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Bruin Online Webmail - Frequently Asked Questions

General Questions

  1. What is web-based email?
  2. How secure is my email with Bruin Online Webmail?
  3. What browsers can I use with BOL Webmail?
  4. Can I attach files to my email messages?
  5. I can't see my mail folders. Where did they go?
  6. How much mail can I have stored on my account?
  7. If I check my mail with Webmail, will I still be able to download my messages with Eudora, Outlook Express or Netscape Messenger when I get back to my own computer?
  8. Should Webmail be my primary e-mail client?
  9. Webmail does not automatically interpret attachments or encoded mail messages
  10. Does Webmail work with attachments? It doesn't always work as I expected.
  11. Session Timeout: How do I keep my Webmail session from expiring?
  12. Where do I send my comments about this program?

Usage Questions: HOWTOs

Please see the Webmail HOWTO pages for more information.

Troubleshooting Questions:

Please see the Webmail Troubleshooting FAQs page for more information.

  1. What is web-based email?

    Web-based email allows you to send and receive email thorough your Web browser. Bruin Online Webmail is available at https://mail.ucla.edu/. Simply enter your UCLA Logon ID and password.

  2. How secure is my email with Bruin Online Webmail?

    We use 128bit SSL encryption. Encryption makes it very difficult for unauthorized individuals to view information traveling between computers. It is, therefore, very unlikely that anyone read this page as it traveled across the network. It is very important that you do not provide your UCLA Logon ID password information to anyone. If you log into your Webmail account from a public terminal, make certain that you log-out when you are finished with your session.

  3. What browsers can I use with BOL Webmail?

    At the very minimum, your web browser must support tables and Javascript. BOL Webmail has been successfully tested with Internet Explorer 5.5/6, Netscape Communicator 4/7, Mozilla 1.0-1.5, and Opera 6.0/7.0. Your browser must also be capable of connecting to 128-bit HTTPS sites (the browsers mentioned above meet this requirement), which is used to encrypt your Webmail session.

  4. Can I attach files to my email messages?

    Yes, if your Web browser supports the attachment of documents (Netscape Navigator version 4.0 and higher and Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5.5 and higher). You may send e-mails no larger than 35MB. Please keep in mind that email encoding adds between 20-30% to the overall message size. Individual file attachments cannot exceed 25MB.

  5. I can't see my mail folders. Where did they go?

    In order to view all of your mail folders, you'll need to subscribe to them one time in the new webmail interface. To do so, click on the Folders icon across the top of the webmail window. Then click the Show Unsubscribed link to the right of the Choose Action drop-down menu.

    All of your folders should now show up (you may need to EXPAND your INBOX folder by clicking on the "plus" character to the left of the INBOX listing). The unsubscribed folders will display in italics. You'll need to click in the check box to the left of the ones you'd like to show up in the folder view and select Subscribe to Folder(s) from the Choose Action drop-down menu.

  6. How much mail can I have stored on my account?

    Your email quota is 1GB.

  7. If I check my mail with Webmail, will I still be able to download my messages with Eudora, Outlook Express or Netscape Messenger when I get back to my own computer?

    Yes, as long as you did not delete your message using Webmail. If the message is still on the server, you will be able to download it using your POP mail client when you return to your computer.

  8. Should Webmail be my primary e-mail client?

    Webmail's strength is in its ease of use and convenience -- it allows you to check on your mail from anywhere with a Web browser. But if you typically get several messages a day and want to keep copies, Webmail is probably not the best choice as a single solution to manage your messages. You can use Webmail in conjunction with another product like Eudora or Outlook Express, keeping tabs on your mail when out of the office or during school hours, and downloading the mail you want to keep on your own machine.

  9. Webmail does not "automatically" interpret attachments or encoded mail messages.

    Webmail is configured so that you must open or download attachments yourself. It does not automatically open or interpret any attachments. In addition, it does not interpret any html that appears in the body of a message.

    For example, if the message contains the text <b>Toner Cartridges!</b>, you will see the html code and not the interpreted html of Toner Cartridges!

    By enabling inline HTML, any javascript (ActiveX, Java, etc.) in the attachment will be executed by the browser. This poses a security risk that the Webmail server cannot allow.

  10. Does Webmail work with attachments? It doesn't always work as I expected.

    Webmail does work with attachments, but slightly differently than other, non-web-based email clients. If you are used to mail clients that automatically display attachments of various types, you will find that Webmail behaves differently. Webmail does not do any automatic conversion of attachments.

    In order to view an attachment, when you click on the "View" link for the attachment, your browser will be responsible for opening up an application to display the attachment. If your browser recognizes the attachment type and is configured to handle it, an application or browser plug-in will start up and display the attachment. If it doesn't handle the attachment correctly, you can either try to configure your browser to do so, or simply download the attachment via the disk icon and read the file as you might usually do on that machine.

    When you send an attachment, the Webmail server may not be able to determine the type of the attachment. Attachments are encoded, and in general, the type must be correct in order for a recipient to read (view or download) the attachment easily. When using Webmail to send an attachment, be sure to check whether the attachment type is shown correctly before you send it. The type is likely to be correct if the file you are attaching has a "standard" file name extension, such as ".html" or ".htm" for a file containing HTML and .doc for Word files.

  11. Session Timeout: How do I keep my BOL Webmail session from expiring?

    When you are composing a message, you are interacting with your local computer, and not with the Webmail server. The server recognizes this as inactivity and your session may timeout.

    If you are using Internet Explorer, please clear your web cache by clicking on Tools, then click on 'Delete Files' in the 'Temporary Internet Files' section. Put a check in the box next to 'Delete all offline content' then click okay. If that does not alleviate the problem, try updating your version of Internet Explorer to version 5.5 or 6.0 with high-encryption (128bit). Any time you encounter a 'Page cannot be displayed' error, hit the 'Refresh' button to retry the page.

    If this does not resolve the problem, please try using the latest Netscape browser to use Webmail.

  12. Where do I send my comments about this program?

    You can send your comments to consult@ucla.edu. We welcome your input, and will refer to it when we add enhancements to this service