NCTC Webmail Help

Welcome to NCTC Webmail!

NCTC Webmail is an advanced webmail interface for your email server. It has all the functionality you would expect from a modern email client, including MIME support, contacts, folder manipulation, message searching and spell checking. Unlike other webmail clients, its user interface has been designed to give you the look and feel of a desktop application. This means that it has features like drag-and-drop, application menus and minimal page refreshes.

Because of these features, NCTC Webmail requires some advanced browser technologies. At this time we support only the following browsers (under Windows, Mac OS or Linux systems):

• Microsoft Edge 106+
• Apple Safari 13+
• Mozilla Firefox 104+
• Google Chrome 105+

If you are using a browser that is not on the list of supported browsers we strongly encourage you to update your browser. In general, using outdated browsers is a serious security threat and may cause your computer to be infected with malware. We strongly recommend updating your browser of choice to its latest version

Table of Contents

• Interface
  • Search
  • Application Menu
  • Action Bar
  • Folder List
  • Message List
• Compose Mail
• Personal Settings
  • Preferences
  • Folders
  • Identities
  • Responses
  • Email Options
  • Spam Settings
  • Security Options
• Contacts

Interface [Table of Contents]

The main interface consists of the following parts:

1. Search
2. Application Menu
3. Action Bar
4. Folder List
5. Message List

Search [Table of Contents]

NCTC Webmail has a built-in Search feature right in the header. From here you can quickly search the contents of the folder that you currently have selected.

To search for something, simply enter your search keyword in the input box and then press the enter key. When you are done with your search and want to go back to the complete list of the messages, click on the "X" button on the right side of the search box.

The Search function also supports various parameters for making your search more specific. If you click on the arrow on the left side side of the search field you will get a dropdown box prompting you to select which parts of the email message to search in. You can choose from any combination of:

• Subject
• From
• To
• Cc
• Bcc
• Body
• Entire message

From here, you are also able to filter the messages by their age, and what folders to look in.

There is also a 'filter' to the left of the search which can be used in combination with the search. You can filter messages based on:

Application Menu [Table of Contents]

The Application Menu is the horizontal bar immediately above the logo. From here you can access the drop down menus for "File", "View", "Help" and "Logout".

From the File menu you can access immediate actions which will change dependent on the page you are on.

From the View menu you can access the various sections of the webmail application such as:

• Mail - To go to your inbox and list of mail folders
• Settings - To go to your personal settings and preferences setup
• Contacts - To go to your address book and list of contacts
• Calendar - To go to your calendar

From the Help menu you can access the help and documentation pages, and see information about the current version of the NCTC Webmail client. There is also a link here to go to the developers website.

Logout is a quick way to logout of the interface when you are finished.

Action Bar [Table of Contents]

The Action Bar contains a number of buttons that allow you to perform different actions, depending on which section of the webmail you are using. For example, while looking at the Inbox you may see the following options:

• Refresh - Refreshes your message list by showing new messages if any are available.
• Compose - To create a new email message
• Reply - To create a new message in reply to the currently selected one; it will be addressed to the sender of the selected message only
• Reply All - Similar to Reply, but the reply will not only be addressed to the sender of the selected message but also to all of its recipients. This makes sense if the message was sent to a group of people and you want all of them to receive your answer.
• Forward - To forward the currently selected message to another person
• Delete - To move the currently selected message(s) to Trash
• Block Sender - To add the sender of the email you are currently viewing to your blacklist You will not receive emails from this address again.
• Mark - To mark the selected message(s) as 'Read' or 'Unread', or to flag a message
• More - This gives you more options such as printing a message, downloading a message, moving or copying the message etc.

The Action Bar will change as you browse different parts of the NCTC Webmail application. To find out what a particular item in the Action Bar does, move your mouse over it and wait until a description pop-up on the screen.

Folder List [Table of Contents]

The menu on the left hand side of the screen shows all the mail folders in your email account. The default folders are:

• INBOX - This is where new emails arrive, by default
• Drafts - This is where your draft messages are stored, see later on composing emails
• Sent - Messages sent by yourself are stored there
• Spam - For spam messages
• Trash - For messages that you have deleted

In addition to the five folders listed above, you might see additional folders. Those have either been created by you or your email provider and can be used to organize your email into further categories.

Sometimes a folder will have a number next to the folder name. This indicates how many unread messages are in this folder. If there is no number displayed, then there are no unread messages in that folder.

To open a folder, just click on it once. The messages in that folder will appear in your message list to the right of the folder list.

Nested folders are collapsible and expandable by clicking on the little '+' and '-' icons which will show up next to the folder icon.

To empty the Trash or Spam folders:

• Open the folder you want to empty
• At the bottom of the folder list there is a Sprocket/Gear icon. Click that
• Click 'Empty' in the popup menu.

Message List [Table of Contents]

This part of the screen displays the list of all messages in the currently selected folder.

