SmarterMail Help
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Managing Users

This settings page is only available to system administrators and domain administrators.

The Users section is where system and domain administrators can add, view and modify users on a domain, where each user represents a person's actual mailbox and email address (ex: jdoe@example.com). Administrators can modify basic configuration options for a user, including their password method, features they can access, reply-to addresses, webmail preferences and more.

For a better understanding of the actions that can be performed in the Users section, see the Users Overview page.

When viewing or editing a user, the following cards are available:

User Actions (⋮)

When viewing a specific user from the Users page, several actions can be performed by clicking the Actions (⋮) button. These include:

  • Impersonate User - If domain administrators have permission to impersonate users, when a user is selected and this action is taken, the domain administrator will log into the user's account and be able to see their entire account.
  • Rename - Allows a domain administrator to change the username.
  • Change Password - This allows the domain administrator to change the password for the user (or on the user's account). This option is not available when using Active Directory authentication.
  • Expire Password - This removes the user's SmarterMail password, forcing them to change it on their next login to webmail. This option is not available when using Active Directory authentication.
  • Reindex - Improves the search functionality for a user by reindexing their account.
  • Recalculate Disk Usage - Recalculates the disk usage for the user.
  • Resync Devices - This option can be used to help potentially resolve an issue that's seen by the user when using a particular client. (I.e., Microsoft Outlook, eM Client, etc.) For example, the user may see an issue receiving new emails in Outlook for Windows, which uses the MAPI protocol. The issue they're seeing may be the result of something hung in a different client: iOS Mail that uses EAS, eM Client that uses EWS, Gmail that is using IMAP. To help resolve this issue, a resynchronization of all clients across all protocols may clear up any issue regardless of which protocol is affected.

Account

  • User - The identifier the user uses to log in to SmarterMail. To change an account's username, click on the Actions (⋮) button and then Rename.
  • Status - Domain administrators can change the status of a user to limit their access as needed. For example, if a user leaves the company, either voluntarily or not, a domain administrator can suspend the user pending further review by company management. Options include:
    • Enabled - The mailbox is in use by the user.
    • Disabled and allow mail - The mailbox continues to receive email but the user is unable to access their mailbox.
    • Disabled and don't allow mail - The mailbox no longer accepts incoming messages and the user is unable to access their mailbox.
  • Display Name - The friendly name that is displayed on outgoing messages.
  • Mailbox Size Limit - The maximum size of the mailbox. By default, the maximum mailbox size is 100 MBs. However, domain administrators can change this to whatever they like to correspond to company limits. For unlimited disk space, type in 0.
  • Domain Administrator - Enable this setting to make this user one of the domain administrators for the domain, which allows the user to create new users and edit domain-wide settings.

User

  • Language - The language selected for Users in SmarterMail is EXTREMELY important. That's because it's much more than simply what is seen in the webmail client when that User logs in. SmarterMail's language selection is the basis for everything: the things seen in the webmail interface as well as what's returned to an email client when connecting using Outlook, eM Client, iOS Mail and more. That includes things like settings labels, folder names, calendars and calendar appointment, contact groups, email message content, log files and essentially everything within SmarterMail. Therefore, it is extremely critical select the proper language for a User. For more information, see Languages, Protocols and Clients
    • Changing Language Settings: When a user tries to update their language, SmarterMail checks for potential conflicts prior to changing the language. For example, if a user is set to English and they have a folder named "Bandeja de entrada", if they try to change their language to Spanish, the change will not be saved and they will see a warning letting them know that the language wasn't updated to prevent an email folder name conflict. This is because "Bandeja de entrada" is the Spanish name for Inbox used in the default Spanish language translation file. If the change was saved, there would be 2 folders with the same name, which would cause issues.
  • Time Zone - The time zone to use for marking the sending and receiving date and time.
  • Reply-to Email Address - The email address used in the reply-to header of messages sent through webmail. This address will be used by receiving email clients when replying to a message. While it's possible to set the Reply-to address or a user, that user can change the Reply-to when composing a message or reply in an email client, such as Microsoft Outlook. Should they do this, that address will take precedence over what's set in the user's settings.
  • Recovery Email Address - The email address to which password reset instructions will be sent if the user forgets their password. This address should be separate from their SmarterMail address, such as a Gmail or Yahoo! address, or even the default email address of a domain administrator. Note: The backup email address can only be used if the system administrator has enabled password retrieval for the login page. If the user is protected by 2-Step Authentication, this address may also be used to retrieve the 2-Step verification code.
  • Plus Addressing - Plus addressing allows users to automatically sort incoming email without creating content filtering rules first. A major benefit of plus addressing is that it allows users to generate special email addresses if they do not want to give out their real address. For example, if user@example.com needs to provide a valid email address to sign up for a newsletter, he can sign up for the newsletter using the following address: user+technewsletter@example.com. When the newsletter is delivered, it can automatically be routed to the Technewsletter folder. If the folder does not already exist, it can be created automatically. Note: For plus addressing to work, the plus (+) sign is required AFTER the username but BEFORE the domain name. For example, username+foldername@domain.com.
    • Disabled - Select this option to turn off plus addressing for the account.
    • Move to Folder - If the target folder already exists, the incoming message will be placed into it. If the folder does not exist, it will be created automatically. Note: To prevent abuse, no more than 10 folders can be auto-created in this method during a six hour period.
    • Move to Folder (If Exists) - If the target folder already exists, the incoming message will be placed into it. If the folder does not exist, the email will be placed in the Inbox.
    • Leave in Inbox - The incoming message will be placed in the Inbox.
  • Disable password changes - Select this option to prevent the user from changing the login password. This setting overrides the password expiration found in Security settings. A user's password will not expire or be required to be changed if this setting is enabled.
  • Show in Global Address List - This setting is enabled by default and allows users to be displayed in the Global Address List, which is found in the Contact section. This option is useful for only displaying addresses that are tied to real people as opposed to addresses used by departments, such as support@example.com. Note: This option is only available when using SmarterMail Enterprise.

