At its core, Postman is web based multi-calendar and e-mail system that was developed to enable schools to improve the flow of information between Students, Parents, Faculty and Staff. It is normally a communications server that resides on the school's campus network. It is accessible from anywhere on campus and with proper authentication, anywhere in the world.

Yes, any computer that has a recent web browser from Netscape, Microsoft Internet Explorer, AOL, or Mozilla can access Postman. A user may notice that the more recent the browser, the better Postman will appear on the screen.

Postman is User-ID and Password protected application that uses the same kind of entry access protection that AOL, on-line banking or credit card services use. Your User-ID is assigned by your organization's Postman Administrator. A user can change their Password at any time, however, only the Postman Administrator can issue a User-ID. Please note that the Postman Administrator can change a person's User-ID.

Logging in uniquely identifies you to Postman so that Postman will show you the information that is yours. Postman will give you access to certain capabilities and information that the Postman Administrator has determined you should have.

Logging Out forces the next person to use your computer to know and reenter a valid User-ID and Password to access Postman. It closes your account protecting it from other users. Leaving a computer signed on may enable unknown persons to access your account information. Note......the system will automatically log you off after a certain amount of time has passed.

It means that data you are seeing on your screen (e-mail, calendar, etc.) comes from another computer that is also on the Internet (or network). Your Browser is letting you look at the information in your account inside the Web Server. You can send information to this server by changing the information on your screen and then submitting it, saving it or updating it using your mouse and keyboard. Changing your data always requires you to change your screen and then send that screen back to the server to be applied to your database.

Postman and HotMail are both web based e-mail systems and can be access from anywhere on the Internet. HotMail is Open to anyone that wants to sign up for an account. Postman is a Closed system that requires pre-approval to use. Postman includes an Address Book. On campus users will find Postman much faster than HotMail since data is stored locally. Off campus users will find Postman as fast as HotMail because your speed is most likely determined by the speed of your internet access modem.

Folders are collections of e-mail messages that are grouped together for the convenience of the user. Folders help organize e-mail. The system comes with the following 4 folders and you can create more at your option.

Inbox Folder

The system comes with an Inbox folder that includes all mail sent to your account.

Sent Folder

There is a Sent folder that saves a copy of e-mail you send to others if you tell the system to do that.

Draft Folder

This folder contains e-mail that you have written, but not sent.

Trash Folder

This folder contains e-mail ready to be removed from the system.

Other Folders

The system lets you create your own personal folder. This is done through the "Edit a Folder" function in the lower left corner of the e-mail page.

From the E-Mail Manager, click on the Inbox in the upper left corner and then select the desired e-mail by the clicking on the name of person that sent it to you.

If you want to write a new e-mail to a person, you need to first Compose the e-mail. Select the "Compose Message" from the task bar at the top of the Postman screen. A new window will open the Compose Message Screen. You need to enter the e-mail address of the person you are sending to in the "TO:" line at the top of the page. We recommend you enter a Subject and the message itself in the large open area in the middle of the page. You can add Attachments to your e-mail from the bottom of the Compose Message screen. Be sure to select the SEND button in the middle of the page to transmit your e-mail to its receipient(s).

From the E-Mail page, select the mail message that you want Deleted and then check "Delete checked messages" highlighted at the bottom the page. This will move the selected message(s) to the Trash Folder.

This is similar to Deleting e-mail messages. You select the message(s) you wish to move, then select the folder using the drop down select menu to "Choose Folder" at the bottom of the page, then click the "Move" button to submit the move request to the system.

It enables you to determine the number of e-mails you wish to display in any one screen or page. We like it set to 50 messages per screen.

You can sort on any of the 4 column headings (Sender, Date, Size, Subject) you see in the E-Mail Manager screen. Click "Sender" to change the sequence of the message in the folder to be in alphabetical sequence by Sender. An arrow will appear next to the column header "Sender". Select that arrow to reverse the alphabetical sequence of that column. Please be aware that these selections change the folder database and will remain in effect until changed again by you.

Mouse over and click on one of the folders you can see on the left side of your screen. The message list area will be redisplayed for the selected folder.

Select "Directory" from the main Toolbar. It can also be accessed through one of three options on the right of in the Compose Message window. These options are 'Search' which let's you find a person in the School Directory. 'List' which lets you see the Personal E-Mail Lists which you have set up or which the school has set up for you. 'My Addresses' which displays the people that you have personally added to Postman.

