First, we will focus on the toolbar of email folders to learn about its options:

In this section, we will focus on how email folders are displayed and how they work. The mail folders are arranged in a table (list). Each row contains one message and available information. Information to selected messages are listed in the columns.

Figure 1.20. The Inbox email folder

Each line may include icons referring to other features of the particular message (the description provided below addresses them in the order from left as they may appear in the line):

icon	Description
	high priority messages
	low priority messages
	attachment
	message flag
	unread message
	read message
	unread spam
	read spam
	messages already replied
	forwarded messages
	event (meeting invitation or a reply to an invitation)
	task (notice informing of the user's participation on a task or a reply to such a notice)

Table 1.1. Overview of icons used in message lists

By default, up to 20 messages are listed on one page. To change number of messages displayed on a single page, use the Settings section in Kerio WebMail (see chapter 1.11.1  User settings).

New messages are delivered to the Inbox folder by default (folders for incoming messages can be specified in the rules— see chapter 1.12  Message filtering). The unread messages are marked in bold. The number of unread messages is indicated in parentheses next to the folder name. Double-click selected message to open it in a new window (or select a message in the list and press Enter).

Figure 1.21. Message reading

The reading pane is an area where the message body is displayed (message body, images, etc.). There are two options of location of the reading pane (at the bottom or on the right — see figures 1.21  Message reading and 1.22  The reading pane is located on the right from the list of messages) or it can be hidden. If the window is hidden, message contents are displayed in separate windows. The reading pane can be enabled or disabled in Settings. For detailed information on user settings, see chapter 1.11.1  User settings.

Figure 1.22. The reading pane is located on the right from the list of messages

Reply to a message

It is possible to reply directly to any message. This can be done by the Reply button available on the toolbar (see figure 1.24  The Reply button menu). The button includes a menu where it is possible to select from two options (Reply to send the reply only to the sender or Reply All to send the reply to all addresses included in the original message). Click on one of these buttons to compose the reply message. The email address of the person who has sent the original message is entered automatically in the To field. Note also that the subject of the message now contains the Re string. This string indicates reply to previous message.

Figure 1.24. The Reply button menu

The message can be also forwarded to other recipients. Click on Forward to edit the selected message where the To and Cc fields are left blank, because the system does not know who do you intend to forward the message to.

If you receive a message with the Fw: string prefixing the subject, you'll know that it is a forwarded message (. Fw: detailed information regarding the today's meeting).

Message flag

Each of the received messages can be marked by a flag in Kerio WebMail. It is a little colored flag symbol that reminds users of the message it was appended to. Flags help us look up messages easily.

Click the column with the flag image to add a flag to/from a message (see image 1.25  Message list). The same method can be followed to remove a flag. Simply click on the flag you wish to remove.

Figure 1.25. Message list

Note: Image flags can be added to messages even in MS Outlook. The flags appended to messages in this application will be displayed also in Kerio WebMail and vice versa. The problem is, that MS Outlook enables users to add flags of different colors. Kerio WebMail shows all flags in one color.

Kerio WebMail allows moving and copying of messages between folders. Variety of methods can be used for this purpose and it depends on the user's choice which one they feel more comfortable with. The methods are described in the following section:

In Kerio WebMail, new messages can be composed in the special window designed for message editing. To open this window, use the New mail button on the toolbar. In the mail composer dialog, the message body can be edited, attachments can be added, it is also possible to use spellchecker and/or save the message as a draft.

The window for creating new messages is divided into several sections. The first one allows editing of addressees and message subject (name). This part is called message header. The second section allows insertion of the message. This part is called body. Another section is the toolbar in the upper part of the window. Several functions are included that can be used to manipulate with the current message.

E-mail header

The message header (see figure 1.30  E-mail header) provides the following options:

Figure 1.30. E-mail header

From

This item is displayed only if you use an address different from the default email address (setting of default user address is described in section 1.11.1  User settings).

The selected address will be treated as sender address.

To

Enter the email address of the recipient in this field. More than one email address is allowed; the addresses must be separated by commas (see picture 1.30  E-mail header).

Cc

The same function as the To field. However, this item is used in special cases where the message includes multiple addressee, some of them only being informed of the issue by the message. The addressees included in this section are not expected to reply to the message.

Bcc

The address entered in this field is hidden for the other recipients. Blind copy is useful especially when a message is to be sent to more email addresses and you want to protect the privacy of one or more users.

Subject

The subject stands for the message's name. It should provide clear hint on the message content (helpful for later reference).

Next to the fields for recipients' addresses, the To, Cc and Bcc buttons are available (see figure 1.30  E-mail header). These buttons open the search dialog (see figure 1.31  Searching in contacts) where first and last names can be used to easily filter out particular email address to which the message would be sent. The look-up dialog scans only through the addresses included in the account's contact folders.