Service Access

This card can be used to adjust a user's access to the standard protocols that SmarterMail utilizes. For example, you can limit services like POP, IMAP and SMTP so that specific users are not able to connect their email accounts to external email clients. The following services can be managed for each user:

  • Webmail - Enable this option to allow users to log into SmarterMail from the webmail interface.
  • POP - Enable this option to allow users to download mail to an email client using POP3.
  • IMAP - Enable this option to allow users to create a two-way email sync between SmarterMail and an email client using IMAP.
  • Inbound SMTP - Enable this option to allow users to receive email from external senders. That is, any user outside their own domain. (So, from Gmail, etc.)
  • Outbound SMTP - Enable this option to allow users to send email to external recipients. That is, any user outside their own domain. (So, to Gmail addresses, etc.)
  • Chat (XMPP) (Enterprise Only) - Enable this option to activate SmarterMail's included Chat feature for users.
  • WebDAV - This will give users the ability to set up accounts to sync calendars (calDAV) and/or contacts (cardDAV) to various mobile and desktop clients that support this protocol.
  • EAS (Enterprise Only) - This will give users the ability to set up Exchange accounts on mobile email clients, contacts and calendar apps, etc.
  • MAPI/EWS (Enterprise Only) - This will give users the ability to set up Exchange accounts in Microsoft Outlook for Windows, Outlook for Mac, Apple Mail and eM Client.

Temporary Password

NOTE: This setting is reserved for system administrators who are managing and/or impersonating a user.

This option allows system administrators to create an additional, temporary password in order to troubleshoot issues. A user's actual password will rarely be shown to system administrators, and creating and using a temporary password does not disable the user's standard account password or impact their ability to log in or access webmail. Creating a temporary password, rather than impersonating the account, may be required when it's necessary to log into a user's email or IM client where impersonation is not available. In addition, administrators will find that some behavior in webmail may be slightly different when an account is impersonated versus when they're logged in directly.

When using Temporary Password, the following options are available:

  • Generate - Clicking this button will automatically generate a temporary password for the account. Only one temporary password may be created at a time, and on creation, will be available for 24 hours.
  • Revoke - Revoking a temporary password invalidates it immediately. Therefore, a new temporary password will need to be generated as needed.
  • Extend - Choosing to extend the password will add 24 more hours to the remaining time.

Folder Auto-Clean

Setting up auto-clean rules for email folders is a simple, yet effective, way to limit how much of your disk space is taken up by messages in default folders like Junk Email, Sent Items, and Deleted Items as well as any custom folders a user creates. Unlike domain administrators, who can only create auto-clean rules on the default folders created by SmarterMail, users can set up rules for any folder, including custom folders.

Setting up auto-clean rules helps users ensure that their disk space does not fill up unnecessarily. In some cases, particularly when SmarterMail is being provided by a hosting company or ISP, users may have disk space limits set for their accounts. Keeping unnecessary or unwanted email cleaned up, and freeing up space that could be used by unnecessary messages, is one way to help these users stay within the limits placed by their hosting company.

  • Override auto-clean settings - Enable this setting to override the settings established by the domain administrator, allowing you to create your own rules. Any changes you make will not be affected if the system administrator changes their policy, unless they disable domain overrides.

If the "Override auto-clean settings" setting is missing, the auto-clean rules created by the Domain or system administrator will be displayed at the bottom of this card. If no rules were created by an administrator, a note saying such will be displayed.

However, if "Override auto-clean settings" is turned on, you're presented with a New rule button that will allow you to create your own rule(s). Auto-clean rules can be created for any default mail folder, and can be created based on a message's age, the length of time a message has been in a folder, or a particular folder's size.

