To access GWMail for Students and Alumni, go to http://mail.gwmail.gwu.edu/

Colonial Mail allows you to compose messages, look up recipient addresses, draft a message, and attach files to messages.

• Composing a Message
• Composing a Draft of a Message
• Searching for Addresses
• Attaching Files to a Message
• Formatting Text (for Internet Explorer)
• Checking Spelling
• Sending a Message

Composing a Message

To compose a message:

1. Access the Compose window by following one of the three methods:
• Click the Compose icon from a tab, which has a compose icon.
• From the Addresses tab, click the Search icon. Then click Compose Message. This method is usually used after you have searched and found a recipient's email address; for more information, refer to Searching for Addresses.
• From the Addresses tab, click a recipient's email address. If you choose this option, the compose window will appear with the address of your selected recipient in the To: field. When you choose this method, unless you want to add other recipients, you can skip step 2.
2. Enter the required email addresses yourself or if you do not know an address, perform a search. For instructions refer to Searching for Addresses. You can enter email addresses in one or more of the following fields:

3. Click the Subject field and type the subject of your message.
4. Click in the message text box, and type the text of the message.
5. From the Priority drop-down list, select the priority as Normal, Urgent or Non-Urgent.
6. From the Request receipt drop-down list, select the option you want. For example: None, When delivered, When Viewed, Both.
7. From the top or bottom of the window, click Send.

Composing a Draft of a Message

To draft a message to be sent later:

1. Click the Compose icon from any tab, except the Options tab.

When the Compose Message window appears, your cursor will be in the Recipients box ready for you to enter the email addresses of people to whom you want to send the message. You can enter the email address now, or wait until you are ready to send the draft.

2. Click in the Subject field. Enter a subject for your message.
3. To compose a draft, click the top left of the message text box, and type the text of the message.
4. After composing the Draft, click the Save Draft icon on the Compose Message icon bar.

To retrieve and send a Draft:

1. Click the Folders tab.
2. Click the Drafts folder.
3. Click the Subject link of the draft you want to retrieve.

When you do, the Compose Message window appears with your draft.

Make any changes to the message.

4. Enter the recipient names in the "add recipient" field.
5. Click Send.

Searching for Addresses

Colonial Mail has a feature for looking up email addresses. This feature can be accessed using one of the following two methods:

• From the Compose icon: this method can be used for composing a message to a single recipient, but it is especially useful for building a list of recipients. For more information refer to Composing a Recipient List.
• From the Search icon (in the Addresses tab): this method is most suitable when you want to email a single recipient or you simply want to look up an email address or even a phone number. You can use this method to find and edit a name in a lengthy personal address book.

For example, if you already know that a recipient's first name is John, but you are not sure of the spelling, you can specify the search criteria:

"First name sounds like John"

Another example is, if you know the recipient's phone number is 555-1212, you can specify the search criteria:

"Phone number is 555-1212"

To search for an address when you are starting from the Search icon within the Addresses tab, perform the following:

1. Click Search to go to the "Search for Recipient" window.
2. From the "Personal Address Book" drop-down list, select a directory.
3. From the "Full Name" drop-down list, select the element you want to search. For example: First name, Last name, Email, Phone#.
4. From the "contains" drop-down list, select the type of search you want to perform. For example: contains, is, sounds like, begins with, ends with.
5. In the text field, enter the keyword or keywords you want to search.
6. Click Search. Colonial Mail lists all the entries that match the search criteria.
7. From the list, click one of the three addressing options for the address you want to send your message to:

8. Click Compose Message. When the "Compose Message" window appears, it is addressed to the recipients with the addressing options you have chosen.

Attaching Files to a Message

You can attach and send any file that is on a disk connected to your computer, or residing on your computer. When you specify a file to attach, a copy of the file is attached to the message; the original remains in place.

1. From the "Compose Message" window, Click the Attach icon.
2. Click Browse to select the file you want to attach.
3. Select the file you want to attach.
4. Click Open to select the file.
5. Click Add to attach the file to your email. You can attach multiple files to your message. However, the total size of your message including attachments should not exceed 10 MB.
6. You may also click Remove to delete a file selected for attachment.
7. Click the Attach button in the Attach file dialog box.
8. The Attach file dialog box closes, and the name of the file you attached appears in the Attachment field in the Compose Window.

Formatting Text

When using Internet Explorer 5.0 or later as your Web browser, you can change the text color, size, and alignment of your message along with various other message attributes.

1. From the "Compose Message" window, if the text formatting toolbar is not visible, click the Text/HTML icon on the Compose Message icon bar.
2. Click the location where you want new formatting to start . If you want to change the formatting of text, select the text you want to change.
3. Click the formatting tool you want to use or select the option you want from one of the drop-down lists. The following guide explains what each tool does:

• Block Format (drop-down list) Sets text to a preset format.
• Font Style (drop-down list) Sets the text style.
• Font Size (drop-down list) Sets the text size, based on HTML font sizes.
• View HTML Source (checkbox) Displays the HTML code for your message.

Checking Spelling

Check the spelling of messages you compose with the spell checker. You can invoke a spell check at anytime while the compose window is open by performing both of the following steps:

1. Select the appropriate language from the Dictionary drop-down list (not necessary if the appropriate language is already selected).
2. Click the Spell Check icon on the Compose Message icon bar.

You can also ensure that the spell checker automatically checks the spelling of a message before you send it by clicking the checkbox next to "Check spelling before message is sent" option.

With this option checked, clicking Send invokes the spell checker. You can automatically set this option for all messages you compose. For instructions, refer to Spell Check in the Settings section.

Once the spell checker is invoked, it copies the message into a new window. The spell checker highlights all words that it does not recognize. Ignore highlighted words that are correctly spelled, such as people's names, abbreviations, or new technological terms. The spellchecker does not recognize many of these words.

To change a word that the spell checker has highlighted, follow these steps:

1. Click a highlighted word in order to select it.
2. Edit the word yourself directly in the Change field or, to replace it with a word from the suggested word list, click a suggested word. If the spell checker does not have any suggestions, it displays the message "No Suggestions."
3. Click one of the following:
• Change, to replace the highlighted word that you selected.
• Change All, to replace all instances of that word within your message.
• Ignore All, to ignore the word you selected and all other instances of the word within your message. This removes the highlighting from all occurrences of the selected word.

Notice that each time you change a highlighted word the spell checker returns you to the beginning of your message. This behavior is more apparent in long messages.

4. When you are finished checking the spellings in your message, click Done. Clicking Done has a different effect depending on how the spell checker was invoked and if you have any remaining highlighted words or not. The following list describes the various behaviors that can be encountered:
• If the spell checker was invoked by clicking Spell Check, clicking Done when no highlighted words remain brings you back to the Compose Message window.
• If the spell checker was invoked by clicking Spell Check, clicking Done when highlighted words remain brings up an alert message.
• Close the alert message window to return to the Compose Message window.
• If the spell checker was invoked by clicking Send (this only occurs when the "Check spelling before message is sent" option is selected), clicking Done is not necessary if no highlighted words remain. The message is sent instantly after you change the last remaining highlighted word.
• If the spell checker was invoked by clicking Send (this only occurs when the "Check spelling before message is sent" option is selected), clicking Done when highlighted words remain brings up an alert message. Do one of the following :
• a) Click OK to send the message.
• b) Click Cancel to return to the Spell Check window.

• To send a message, you have two options:
• Click the Send icon in the top left corner of the Compose Message window.
• Click the Send button in the bottom right corner of the Compose Message window.