SchoolSuite - Enabling Web Mail in Teacher Resources

By default Teacher Resources and the SchoolSuite Management Console provide options to send or read email via the default mail client, usually Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express. However many schools use Web Mail for all email services, rendering these facilities redundant.

It is possible to configure both Teacher Resources and the Management Console to display a preset web page URL in their browser windows instead of opening an email client. Some schools have found this particularly useful in Teacher Resources as it can simplify teachers' classroom access to email.

Enabling this feature is simply a matter of specifying the URL required in the 'WebMail URL' group policy setting. The URL you specify may simply point to the home page of your web mail service, but you can also include a %USERNAME% environment variable for URLs that include the user's login name (such as Microsoft's Outlook Web Access).

Step-by-Step Guide

			Open the Default Domain Policy From the SchoolSuite Management Console start the group policy editor using the 'Default Domain' policy menu item found on the Group Policy drop down menu button.
			Navigate to the WebMailURL group policy Locate 'Administrative Templates' in the 'User Configuration' area and then navigate to the 'WebMail URL' policy found under the 'Teacher Resources' category of the 'SchoolSuite Components' template.
			Edit the WebMailURL policy setting Double click on 'WebMail URL' policy to open it and click the 'Enabled' radio button, this will enable the 'URL' text box, type the URL for your web mail server into this box. If required, you can include the user's login name in the URL by specifying the %USERNAME% variable, Teacher Resources will substitute this variable with the name of the current user when required.
			Update client group policy Force a Group Policy update on a test computer. To ensure Group Policy has updated at the workstation you intend to test the web mail feature on, you can use the command line tools on the workstation itself or you can use the SchoolSuite management console to instruct a computer to update it's group policy. To have the Management Console force the update right click on the computer and select 'Update Group Policy' from the advance menu, make sure no-one is using the computer when you do this or they will be logged off.
			Test that the policy change has worked. Once the group policy has been updated the email icon in the toolbar will change from a drop-down button menu to a simple button. Once the button is clicked the URL you selected will be displayed in the Teacher Resources or Management Console browser window.

08/03/2008 13:59