Size of Folder vs. Age Rules

It's possible to either set an auto-clean rule based on the size of a folder, or the age of a message (or messages) within a folder. Size-based auto-clean rules are run whenever an action is performed on a particular folder. For example, moving a message into the folder. Once that action occurs, the auto-clean rule is run, and it runs each time an action is performed. Age-based rules, however, run once per day on the FIRST folder action for that day. For example, deleting an email first thing in the morning. When you delete an email, it's moved to the Deleted Items folder, which is a folder action. At that point, if there's an age-based auto-clean rule for the Deleted Items folder, the rule is run, and then is silent until an action is performed on the next day.

When using a folder's size, it's possible to set upper and lower limits for the space used for the folder. For example, you can create an auto-clean rule so that when a folder gets larger than 50MB in size, the rule automatically deletes messages to reduce the folder's size to 5MB. When freeing up space, the total size of each message is used, which includes any message attachments.

When using Age as a guideline, there are two types of age: Message Age and Age in the Folder.

  • Message Date: This is based on the initial receipt date of the message. So if you received a message on January 1st, and the number of days is set to 14, on January 15 the message is automatically deleted.
  • Time in Folder: This is based on when a message is actually moved to the folder that has the auto-clean rule configured. The age of the message itself is not used. That means, if the Age in Folder is set to 14 days, it doesn't matter when the message was received. Instead, the message is deleted 14 days after it's been moved into the folder.

Default Folders

When creating a new user in SmarterMail, default folders are created for holding certain types of information. Calendar appointments/events, contacts, notes, tasks, etc. are initially stored in these folders: My Calendar, My Contacts, My Notes, My Tasks. However, users may want to change where this information is held when, for example, a new contact is added. Users may want contacts stored, by default, in their own "Business Contacts" folder as opposed to My Contacts. This is where specifying default folders comes in handy.

It is worth mentioning that only existing folders can be selected as a new default. Therefore, users will need to go to specific areas and create new folders before they can be selected as the new default folder.

Changing the default folder for a specific item is simply a matter of selecting it from the relevant dropdown. Once a default folder is changed, any new item created will be stored in that folder. (Existing items remain in their original folder. Only new items will use the new default.) NOTE: If a particular user has any Delegation rules, default folders can not be changed.

Webmail

  • Delete Email Action - To specify the action performed on deleted messages, select the appropriate action from the list. NOTE: This action only affects messages. If folders are deleted, the folder and its contents will always go to the Deleted Items folder.
    • Move to Deleted Items folder - Deleted items will appear in the deleted items folder, which will need to be regularly emptied.
    • Permanently Delete - Permanently deletes the message. Note: When deleted messages are purged, the action is final. You will not be able to retrieve these messages later.
    • Mark as Deleted - Flags the message for deletion, but it does not move messages to the Deleted Items folder and messages remain until the folder is purged.
  • Compose Font - Specify the default font for emails by selecting an option from the list.
  • Font Size - Specify the default font size for emails by selecting an option from the list.
  • Default From Address - Select the email address that you reply from by default for messages sent through webmail. Your SmarterMail email address and any domain aliases or SMTP accounts configured will be shown in this list. (This setting does not prevent you from manually changing the Send From address when composing a message.)
  • Preview Pane - To specify where the preview pane displays in the webmail interface, select the appropriate option from the list: Right or None. By default, the preview pane appears to the right of the messages list. Disabling the Preview Pane means only a list of messages appears in the content pane and each message will need to be opened separately in order to view their contents.
  • Search Language Indexer - The language that the Lucene indexer will index against. In most cases, Generic Indexer is the best selection as it incorporates English and common umlauts. However, if the user views the interface in certain languages, such as Chinese, Japanese, or Korean, this setting should specify the language for better indexing results.
  • Use To: address for replies - When enabled, replying to a message via webmail will use that email's To: field as the Send From address of a reply, regardless of whether the message was sent to a specific SmarterMail email address or a domain alias, email alias, SMTP account, disposable address or plus address. For example, if an email is sent an alias, replies to that email via webmail will automatically use the email alias address of the Alias member as the Send From address. (This setting does not prevent a user from manually changing the Send From address when composing a message.)
  • Request read receipts by default - Select this option to automatically request read receipts for all outgoing messages sent via webmail. When this setting is enabled, all outgoing messages that are sent via webmail will request that the recipient(s) send a read receipt when the message has been read. If the read receipt is sent by the recipient(s), the user will receive a message from the system administrator confirming that the message has been read. Note: Users should be careful when enabling this feature and should only do so if required for business or compliance or regulatory requirements.
  • Request delivery receipts by default - Select this option to automatically receive delivery receipts for all outgoing messages sent via webmail and email clients. When this setting is enabled, the user will receive a message from the system administrator stating the status of their outgoing message. Note: Users should be careful when enabling this feature and should only do so if required for business or compliance or regulatory requirements.
  • Mark messages downloaded by POP as read - Select this option to mark all messages that are downloaded via a POP3 connection as read.
  • Draft auto-save - Enable this option to have drafts of messages created within the webmail client to be saved every 2 minutes.
  • Hide email avatars in the message list - Enable this option to hide any avatars -- images, monograms, Gravatar pictures, etc. -- from your list of messages. This disables avatars for all folders, including custom folders. It does not have any effect on messages, or messages that display in the content pane.
  • Show images from external websites - Enable this option to automatically display all in-line remote content when an email is viewed. (Remote content is considered to be any image, video, animated gif, etc. that has an external source and is contained in the message.) When this is enabled, the user will not have to manually display the remote content on emails they receive; it will be visible automatically. Note: Emails from trusted domains and senders will always display remote content automatically.
  • Allow Inline Images From - Here you can enter the email addresses or domains (one entry per line) whose in-line remote content should be displayed automatically, even if the previous setting is turned off. If an email address is entered, emails received from that address will automatically display all remote content. If a domain is entered, remote content that comes from a source containing that domain will be automatically displayed. For example, if "smartertools.com" was entered in this field, remote content from a source of "https://images.smartertools.com" would be automatically displayed, even if that email was sent from user@example.com. (If an exception for an email address is added from an email directly, that email address will be listed here.) Note: Emails from trusted domains and senders will always display remote content automatically.
  • Allow Email Tracking From - Here you can enter the names of mail tracking providers (one entry per line) that you will allow. In addition, when enabling an email tracking provider from the tracker modal on individual messages, they appear here.

