Webmail

Below are some frequently asked questions about using the new WebMail program, launched on May 18. The new webmail is similar to the old version, with added functionality such as automatic spam filtering and message highlighting. If you have questions not answered below, please contact the Help Desk for assistance.

I get an error when I try to log into WebMail. What do I do?
The new WebMail login page looks significantly different from the old login page. If you are seeing the old WebMail login page, your computer is loading a "cached" copy, rather than reading the page from the new server. There are two things to try to fix this:

• When viewing the WebMail login page, hold down the Control (Ctrl) key on the keyboard, and press F5. This will refresh the page, loading a new copy directly from the server.
• If that didn't seem to work, in Internet Explorer go to Tools | Internet Options. In the "temporary Internet files" section, click "Delete Files". When this is finished, click OK and restart your computer. The next time you load WebMail you should see the new page.

If you are still unable to get the new page to load, contact the Help Desk for assistance.

How to I get to the new WebMail?
You access the new WebMail just like you did the old version: click on "WebMail" on the Wabash home page, or go to webmail.wabash.edu.

How can I check for new messages?
To check for new messages, click on the "INBOX" in the folders window on the left part of the screen.

How do I send a message?
Click on Compose, near the top of the Webmail screen. A new window will pop up. Write your message here, and click Send. Be sure to click Send, not Close, or your message won't be sent.

Why are some messages highlighted in pink?
Messages sent to !everyone, !staff, !faculty, and !students will be highlighted in pink, so that you can easily identify these messages.

What do the icons in the message list mean?
A sealed envelope means you haven't opened the message (text will also be bold to indicate an unread message). An open envelope means you have read the message. A paperclip means the message has an attachment. An arrow pointing to the left means you have replied to the message. An exclaimation point means the message is urgent.

My messages are all text-only. How can I see the formatted HTML version?
For security reasons, WebMail displays the text version of messages by default.  To view formatted HTML email (when available), go to Options | Display Preferences, set "Show HTML Version by Default:" to Yes, and click Submit.

Why can't I see images in my email? I just see warnings "This image has been removed for security reaons."
There are two kinds of images that come with your HTML e-mail: the ones that come attached with the e-mail itself, and others that link to remote sites. Images that are linked to remote sites are considered "unsafe" because spammers can abuse this to validate your e-mail address, and the sender can know instantly when you open the message. There are also potential security concerns. For your protection, WebMail does not display any remote images, but instead displays a warning place-holder image. To see the images in a message, click on the "View Remote Images" link at the bottom of the message. Click here to learn more about this. You can change WebMail's settings for displaying remote images by selecting "Unsafe Image Rules" on the Options page.

Automatic spam filtering
Webmail scans each incoming mail message and assigns a "spam score" based on the likelihood the message is spam. Messages that determined to be spam are automatically transferred to a spam folder so that your inbox is not cluttered with junk mail. While not perfect, our testing indicates about 80% of spam will be correctly identified, with a very low "false positive" (legitimate email incorrectly tagged as spam). You will still have to periodically clear out messages in your spam folder, as messages will count against your quota until deleted. You can change the spam filtering behavior of WebMail by selecting "Message Filters" on the Options page.