Main Tasks
Running Mozilla Thunderbird
Thunderbird is a free, open source application developed and released by the Mozilla Foundation. It can be freely downloaded at www.mozilla.org/thunderbird. The complete documentation can also be found at this site. There are versions available for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and many other operating systems.
Configuring Mozilla Thunderbird
When you first launch Thunderbird you will be prompted for account information. If you already have an installation of Eudora or Outlook Express set up, you may choose to import the settings you use for those programs. Otherwise, choose not to import settings and use the Account Wizard:
- If you are setting up an Email account, select this option and click Next.
- Enter your Full Name as you would like it to appear to other people on their Email.
- For Email Address we recommend that you use your HMC Mail Central address (FirstName_LastName@hmc.edu).
- Select IMAP.
- The incoming server is the name of the server that you recieve your email on. Below are the mail server addresses for students, faculty and staff:
Students: mailbox-02.hmc.edu or odin.ac.hmc.edu Faculty and Academic Staff: mailbox-01.hmc.eduj or thuban.ac.hmc.edu Administrative Staff: mailbox-01.hmc.edu or hmcadm.admin.hmc.edu
- For the outgoing mail server use "smtp.hmc.edu".
- You username is usually first initial followed by last name (eg. jsmith) or just last name for faculty.
- Choose an account name ("HMC Account" for example) and Continue.
- Check the information. If it is all correct, click Finish, otherwise click Back and correct the information. Enter your password when prompted. You may use the password manager, but be sure to remember your password; You may need to access your email from a different computer or program.
Creating and Sending Messages
- Click on the Write icon, or from the File menu select New and then New Message.
- Enter the email address in the To: field. To send a message to more than one person, after you have entered the first Email address, click on the box beneath the To: to get another To: option. You may click the dropdown arrow next to the To: to change this to Cc: or Bcc: as well.
- Enter a subject in the Subject: field.
- Enter your message in the main message window.
- When you are done click the Send icon, or from the File menu select Send Now.
Checking and Receiving Mail
- By default Thunderbird automatically checks for new mail every 10 minutes. This can be changed in the Server Settings section of your Account Settings (accessed from the Tools menu).
- To manually check for new mail, click on the Get Mail icon.
Specific Tasks
Replying to and Forwarding Messages
To reply or forward a message, select a message and click on the respective icon (Reply or Forward). You may also access these options when reading a message, or by right clicking on the message.
Moving Messages
To move a message to a different folder, select the message you want to move, then from the Message menu select Move, and navigate to the folder you want the selected message to be moved to. You may also access this option by right clicking on the message.
Deleting a Message
Select the message that you want to delete. Then do one of the following:
- Press the Delete key
- Click the Delete icon
- Right click on the message and select Delete Message
Deleted messages are place in the Trash folder.
Creating a Signature
- Create a plain text file containing the signature you want to appear at the bottom of your email messages. Save it in a location that you will remember.
- Open Thunderbird, and from the Tools menu choose Account Settings.
- Check the box next to Attach this signature, click choose and browse and select the text file you created for your signature.
- To check your signature, write a new mail message. Your new signature should appear in gray text at the bottom of the message.
Attaching a File
- While writing an email, click on the Attach icon.
- Browse to and select the file you want to attach, then click Open. The file is now attached, and should be displayed in a box next to the recipients labeled Attachments.
Saving an Attached File
- To save an attachment, open the Email message with the attachment.
- At the bottom of the message there should be a box labeled Attachments:; right click on the attachment you want to save, and select Save as.
- Click on My Computer in the panel on the left, and double click on you drive on charlie (ends in ". . .(H:)").
- Open the folder thunderbird_attachments. If this folder does not exist, create the folder (click the New Folder icon which looks like a folder with and orange star in the upper right hand corner, type thunderbird_attachments, and press [Enter]) and then open it.
- Click Save to save the file. This file may be retrieved anywhere on campus from the thunderbird_attachments folder in your charlie account.
Advanced Tasks
Using Thunderbird for HMC Email Off Campus
When using Thunderbird off campus, all of the above should apply except for one small change. When configuring your Harvey Mudd Email account you will need to enter your personal ISP SMTP server, not Mudd.s. Examples include:
| Earthlink | smtpauth.earthlink.net |
| Verizon | outgoing.verizon.net |
| Comcast | smtp.comcast.net |
| AOL | smtp.aol.com |
Contact you ISP for more information about the proper SMTP server to use.
Connecting to the HMC LDAP Directory
- Select Options From the Tools Menu.
- Click on the Composition button on the left.
- In the Address Completion section, check the box next to Directory Server
- Click on the Edit Directories button to add the HMC LDAP server information to your list.
- Enter the following information into the General tab:
| Name: | HMC LDAP |
| Hostname: | directory.hmc.edu |
| Base DN: | ou=People,dc=hmc,dc=edu |
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