Windows Mail

Windows Mail is included in Windows Vista as the default e-mail and newsreading program, replacing Outlook Express.

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Instructions for Windows Mail

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 Windows Mail. If this is the first time you've used Windows Mail, you will be presented with a wizard to set up a new e-mail account. Cancel this.
   
   Go to the Tools menu, then click on Accounts... and then Add.... You will be presented with this dialogue:

   

   Select Newsgroup Account and click Next.
   
   
2. In the Your Name dialogue, enter your name. Click Next.
   
   
3. Now enter your preferred email address in the appropriate box. For your e-mail address, we recommend your Swinburne email address ([seven-digit student number]@swin.edu.au), especially if you've already set up e-mail forwarding. Click Next.
   
   
4. In the Internet News Server Name dialogue, enter ilearn.swin.edu.au as the news server and check the box that says My news server requires me to log on. Click Next.
   
   
5. In the Internet News Server Logon dialogue, enter your Swinburne student ID as your E-mail username and enter your Swinburne account password in the Password field. Click Next, then click Finish to confirm your account set-up.
   
   
6. You should be presented with the following dialogue. Select your new newsgroup account (usually called ilearn.swin.edu.au) and then click on Set as Default.

   

   Click Close.
   
   
7. Your Blackboard news account should now appear in the left-hand pane (as ilearn.swin.edu.au), so you're now ready to start downloading messages. You should be presented with the following dialogue. If not, select the new Blackboard account in the left-hand pane.

   

   Select the second option, Show available newsgroups, but don't turn on Communities.
   
   
8. You'll now be prompted to enter your login details. Here, use your SIMS username and password (the same you use to log into My.Swinburne and Blackboard via your web browser).

   

   If you don't want to have to retype your username and password upon subsequent uses of the newsreader, check Remember my credentials. Click OK.
   
   
9. You'll be presented with a list of newsgroups you can subscribe to (there should be eight for each Unit you're enrolled in). Highlight all of the newsgroups and click Subscribe, then OK.
   
   
10. If you aren't already in the Blackboard account, go there by selecting it in the left-hand pane. Highlight all of the newsgroups, right-click, go into the Synchronization Settings sub-menu and click on All Messages. This will make offline newsreading easier.
    
    
11. You may now be able to 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. Click on the title of an updated newsgroup to view the messages in the newsgroup. Here, you'll see the titles of all the posted messages. Unread messages are in bold-face.
    
    If none of the newsgroup titles are in bold-face, click on either the Introductions newsgroup or the Test Messages newsgroup.
    
    To read a message, click on it and it will appear in the reading pane at the bottom of the screen. (If you have the reading pane turned off, double-click on a message to read it in a new window.)

    

12. To reply, click the Reply button in the toolbar. If you choose to reply, a new window will open. Type your reply here and, when you're ready to send it, click the Send button in the window's toolbar. The reply message will then appear in both Blackboard's online newsgroup system and in your newsreader. It will also be visible in Windows Mail's Sent Items folder.
    
    
13. It is recommended that you go to the Tools menu and, under Send / Receive Messages, change the value for Check for new messages every ___ minute(s) from 30 minutes to 5 minutes or less. Now go to the Read tab and, under News, uncheck the option to get 300 headers at a time.

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