To view a message, you can either double-click on it, or you can click the message once to have the content displayed in the preview pane.

You can also select a message by clicking on it once and then perform some action on it using one of the buttons in the action bar, e.g. Reply.

You are also able to select multiple messages in the following ways:

• Click on the messages you want to select while holding down the Ctrl key.
• Click on a message, then click another message while holding the Shift key. This will select both of the messages you clicked, along with all the messages between those two messages.
• At the bottom of the Message List there is a button labelled Select which has the following options available for automatically selecting several messages at once:
  • All - Select all messages in the current folder
  • Current page - Select all the messages that currently show in the message list (the current page only)
  • Unread - Select all of the unread emails in the current folder
  • Flagged - Select all of flagged messages in the current folder
  • Invert - Inverts the selected messages (all selected messages become unselected, and all unselected messages become selected)
  • None - Unselect all messages

Finally, you can also drag-and-drop messages to another folder. Just selected them and then drag them over to one of the folders in the folder list to the left by holding the mouse button. This also provides another way of deleting messages: just drag them into the Trash folder.

Messages that have not been read by you yet will be indicated with a star in addition to being displayed in bold.

A message carrying a little paper clip icon to its right contains an attachment, such as a PDF document or a photo.

If you click on an address when viewing a message (either From, To, CC) you will automatically be taken to a compose page where you can send an email to that address.

To the immediate right of the individual contacts will be a small + icon. Clicking on this icon will add the contact email to your address book.

At the top right of the message list pane there are arrows with a number in a box displayed. The number is the 'page' that you are on, and clicking the arrows will take you to a different page. You can set the number of messages displayed per page in the Personal Settings.

Compose Mail [Table of Contents]

Composing mail couldn't be simpler. To start, go to the action bar, and click the Compose button

The Compose Mail page is set up like any other email application. At the top are the details about who the message is sent to and the subject.

• From - You can select your identity from here. If you only have one identity setup then it will be shown here.
• To - Who you want to send the email to
• Subject - The subject/title of your email
• Attach a file - You can add attachments to the email here. You can also drag and drop files into this attachment area
• and then the body of your email message

As you start typing in the "Recipient" box you'll notice that NCTC Webmail automatically suggests which contact you can send the email to - provided that contact is in your address book.

To add an attachment, either click the 'Attach' button in the action bar, click the 'Attach a file' button in the attachments section on the right side of the page, or drag and drop a file into the attachment section. Once you have added your attachment, you can remove it by clicking the garbage can icon.

Below the subject there is a 'Priority' option where you can set the priority of your message if you want.

There is a spell check button in the action bar. Click on it to start spell checking your message body. If you want to change the language used just click the small arrow that is to the right of the spell check button

Also below the subject is an 'Editor type' option. Here you can choose between either 'HTML' or 'Plain Text'. Selecting 'HTML' will give you the option of composing your email in HTML format (automatically bringing up the Rich Text Editor menu above the body of your message). If you check the 'Plain Text' checkbox, you will lose all your formatting and the email body will be displayed in plain text.

When you are done composing your email you can click "Send" from the Action Bar "Cancel" will close the compose page. You can also save this message as a draft for later editing by pressing the "Save" in the Action Bar.

Personal Settings [Table of Contents]

The Personal Settings section allows you to configure certain aspects of the interface and user experience.

When you first go to the Personal Settings page you will notice that the Action Bar will change to offer you the ability to edit your

• Preferences
• Folders
• Identities
• Responses
• Email Options
• Spam Settings
• Security Options

Preferences [Table of Contents]

In your Preferences you can edit settings related to the:

• User Interface - Language, time zone, time format, date format
• Mailbox View - Layout (3 column, vertical split, no preview), messages per page
• Displaying Messages - Open messages in a new window, show HTML emails, allow remote resources
• Composing Messages - Compose in a new window, auto save drafts, start reply before or after the previous message, spellcheck
• Contacts - Default sorting column, contacts per page, how to list contacts
• Special Folders - Assign special meanings to specific folders (ie, what folder should be used for Junk)
• Server Settings - Mark message as read on delete, flag for deletion instead of actually deleting, clear trash on logout
• Calendar - Default view (day, week, month), timeslots per hour, first day of the week, work hours
• Chat Settings - Whether or not chat is enabled, log chats, display the date and time in chat

Folders [Table of Contents]

In the Folders settings you can manage your folder lists.

Instead of the main Message List, you will see a list of your folders. By default, the first five folders will be: INBOX, Drafts, Sent, Trash, and Spam. You cannot delete or rename these folders.

Below the folder list there is a big '+' button which allows you to create a new folder.

