Configuring Netscape Messenger (v 4.7x) to Work with UD's E-mail Server

You must configure Messenger (i.e., enter some specific user and network information) or the program will not work properly with UD's central e-mail server (mail.udel.edu). You'll use Messenger's Preferences menu to configure the program properly.

Instructions: How to configure Messenger to work with UD's central e-mail server

1. If it is not already open, open the Netscape Communicator program as you normally would.

2. From the menu bar, select Edit | Preferences.

   The Preferences dialog box--similar to the following one--will appear:

   

   On the left side of the Preferences dialog box, you'll see a pane with the title Category. This pane contains a list of folders. (See the preceding sample dialog box.)

3. In the Category pane, click the "+" (plus sign) in front of the folder named Mail & Newsgroups. This action will display the selected folder's subfolders.

4. Click Mail Servers.

   

   The right-hand side of the Preferences dialog box will change. The right-hand side of this dialog box is divided into three sections:

   Incoming Mail Servers
   Outgoing Mail Server
   Local mail directory

5. If the top section, Incoming Mail Servers, contains text (either "mail," "mail.udel.edu," or "mail.udel.edu [Default]"), click the text to select it and then click Edit.

   The Mail Server Properties dialog box--similar to the following one--will appear:

   

   The Mail Server Properties dialog box consists of three tabs:

   General
   IMAP
   Advanced

6. On the General tab, verify that the Server Type is set to IMAP Server.

7. Verify that the User Name text field contains your UDelNet ID. If it does not, type it in.

   Note
   The text field should only contain your UDelNet ID, not the @udel.edu ending.

8. Verify that the option Remember password is not checked. If it is, click in the checkbox to remove the check mark.

9. Click the IMAP tab.

10. Under the heading When I delete a message, click Mark it as deleted (It will be removed when I select Compact This Folder).

11. Click the checkboxes (so that a check mark appears in each box) for the following options:

    Clean up (Expunge) Inbox on exit
    Clean up All Folders on exit

    The dialog box should look similar to the following one:

    

12. Click the Advanced tab.

13. Verify that the IMAP server directory text field reads

    mail/

    If it does not, type it in.

14. Verify that the checkbox in front of Show only subscribed folders does not have a check mark. If it does, click in the checkbox to remove it.

15. Verify that the checkbox in front of the option Server supports folders that contain sub-folders and messages does have a check mark. If it does not, click in the checkbox to enter one.

16. Click OK. The Preferences dialog box should still be visible.

17. Verify that the Outgoing mail (SMTP) server text field reads

    mail.udel.edu

    If it does not, type it in.

18. Verify that the Outgoing mail server user name text field contains your UDelNet ID. If it does not, type it in.

    Caution
    Type only your UDelNet ID, not the @udel.edu ending. Even if you do not use UD as your ISP, you can still type your UDelNet ID in this field.

19. At the bottom of the Outgoing Mail Server section, verify that the Never radio button is selected for the Use Secure Socket Layer(SSL) or TLS for outgoing messages option.

    The information should look similar to that in the following graphic (in this example, "instructor" is used in place of an actual UDelNet ID).

    

20. In the Category pane, click the Messages folder.

    You'll see four sections on the right-hand side of the Preferences dialog box. In the top section, Forwarding and Replying to Messages, you'll see the By default, forward messages field.

21. Verify that this field reads Inline. If it does not, click the drop-down arrow and select Inline.

    The dialog box will appear similar to the following one:

    

22. In the Category pane, click the Addressing folder.

23. In this dialog box, you will see options for the directories in which Messenger will search for addresses. Make sure there is a check mark in both the Address books option and Directory server option. Below Directory server, click the drop-down arrow to select University of Delaware.

    The dialog box will look similar to the following one:

    

24. Click OK to quit Preferences.

25. Click the Close button to quit the Netscape Communicator program.

    Caution
    If you do not quit the Netscape Communicator program, the preferences changes you made will not take effect, and the program will not work properly with UD's central e-mail server.

Caution for Netscape Messenger Users
Under Netscape's Preferences, if you click the Mail & Newsgroups folder, you will see a list of four checkboxes in the lower-right hand side of the dialog box. Verify that the last option Use Netscape Messenger from MAPI-based applications is checked. If it is not checked, you will not be able to send documents as attachments directly from the MS Word program.

Caution for Outlook Express Users
Under Netscape's Preferences, if you click the Mail & Newsgroups folder, you will see a list of four checkboxes in the lower-right hand side of the dialog box. Verify that the last option Use Netscape Messenger from MAPI-based applications is not checked. If it is checked, Outlook Express will not work properly.

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How to Set Up a UD LDAP Directory Service

To set up the LDAP Directory Service for the University of Delaware, follow these steps:

1. From the Communicator menu, click Address Book.
2. From the Address Book window, click the File menu, and then click New Directory.
3. Fill in the Directory Server Property dialog box with the following information (use care to make sure all items are spelled correctly):

Description: University of Delaware

LDAP Server: mail.udel.edu

Server Root: o=University of Delaware, st=Delaware, c=US

4. Click OK.

How to Customize the Appearance of the Messenger Dialog Box

In the Size column, messages are measured by bytes. The larger the number of bytes, the larger the message.

For example, if you see a message with the number "847" in this column, that message contains 847 bytes. If you see a message with the number "847KB" in this column, that message is 1,000 times larger than the other. K stands for kilobytes. (One K equals 1,000 bytes.)

You may also see e-mail with the letters "MB" after the number. MB stands for megabytes. (One M equals 1,000,000 bytes.)

The following instructions, will explain how you can move the Size column (which indicates the size of each message) to a position in the dialog box where it is visible. The Size column should be visible because you can then easily check for large messages, which you may need to delete or move and save to the hard drive of your desktop computer.

Instructions: How to move the Size column in the Messenger dialog box

1. Click the Start button (usually located in the lower-left corner of the screen) and then select Programs | Netscape Communicator | Netscape Messenger.

2. In the Profile Manager dialog box, click the drop-down arrow next to the Profile Name field to select the user profile name you created using previous instructions.

3. Click Start Communicator.

4. If you see a Netscape "alert" message, you can ignore it and click OK.

5. The Password Entry Dialog dialog box will appear. Type your password in the blank field.

6. Click OK.

   In the following graphic, the Size column is not visible:

   

7. To make the Size column visible, click on the left-pointing arrow at the end of the line containing the word Subject. You will probably need to click the arrow about three times until you see this column appear.

8. Click on the word Size, hold down the mouse button, and drag the Size column to the right of the first column (Subject), then release the mouse button. The Size column is now visible in the following graphic:

   

   FYI
   You may have to pull the vertical lines on either side of the word Size so that you can see all the information contained in the column.

9. Click once on the word Size to sort messages by size (smallest to largest).

   FYI
   You can click on the word Size again to reverse the sort order.

Last updated May 28, 2003
Copyright © 1999, University of Delaware