FAQ and Help

General Web Email Information

1. How do I use the Web Interface for email?
2. What are some of the web interface features?
3. May I customize the sections of the main email page?
4. May I get a "user friendly" name for my email account?
5. How do I change my password for my email account?
6. How much email may I store on the new server?
7. Will the server have any email safeguards?
8. How often is new mail checked?
9. Will Connect Seward host my business or organization domain?

Web Email Help

1. How do I request a free email and web page account?
2. How do I request a business web site?
3. Why is my email returned with the error "Attachment name funnystuff.exe may end with .exe"?
4. How do I find someone's email address?
5. How can I setup my mail program to send and receive email?
6. Why do I keep going back to the logon screen when I try to send email?
7. When sending email, why do I see the error, "Mail from connectseward.org must be sent from connectseward.org"?
8. When sending email, why do I see the error, "'abc@xyz.com' is not a valid Connect Seward address"?
9. How do I delete old mail?
10. How do I manage folders?

Web Page Information

1. How do I create web pages?
2. How do I upload web pages?
3. How should web pages be named?
4. How do I access my personal web pages?
5. How much will this cost?
6. Is there a way for the results of a form to be mailed to me?
7. What hidden fields does FormMail recognize?
8. May I use CGI scripts with my web pages?
9. What are the process limits for a script?
10. What can my CGI script access on the computer?
11. What perl modules are installed?
12. May I use my own CGI script to send email?
13. What if I have a problem getting my script to work?

How do I use the Web Interface for email?
To access email through the new web interface, use a web browser on any computer connected to the Internet and go to http://www.connectseward.org/ there is no need to setup any mail program. Click the email link on the Connect Seward County pages, and proceed to email login. At the login, enter your username (e.g., jsmith00) and the password you are using now. There are many items to explore, but you may want to start with Mail. You may easily click on words in a menu to display a message, reply to a message, and delete a message. Click Logout when you are done.

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What are some of the web interface features?
All of the functionality is there for sending and receiving email with the simplicity of using a web browser. You may send, save and view attachments, such as pictures. There is a personal contacts list, a personal calendar and more. We recommend trying out the web interface to email. Beside being easy to use and having extra features, it can be accessed from any computer with a web browser. If you still prefer to use a program like Outlook Express, Eudora or Netscape Mail, follow the instructions in the How can I setup my mail program to send and recieve email?

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May I customize the sections of the main email page?
Yes. Click Preferences at the top of the page, and then click the Main tab if it not selected. Click on an item in the Selected box, and then click to move it to the unselected box. Sections moved to the unselected box will not show up on the opening page. You may also increase the number of new messages that are displayed on the opening page.

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May I get a "user friendly" name for my email account?
All new accounts will have the form Firstname.Lastname. It will be easy for family and friends to remember your address if it is John.Doe@connectseward.org For those currently using the jdoe00 format, send a request to info@connectseward.org along with your first and last name. Your request will be confirmed through email before the change is made. Email for your old address will automatically be sent to the new address; giving you time let others know your new address. If you are subscribed to a discussion list or other service that requires you to send email from a specific address, be sure to unsubscribe before the change and then subscribe with the new address.

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How do I change my password for my email account?
Click on the Preferences at the top of the mail page and then click on the Password tab and follow on screen instructions.

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How much email may I store on the new server?
Most email services allow you to store from 2MB to 6MB of email. An account on the new server may use up to 50MB of space for email and personal web pages (40MB for email and 10MB for web pages).

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Will the server have any email safeguards?
The server offers two types of protection. Each message goes through limited virus scanning and blocking (not meant to replace virus checking software on a personal computer). Junk email or "spam" is either blocked or tagged with a warning before it is delivered. This combination, while not perfect, greatly reduces the amount of unwanted email as compared to other email services.

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How often is new mail checked?
A check for new mail happens automatically when looking at the Main page or the Mail page. By default, the check for new email happens when you first login and then every 30 minutes after that. If you would like to check for new email more often, click Preferences at the top of the page and then click the Global tab. Change the value of "New mail check" and click the Update Preferences button. You may always perform a check by hand by clicking Mail at the top of the page and then clicking Refresh. By default, most programs check for new mail every 30 minutes. If you change the checking interval, please set it to at least 5 minutes or longer.