Clicking on a folder will give you more options for it. You are able to change the name of some folders, change the parent folder, and specify whether the folder should show messages as a list or threaded by default. You can uncheck the checkbox next to a folder in order to hide that folder from view when viewing your messages

Identities [Table of Contents]

This is where you manage your identities. Identities are different email addresses or names that can be setup on your account. Clicking on an identity will allow you to edit the settings for that identity.

You can use identities when you are writing a new email by selecting a different identity from the 'From' dropdown at the top of the compose page.

For each identity you can edit the following settings:

• Display Name This setting will set the display name for the identity. This is the name that will appear to others when you send an email from this identity.
• E-mail This setting will set the email address for the identity.
• Organization This optional setting will set the name of the organization for this identity. If no Display Name is set, the Organization will become the default name that will appear to others when you send an email from this identity.
• Reply-to If set, this setting will set the default reply-to address for this identity. When others reply to your emails, the emails will be sent to this address. Leave this setting blank if the reply-to address is the same as the E-mail address
• Bcc If set, this setting will add an additional reply-to address
• Set Default Checked, this option will set the current identity as your default identity. The default identity will be selected by default when you compose or reply to emails.
• Signature This setting allows you to edit the signature for this identity. The signature will be displayed at the bottom of all the emails you compose
• HTML Signature Checked, this option will allow you to edit the HTML of your signature. If left unchecked, your signature will be in plain text format.

When you are done editing the identity click on "Save" to save your changes. If you wish to delete the identity click on "Delete".

You can add a new identity by clicking the big '+' button at the bottom of the page

Responses [Table of Contents]

This is where your saved responses can be created and modified.

A saved response is a pre-written response that you can select when responding to an email.

The only two options for a response are the 'Name' of the response (which is a short description of the response so that you can identify it), and the 'Response Text' which is the text that will be in the body of the message that you are responding to

To create a new response, click the big '+' button at the bottom of the page. To delete a response, select the response to delete and click the trash can icon.

To use a response, you need to be in a compose window. Select the 'Responses' button from the action bar and select the response you want to use, or create a new response right from there.

Email Options [Table of Contents]

This is for other email settings that are common to all of our webmails.

Here, you can set a vacation auto responder, server side delivery filters, or setup forward addresses.

The vacation autoresponder is used to automatically deliver replies to messages that you receive between 2 specified dates. This is useful if you are out of the office, or expect a timespan where you will not be able to respond to emails.

Server side delivery filters allow you to automatically check for messages that match search requirements that you specify. Any message that you receive that matches the search criteria will be moved to a folder of your choosing.

Forwarding lets you setup one or more email addresses so that any new message that gets sent to your current address will also be sent to the addresses you specified as 'forwards'.

Spam Settings [Table of Contents]

These are your spam settings which are common across all webmails. You are able to enable and disable your spam protection here (although, we highly recommend that you leave this 'Enabled'). You can also set the level of spam protection you want, and you are able to specify email subjects and sender addresses that you don't want to receive emails from.

Security Options [Table of Contents]

This is for security settings that are common to all of our webmails.

On this page you are able to change your password, manage different security policies, and limit your logins to specific countries.

Contacts [Table of Contents]

Along with the email component, NCTC Webmail comes with a built-in address book to manage all your contacts. You can access it from the Action Bar, or by going to View > Address Book in the Application Menu.

The address book is divided into two sections. On the left, instead of the folder list you will see a list of your contact groups. Groups are used to help organize your contacts. If you click on any one of groups, you will then see a list of contacts that are in that group in the pane to the right.

If you click on one of the contacts, you will be shown all of the details about that contact. You can edit this information by clicking 'Edit Contact'

A quick way of adding contacts to your address book is directly from the emails you receive. When you're browsing through your emails a little 'plus' icon will appear near the from and to addresses. Clicking on the icon will automatically add that person to your address book.

You can also search the address book using the 'Advanced' button in the action bar.

In order to create a new group, click the big '+' button at the bottom of the 'Groups' section and provide a new group name. You can rename or delete a group by clicking on the Sprocket/Gear next to the '+' sign and selecting to rename or delete the group. Deleting or renaming the group will not delete any of the contacts in the group. They will still exist.

In order to create a new contact, click the big '+' button at the bottom of the 'Contacts' section and enter in all of the information you have on that contact. To delete a contact, select the contacts to delete and then click on the trash can at the bottom of the contacts list.

There are several ways to add a contact to a group (NOTE: you must have at least 1 group other than 'All Contacts' to do these):

• Using the Action Bar:
  1. Select the contacts you wish to add to a new group
  2. Click 'More' in the action bar
  3. Click 'Assign to group'
  4. Click the group name you want to add the contacts to
• Drag and Drop: Select the contact to add to a new group, and drag and drop them onto the new group
• Using the 'Groups' tab:
  1. Select the contact you want to add to a group
  2. Click the 'Groups' tab in the 'Contact Properties' pane
  3. Check or Uncheck the groups as needed. The contact will be in the groups that are checked.