer

1. On the sidebar click on Organizing and then select Address Book. Next, select “Import/Export” from the top navigation bar.
2. Choose the output format of the export. We recommend Comma Separated Values. Click “Export.”
3. You will now be asked to save the file, initially titled “contacts.csv”, (comma-separated values,) somewhere on your computer.
4. This csv text file may be opened in MS-Excel

How to save your folders to your local computer

1. Select “Folders” from Webmail’s Menu bar. Then select the mail box(es) you want to save (such as “INBOX”).
   Choose “Download Folder(s)” from the Actions Drop-down.
2. Webmail will create one mbox file with all the selected folders merged into one. Select the “OK” button when presented with this information.
   
3. Save the file to your computer. It will be titled something similar to .mbox”

NOTE: This process only saves folders to your local computer. If you are trying to free up disk space (quota) you still need to delete and purge unwanted e-mails.

Reading .mbox files in Mozilla Thunderbird

1. Close Thunderbird
2. copy your .mbox file to
• On Windows XP/2000, C:\Documents and Settings\[User Name]\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default\Mail\Local Folders\, where xxxxxxxx is a random string of 8 characters
• On Mac OS X, the path is usually ~/Library/Thunderbird/Profiles/xxxxxxxx.default/Mail\Local Folders\

3. Start Thunderbird. Your folder should be listed under “Local Folders�.

How to save your Address Book to your local computer

1. On the sidebar click on Organizing and then select Address Book. Next, select “Import/Export” from the top navigation bar.
2. Choose the output format of the export. We recommend Comma Separated Values. Click “Export.”
3. You will now be asked to save the file, initially titled “contacts.csv”, (comma-separated values,) somewhere on your computer.
4. This csv text file may be opened in MS-Excel

This article explains how to move e-mail from the e-mail server to your local computer. Moving e-mail from the server to your local computer will assist in keeping your e-mail server-based storage (the amount of e-mail space assigned to your account) within reasonable bounds.

Local vs. Online
The Thunderbird window is structured in frames. The left frame shows mail folders, both on your local machine and on the server. There are two types of folders in the left frame. One folder grouping is Local Folders. The second is your online folders. For example your online folders might be grouped under SU Email or username@southwestern.edu. E-mail messages, stored in local folders, are saved on your computer’s hard drive. The online folder stores your e-mail on the mail server. This online folder is restricted to the space assigned to you by your e-mail quota.

Moving Mail to a Local Folder

Step 1: Create new folder locally
To store e-mail that you no longer need online you must first create a local folder.

1. In the left pane of the Thunderbird window select Local Folders.
2. Go to the File menu, click New, and then click Folder.
3. Next, Assign the folder a name, and then select Local Folders (Subfolders are allowed but not recommended.)
4. Click on the OK button to create the folder.

Step 2: Move e-mail to new local folder

1. Now, select the e-mail messages that you wish to move offline and have saved in your local folder.
2. Once selected (highlighted) then Right-click on the PC or Control+Click on the Mac and select Move To,
3. Then select Local Folder, then select the new folder.

NOTE: It is recommended that you backup your local files frequently to prevent losing data. To learn more about backing up your local data refer to the following article: Backing up Local Data to a CD

This article explains how to move e-mail from the e-mail server to your local computer. Moving e-mail from the server to your local computer will assist in keeping your e-mail server-based storage (the amount of e-mail space assigned to your account) within reasonable bounds.

Local vs. Online
The Thunderbird window is structured in frames. The left frame shows mail folders, both on your local machine and on the server. There are two types of folders in the left frame. One folder grouping is Local Folders. The second is your online folders. For example your online folders might be grouped under SU Email or username@southwestern.edu. E-mail messages, stored in local folders, are saved on your computer’s hard drive. The online folder stores your e-mail on the mail server. This online folder is restricted to the space assigned to you by your e-mail quota.

Moving Mail to a Local Folder

Step 1: Create new folder locally
To store e-mail that you no longer need online you must first create a local folder.

1. In the left pane of the Thunderbird window select Local Folders.
2. Go to the File menu, click New, and then click Folder.
3. Next, Assign the folder a name, and then select Local Folders (Subfolders are allowed but not recommended.)
4. Click on the OK button to create the folder.

Step 2: Move e-mail to new local folder

1. Now, select the e-mail messages that you wish to move offline and have saved in your local folder.
2. Once selected (highlighted) then Right-click on the PC or Control+Click on the Mac and select Move To,
3. Then select Local Folder, then select the new folder.

NOTE: It is recommended that you backup your local files frequently to prevent losing data. To learn more about backing up your local data refer to the following article: Backing up Local Data to a CD

Local vs. Online
The Mail.app window is structured in frames. The left frame shows mail folders, both on your local machine and on the server. There are two types of folders in the left frame. One folder grouping is Local Folders. The second is your online folders. These folders will be stored under a button (icon) labeled SU Email or username@southwestern.edu. Email messages, stored in local folders, are saved on your computer’s hard drive.

