Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

about basic use of Surgemail in a web browser

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames - KingsNet

 

 

How do I?

 

 

 

Log on

 

Logon to http://mail.rbksch.org:8383  from any location and use your KingsNet user name and password.  Ignore the Secure login (secure should be in italics, if it is not click on standard and then login again)

 

 

 

Main screen

 

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This is the main email message screen.  Messages in your inbox will be listed, the most recent on the top. Unread message show a little envelope icon and are in bold.  Read message are in normal text. Click on the subject heading to read the message.

 

 

Read Messages

 

 

 

 

When you have read the message you can use the buttons at the top (and the bottom) of the message to carry out your next action, eg reply, forward to somebody else, delete it.  If you don’t need to keep a message you should delete it so that it does not take up server space. You can also file messages in folders – see message filing.  Once you have read a message you can either click on the next button (if you started reading the messages at the top of the inbox first), use the back browser button to go back or click on the Inbox button to see the summary of all the messages.

 

 

If the message has little red crosses it means that there is a graphic linked to the message but the browser is not showing it.  If you tick the Enable Offsite Images box and then on the change view button the correct images will appear.  Most message that contain images like this are probably from commercial firms and may be junk mail.

 

 

Reply to messages

 

 

When you click on the reply button, a message window opens and you can type your message above the original message.  Don’t forget to put your name (and school if necessary).  Click on the send button.

 

 

To create a new message

 

Click on the New Message button on the left of the screen.  Type the email address of the main person you are sending it to in the top box.  If you have some addresses in your address book you can click on the To: button and the address book will open as a pop up window (unless pop up windows are blocked or turned off in your browser settings).  CC means copy message to other people.  BCC is blind copy, this means the message will be copied to another person but the main recipient in the To box won’t know that you have sent a copy to a third party. Type the main message and the click on the Send button to send off the email

 

 

 

Send a message

 

Once you have composed a new message or have replied to a message, check that you have put an email address for the recipient and have put something in the subject line that summarises the message, then click on the Send button.

 

To attach a file or picture

 

Click on the attach files icon just below Read receipt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Browse for the files on your computer and then click on the attach button.  Big files may take some time.  The maximum file size you can attach is 10mb.

 

The files will now be listed on the right of the screen.  Click on Return to message button

 

 

Click on the Send button on the main message screen

 

 

 

 

To set up the address book

 

Click on the Addresses button on the left of the screen.  Your current contacts will be shown at the top and you can add more as shown below. You can also use the buttons to the right of each person if you want to use the address to initiate a new message, edit their details or delete their entry. 

 

 

To add new people to your address book, scroll to the bottom of the screen and fill in the details for the new person.  Click on the Save entry button  

 

 

To use your address book create a new message then click on the To button.  Your address book will pop up in a new window. Please note that if pop up windows are blocked on your computer this address book facility may not work.  If you are not sure how to enable pop up’s you will need to ask your ICT technical support.   Tick the people you want to send the message to.  You may need to drag the pop up window a bit bigger to see the Done button at the bottom.  When you have selected all the recipients click on the Done button.  Their email addresses will now be in the To box.

 

 

 

Delete files

 

Put a tick next to the messages you want to get rid of and then click on the Delete button.   This moves the messages from the main inbox to the trash can, it does not remove them from the server.  This can affect your server space.  From time to time you need to click on the Trash folder on the left to see what messages are in there.  You can tick selected message and then on the Delete key, or move them to another folder.  You can also empty the whole of the Trash folder at one go by clicking on the Empty button.  The number of messages in Trash is shown in brackets.

 

 

 

Sent Items folder

 

When you have sent a message it goes straight to the email server and also puts a copy into your Sent items folder.  You can see what these are by clicking on the Sent Items folder on the left.

 

Server space (mailbox size)

 

Pupils are limited to a mailbox of 100mb.  You will be warned as you approach the limit.  This is a good time to do some housekeeping by deleting unwanted files.  From time to time all users should tidy up their mailbox.  

 

File messages in folders

 

You can save messages into special folders.  Click on the Manage Folders on the left, type the name of the folder in the box under the new folder icon and then on the Create button.  The folder will now appear on the left in your folder lists.

 

 

To save messages to the special folder tick the message (to its left) and then click on the drop down menu button for the Move to folder.  Click on the name of the folder.

 

 

 

Read attachments

 

Attached files are at the bottom of messages and are shown with their file name and the file extension, eg .doc for Word file.  Click on the text and the appropriate software will open, provided you have it installed on your computer.

