Dr. Scott helped us find a problem and its solution. She was having trouble sending things like faculty meeting agendas to the faculty. It turns out that if you try to send a document from within Microsoft Word (and presumably Excel or Powerpoint) by clicking on "File", "Send", "Email", it will fail to actually send the message unless you have already logged into Microsoft Outlook/Google Apps Sync. If Word launches Outlook for you, it will fail to start up the Google Apps Sync program.

If you want to send Microsoft Office files to others from within those programs, be sure you have already started Outlook/Google Apps Sync on your computer.

We have created new WarriorGroups. These groups are based on the program a student is enrolled in (MyPath, Graduate) and for the Traditional program there are separate groups for each class (First Year, Sophomore, Junior and Senior). The overall "Students" group includes all currently enrolled students in all programs. A listing of the group names and email addresses is included below. You can get to the full list of WarriorGroups by choosing "Groups" from the WarriorMail menu (Mail, Calendar, Documents, etc.). Messages send to these groups are moderated just like the main "Students" group.

First Year Students
 Group email address: firstyearstudents@mlc.edu

Sophomore Students
 Group email address: sophomorestudents@mlc.edu

Junior Students
 Group email address: juniorstudents@mlc.edu

Senior Students
 Group email address: seniorstudents@mlc.edu

MyPath Students
 Group email address: mypathstudents@mlc.edu

Graduate Students
 Group email address: graduatestudents@mlc.edu

We have discovered that when sending a message to a WarriorGroup email distribution list, the author does not receive a copy of the message. Apparently, this is how Google set it up. We have not found a way to override this setting. Authors can check on whether or not their message was distributed by logging into http://WarriorGroups.mlc.edu and clicking on the group name. The item they sent will show up in the list of "Discussions" if it has been delivered.

Google has released a new version of the Google Apps Sync for Outlook. This release appears to address the problems those who manage multiple calendars and email accounts. We will be installing it on key client machines and in the IT department for testing over the next week. If everything is looking fine we will release this to all MLC computers.

We have had several staff run into a situation where Outlook is not sending or receiving new messages and shows an error whenever it tries to do a "Send/Receive". This is occurring because Outlook is in "Work offline" mode. This happens if you press "Cancel" on the screen where you are being asked to provide your password to Google Apps Sync.

How can you tell if Outlook is in “Work offline” mode?  Your new messages won’t show up and you will get an error when Outlook tries to do a “Send/Receive”. Also, the Outlook icon in the system tray will be gray with a red checkmark in the middle of it. The Google Apps Sync icon will also be gray instead of the usual green.

How can you get Outlook back online? To get out of offline mode you just need to go to the main Outlook screen and click “File” on the main menu. You will notice a checkmark next to the “Work Offline” menu option. Click on “Work offline” to toggle into online mode. In a couple seconds a dialogue box should pop up asking for your email login credentials.

WarriorMail Appointment problems are associated with managing multiple accounts via Outlook

We have had reports of problems with event invitations (appointments/calendars) where someone using Outlook with WarriorMail would send an appointment and the appointment would show up on recipients' calendars but no invitation was received in their email inbox. At the same time, the sender would find that the invitation was still sitting in their Outlook Outbox and the Send/Receive process would generate an error message "(0x8000405 : 'The operation failed.'"

We have isolated this problem. It only occurs if the sender is trying to manage multiple email/calendar accounts and has set up an IMAP connection to the secondary account(s) in Outlook. We are contacting Google about the issue. In the meantime, Outlook users will probably want to avoid managing multiple accounts via Outlook and use the WarriorMail.mlc.edu web interface for dealing with the secondary accounts.

To remove the extra accounts and their associated IMAP connections in Outlook...
1. Click on "Tools".
2. Click on "Account settings".
3. Click on the extra email account name in order to make it the selected account.
4. Click on "X Remove".
5. Click "Yes" to remove the account.
6. After you have removed all "IMAP" accounts and your "Google Apps" account is the only account showing, click "Close" to return to your inbox.
7. Exit from Outlook.
8. Start Outlook.

We will be working to identify an effective way for one person to manage multiple WarriorMail accounts until Google comes up with a fix for this problem. We will post that guidance to the WarriorWeb.mlc.edu web site.

We received reports that documents scanned to email from our copiers was only being delivered to MLC's old Exchange server. The printers were set to send from "scanner@mlc.edu". Brent discovered that since "scanner@mlc.edu" was not a real account, those messages were being forwarded to Google's servers. Brent created the account and now the messages are delivered to WarriorMail inboxes from "scanner". If you are still experiencing this issue, your printer is probably set to send from some other non-existing address. Contact the IT Help Desk for assistance in reconfiguring your printer or creating a real account to match the "from" address. - Ken

How to Rescue Your Old "Delet...

WarriorGroups (Email distribution lists)

The following "WarriorGroups" have been established to replace the shared email distribution lists we had in Exchange. You can send an email to any of these groups by using the email address listed below. Any member of these groups can send to the list and have their message delivered immediately. Members of the MLC community who are not part of a group can still send to the group, but their message will be held for review prior to being released to the group.

The "students@mlc.edu" is a special case in that ALL messages sent to this address are held for moderation instead of being delivered immediately. In the past we had an open "students" distribution list, but abuses of the list resulted in a decision to turn off the ability for students to send to the list. With the moderation capabilities of WarriorGroups, we are again able to offer a mechanism for one MLC student to send an email to all other MLC students.

A WarriorGroup (Google Group) is more than just an email distribution list. It is actually a Usenet news group with web-based access that includes the ability to post messages and reply to those messages. The web interface also provides a searchable archive of messages sent to that group. These could be useful for student organizations, standing committees, class projects, etc. You can learn more about Groups at http://groups.google.com/intl/en/googlegroups/overview.html.

The web interface for access to WarriorGroups is http://WarriorGroups.mlc.edu. You can also get to the Groups from the WarriorMail interface by clicking on "More", "Groups" at the top of the page.

The groups listed below are being managed by Brent Zuch, but everyone with a WarriorWeb login has the ability to create groups of their own.

MLC Standard Email Groups:
adjunctfaculty@mlc.edu     (Just adjunct faculty.)
faculty@mlc.edu               (Just voting faculty.)
facultyandstaff@mlc.edu    (This group includes everyone from all three of the other groups--adjunct faculty, faculty and staff.)
staff@mlc.edu                  (Just MLC staff.)
students@mlc.edu            (All currently enrolled MLC students.)

Access for these groups:
  Only members can view group content in the web interface.
  Only managers can view group members list.
  People can request an invitation to join.
  Anyone from mlc.edu can post messages.
  Messages from members are delivered immediately.
  Messages from non-members are held for moderation.

This document is publicly available at the following URL: http://docs.google.com/View?id=dfk9q79b_22fvdcr2d9.