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Will Connect Seward host my business or organization domain?
Yes. Connect Seward already hosts domains such as http://www.sewardlibrary.org/ , http://www.sewardscholarship.org/ and http://www.milford-ne.com/ . One of our goals is to provide resources so that businesses and organizations in Seward county are able to easily establish a web presence on the Internet. When you find that your web site activity is growing beyond casual use, you can move your domain to a commercial service that offers more features. To start this process, check that your intended domain is available. Then submit the domain name to info@connectseward.org with a request to host the domain. If there are questions about the domain, you will be contacted. When the domain is approved for hosting, you will be notified and then you would purchase the domain.

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How do I request a free email and web page account?
Fill out and submit the online application for an email account, or stop by the Seward Public Library.

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How do I request a business web site?
Go to the online application for an email account and follow the link to the business/organization web site authorization form. Print the form, have an official representative from the business authorize you (or someone else) as the designer for the business web pages and deliver the form to the Seward Public Library. The web designer will be given access to the folder for that business. The web designer must have an email account on www.connectseward.org in order to access the business folder.

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Why is my email returned with the error "Attachment name 'funnystuff.exe' may not end with '.exe'"?
There are two general kinds of attachments, program attachments and document attachments. Document attachments include pictures, word processing documents and so on, and they are relatively harmless. Program attachments, on the other hand, are mostly used by email viruses. When you open a program attachment, it runs a set of commands on your computer, and, in the case of a virus, your computer becomes infected. To avoid this problem, messages that contain program attachments are not accepted (e.g., ".exe" attachments). In the rare circumstance that you need to send a program attachment, we recommend that you use a program, such as a ZIP utility, to compress the file before attaching it to email. Compressing the file turns it into a document attachment. The recipient would save the attachment on their computer and uncompress the file.

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How do I find someone's email address?
We recommend that you contact the individual by telephone or regular mail and give them your email address. When they send you email, you will be sure to have their correct address.

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How can I setup my mail program to send and receive email?
Netscape mail, Eudora, Outlook Express and other programs may be used to read email on http://www.connectseward.org/. Assume that your name is John Doe and your account is jdoe00. Configure your software to use the following pieces of information. The old server uses the POP3 protocol and the new server uses the IMAP protocol. Assume your name is John Doe and your account is jdoe00. Configure your software to use the following pieces of information: Email address: jdoe00@connectseward.org Protocol: IMAP (not POP3) Incoming mail server: www.connectseward.org Outgoing (SMTP) server: www.connectseward.org If that looks confusing, don't worry. Use the new web interface to send and receive email. That will give you access to your email until a friend is able to walk through the steps with you. We would encourage people to use the new web interface to email, because it is accessible from any computer with a web browser.

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Why do I keep going back to the logon screen when I try to send email?
The web interface uses cookies to keep track of where you are in the web interface. If you set cookie security too high in the web browser or if you use cookie cleaning software, that will prevent the web interface from working. Essentially, it always starts over from the beginning, which is the logon screen. Microsoft Internet Explorer 6, for example, comes with cookie privacy set to Medium High by default. That is too high for the web interface to function. In the browser, go to Tools->Internet Options, click the Privacy tab, drag the slider down to Medium and click OK. You will need to investigate the menus to find this option in other versions or in other browsers.

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When sending email, why do I see the error, "Mail from connectseward.org must be sent from connectseward.org"?
This problem does not happen when using the web interface to email. However, it might happen when using other programs such as Netscape mail or Outlook Express. First, confirm that your program is configured as indicated under the FAQ question, "How can I set up my mail to send and receive email?" If the configuration is correct, then make sure that your email software is always open and running when you send email. You may minimize the program or place it in the background, but it must be running. When your email software starts, it logs into the server in order to check for email. You may have configured your software to login automatically, or it may ask you for a username and password each time it starts. When the email software is closed, it logs out of the server. If you attempt to send a message or email a document after the connection has been closed, the email will not be accepted. Start the email software so that you are logged into the server and send the message, again.