Multi-calendaring means that the Postman can display one or more calendars to a User at one time. Postman has public calendars that are displayable on the Signon page and private calendars that are displayable to a User that has signed into the system. Private calendars may be assigned to a user or they may be "subscribed to" by a User. Each User has his own private calendar in Postman. The User may elect to share that calendar with other users. Each calendar in Postman has an Owner that created that calendar, one or more Managers that can determine various permissions and options regarding access to that calendar, one or more Editors that can enter Events into that calendar and Viewers that have the right to view that calendar.

1. Postman can display several integrated calendars in a single 'view'.
2. Postman calendars are assigned unique colors by the calendar manager. Colors assignments can be overridden by individual users.
3. A single Event can be assigned to a primary calendar and several secondary calendars.
4. Folders can be created that contain several calendars at one time.
5. Calendars can be assigned to individuals and individuals can add or remove calendars from one or more of their folder views.

It is a calendar created and controlled by another person that can be viewed by anyone from the Signon page. Calendars are placed in Public Folders making them Public. Remember that you have to be given a valid account and password to even get into this system so the term "Public" refers all people that have been given access to Postman. It does not mean anybody on the Internet.

Calendars can be viewed by Users inside the Signon authentication process if the Calendar Manage gives the User the right to manage, edit or view that Calendar. Rights to manage, edit or view a calendar may be given individually or by Group. A User belonging to a Group that has been given permission to view a calendar, has permission to subscribe to that calendar.

Yes, all calendars are private until you, the owner opens that calendar to others. You must be authorized by the Postman Administrator to make a calendar Public. Most Staff and Faculty will be given permission to do these things and most Students and Parents will not.

The owner of a particular calendar may want to open calendar access to selected people. This can also be done by Group or individual designation. This is done by the Calendar Manager in the "Manage Calendar" option near the top of the Calendar Task Bar. A Calendar Manager can determine which Group or individuals can manage, edit or view a calendar.

A Calendar is a collection of Events. You subscribe to Calendars and you view Events within a Calendar? All Events are date specific and most are time specific. Some have duration. Some events repeat by specifying intervals and/or end dates. An Event is always assigned to a Primary Calendar and can be assigned to many secondary calendar. Events get inserted into your calendar "View" by the system. To view Events, you must subscribe to the Calendar that includes those Events unless the calendar is a Public Calendar and you are seeing that calendar on the Public side.

Each person that signs into the system is authorized to View calendars to which they subscribe or are assigned. You are automatically subscribed to your own calendar, but other calendars are selected by you or by the Postman Administrator for you to "see". Your View of the calendar portion of this system is a composit image of all the calendars, including your own that you subscribe to. Your "View" is not necessarily of any one particular calendar as it may be an array of all the calendars you have chosen to see by having subscribed to them. Subscribing to a calendar requires that you place that calendar into a particular Folder.

The person that creates the calendar owns it, but that owner can give other people the authority to "manage" a particular calendar. Once the owner grants managerial control over a calendar to another person, both the owner and the manager have identical levels of authority to control, to change and even delete that particular calendar.

Each calendar has "events" that are date and normally time dependent. Calendar owners, managers and "Editors" have the authority to add, change and delete "events" within a particular calendar. Editors are granted Event authority by the Calendar Owner or Manager. Editors can change anything about any calendar event, but cannot change the Calendar itself nor the calendar's access permissions. Editors can add new events, change or delete existing events. They can reschedule events, change the duration of an event and change event descriptions. A Editor can protect an Event from other Editors by Locking the event. Only Managers or the creating Editor can change 'locked' events.

Why not? The person that sets up a Calendar can determine the default color that calendar will appear to others. However, anyone subscribing to a calendar can change the color of that calendar. This is done in the rightmost column of the Manage Calendar List function. Color coding calendars makes it easy for viewers to find the information they are looking for within a Folder view.

1. My Calendar (your own private calendar)
2. The School Calendar
3. The High School Calendar
4. The Sophomore Calendar
5. Lunch 2nd Session (includes lunch menu)
6. Boys JV Basketball
7. Computer Club
8. Model UN Calendar
9. PSAT Calendar
10. Ski Trip
11. School Play
12. His Parent's Calendar (whatever its called)

Homework is assigned by the individual teachers. Normally, this is done in advance of the class in which the homework is being assigned. Normally, homework assigned in a particular class is due the next time the class meets. A teacher can enter homework for several class sessions at one time and then release those assignments to the students by marking the homework as 'Published'. When Postman sees a blank homework assignment, it generates the words 'as assigned in class'

Yes. Each student has 2 passwords. The Parents are told the one that lets the parents see only their student's homework. Parents enter the User Name of the Student and then the 'homework' password on the Signon page. The system displays the students homework for the parent.

Perhaps a parent could print out tomorrows assignment from the office before coming home. Perhaps a neighbor. Most students have access to a computer at school.