 


 

 

 

Save attachments

 

Big attachments, especially video or music files can be big (eg over 3mb).  The mail system should not be used to store these big files.  All big file attachments should be saved to another location or deleted.  To save click the right mouse button on the file name and then left click on save target as.  Find your personal work space, rename the file to something more meaningful if necessary and then click on save.  Main email can also be saved as text files which can be read by Wordpad or by Word.

 

Printing messages

 

To print a message, click on the Print email icon at the bottom of the message.  If you want to remove all the gobblygook at the top or bottom of the message choose the print without to field

 

 

Main admin box for other schools

 

In Kingston all school admin boxes have a three letter abbreviation followed by @rbksch.org, eg Alexandra infants is axi@rbksch.org You can send a general email to the admin box of a school without having to know the specific email address of a particular person.  This should only be used sparingly as mail should always be targeted at individual mail boxes whenever possible to ensure that the message goes to the right person. 

 

School

Abbreviation

Alexandra Infants

AXI

Bedelsford School

BDS

Buckland Infants

BKI

Burlington Infants

BRI

Burlington Junior

BRJ

Chessington Community College

CCC

Christ Church New Malden Primary

CCN

Christ Church Primary (Surbiton)

CCP

Coombe Boys

CMB

Coombe Girls 

CMG

Coombe Hill Infants

CHI

Coombe Hill Junior

CHJ

Corpus Christi Primary

CRP

Dysart School

DYS

Ellingham Primary

ELP

Fern Hill Primary

FHP

Grand Avenue Primary

GVP

Green Lane Primary

GLP

Hollyfield School

HFM

Holy Cross Convent School

HXS

King Athelstan Primary

KGP

Knollmead Primary

KMP

Latchmere Infants

LTI

Latchmere Junior

LTJ

Lovelace Primary

LVP

Malden Manor Primary

MMP

Malden Parochial Primary

MPP

Maple Infants

MPI

Moor Lane Junior

MLJ

Mount Primary

MTP

Our Lady Immaculate Primary

OLI

Richard Challoner School

RCB

Robin Hood Primary

RHP

Southborough School

SBB

St Agatha's Primary

AGP

St Andrew's & St Mark's

AMP

St John's Primary

JNP

St Joseph's Primary

JSP

St Luke's Primary

LKP

St Mary's Primary

MYP

St Matthew's Primary

MWP

St Paul's Junior

PLJ

St Paul's Primary

PLP

St Philip's School

PHS

Surbiton Hill Nursery

SHN

Tiffin Boys School

TFB

Tiffin Girls School

TFG

Tolworth Girls School

TLG

Tolworth Infants

TLI

Tolworth Junior

TLJ

 

           

 

 

Main email server lists for schools

 

There are a number of email server lists that go to people with specific responsibilities in each school, eg the bursars or Head teachers.  The most common KingsNet email lists are as follows:

 

Primary and Special School Heads

 

primheads@rbksch.org

Secondary School Heads

 

secheads@rbksch.org

Heads of all schools

allheads@rbksch.org

Bursars of all schools

allbursars@rbksch.org

 

 

Search

 

If you have trouble finding an email which you know is still somewhere in your mail box you can click on the Search button on the left, enter the person’s email address or the subject and click on the Find an email button.

 

 

 

 

Options

 

You can set a holiday message or forward your email to another account by clicking on the Options button.  You can also create your own signature with more details about yourself, eg the school address and telephone number.  This is only really suitable for staff, pupils should not divulge this information. Holiday Settings covers both setting “I will not be back until 1st September” type messages but also for redirecting email to a home email account.  These should only be done for a temporary period (such as a long summer holiday) and not on a permanent basis.   This is because you can read your school account from home, but you can not read your home email account from school. There will be times when your Head teacher will expect either staff or pupils to be able to read important emails whilst in school.  If you set it to forward to your home account permanently you will not be able to do that. 

 

 

Acceptable Use Policy for email

 

Email can be an extremely valuable tool; please help us to maintain this service by observing these few simple rules.

By logging on to use this service I agree not to:

  • Send or receive any material that is obscene or defamatory or which is intended to annoy, harass or intimidate another person
  • Upload, download or otherwise transmit commercial software or any copyrighted materials
  • Introduce any form of computer virus into the network
  • Transmitting unsolicited commercial or advertising material
  • Use this service to set up or run personal businesses or charities
  • Send chain letters
  • Use a password or mailbox other than the one assigned to you personally
  • Broadcast unsolicited personal views on social, political or religious matters
  • Represent personal opinions as those of your school or local authority

Log out

 

To prevent another person using or reading your email (which is in breach of the acceptable use policy shown above) you must logout of email when finished by clicking on the Logout button on the left.

 

 

FAQ’s prepared by Andrew Trimble, Advisor for ICT, 22nd May 2007.