Thunderbird Newsreader

You can download Thunderbird from the Mozilla Messaging website.

These instructions should also be readily applicable to the Mozilla Suite newsreader (called "Mail and Newsgroups"), the SeaMonkey newsreader (called "Mail and Newsgroups") and to pre-2.0 versions of Mozilla Thunderbird.

(Which version? For Blackboard 8, we recommended using Thunderbird 2.0. However, with Blackboard 9.1 we have not (yet!) noticed any real difference between Thunderbird 2.0 or 3.0. The screen grabs below are from Thunderbird 3.0. You might notice some slight differences if you use Thunderbird 2.0.)

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Instructions for Mozilla Thunderbird

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 and its operating system, as well as the name and version of the newsreading software that is causing the problem.

1. Open Thunderbird. Open the Tools menu, and click on Account Setting
   

   

   On the bottom-left on the new window, click on Account Actions and then on Add Other Account
   

   

   You will then be presented with the following window:

   

2. Choose Newsgroup account and click Continue.
3. In the Identity dialogue, enter your name and preferred email address in the appropriate boxes. For your e-mail address, we recommend your Swinburne account address ([studentID]@student.swin.edu.au), especially if you've set up e-mail forwarding already.

   

   Click Continue.
4. In the Server Information dialogue, enter ilearn.swin.edu.au.

   

   Click Continue.
5. In the Account Name dialogue, give the account a descriptive name. The default is just to use the name of the news server (ilearn.swin.edu.au).

   

   Click Continue.
6. Review the information you entered to ensure it's correct.

   

   Now click Done to confirm your account set-up.
7. Your Blackboard news account should now appear in the left-hand pane. You're now ready to start downloading messages.

   

   Click on Manage newsgroup subscriptions.
8. The Subscribe dialogue should appear. This dialogue lists all the newsgroups you have access to and can subscribe to. It should list all the units you're enrolled in.

   

9. Click on the arrow next to a unit title to open the list of newsgroups for that unit. Click on the dot next to the title of a newsgroup to subscribe to it - this will change the dot into a tick. Then click OK, which will subscribe you to all the newsgroups with a tick next to their title.

   

10. You should now see that a newsgroup you've subscribed to has been updated - this is indicated in the left-hand pane by the newsgroup title being in bold-face and the number of new messages in brackets.

    

11. You may be prompted to enter your username and password to gain access to the news server. Use your SIMS username and password for entry. You should select Use Password Manager to remember this value if you don't want to have to retype your username and password on subsequent uses of the newsreader.

    

12. If the following window appears, select Download all headers and click Download

    

13. Click on the newsgroup title on the left-hand pane to view that newsgroup.

    

    Here you'll see the titles of all messages. Unread messages are in bold-face.
14. To read a message, click on it and it will appear in the reading pane at the bottom-right of the screen. (If you have the reading pane turned off, double-click on a message to read it in a new window.) To reply, click the Reply button in the toolbar.

    

15. If you choose to reply, a new window like the one below will open.

    

    You can type your reply here. To send it, click the Send button in this window's toolbar.
    
    As with all messages, you can view this in the reading pane by clicking on the message header.

Using Thunderbird for offline news-reading

If you're wanting to use Thunderbird for offline news-reading, you have the option to have Thunderbird automatically download and sync all of the newsgroups you've subscribed to. In this way, you can disconnect your computer from the Internet and still have access to all the postings. You can still reply while offline and the messages will be uploaded when you reconnect to the Internet.

To do so, go to the File menu, then to the Offline sub-menu, then click on Download/Sync Now…

You'll be presented with the following options dialogue:

Make sure that you check Newsgroup messages. The other options depend on your personal preference. Click the Select button if you want to customise which newsgroups and messages get downloaded.

These steps are recommended because, at the end of semester, you will have your own archive of all the SAO newsgroups.

Thunderbird options

We recommend that you set the following options.

1. Click on the Blackboard newsgroups in the left-hand pane of Thunderbird. Click on View settings for this account.

   

2. Click on Server Settings. Uncheck Ask me before downloading more than 500 messages. You can also specify how often Thunderbird should check for new messages.

   

3. Click on Offline & Disk Space and make sure that the Don't delete any messages option is selected.

   

Congratulations. You have now set up Thunderbird to work with Blackboard's newsgroups.