Contents
- Introduction
- Logging In
- Overview
- Using Search
Introduction
RoundCube is a webmail system that allows you to access your email from any browser. It includes all the features you’d expect from a modern webmail service, such as support for MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions: the Internet standard for specifying rules for storing different types of information in a single email and for identifying compressed dataset types), address lists, customisable folders, message search, and spell checking.
Unlike other webmail clients, RoundCube has an application-like user interface. This means you can move items around using drag and drop, similar to how desktop applications function.
RoundCube also has the advantage of a high level of customisation, enabling administrators to create and install custom skins to reflect the company’s branding.
The software’s versatility, ease of use, and practicality contributed to Rackhost‘s decision to adopt RoundCube.
Logging In
First, open webmail to display the login screen, which is used to identify the user. Simply enter your email address and password to log in.
Overview
Four key elements are displayed on the main screen. Let’s take a look at each of them.
1. List of Folders
The menu on the left shows all the folders that have been created in your email account.
The following five folders are always listed in the menu: Inbox (where emails arrive by default), Drafts (where drafts are stored and can be used later when writing emails), Sent (containing sent emails), Junk (reserved for spam) and Trash (where deleted messages are stored).
The Trash folder is automatically emptied when you log off.
In addition to the default folders mentioned above, you can create your own folders to help you easily organise your mail. The numbers next to the folders indicate the number of unread messages in the folder. To open a folder, simply click on it once.
2. Toolbar
This part of the screen contains icons that allow you to perform different actions depending on what is displayed in the centre of the window. The icons in the example above allow you to perform the following actions, from left to right:
Refresh folder: check if there is a new message in the folder
Compose: write a new message
Reply: send a reply to a previously received message after selecting it
Reply to all: similar to Reply, but in this case, the reply is sent not only to the sender of the email but also to everyone who received the email; this is useful if the message was sent to a group and you want to reply to all the other recipients
Forward Message: forward the selected message to another person
Delete: delete the selected message so that it goes to Trash
Print: print the selected message
In the middle is the search box. This works just like any other search engine, but allows you to search for emails within the selected folder. When you have finished searching, you can return to the original folder by clicking the “X” to the right of the box.
3. Applications
The three icons on the left side of the screen provide access to different functions. The Email icon opens the main interface described above, while the Address Book icon gives you access to a list of saved email addresses. The third icon is Personal Settings, where you can adjust various settings to further customise your account. The Logout button allows you to log out of RoundCube. It’s recommended to log out each time you finish using RoundCube to prevent unauthorised access to your emails.
4. Messages
This section of the screen displays the messages in the folders.
To open a message, double-click on it. You can also select a message by clicking on it once and then choosing an option from the toolbar, such as Reply. You can select multiple messages at a time by holding down the Ctrl key.
To select several consecutive messages, click the first message you want to select, then hold down the Shift key until you click the last message you want to select.
To move a message to another folder, simply drag it. Select the message, then drag it to one of the folders on the left side of the screen while holding down the left mouse button. You can also delete unwanted emails by dragging them to the Trash.
Some messages are written in bold and have an asterisk on the left side to indicate that they are unread emails. If you receive an email with an attachment, a paperclip icon will appear on the right side of the message.
Using Search
When you type something in the search box, RoundCube will only look for matches in the email headers and items.
An advanced search option is also available. Enter one of the following keywords before the term you want to search for: from, to, cc, subject or body. For example: from: Stephen; subject: dinner.