Sun Java System Portal Server, Communication Channels Online Help |

> # Mail Channel

> This Mail Channel Help file provides help for tasks you can perform directly in the Sun™ Java System Portal Server Desktop. This file does not provide help for using the mail application, which is invoked as part of a Web-based messaging solution after you click Launch Mail. Help for using the mail application can be found within the Help system for the messaging solution itself.

> The Web-based messaging solution includes at least a mail application and an address book (or contacts) application, but could also include a calendar application depending upon the messaging solution used at your site.

> The possible messaging solutions are the Sun™ Java System Messenger Express solution, IBM Lotus Domino WebMail solution, and Microsoft Outlook Web Access solution.

> After you invoke the messaging solution—which is one of the tasks explained in the subsequent bulleted list—the application that is displayed is the mail application. Other applications are accessible as links in the mail application. Once in the mail application, you can read and respond to messages.

> Tasks you can perform directly from the Portal Server Desktop in the Mail channel are:

> - Edit Mail Channel Settings
> - Read Messages
> - Invoke the Messaging Solution
> - Reply to a Message
> - Resize the Mail Channel
> - Detach the Mail Channel from the Desktop
> - Attach the Mail Channel to the Desktop
> - Remove the Mail Channel from the Desktop
> - Restore the Mail Channel to the Desktop

> # Edit Mail Channel Settings

> Edit Mail allows you to configure the mail server and customize the channel display settings. The configuration and display options available to you can vary from site to site, depending upon how Portal Server is configured at your site. In fact, you might not see an Edit Mail button at all. In which case, you will not need to edit any of the mail options. This could be the situation if the mail configuration settings and display options have all been pre-set. The options that follow are all of the options possible even though you might not have access to all of these options.

> ### To edit the Mail channel settings

> In the Mail channel, click the Edit Mail button. The first of two Account Information windows is displayed. The second Account Information window is accessed from the first Account Information window by clicking the link: Edit this channel’s display settings.

> The Account Information windows allow you to:

> - Configure the Mail Server
> - Personalize Mail Display Options

> ## Configure the Mail Server

> In the Configurations panel of the first Account Information window, you can enter the initial mail server configuration information or you can change the existing configuration information, if necessary. Contact your system administrator for any configuration information that you do not have. For those who have access to their mail through a mobile device, you might see a link below the Configurations panel regarding mobile access. Click that link to bring up a new page where you can configure various mobile access options.

> Server Name. Enter the name of the mail server. For example, mailserver.siroe.com.

> IMAP Server Port. Enter the IMAP server port number. For example, 143.

> User Name. Enter your mail server user name.

> User Password. Enter your mail server user password.

> SMTP Server Name. Enter the name of the outgoing mail (SMTP) server. For example, mailserver.siroe.com. The name for Server Name and for SMTP Server Name are often the same.

> Client Port. Enter the port number providing web service. For example, 1080.

> Domain. For servers invoking the Microsoft Outlook Web Access messaging solution only. If your Mail channel invokes the Microsoft Outlook Web Access solution, you will see the Domain property. Enter the name of the domain for the messaging solution server.

> Edit this channel’s display settings. Click this link to go to the second Account Information window, where you can edit the mail display settings.

> Finished. Click this button to save the mail configuration and to return to the Desktop.

> Cancel. Click this button to return to the Desktop without saving the changes.

> ## Personalize Mail Display Options

> In the second Account Information window, you can change how the mail headers will be displayed in the Mail channel of your Portal Desktop by changing the information in the Display Options panel.

> Modify the following information to customize the mail display options:

> Display Headers. Click inside the check box to leave a check mark in the box, which indicates that mail headers will be displayed on your Desktop.

> Number of Headers. Enter the number of mail headers you want displayed on your Desktop by clicking in the Number of Headers field and typing the number. The maximum number of headers allowed is thirty.

> Sort Order.

> 1. Click the the sort order option currently visible in the Sort Order menu (this action displays all available options).
> 2. Click the option of your choice.

> The two sort order options available are:

> - Most recent at top
> - Most recent at bottom.

> When sending a message place a copy in Sent Folder. Check this box to leave a check mark in the box, which indicates that copies of your outgoing messages will be stored in the Sent folder.

> Finished. Click this button to save the display options.

> Cancel. Click this button to return to the Desktop without saving the changes.

> # Read Messages

> To read a message directly from the Mail channel without clicking the Launch Mail button—available only with iPlanet Messenger Express as the mail server—click the Subject link of the message you want to read. Messenger Express is invoked and the message is displayed. If the subject of a message is not a link (but is in plain text), then this option is not available to you, and you will need to invoke the application by clicking Launch Mail in order to read the message.

> # Invoke the Messaging Solution

> To invoke the Web-based messaging solution, click the Launch Mail link. The messaging solution is invoked and your mail Inbox is displayed. For the IBM Lotus Domino WebMail solution and the Microsoft Outlook Web Access solution, you will first be prompted to re-enter your credentials (your User ID and password).

> # Reply to a Message

> To reply to a message that is displayed in your Mail channel, the best option is to invoke the messaging solution and reply to the message from within the mail application.

> It is possible to reply to a message without invoking the messaging solution, by clicking the From link.

> However, this action does not invoke the Mail Channel’s Web-based mail application but invokes a mail application from your computer, assuming that you have a mail application on your computer and that it is properly configured. Once invoked, that mail application displays a compose message window with the sender’s email ID in the To field. If a mail application doesn’t reside on your computer or it is improperly configured, clicking the From link will result in an error message or the application simply will not respond.

> # Resize the Mail Channel

> The Mail channel contains three different buttons in the channel’s toolbar for resizing the channel. Only two of these buttons are visible at any given time.

> Minimize. Click this button to collapse the channel, which leaves only the channel’s toolbar remaining. Minimizing a channel collapses the channel but it might not collapse the entire row unless it is the only channel in the row or unless the other channels in that row have been minimized, too. After you click the Minimize button, it changes to the Normalize button.

> Maximize. Click this button to expand the channel horizontally across the page and to remove other channels from the page. After you click the Maximize button, it changes to the Normalize button.

> Normalize. Click this button to return the page to its normal state: the state it was in before the Maximize or Minimize buttons were clicked. After you click the Normalize button, it changes back to the Minimize or Maximize button, whichever button was previously replaced by the Normalize button.

> # Detach the Mail Channel from the Desktop

> The Detach Mail option separates the Mail channel from the Sun Java System Portal Server Desktop and allows you to view the channel in a separate popup window.

> ## To separate the Mail channel from the Desktop

> Click the Detach Mail button in the Mail Channel toolbar.

> # Attach the Mail Channel to the Desktop

> The Attach Mail option integrates the detached Mail channel back into the Sun Java System Portal Server Desktop.

> ## To attach the Mail channel back into the Desktop

> Click the Attach Mail button (at this point, the Mail channel will be detached from the Desktop) in the Mail channel toolbar.

> # Remove the Mail Channel from the Desktop

> The Remove Mail option removes the Mail channel from the Sun Java System Portal Server Desktop.

> ## To remove the Mail channel

> Click the Remove Mail button in the Mail channel toolbar.

> # Restore the Mail Channel to the Desktop

> The removed Mail channel can be restored to the Sun Java System Portal Server Desktop.

> ## To restore the Mail channel

> 1. Click the Content header on your Desktop. The Content window appears.
> 2. Click inside the Mail channel check box to leave a check mark in the box, which indicates that the Mail channel will be displayed on the Desktop.
> 3. Click Finished to save the changes or click Cancel to close the window without saving the changes.

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