It’s a new year and UF Webmail has a new look to go with it.
On Dec. 19, the web-based e-mail client used by students and faculty switched over to the newer WebMail 2.0.
Aside from the new visual design, the biggest change users will notice is an increase in storage space. Mailboxes can now store 1 GB of information instead of the 250 MB the old mailbox allowed its users.
The old webmail system was built in 2002, two years before Gmail was even introduced into the e-mailer’s vocabulary.
After receiving requests from new students over the years for new features, Computer Networking Services decided to move forward with an upgrade based off the open-source project Roundcube. It was selected because of its ability to handle a large-scale e-mail project like UF Webmail.
Multiple-language support has also been added, along with a preview pane, group support in the address book, more composition options, additional mailbox views and new sorting options.
So far, according to Iain Moffat, manager of the Computer and Networking Services’s Open Systems Group, there have been few problems.
Students have mixed opinions about the new look. Some, like UF linguistics major Mary Walker, welcomed the change.
“It’s just modern and nice to see something new,” she said.
Others, like UF English major Christopher Nelson, were not as comfortable switching over.
“I’m so used to the other system that when it changed over, I was concerned,” he said. “I thought that the system had been compromised.”
Nelson preferred the old Webmail client’s lack of bells and whistles.
“It was really simple,” he said. “That was its appeal.”
After UF information systems graduate student Michael Pucci first saw the new layout, he took a position similar to Nelson’s, favoring the older layout. However, he said he could get used to the new one over time.
“I thought the other one was easier to look at,” he said. “But that’s because we were all looking at it for many years.”
For those having trouble getting used to the changes, the old layout can still be found at legacy.ufl.edu, and users will still be treated to the new 1 GB storage quota.
However, its stay will only be temporary as the old Webmail will be gone for good on Jan. 30.
“We don’t want people to have to get used to something new the first week of classes,” he said. “We just wanted to make sure that students and staff had the option to use the old one.”
Editor's note: The Alligator incorrectly reported the URL of the older version of UF Webmail. It should have read: legacy.webmail.ufl.edu.