Forwarding

If this card is not displayed, your domain has not been permitted to utilize automated forwarding. To display these options, a system administrator must enable the Automated Forwarding feature for your domain. NOTE: These settings only affect webmail. If it's been disabled for your domain, forwarding may still occur when using Events and/or content filters, or when using an email client.

  • Allow automated forwarding - Select this option to allow the user to utilize the automated forwarding feature and to display the forwarding settings. If this setting is disabled, the Forwarding card will not be displayed in the user's Account settings.
  • Forwarding Address - The email address to which messages sent to the mailbox will be automatically forwarded. Note: Messages routed to other email folders via content filters or plus addressing will also be forwarded to this address.
  • Keep original sender and recipients when forwarded - When enabled (which is the default), an email is essentially re-routed to the new recipient and keeps its original "To" and "From" addresses. When disabled, the forward behaves as if the email was manually forwarded, so the "From" address is replaced with the address of the mailbox forwarding the message, and the "To" address is the mailbox listed in the Forwarding Address.
  • Delete messages when forwarded - Select this option to delete messages from the SmarterMail mailbox after they are forwarded.

User Groups

User Groups are used to give a specific subset of users on the domain permission to access shared resources. For example, if a business wanted to make it easy for members of its sales department to share their calendars with other team members, the domain administrator would create a user group for all the sales department employees.

If any User Groups have been created, they'll be listed here and can be set to On or Off for specific users.

Throttling

Throttling limits the number of messages sent per hour and/or the amount of bandwidth used per hour to send messages. Domain administrators can use this feature on a per-user basis to either delay or reject messages that exceed their desired limits, thereby ensuring users don't send out massive amounts of email throughout the day that can possibly get the domain blacklisted.

Note: For each threshold and action, you'll see "(Default = X)" which indicates the throttling policy that's put in place by the system administrator for the ENTIRE domain. It's important to consider the domain's throttling limits when modifying a specific user's limits. For example, if you set the user's throttling limit to the domain max, and that user sends that many messages in an hour, the WHOLE domain would be throttled. This means that outgoing messages from all users on the domain would either be delayed or rejected, depending on the domain's throttling action. (NOTE: If messages are already in the spool, from a user or a domain, when a throttling limit is reached, these messages are essentially delayed even if the throttling action is set to "reject" -- only new messages sent would be rejected.)

  • Outbound Messages per Hour (0 = Unlimited) (Default = 5000) - The number of messages sent by the user per hour.
  • Message Throttling Action (Default = None) - Select an action for SmarterMail to take once the particular throttling level is reached. Of course, administrators can elect to do nothing at all, or they can either Delay or Reject messages until the amount of mail being sent falls beneath the throttling limit that is set.
  • Outbound Bandwidth per Hour (0 = Unlimited) (Default = 100) - The total number of MBs sent by the user per hour.
  • Bandwidth Throttling Action (Default = None) - Select an action for SmarterMail to take once the particular throttling level is reached. Of course, administrators can elect to do nothing at all, or they can either Delay or Reject messages until the amount of bandwidth being used falls beneath the throttling limit that is set.
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