Mail Tool

The Mail tool allows you to compose and send email messages to any or all of the members of your OWL-Space site, from within OWL-Space itself. You can also choose to keep a record of all emails sent from the Mail tool in your site's Email Archive.

The main page of the Mail tool allows you to compose a new email. At the top, the From: field is automatically set with your name. The To: field shows a check box for each type of member of your site (students, TAs, instructor, etc.). Check the box next to each group that you wish to receive the email. The text box labeled Other recipient(s): allows you to type in one or more email addresses (separated by commas or semicolons) to also send the mail to. This way you can copy your email to colleagues, prospective students, or others who are not members of your site.

The Subject box is pre-filled with the name of your site, so the recipients know that the email pertains to the course, etc.. Most of the time, you will want to add the specific subject at the end of this pre-filled text, rather than overwrite it.

Next is a link that allows you to attach one or more files to your email (to a maximum of 5MB).

Below this a text box with an OWL-Space text editor interface, in which you can compose the body of your email.

At the bottom are two check boxes, allowing you to copy the email to yourself, and add it to the site's Email Archive if you choose.

Press the Send Mail button to send your email, or the Cancel button to cancel.

There is also an Options tab at the top of the main Mail tool page. Clicking on this will take you to the Options page. Here you can change the default settings for the Mail tool. The first, Choose selection view:, adjusts how the To: portion of composing a new email works. Choosing Users from the selection box will give you a list of all members of your site. Checking the box next to a member's name will send the email to them. The Users by Role choice is the interface described above, where there is a check box for each type of user (student, TA, etc.), and checking the box next to a category will send the email to all members of that type.

Side-by-Side will show two boxes, with an Add button and a Remove button between them. In the left-hand box (Select from List), is a list of all members of your site, and all the different types (student, TA, etc.). The right-hand box shows a list of all the current Recipients of your email. Move names from the left hand box to the right hand box to send the email to that person or group. Move names from the right back to the left to cancel sending the email to that person or group. To move names from left to right, highlight the name in the left box and then click on Add. To move from right to left, highlight the name in the left hand box and click on Remove. You can chose either to move members individually, or move a whole group at a time by using the member types.

The Scrolling List choice will show one box listing all members, and the buttons Select All and Select None. The email will be sent to all members whose names are highlighted. Click on a name to highlight it. To highlight more than one name, hold down shift as you click on additional names. To highlight all members, press Select All. To clear all highlighting, press Select None. Clicking on a name that is already highlighted will clear that name.

The Copies: section allows you to set the default setting for the two check boxes at the bottom of the compose email page. If you check them in the options, then they will always start checked when you compose a new email (and you can uncheck them if desired).

The Reply-to: setting lets you set whether recipients can use the reply function in their email client to reply to your message. If set to Sender, they will be able to reply to you. If set to Do not allow reply, they will not.

Message format: determines what format the body of your email is sent in. Choosing HTML allows you to use all the features of the text editor in your email body (font sizes, colors, types, adding images and links, etc.), while plain text allows only that. Most email clients today handle HTML emails, but some (notably for users who view their email through a "terminal") only use simple text. HTML emails will always be viewable in the Email Archive if they are copied there.

Press the Update Defaults button to save your changes when you are done adjusting the Mail tool options. This will save the settings and return you to the compose email page. You can also return to the compose email page by clicking the Compose tab at the top of the Mail tool, or pressing the Cancel button (which both do not save any changes made).