Outlook Express Setup

If you have problems following the instructions below, please email helpdesk@astro.swin.edu.au. Be sure to describe your problem in detail along with your machine type, Operating system and version and name of the software that is causing the problem.

There are several important settings that need to be adjusted to Outlook Express to access SAO newsgroups. These settings only need to be setup the FIRST TIME you use Outlook Express. Please follow the process below to ensure you can get up an running nice and quickly:

1.	Login to blackboard at ilearn.swin.edu.au and select your unit/subject. Then click on the *NGs - news reader* link
2.	Select the *Test Messages* news group in the right hand window
3.	This will launch *Outlook Express* and an error will appear - click OK in the error dialogue
4.	The Blackboard news server (news://ilearn.swin.edu.au) will have appeared in your list. Right click on this server and select *properties*
5.	Once the *Properties* window appears, enter the your *Name* and *email address* in the appropriate fields. This is the name and email address that will appear on all posts you make.
6.	Switch to the *Server* tab, check the box marked *This news server requires me to log on* and enter your Blackboard username and password in the appropriate fields. Also check the *Remember Password* box if you don't want to have to type your password in every time you access the newsgroup. Click "OK" to close the window
7.	From the *Tools* menu, select *Options...*
8.	When the *Options* window appears, switch to the *Send* tab. Ensure that the *News Sending Format* is set to *Plain Text* and then click on the *Plain Text Settings* button.
9.	Once the *Plain Text Settingswindow appears, select MIME* encoding and set *Encode Text Using* to *None*. Click OK to close the window.
10.	Switch to the *Read* tab. In the *News* section, un check the *Get [300] headers at a time box*.
11.	Switch to the *Maintenance* tab. Un check the *Delete news messages [5] days after being downloaded* box. Click OK to close the *Options* window.

And thats it! You're ready to go. Each time you click on a new Newsgroup in Blackboard, it will automatically appear in Outlook Express. If you want to fully synchronise your newsgroups, so that you can read all the messages when you aren't connected to the internet, then follow these instructions.