The online folders and your INBOX store your e-mail on the mail server. This online folder is restricted to the space assigned to you by your e-mail quota.

This article will explain how to move e-mail from the e-mail server to your local computer. Moving e-mail from the server to your local computer will help keep your e-mail quota (the amount of e-mail space assigned to your account) in reasonable bounds.

First, create a new folder.

1. Go to the Mailbox menu and pull to New. A dialog box will open asking you: a) the name of the new mailbox and b) whether it will be located “On My Mac� or in your email account.
2. Select On My Mac and enter a name for the new folder.
3. Once you have the new mailbox made, you can move messages from your Inbox to the mailbox.

Local vs. Online
The Mail.app window is structured in frames. The left frame shows mail folders, both on your local machine and on the server. There are two types of folders in the left frame. One folder grouping is Local Folders. The second is your online folders. These folders will be stored under a button (icon) labeled SU Email or username@southwestern.edu. Email messages, stored in local folders, are saved on your computer’s hard drive.

The online folders and your INBOX store your e-mail on the mail server. This online folder is restricted to the space assigned to you by your e-mail quota.

This article will explain how to move e-mail from the e-mail server to your local computer. Moving e-mail from the server to your local computer will help keep your e-mail quota (the amount of e-mail space assigned to your account) in reasonable bounds.

First, create a new folder.

1. Go to the Mailbox menu and pull to New. A dialog box will open asking you: a) the name of the new mailbox and b) whether it will be located “On My Mac� or in your email account.
2. Select On My Mac and enter a name for the new folder.
3. Once you have the new mailbox made, you can move messages from your Inbox to the mailbox.

1. Login to WebMail and open your INBOX.
2. Near the top of the page, just underneath the WebMail navigation icons, is a line that reads:

Quota: 40.0MB/400MB (10%)

1. Login to WebMail and open your INBOX.
2. Near the top of the page, just underneath the WebMail navigation icons, is a line that reads:

Quota: 40.0MB/400MB (10%)

NOTE: this function requires a Thuderbird extension. You may need to install this extension in Thunderbird before following these steps.

The Display Quota extension is available  at the following link: https://addons.mozilla.org/thunderbird/881/ . Follow the instructions for installing the extension and then proceed with the instructions below.

(These instructions are applicable to both Windows and Mac systems. The screen shots are from a Windows computer.)

1. In the left pane, click on your Inbox.
2. From the Edit menu, select Folder Properties.

   

3. In the Properties window, click the Quota tab.
4. Your e-mail usage is displayed numerically and graphically. Note that 100,000 KB equals 100 MB. In the example below, 191 MB of the 341 MB quota have been used.

   

NOTE: this function requires a Thuderbird extension. You may need to install this extension in Thunderbird before following these steps.

The Display Quota extension is available  at the following link: https://addons.mozilla.org/thunderbird/881/ . Follow the instructions for installing the extension and then proceed with the instructions below.

(These instructions are applicable to both Windows and Mac systems. The screen shots are from a Windows computer.)

1. In the left pane, click on your Inbox.
2. From the Edit menu, select Folder Properties.

   

3. In the Properties window, click the Quota tab.
4. Your e-mail usage is displayed numerically and graphically. Note that 100,000 KB equals 100 MB. In the example below, 191 MB of the 341 MB quota have been used.

   

Issue: When trying to register for an event (or promotion, or mailing list, etc.) through the website, you are eventually prompted to enter a 3-character, randomly-generated code. If, for some reason, this code doesn’t work the first time, it still will not work after you go back to try again.

Solution: After you go back to the page on which you enter the code, you must first refresh the page to generate a new code. Once a code has been used, successfully or otherwise, it is immediately invalidated. Going back to the submission page, however, does not generate a new code, so you will only see the already-invalid code. Refreshing the page (by pressing F5 in most PC browsers or Command-R in most Macintosh browsers) will cause a new code to be generated, allowing you to continue normally.

Issue: When trying to register for an event (or promotion, or mailing list, etc.) through the website, you are eventually prompted to enter a 3-character, randomly-generated code. If, for some reason, this code doesn’t work the first time, it still will not work after you go back to try again.

Solution: After you go back to the page on which you enter the code, you must first refresh the page to generate a new code. Once a code has been used, successfully or otherwise, it is immediately invalidated. Going back to the submission page, however, does not generate a new code, so you will only see the already-invalid code. Refreshing the page (by pressing F5 in most PC browsers or Command-R in most Macintosh browsers) will cause a new code to be generated, allowing you to continue normally.