After gathering feedback from University of Wisconsin students and staff, UW’s Division of Information Technology upgraded UW’s web based e-mail system to make it more user-friendly for next semester, DoIT announced Tuesday.
The new version of WiscMail will be released in January before the start of second semester, according to DoIT spokesperson Brian Rust.
Rust said the new WiscMail will feature a number of improvements from the current version, such as swifter handling of attached and embedded images, additional support for multiple address books and a cleaner overall display.
The upgrading decisions were based on user feedback from the current service, Rust said, and new features provided from the licensing company, Sun Microsystems.
The new version will also include check-boxes for selecting multiple messages, a select all button and the option to disable the preview pane, which fills the bottom half of the current interface, Rust said.
A full upgrade is generally unveiled every six to 12 months, he added, with the goal of making the switch as convenient as possible for users.
“We try to only do upgrades between semesters. It’s not a good idea to go through a major upgrade in the middle of a semester or near the end when [students are] working on final papers, tests or projects,” Rust said.
Further changes will include the ability to create a new folder while moving or copying a message, additional color schemes and personalization options, and a more consistent look and overall feel across the different browsers people tend to use on campus, he said.
UW freshman Nick Berger said he had concerns about the scrolling function with the current version of WiscMail and would favor faster functionality if it meant sacrificing technical improvements.
James Meincke, a UW junior, said he sees a lot of improvement in the current WiscMail service from previous versions, citing the addition of the search bar similar to Gmail’s.
However, not everyone shares this view. Clarrisa Weis, a UW junior, said the functionality has diminished from the previous version and said it is harder to copy or delete multiple messages in a folder.
“I think the old Web client may have been uglier and didn’t have a search bar and things like that, but it was a lot more user friendly,” Weis said.
