FNQ.net.au

Ahhh it is that time of the year...

The mistletoe is up, staff are running scared and between Christmas parties people are trying to get those last minute jobs out the door before the break.

One question that is very common is "can I set up an out-of-office automatic reply to my emails" ... The next question is.. how?

Righto - the good oil :

Yes you can do it. It is much easier than you think.  First up, don't touch your mail program. Outlook has options for out of office and auto replies - they will only age you early, and give you a hairline like me.

1) Start your computer & make sure that you are on the Internet

2) Open a web browser. Visit your website, and open your email control panel. You can find this by adding "/webmail" after your website address.

3) Use your FULL EMAIL ADDRESS as the username. Then enter your password. Make sure you use the password for your email account. (This may, or may not be the same as the one to log into the website)

4) You should enter a "Cpanel" (that is very cool geek-speak for "control panel") for your email. You can do lots of stuff here, the one you are looking for is auto responders. Click on it.

5) Click on the button"add auto-responder"

6) You can then fill in the fields... for example:

FROM: The Mail Man
SUBJECT: Out of office - Gone Fishing
CHARACTER SET: utf-8 **see below
HTML MESSAGE: (untick) **see below
BODY:
Hi, I am not here right now.

I will be back on 17 March, after a well deserved break, please call the office on XX XXXX XXXX  if things are urgent.

I will receive your message when I return.

7) Click on "Create/Modify"

8) Click on "home" at the bottom of the page to return to the control panel.

9) You might want to give it a quick test.. just send yourself an email and see what you get back.

NOTES:
Now - a few notes for those that like some more info:

• The character set is for uber-geeks who would like to change the type of letters used. Leave it as utf-8 unless you need to reply in chinese


• The html tick-box can be ticked or unticked. Non-html messages are smaller, and more likely to pass spam-filters etc.. For this kinda thing, pretty is not required as much as fail-proof. I would recommend having this option unticked. (non HTML)


• Don't forget to turn your auto reply OFF when you return. To do this, follow steps 1-4 above, then click on "delete".