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When sending email, why do I see the error, "'abc@xyz.com' is not a valid Connect Seward address"?
This problem does not happen when using the web interface to email. The error indicates that the email software you are using, such as Netscape mail or Outlook Express, may not be properly configured. Confirm that your software is using your correct Connect Seward email address as indicated under the FAQ question, "How can I set up my mail to send and receive email?"

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How do I delete old mail?
Go to www.connectseward.org, click the link to Check your E-mail and login. Then click Mail at the top of the page. To the left of the page you will see all of your mail folders listed under MailBox, and the current folder is displayed in the "Folders:" box above that. There are two ways to delete a message. If you can tell which messages to delete by the subject, check the box on the far right for each of those messages. Then click the "Delete Selected" button at the bottom of the page. If you are not able to tell from the subject, click the subject to the view the message. Then either click "Delete" at the top of the page to delete that message or click "Back to INBOX" to view the list of messages, again. Go through the same process with each of the folders to delete old messages. You may select a folder from the left by either clicking its name under INBOX or by selecting the name from the "Folders:" box and then clicking Go. If you do not see a folder that you know is there, read the section "How do I manage folders?" Note that, by default, a copy of each message you send is placed in the sent-mail folder, and a large number of messages can collect over time."

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How do I manage folders?
After logging in, click Mail at the top of the page. Then click Folder Management at the top of the page. You may add a folder, delete a folder and rename a folder. Limit folder names to letters, digits, dashes and spaces. You may move folders between the unsubscribed and subscribed list by clicking the name to select it and the clicking the arrows. You will usually want all of your folders to be subscribed. Subscribed folders are listed to the left on the Mail page, permitting you to click the folder name to see the messages in that folder or to move messages to and from that folder. Unsubscribing a folder hides the name from the list of folder names on the Mail page. To see the number of messages in a folder and the amount of space being used, click Mail, click Folder Management and then click Folder Overview at the top of the page. You may click a folder name on the left to go directly to that folder to do further work.

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How do I create web pages?
The easiest way to get started is to check if your word processor can save a document as a web page. Read the online help and documentation for your program for steps about how to do that. As you become more experienced, you may want to use a different program that provides more features. If your software does not save web pages, investigate your favorite software site, such as www.download.com, for commercial and free HTML editors.

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How do I upload web pages?
A simple way to create folders and upload web pages online is to click on "Manage Web Pages" at the top of the Connect Seward home. Web pages are transferred using FTP (file transfer protocol). Many web page design programs already have that capability. Microsoft FrontPage, for example, allows you to "publish" your web site. You would enter the URL ftp://www.connectseward.org/ and login with your username and password. Consult the documentation for your software for more information. If your software does not use FTP, check your favorite software site, such as www.download.com, for commercial and free FTP programs. 

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How should web pages be named?
The initial or home page should be called index.html (or index.htm). Names are case sensitive. All other web pages may be named whatever you like. Typically, the names of web pages end with ".html" (or ".htm"). Limit characters to the alphabet, digits and underlines. For example, about_us1.html.

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How do I access my personal web pages?
You may upload personal web pages at any time, but they may only be accessed if you are using the new Firstname.Lastname format for an account name. See the FAQ entry, "May I get a user friendly name for my email account?". Assume that your account name is John.Doe. You would access your web pages with "http://www.connectseward.org/John.Doe/".

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How much will this cost?
ConnectSeward, Inc. is a non-profit, volunteer organization supported by contributions from businesses and individuals like you. Our goal is to promote technological development in Seward County. Any person in Seward County may request a free account for email and personal web pages. Any business in Seward County may store business web pages on the server for no charge.

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Is there a way for the results of a form to be mailed to me?
Yes. Design your web form to call the FormMail script with your address as the recipient. If your name was John Doe, a minimal form would look like:
<form method="post" action="http://www.connectseward.org/misc/mail/cgi/FormMail">
<input type="hidden" name="recipient" value="John.Doe@connectseward.org">
<input type="text" name="feedback"><br> Please enter your comments<br> <input type="submit">
</form>

