If you use Plusnet's Webmail service then we've got some good news for you. We've a brand new Webmail platform and it's available for you to use right now. Just make sure to let us know what your first impressions are over on our Community Site discussion forums. The new platform is based on a piece of software called 'Roundcube' and will eventually replace the current solution which was built using the popular open source Webmail software 'SquirrelMail'. Whilst SquirrelMail has served us well, it's no secret that it hasn't got the prettiest of user interfaces. And you've noticed. As our Webmail offering is probably one of the biggest areas that you've given us feedback on, and made suggestions for improvement. RoundCube offers relatively basic functionality compared to some other Webmail solutions, it has a clean interface, works well and does all that we (and hopefully you'll) need it to. It also doesn't have some of the annoyances that our SquirrelMail install has. We've been running a closed trial of the software for a while now and feedback has been really positive.
Why switch to Roundcube?
With Roundcube, you'll be able to use a lot of new and improved features including:
Rich email composition
Composing emails in HTML is now a cinch due to Roundcube's built in WYSIWYG editor.
Inline image display
If you've used the old Webmail service then you'll have probably been greeted from time to time with an ugly error message telling you that certain images have been 'removed for security reasons'.Roundcube has an option that will allow you to automatically display images inline which is far less frustrating (remember to treat messages from unknown senders with caution).
Right-click context menus
The new Webmail platform supports right-clicking. This feature provides a myriad of shortcuts to the most-used features.
'Drag and drop' support
You can drag and drop emails from one folder to another, just like you would when using a standalone email application on your desktop.
Spam training
Roundcube allows you to mark junk emails as spam if they manage to get past our new anti-spam platform. You'll find this button when viewing the contents of all folders with the exception of the 'Junk' folder. When marking an email as spam, the message is automatically moved to the 'Junk' folder and a copy forwarded to our email security partners (Cloudmark) for the purpose of training our spam filters. The more 'false-negatives' you reliably report as spam, the stronger your reputation becomes and the quicker the anti-spam filters will adapt to treat the message differently.If you receive a genuine email and our system identifies it as spam then you can report that to us too. If an email has been identified as spam and you mark it as genuine then it will be moved from the Junk folder to the Inbox and a copy forwarded to Cloudmark. Please note that the 'This message is not spam' button is only visible when viewing messages in the Junk folder. If you want to report 'false-positives' that reside in other folders then you will first need to move the message to the 'Junk' folder.
What next?
We'll be looking to make Roundcube the default Webmail application over the coming weeks, although you'll still be able to access SquirrelMail for the time being. If you spot any bugs, or have any other feedback or suggestions for improvement, then please head over to our Community Site forums or leave a comment below. We hope you like it!