What's new in
FirstClass
October 2007
On November 1 the FirstClass server will be upgraded to provide Unicode fonts for foreign language characters. This change affects everyone using FirstClass, whether or not you plan to use Unicode fonts. All FirstClass users will need to be using version 9 of the client software after the upgrade. Installation instructions are linked at the top of the topics list at the left of this page.
If you have a very long password and find that it isn't working, enter the first 12 characters to log in with version 9. After you have done so, you can change your password to something with 15 characters or fewer.
August 2007
If you send a message to a FirstClass contact (as opposed to a mail
list) that contains multiple e-mail addresses, it will be sent only
to the first address. When you need a list of multiple e-mail addresses
for sending messages, you must use a FirstClass mail list.
How can you tell if you are using a contact or a mail list? Open your
Contacts folder and look at the entries:
 A
Contact is meant to hold information about an individual. You can enter
a person's name, e-mail address, postal address, phone numbers, URLs
etc. for that person. These contacts show up in your Contacts folder
with a horizontal icon like the one for Jane Doe in this picture. When
you open the contact you see separate fields for first and last name
and tabs for entering addresses and e-mail information.- A Mail List can hold a list of e-mail addresses or FirstClass names
so that you can send a message to all of the addresses at one time.
A mail list in your Contacts folder has a vertical icon like the one
for Committee in the picture. When you open a mail list, you see only
two fields - one for the name and one called Members which is where
you enter the list of e-mail addresses.
You may have an old contact with multiple e-mail addresses listed
under the e-mail tab. If there were only a few e-mail addresses in
the contact, when you sent a message to the contact name in the past,
it would have worked. Now, the message will be sent only to the first
e-mail address in the e-mail field of your contact.
July 2007
The FirstClass server will be upgraded to version 9 on
July 27. There is also new FirstClass 9 client software. We encourage
you to upgrade the FirstClass client on your computer when you are
ready, but it is not necessary to do this right away. Installation
documentation is linked at the left of this page.
During the summer, FirstClass version 9 will be installed on the
Back-to-School USB drives for new students, the classroom and lab images,
and new faculty/staff computers.
Here are some of the new features. These will be documented in the
coming weeks. For more information, check the FirstClass help.
- Search by date
range
- A filter-on-the-fly view of your
mailbox where as you type it limits what's displayed
- The ability
for controllers to reply to messages with the conference name rather
than from their own account
- Auto-reply only sent once per day to each sender.
- Subscribers lists for conferences open in a separate window
and can now be sorted
- Events from multiple calendars can be viewed together
The login window for FirstClass 9 looks different. After entering
your User ID and Password, click the white arrow on the green background.
If you need to enter the server name after reinstalling, Click the
arrow next to Advanced then the Setup button.
Because server upgrades have resulted in functionality changes
for all FirstClass users, the documentation for version 8.1 has been
removed.
April 2007
FirstClass version 8.325 has been released and is available
for download through our installation instructions, linked on the
top of the left menu bar on this page. (If you installed FirstClass
in January through March 2007, you probably are using version 8.315.)
Significant changes in 8.325 are as follows:
- Messages can now be exported together with their attachments.
The message content and attachment(s) are saved together in a folder.
The folder is named with the sender followed by the message subject. More
...
- Multiple FirstClass names and Internet addresses entered into
the To:, Cc: or Bcc: field
are now displayed horizontally to save space. After you enter a
name or address in the To: field, type the ENTER, RETURN
or TAB key. The cursor will move to the next position in the same
field so that you can enter another name or address.
To move the cursor to the next (Cc:) field,
type the ENTER, RETURN or TAB key one more time, or else click
in the field.
- In version 8.315 when a message is printed, the date can be
cut off if the message window is wide. In version 8.325 the date
will print even if the message window is full-screen size.
February 2007
FirstClass version 8.3 includes an account preference
that lets you turn off or lower the volume of FirstClass sounds such
as the ding you hear when a message is received. To access this setting,
click on Preferences on your desktop toolbar, then the Messaging
tab and the Audio sub-tab.
Message dates now appear on the right side of the header
rather than the left. If you print the message, the date may be cut
off if your window is wide. In order to include the date
on the printout you will
need to narrow the message window a bit. The window size should stick
for other messages.
January 2007
The FirstClass server was upgraded to version 8.3
on January 6. There is also new FirstClass 8.3 client software.
We encourage you to upgrade FirstClass on your computer when you
are ready, but it is not necessary to do this right away.
If you are still using a previous version of FirstClass, you
will probably notice is that some icons are different. Those who
have set up explore view as the default with version 8.1 or previous
may find that it does not work properly and they need to switch
to default view until they are ready to upgrade. When you
first use the version 8.3 client software you will immediately
notice differences in the way FirstClass appears.
The first time you open your account using the 8.3 client software
on any computer or the Web version of Firstclass, changes
will be made to the appearance of your desktop. Some icons will
be large and will have been rearranged across the top and left.
New icons will
appear on your desktop and will remain part of your account
even if you later log in using an older version. When you are ready
to install version 8.3, use the Windows or Macintosh installation
link at the top left.
New trash can and change to deleting process:
 Your
FirstClass desktop now includes a trash can. Items you delete
from your account will be stored in your trash can until the
daily audit process purges them from the server. The audit
begins at 3:00 AM and runs for several hours. While items are
in still in the trash can you can remove (undelete) them.
When you delete
a message or file you will no longer be prompted to verify deletion.
You will be prompted once when deleting a folder or conference.
Note: Messages and files in conferences are not part of your
account and will not go into your trash can if you delete them.
For more information, see the section on Deleting
and Undeleting.
Changes to desktop icons:
Besides the trash can you will now see an Instant Messaging
icon on your desktop. You will also see a Bookmarks icon which
you may or may not have had previously.
Other icons, including your mailbox, will have moved to new
default locations but you can drag them where you like on the
desktop.
The large, higher-resolution icons may not be what you
want, especially if you keep a lot of icons on your desktop.
You probably see some smaller icons mixed with the large ones.
You can make all of your icons the same size and control the
size by following these steps:
- From the View menu choose Change
View Properties.
- In the Sorting tab, the first field is Display format.
Change this setting to Scaled icon.
- Click the Icons tab and drag the slider to choose an icon size.
The number in the middle is the current selected size. (Size
32 is the old icon size and size 64 is the new large size.
Contacts folder:
 If
you previously had an Address Book it will now be called Contacts.
For more information see the section on Contacts.
Protecting folders from deletion:
If you protect a folder in your mailbox
you will still be able to move messages into it but you won't
be able to delete the folder or drag it inside another folder.
Each folder must be protected individually. If you want to delete
or move a protected folder on purpose you can do so by first unprotecting
it.
- Click once on the folder you want to protect, then File > Properties (Windows) or File > Get
Info (Macintosh).
- In the Info window for the folder, check the box labeled Protected.
- Click OK to close the Info window.
Saving:
There is no "Save As" option for individual messages
or for summaries. This is now done as "Export Documents." The
section Saving and Archiving Messages explains the details.
Navigating this FirstClass documentation site:
Topics are divided into sections in the index
at the left. If you don't see the topic you need, click a highlighted
section heading for more information. Also try the Help button
on your FirstClass toolbar. Be sure to check this page frequently
for updates.
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