Mail Tool:

The Mail Tool appears under the Course Tools on the left side of the course homepage. Mail provides the ability to communicate with other Blackboard users in the course. Mail in Blackboard cannot be used to exchange messages with external mail accounts over the Internet. It includes features common to most standard email programs, including:

• Compose messages with carbon copy or blind carbon copy
• Add a priority indicator to messages
• Add attachments to messages
• Search, compile, and organize messages into folders

Information in this page is organized in the following six sections; use the links below to jump to a specific section for more information:

• Accessing Mail
• Managing Folders
• Viewing Message Lists
• Compiling Messages
• Reading Messages
• Composing Messages

Accessing Mail:
On the course homepage, select Mail under Course Tools. A Mail page will be displayed for the users to view and manage folders and messages.

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Managing Folders: Folders are listed in the left frame of the Mail view. The number in parentheses is the total number of messages in that folder. Folders may be collapsed into a drop-down list.

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• The folders can be displayed in either the frame mode (as shown above) or the drop-down mode. Click the button besides Folders to switch.
• Create, rename, and delete custom folders.

Note: the four folders created by Blackboard, i.e. Inbox, Sent Mail, Drafts, and Deleted Mail, cannot be deleted or renamed.

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Viewing Message Lists:
Messages are viewed by clicking on the message title in the Subject column. Unread messages appear in bold and are also indicated with a closed envelope icon to the left of the message title. Read messages appear in a lighter typeface and are indicated with an open envelope icon to the left of the message title (figure).

 

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1. Refresh your message list manually or automatically every couple of minutes.
2. Choose to show All or Unread Only messages or mark as Read or Unread from the View messages drop-down list
3. Sort the message list by clicking on the column heading. Choose ascending or descending order by clicking on the up-down arrow next to the sorted column heading.
4. Delete messages individually or by selecting multiple messages.
5. Change the page viewing options by clicking the button and typing a number in the pop-up window.

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Compiling Messages:
From the message list, click the check box next to each message to compile, or click the check box at the top of the column to select all messages. Click Create Printable View. All the messages will be compiled and open in a separate window. Click Print to print to your local machine, or click Save as file to save as either an HTML or TXT file to your local computer.

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Reading Messages:
The folder that contains the messages to be read must be open.

1. From the messages screen, click the subject line of the message to read. To read the next or previous message from the same folder, click Next or Previous.
2. To save attached files:
   1. Click View Attachments.
   2. Select each attachment. To save all attachments, select the check box next to File name. To save multiple attachments in separate folders, save each attachment separately.
   3. Click Save to Folder. The Content Browser pop-up window appears.
   4. Store the attachments.
3. When finished reading the message, click Close this window.

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Composing Messages:

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1. From the Mail screen, click Create Message.
   
   
   
2. Specify recipients for the message by doing one of the following:
   1. Click Browse for Recipients.
   2. Select the recipients and click Save.
      1. To send a message to some recipients, check the box in the To column.
      2. To send a copy of the message to other recipients, click Browse for Recipients. Select the recipients and click Save.
      3. To send one or more recipients a copy of the message, but hide those recipients from other recipients, select the Browse for Recipients option. Select the recipients and click Save.
         
         
         
   3. Enter a subject.
   4. If the message is urgent, select High priority.
   5. Enter the content of the message:
      1. To create the message in Plain Text format, enter it in the Message text box. The message will appear exactly as typed.
      2. To create the message in HTML format, use the HTML Creator or "hand code" the HTML:
         1. To use the HTML Creator, click Enable HTML Creator.
         2. To code in HTML:
            1. Select Use HTML.
            2. In the Message text box, enter the HTML code.
   6. To attach files to the message:
      1. Click Add Attachments. The Content Browser pop-up window appears.
      2. Locate and select the files.
   7. To preview the message, click Preview.
   8. Click Send.

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