Below, you can find detailed description of the look-up feature:

Figure 1.31. Searching in contacts

Folder

The addresses of recipients can be selected from the personal address book or from other contact folders that the user has connected to. In menu, select folders where the search will be performed.

Search for:

Enter at least the first letters of the searched contact (first name, last name or a part of email address) which will be used as a searching criteria string.

Note: The look-up is not case-sensitive.

Click the Search button to start searching using the parameters previously defined.

Message body

The message body consists of the text and attachments (if any).

The message body can be sent as plain or formatted text. Text formatting is allowed thanks to an embedded HTML editor that supports text formatting functionality. However, writing of the email messages in this editor is not supported by some of the browsers:

• Safari — the HTML formatting is not supported at all, the messages can be sent only in plain text format.

• Firefox — HTML editor is functional, only some of the buttons are disabled (Cut, Copy and Paste icons). Users can use keyboard shortcuts instead of these buttons (chapter 1.11.4  Keyboard shortcuts used in the Kerio WebMail).

To format the message text in Kerio WebMail, use icons in the toolbar above the text field.

Figure 1.33. Toolbar

Edits

The dialog box contains standard Cut, Copy and Paste tools. It is possible to use standard key shortcuts (Ctrl+c for copying, Ctrl+v for pasting and Ctrl+x for cutting of the selected object) or the first three icons on the toolbar.

• Cut — a selected portion of a text is cut and moved into clipboard.

• Copy — a selected portion of a text is copied into clipboard.

• Paste — a selected portion of a text or a selected image stored in clipboard is removed from the clipboard and pasted to the place marked by cursor.

Besides the buttons, the Drag & Drop method can be applied when moving or copying text a message. Simply select part of the text and drag it to the desired position while holding the mouse button. Hold down the Ctrl key to copy the text.

Font

The font can be changed the same way as in other editors. Users can select different fonts, sizes, colors and styles:

• Fonts — in Kerio WebMail, some basic fonts are available: Arial (Black), Courier, Times New Roman and Verdana.

• Font size — click the appropriate icon in the toolbar to change the font size.

• Font color — click the appropriate icon in the toolbar to change the font color.

• Font style — standard icons for selecting a font style are available in the editor: bold, italic, underlined.

Paragraph

The text paragraphs can be aligned right, left and centered, as well as indented from the left margin. Use the standard icons in the toolbars to change the appearance of the paragraph.

Bullets and numbering

Standard icons for creating bullets and numbered lists are available in the toolbar. Click the selected text to enable the bullets/numbering. When users click the icon again, the bullets/numbering are disabled.

Text highlighting

The selected text can be highlighted in one of the colors of the Highlight palette in the toolbar (the last item).

Hypertext

A hyperlink is an active portion of a text, usually underlined and marked by a different color, that direct users to an intranet or Internet site. The hyperlink is used for directing to web pages, downloading files, sending email or accessing discussion groups.

Use the Create link icon in the toolbar to enter the URL for the hyperlink.

Figure 1.34. Link

Use the Remove link icon to delete the hyperlink.

The following example illustrates how to use the hyperlinks:

Here is a fragment of a possible message body: “I am sending you a link to an interesting website”. The “interesting website” part can be used as a hyperlink.

Solution:

Mark the words “interesting website” by cursor and click the Create link button. A dialog box for creating a link appears. Specify the URL entry with corresponding URL address.

Warning: If an email composition takes longer, connection between the server and the browser may be lost. If this happens, finish the message and enter your user password in the dialog which is opened upon attempting to Send or Save the message. Then the attempted action will be performed.

Use the Spellcheck button in the New mail toolbar to start the spellcheck. If an error is detected, a dialog is displayed with the incorrect phrase highlighted (see figure 1.36  Spellchecker). The following options are available:

Figure 1.36. Spellchecker

In order for the dictionary to work properly, select the correct dictionary for the written text. Users can use either the Dictionary menu (the last item in the dialog) or Settings menu (chapter 1.11.1  User settings).

Dictionary

Kerio WebMail contains a personal custom dictionary where unknown phrases not available in the default spellcheck dictionary can be entered. Each user can thus create his/her own dictionary.

The default dictionary used for spellcheck can be amended when needed. Select the Dictionary item from the Settings menu in the spellcheck dialog. Users can add or delete words to and from the dialog box that is opened (see figure 1.37  Dictionary). New words and expressions can be added to the dictionary also when spellchecking a message.

Figure 1.37. Dictionary

Spam messages are mostly represented by advertisements. Spam are usually sent in bulk and the recipient addresses are obtained by illegal means (e.g. by tapping the network communication). In their wilder modifications, spams may also distribute and seed dangerous viruses.

