Mulberry FAQs
Getting started
- How do I start Mulberry?
- What is the server window?
- What is Mulberry?
- How do I read messages?
- What is threading?
- What is IMSP?
- How do I change my IMSP setup?
- How do I change my Mulberry password?
- How do I make Mulberry login at startup?
- My inbox doesn't open when I login
- Where is my email stored?
- What do I need to use email?
- How can I arrange Mulberry windows to suit me?
- How do I stop certificate errors?
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How do I start Mulberry?
- To start Mulberry, double-click on its icon.
Mulberry uses the IMSP (Internet Message Support Protocol) to store its configuration files on a remote server rather than on the computer you are using. This means that you will be able to customise the interface settings and these will then remain the same even if you access your mailbox from another computer.
You will be asked for your username and password:
- Type your usual email username and password. Note that the OK button is greyed out until you type something into the username/password fields.
When Mulberry first opens it has two windows - a Servers window and your inbox containing your incoming mailbox. The diagram below shows the servers window.
If you have reconfigured Mulberry, your windows may differ from those shown below.
The Servers window lists the servers/accounts and mailboxes available to you and should contain your Post Office (the mail server on which your email is stored).
You should see several mailboxes. Mailboxes are the second level of organisation of your mail. Incoming mail is stored in the mailbox called 'inbox'. You can create new mailboxes to store messages on a remote system or, in some cases, on your PC (although this is not recommended).
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What is the server window?
When Mulberry first opens it has two windows - a Servers window and your inbox containing your incoming mailbox. The diagram below shows the servers window.
If your inbox fails to open when you login, please see the email documentation area.
- Click on the plus sign (+) to expand (open and display the contents of) an account or mailbox.
- Click on the minus sign (-) to collapse (close) an account or mailbox.
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What is Mulberry?
Mulberry is an application that allows you to use electronic mail (email). It is available for Windows, Apple Macintosh and Unix.
It is important that you keep the password on the IMSP server the same as that on your Post Office. If your email is delivered to a system other than the central staff or student systems (staff-imap-srv or student-imap-srv), see Changing passwords for how to change your password on different systems.
Further information and installation instructions can be found on the web in Mulberry at the University of Bristol.
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How do I read messages?
In the list of messages in each mailbox, the status of messages is shown by an indicator displayed in the Flags column of your mailbox list, such as in the image below.
A bulldog clip in the Attachments column indicates that a message has one or more attachments.
- To read a message, double-click on it in the list of messages.
Mulberry opens the message in a new window.
- Click on the Down arrow to display the next message or the Up arrow to display the previous message in the mailbox.
- Click on the Delete button to delete the message. It is marked as deleted and you are returned to the list of messages in your mailbox.
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What is threading?
If you reply to a message, your reply can be displayed with the original message. This is known as threading and can be useful to group messages in one "conversation".
To thread your messages:
- Click on the Thread heading.
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What is IMSP?
Mulberry uses IMSP (Internet Message Support Protocol) to allow users to store their Mulberry configurations, address books and rules on an IMSP server instead of on the local computer. In fact on most systems, using the default Mulberry installation, you must store your configuration on the main Bristol IMSP server (imsp-srv.bris.ac.uk). Using an IMSP server in this way allows you to use Mulberry with the same configuration, address books and rules from any computer with Mulberry installed on it (or with access to Mulberry). Address books can be shared with other people registered on the IMSP server.
To save the configuration on an IMSP server:
- From the File menu choose Preferences.
- Under Storage, check that Remote is selected.
- Click on Save Default.
It is strongly recommended that you keep the username and password the same on the IMSP server and the Post Office. If you are registered on the central staff or student mail servers this will already be the case as you will only require a single (UOB) password in order to use Mulberry.
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How do I change my IMSP setup?
If you are using an installation other than that recommended by Information Services, or are using departmental mail services, you may need to check the IMSP settings. To do this:
- From the Preferences dialog box, click on Advanced.
- Select the Accounts tab.
- Using the drop-down box to the right of Account, select IMSP.
- Select Server and fill in the name of the IMSP server (usually imsp-srv.bris.ac.uk).
- Select Authenticate and fill in your username.
- Under Secure, select STARTTLS - TLSv1 (to ensure that a secure connection is made between Mulberry and the IMSP server).
- Select Options and check Use Remote Preferences at Startup.
- Click on Simple and Save Default as above.