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What hidden fields does FormMail recognize ?
Recipient - Up to 3 Connect Seward addresses that will receive a copy of the results.
<input type="hidden" name="recipient" value="John.Doe@connectseward.org,Jane.Doe@connectseward.org">
subject - The subject line of the email you receive. Useful if you have more than one form.
<input type="hidden" name="subject" value="Web site comments">
redirect - If present, a URL where the user will be redirected after the form is submitted. This could be a customized thank you or a second form to fill out. If not present, FormMail will generate a "success" page telling the user that the submission was successful. You may alter the success page with the optional fields below.
<input type="hidden" name="redirect" value="http://www.connectseward.org/John.Doe/thankyou.html"> bgcolor - Background color for the success page.
background - URL of the background image for the success page.
text_color - Text color for the success page.
link_color - Link color for the success page.
vlink_color - Vlink color for the success page.
alink_color - Alink color for the success page.
title - Title for the success page.
return_link_url - URL for a link on the success page the user can click to continue.
<input type="hidden" name="return_link_url" value="http://www.connectseward.org/John.Doe/Page2.html">
sort - Order in which fields will appear in email. The value may be "alphabetic" for alphabetical ordering of fields or a specific order indicated by "order:" and a comma separated list of field names.
<input type="hidden" name="sort" value="order:name,email,age,comments">
print_config - Used for debugging. Directs FormMail to include the settings in email for the given configuration fields. To include the settings for the "title" and "sort" fields,
<input type="hidden" name="print_config" value="title,sort">
required - The list of fields that must be filled in before the submitted form will be accepted. If any of the fields are blank, an error will be displayed, and the user will be asked to go back to the form.
<input type="hidden" name="required" value="name,comments">
missing_fields_redirect - If present, a URL where the user is redirected when a required field is blank. Useful for finer control over the error the user sees when a required field is blank.
env_report - A list of CGI environment variables that should be included in email. Current choices include REMOTE_HOST, REMOTE_ADDR and HTTP_USER_AGENT.
print_blank_fields - Directs FormMail to include all fields in email, even if the the value is blank. Useful if you print the email and use it as a standard form.

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May I use CGI scripts with my web pages?
Yes, CGI scripts written in perl may be used. Create a directory named "cgi" and place your scripts and data files there. Scripts must be executeable by the owner (-rwxr--r-- or chmod 744). An extension on the script name such as ".cgi" or ".pl" is optional. The name of a script should otherwise consist of letters, digits, underlines or dashes. The initial line of the script should be "#!/usr/bin/perl" or "#!/usr/bin/perl -w". Take the utmost care to write scripts in a secure manner.

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What are the process limits for a script?
In order to protect the server from incorrectly designed scripts that might consume all available system resources, a script is currently limited to 10 seconds of CPU time, writing up to 64KB to a file, using up to 8MB of memory, using only one process and opening up to 16 files at one time. If your script exceeds a limit, it will be terminated. The actual requirements for your script should be much lower than this. The typical script executes in one or two seconds, does not write much information to a file, if any, and does not require much memory.

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What can my CGI script access on the computer?
Your script will run in a protected environment under the full perl interpreter (not mod_perl). Your script will have access to all of the functions and modules offered in perl. Because of the security features, scripts do not have access to any system-level programs, system files or shell interfaces. Your script will be able to access all of the files in the cgi directory and all of the web pages that are one level up from the cgi directory.

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What perl modules are installed?
All of the common perl modules are available. If a module you would like to use is missing, send a request to info@connectseward.org to install the module. If it is a module that we would support, we will install it.

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May I use my own CGI script to send email?
Yes, but we recommend that web forms call FormMail whenever possible in order to avoid security problems. Since no system programs, including sendmail, are available, your script must send email using SMTP. The simplest method is to use the Mail::Sendmail module, which should meet most needs. For more extensive features, use Mail::Message. Scripts are not allowed to send email directly to the Internet. Instead, deliver the email to www.connectseward.org, and the email will be forwarded. The sender address of the message must be your Connect Seward email address. Carefully check that your script does not allow spammers to relay email.

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What if I have a problem getting my script to work?
We do not provide consulting for writing CGI scripts. You may be able to check in your community to see if there is someone able to assist you. If you believe that the problem is due solely to the configuration of the server, reduce your script to the minimum number of lines required to produce the error and email the script to info@connectseward.org along with a detailed description of the problem. We will investigate the problem as time permits. If it is determined that the problem is in the server configuration, we will attempt to modify the configuration, if possible.

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