Office of Information Technology at Ohio University

Office of Information Technology at Ohio University

Webmail Frequently Asked Questions

General Questions

What is Webmail?

When to Use Webmail

Browser and System Requirements

Customizing Webmail

Troubleshooting

Problems opening forwarded attachments

General Questions

What Is Webmail?

Webmail is an easy, convenient way to access your Oak e-mail through a web browser. You can use Webmail from nearly any computer with an Internet connection.

The Webmail software itself is a customized version of Silkymail from Cyrusoft, including a number of Ohio University-specific features not found in the general version of Silkymail.

When to Use Webmail

Webmail is perfect when you don't have access to your normal e-mail software. Whether you are a faculty member at a conference, a student who is home for the weekend, or a staff member visiting an office that uses a different e-mail system, Webmail lets you check messages quickly and easily.

Webmail is not meant to replace e-mail software like Mulberry. Instead, think of it as a supplement, an option when your regular e-mail program is not available.

Browser and System Requirements

In general, any web browser that supports Cookies and JavaScript will work with Webmail.

If you are having trouble using Webmail, call the Support Desk for help with this.

Customizing Webmail

Number of Messages Per Page

Webmail lets you specify how many messages to display in your mailbox window.

The more messages per page, the longer it takes to load the page. This time difference is especially noticeable when using Webmail over a modem connection.

The fewer messages per page, the more often you have to load the next page if you have many messages in your mailbox.

To select the number of messages that Webmail displays per page of your mailbox:

Click "Preferences" at the top of the Webmail page; a new window will open.
Click "Mailbox" on the left of the Preferences window.
Under "Number of Messages per Page" on the right of the Preferences window, select the number from the drop-down list.
Click "Ok" on the left of the Preferences window; the window will close.

How Often to Check Mail

Automatic checking for new messages is useful if you have Webmail open while working on other things. Webmail will alert you whenever new messages arrive in your mailbox.

To select the time interval to check for new messages:

Click "Preferences" at the top of the Webmail page. A new window will open.

Click "Mailbox" on the left of the Preferences window.

Under "How Often to Check for New Mail", select a time interval from the drop-down list.

Click "Ok" on the left of the Preferences window. The window will close.

You can always check manually if new messages have arrived by clicking the "Check" button on the toolbar of the Webmail window.

Changing the Default Character Set for Sending Messages

This option is useful if you often compose messages in languages other than English.

To choose the default character set that Webmail will use when sending messages:

Click "Preferences" at the top of the Webmail page. A new window will open.

Click "Compose" on the left of the Preferences window.

Under "Default Message Composition Charset" on the right of the Preferences window, select the desired character set from the drop-down list.

Click "Ok" on the left of the Preferences window. The window will close.

You can always override the default character set when sending a particular message by choosing a different set from the "Encoding" option in the Message Composition window.

Troubleshooting

Problems opening forwarded attachments

When downloading an attachment that was part of a forwarded message, Webmail may generate an "empty" file rather than saving the attachment. This is a known problem with the current version of Webmail. We are working on a solution. In the meantime, you can either:

Use another e-mail client, like Mulberry, to download the problem attachment.

Ask the sender to extract the attacments on his or her computer and send them separately instead of simply forwarding the original message and attachments together.