Working with Shared Folders in Webmail

Shared folders can be set up by you, or by OIT. Access to shared folders is granted per user and can be read-only or read-write (including delete).

Sharing folders is a two step process, the owner of the folder needs to create it (if it does not already exist), and then grant access to other users and set their access permissions.

To create a shared folder:

1. In the links on the left, click Folders. The Folders page will display.
2. In the Folder text box towards the top of the page, enter the name of the shared folder you want to create and then click Add. The new folder displays in your list of personal folders. You may need to page through if you have many folders.
3. Click the Edit icon for your new folder. The Folder Edit page will display. Note: On this page, you can create a subfolder by entering a name in the Folder text box and clicking Add Subfolder.
4. In the text box under Folder Permissions, enter the user name of the person with whom you want to share the folder.
5. Select the checkboxes for the access permissions you want to grant.
   • Read - The user can see that the folder exists, open the folder, read messages in the folder, copy messages from the folder, and see which messages were read.
   • Write — The user can copy messages into the folder and modify the Flagged, Answered, and Draft flags for each message. This permission also allows the user to delete any message.
   • Mail — This box is not relevant for personal shared folders. Only for system folders.
   • Admin—The user can change the access control list (ACL: who has access) on the folder and create subfolders.
6. Add the user by clicking Apply. The person is added to your user list and the Folder Edit page remains open. You can add as many users to the list as you'd like.
7. Click OK. The Folders page displays. You can now click on your inbox in the left sidebar and return to reading your mail.
8. Notify the other users of the shared folder and tell them the following:
   • Folder name
   • The access permissions you have granted to them
   • They must subscribe to the folder in order to use it

To subscribe (gain access) to a shared folder:

1. At the bottom of the left side Folders bar, click Shared Folders. The Shared Folders page will display a list of the folders to which you have been granted permission to share. All folders in the general user area begin with "user." so a folder named humbug shared by lbaum will appear as user.lbaum.humbug.
2. You can refine the list of shared folders by typing in the Shared Folder box at the top of the window and clicking Search. Key points about this search feature:
   • You can enter partial names—with or without wildcard characters: “*” or “%”. The system automatically adds wildcards to the beginning and end of your search string prior to running your search. If you include wildcards, the system will not add additional ones.
   • Your search results will consist of folder names that contain your search string anywhere in their full folder name. For example, a search string of ke might include the following folders in the search results: earthquake_info, build.makefile, user.kevin.sports, and user.bill.kernel.
   • Once your initial results are displayed , you can further refine your search by entering a new criterion in the Folder search box and clicking Search. You can do this as many times as necessary.
   • To return to your initial list of search results, click Reset.
3. Click the Subscribe checkbox for the folder you want to have access to. The page will refresh and the Subscribed icon displays next to the names of the folders to which you have subscribed. Also, the shared folder will be listed on the left side Folder bar. You click on the folder in that left side-bar to view the contents of the folder.

To unsubscribe, go back to the Shared Folders page and uncheck the subscribe box. The folder will disappear from the left side Folders bar.