FTGate now offers groupware as standard. An important aspect of groupware is the ability to share folders. Shared folders allow users collective access to mail and an effective way to keep informed and share information. FTGate uses Access Control Lists to restrict access to shared folders, for example you can just allow one or two users to be able to put messages into a folder, but allow a broader range of people the ability to read the what is there.
Put simply, collaboration makes things simpler and more effective. They allow information to be shared in a controlled way. For example, they allow a group of users access to a common mailbox folder so that they can all read and respond to messages within the folder and be able to see what other people have done with messages in that folder, so everyone sees when a message is read, responded to, flagged, etc. Shared folders just make life easier, and the more you use them the more potential you will see.
The mechanism for sharing folders is IMAP (Internet Messaging Access Protocol). To use it you configure mail client accounts to collect mail via IMAP, rather than POP. Alternatively, you can simply use FTGate's Web Mail. In fact, due to the nature of folder sharing, you can use a mail client and Web Mail and see the same message and folder structure. So if you send a message using Web Mail and have it configured to save sent messages into a sent items folder, you will see the sent message in the appropriate folder in the mail client, i.e. the folders are synchronised.
This can be done using Web Admin, Web Mail, or SolSight. Web Mail and SolSight allows users to share their folders with others, and Web Admin allows administrators to manage the shared access of everyone.
So, if there's a Web Mail user with the address fred@test0.ftgate.com then by clicking on the Folders link in the navigation bar and then click the Advanced button on the folders page takes you to this page in Web Mail:
To share Fred's inbox with another user Fred places a checkmark in the Shared box next to the Inbox and then clicks OK. Now an Access button appears to the right of Inbox:
To share the folder with Joan, Fred clicks the Access button to go to the Access Control List page:
Now, to share the folder with Joan, Fred enters joan@test0.ftgate.com into the Address box and clicks Add. The page now lists Joan's address with just the Read box checked:
Administrators go through a similar process using Web Admin. Basically, they share the folder on Fred's Folder page and then subscribe to it on Joan's Folder page. You should consult the User's Guide if you need more information on this.
This means that Joan can now see the contents of Fred's Inbox, but she cannot modify the contents in any way. If Fred wanted to alter those rights then he would place a checkmark in the box that is appropriate for the level of access required.
SolSight can be used in a similar fashion. Using SolSight, Fred selects Tools|Server Options|Shared Folders to show the Shared Folders dialog:
Fred then clicks on Inbox and then clicks the Permissions
button (
) and then responds Yes to the
Share this? prompt. This shows the Permissions dialog:
Fred enters joan@test0.ftgate.com into the User or Group box and clicks Add. The page now lists Joan's address.
When Joan signs in to Web Mail, her folder tree does not show the shared folder. This is because Joan must subscribe to that folder. To do this Joan clicks on the Folders link in the navigation bar and clicks the Advanced button on the Folder Management page. That page appears like this:
You can see the shared folder in the list. To subscribe to the folder, Joan places a checkmark in the Subscribed box and clicks OK. Her folder tree changes to include the domain entry test0.ftgate.com, clicking on that shows Fred's mailbox (listed beneath the domain entry) and ckicking on that shows Fred's shared Inbox folder:
When Joan clicks on the Inbox link beneath fred, the page shows the message listing for Fred's Inbox:
When Joan now uses her mail client application (which is configured to use IMAP) the folder will also be listed.
If Joan hadn't gone through the above steps to subscribe to the folder, she would have to go through the mail clients mechanism for subscribing to a folder, but the outcome would be the same (and the subscribed folder would be listed in Web Mail when she subsequently signs into it).
Shared folders have many uses beyond simply letting others see what's in your inbox:
Groups of people, e.g. sales or support staff, can share a mailbox to keep all relevant material in one place, rather than each individual having their own sent items folder, for example.
Network Administrators can use them to distribute files to users on the LAN. The administrator posts a message with the relevant files attached, or link to the files, and all of those with access to the folder can make sure that they have the latest drivers, updates, etc. on their machines.
Administrators, managers, etc. can use them to post announcements to one location, rather than sending messages to every relevant individual.
A folder can accumulate a wealth of information available to all those with access. Here at FTGate Technology we maintain a copy of every support email that we send in a folder that is available for all of the support team to refer to.
FTGate address books can be made available to a mail client so that you can get at contact information easily.
You can use shared folders to effectively train FTGate to identify Unsolicited Bulk Email (UBE) by the message's content.
The quarantine folder can be accessed as a shared folder so that those who have access to it can look at and recover messages that have been quarantined.