It is strongly recommended that you keep the username and password the same on the IMSP server and the Post Office. If you are registered on the central staff or student mail servers this will already be the case as you will only require a single (UOB) password in order to use Mulberry.
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How do I change my Mulberry password?
It is not possible to change your password using Mulberry. The main staff and student Post Offices (staff-imap-srv.bris.ac.uk and student-imap-srv.bris.ac.uk) are accessed using your UOB account details (username and password). You can change this password using the web form at https://wwws.cse.bris.ac.uk/cgi-bin/uob-passwd.pl.
For most other Post Offices on Unix systems (for example, umail.bris.ac.uk) you must log in to the Unix host to change your password (see link below). If you change your Post Office password, you must also change your IMSP server password to match.
See also Changing passwords
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How do I make Mulberry login at startup?
After the initial Mulberry login screen, a separate action is required to login to the post office (IMAP server) where your messages are delivered and stored. If this action is no longer performed automatically:
- From the File menu, select Preferences.
If you receive your email on the central staff server (staff-imap-srv.bristol.ac.uk):
- Check the "Login on Startup" box.
- Click on OK.
If you receive your mail on a different server:
- Using the Mail Server box, replace the server name with the appropriate fully qualified domain name (for example, for the CSe server use imap-srv.cse.bris.ac.uk).
- Click on the Advanced button.
You will be presented with a screen displaying additional preferences.
- Using the drop-down box (to the right of Account), select Rename.
- Enter an appropriate name for your mail server.
- Click on Simple to return to the simple preferences screen.
- Check the "Login on Startup" box.
- Click on OK.
You should now be back at the Servers window.
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My inbox doesn't open when I login
To open your INBOX when you start Mulberry:
- From the Servers window, double click the INBOX (not INBOX.) and your INBOX will be opened.
- Bring the Servers window back in focus and select INBOX (not INBOX.).
- Click on the Details button to display the properties for the inbox.
- Check the "Open after Login" box.
- Click on OK.
From now on, your INBOX will be opened up for you when you start Mulberry.
To configure Mulberry to check for new mail automatically:
- Select 'Check for New Mail with Style'.
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Where is my email stored?
Electronic mail (email) is used for communication between people who use computers. It is the computer equivalent of the paper mailboxes where messages (memos, letters, agendas, minutes, etc) are deposited in a pigeon hole for later collection.
Mail sent to you arrives in your personal Post Office located on one of the multi-user computer systems in the University (normally a Unix system, such as staff-imap-srv.bristol.ac.uk or student-imap-srv.bristol.ac.uk). This storage space for your mail is allocated to you when you register for mail. Mulberry runs on your desktop computer (for example, a PC) or the departmental server you are using and enables you to read mail in your mailbox on this Post Office and send mail messages to other people.
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What do I need to use email?
To use email you need to be registered to receive mail on a multi-user system. When you are registered you will be given:
- a username and password for that multi-user system. Do not give your username and password to others.
- an electronic mail address (for example, Pat.Brown@bristol.ac.uk). Give your mail address to those who you want to send mail to you.
For further information about email, how to register for mail, and about email addresses see Overview of electronic mail (linked below).
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How can I arrange Mulberry windows to suit me?
There are several different ways of arranging windows within Mulberry. Generally, if you click on the plus sign next to a server, mailbox etc, it opens in the same window. To close the object again, click on the minus sign which will now be visible. If you double-click on the icon or the name itself, the contents are listed in a new window. Within Mulberry each window can be manipulated independently of any others (that is, resized, moved around the screen or closed). If you are not familiar with this method of working from other Windows applications, this can be confusing. Here are some tips:
- You can work in only one window at a time (the active window) and the commands available to you depend on which window is currently active. You can tell which is the active window by looking at that window's title bar - it appears in a different colour or is shaded.
You can lay out the Mulberry screen to suit yourself. Experiment to find out your own preferences. Mulberry should remember the layout of the windows next time you start up.
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How do I stop certificate errors?
Mulberry downloaded from this site will have the certificate already included, but if for some reason it has been removed you can add it back to Mulberry's list of trusted authorities by doing the following:
- Right click and save the file (don't click the link because this will just install it in your web browser),
- In Mulberry, navigate to the Security preference settings,
- Click 'Manage Certificates' button,
- Select the 'Authorities' tab,
- Click the 'Import' button,
- Select the file, is-cacert.crt, that you downloaded from this page.