Kerio MailServer contains a sophisticated antispam filter. The filter is designed so that it can recognize specific attributes of spam from the message contents (spam messages usually contain specific keywords that can be recognized and counted by the filter). Each message is assigned a numeric score; if this value exceeds the limit set in Kerio MailServer, the message is marked as spam.

A rule for unwanted messages

All messages marked as spam can be automatically delivered to Junk E-mail folder, created in the folder tree for this purpose. This function may be enabled when creating the email account or it can be enabled by the users themselves in their user settings, on in theSpam tab (for details, see chapter 1.11.1  User settings).

To enable the spam rule, check the Move spam to the Junk E-Mail folder on the Spam tab (see figure 1.38  User settings — Spam tab). Once the rule is enabled, it is also recommended to enable the rule which allows messages sent from addresses included in the user's contact folders skip the antispam check.

Figure 1.38. User settings — Spam tab

It is also possible to add addresses to a special whitelist. Messages sent from the addresses involved in the list will be considered as non-spam. To add an address to the whitelist, users can use one of the following options:

1. On the Spam tab in user settings (see figure 1.38  User settings — Spam tab).

2. Right-click a message in the list to open the pop-up menu and select Add user to spam whitelist (see figure 1.39  The message pop-up menu).

   

   Figure 1.39. The message pop-up menu

   
   

This option prevents from moving solicited messages with some attributes of spam to the Spam folder.

Note: The spam rule has higher priority than rules set in the Filters dialog box (see chapter 1.12  Message filtering). If the filter includes any rule which in any way handles messages marked as spam, the action set in this rule is ignored.

Automatic check for email addresses helps to accelerate writing of addresses and ensures that the addresses entered will be correct.

Upon entering of first letters of email address in the address entry, this feature uses all contact folders to look up all addresses matching the string. The search focuses on items First Name, Last Name, E-mail Address and Company. The offered items include also user groups with email address and distribution lists if their name (or their email address in case of groups) matches the string.

Warning: Search results do not include email addresses in an unallowed form. This rule applies especially to contacts where the email address entry includes addresses separated by a comma. Such contacts were previously used as a type of distribution lists. It is recommended to remove such contacts and create distribution lists instead. Detailed description on distribution lists and their usage are addressed in section 1.6.8  Distribution lists.

If multiple addresses matching the string are found, a menu is opened that lists all addresses, user groups and distribution lists matching the string (see figure 1.40  List of contacts matching the string).

Figure 1.40. List of contacts matching the string

Initiation of the look-up function depends on Kerio MailServer configuration:

In Kerio WebMail, the automatic check for addresses can be enabled/disabled under Settings:

Addresses are searched in contact folders where the check is enabled. By default, the check is enabled only for the default private Contact folder and the default public Contact folder. Other folders can be added as described below:

Warning: The more folders are included in the check, the longer the search may take.

The message look-up helps find specific messages quickly, using the criteria defined. The standard search form is used for searching messages in Kerio WebMail mail folders. Use the Search button (the magnifying glass icon in the toolbar) to open the form.

If the search fails or too many messages are found, the data can be modified and searched again.

The search window is divided into three parts. The first part lists the folder where the search is performed (the current folder by default). To change this setting, click the Browse button located on the right of the Folder item.

The other part of the window contains two tabs used to define the search parameters. On the General tab, users can perform the basic search by subject or sender/recipient.

Figure 1.43. Searching — General tab

To search by subject, enter a corresponding string to the Search textfield and click on Search. Searching results will include all messages which contain the string.

To list all messages from any sender/recipient, simply use their address as a searching criteria and click Search.

It is also possible to combine searching criteria. For example, to search a particular message where you know the sender, use the Search (searching by subject) textbox to specify a particular string and the Sender field to enter an email address.

Use the Advanced tab to specify additional criteria for searching:

Figure 1.44. Searching — Advanced tab

The last part contains a table with search results and a toolbar. Using this toolbar, users can handle individual messages right in the table.

As in other similar table displays, also in Kerio WebMail it is necessary to select a message with the cursor. The toolbar icons become active. The pop-up menu can also be used for the same purpose.

Sometimes, the connection between Kerio MailServer and a web browser may be interrupted. Connection may be interrupted by a connection failure or by expiration of the session timeout set in Kerio MailServer.^[1].

If the connection fails, it is necessary to reconnect by authentication by username and password.

If a message is just being edited when the connection fails, it is possible to finish it and reconnect by authenticating by username and password upon clicking on the Send button (see figure 1.45  The dialog for authentication through username).

Figure 1.45. The dialog for authentication through username

Warning: Beware of closing the window with the edited message before the new authentication. Otherwise, the message will be lost.