Gmail is Here for Middletown Staff and Students
As of August 1, 2016, Middletown has gone live with Gmail as our new email service. Gmail is the final step in our initiative of going Google. Gmail brings much greater integration with the rest of our Google Apps platform including Drive, Docs, Sheets, and more. Below you can find tutorials, tips, and frequently asked questions (FAQs) for Gmail or any of the Google products we use here in district.
Middletown Gmail FAQs:
- How do I get my Middletown Gmail on my iPhone or Android?
While the migration is taking place, copying your old email from Outlook to Gmail, you will have to download the 'Gmail' app from the Apple App Store. For an Android phone you should just add your Google account under 'Settings'. In the future we may support email through your iPhone's native 'Mail' app.
- How do I get my email to stop grouping messages together?
Google, by default, uses something called 'Conversation View'. This view is supposed to help group similar replies and forwarded emails together. This view is not what you were used to in Outlook and can be changed. To turn off this new view click the gear icon in the upper-right of your Gmail inbox. Next hit 'Settings', then scroll down until you see the button for 'Conversation view off'.
- How do I set my signature?
In Gmail click the gear icon in the upper-right, then click 'Settings', then scroll about half way down and you will see the 'Signature' option. Make sure to check the box directly below 'Signature' if you want your signature to show up directly under your typed message each time. If you do not select the check box your signature will always be at the bottom of an email, even in long reply chains.
- How do I set my Away/Vacation Reminders?
In Gmail click the gear icon in the upper-right, then click 'Settings', then scroll to the bottom and you will see all the options available for setting an away message.
- Can I still view my email with a reading/preview pane?
Yes, to enable a reading pane click the gear icon in the upper-right corner, hit 'Settings', then click the 'Labs' tab. Scroll down until you see 'Preview Pane', click enable, then click save at the bottom. Once back in your Gmail inbox click the preview pane icon in the upper right and choose vertical or horizontal reading pane.
- Why am I still seeing email come into my Outlook inbox?
During this transitional phase some staff may be responding to emails originally from Outlook or mistakenly still sending new emails from Outlook. Right now if you send from your internal email in Outlook to another internal email address it will arrive in Outlook and not Gmail. If you need to respond to an email from Outlook you can force the email to be delivered into someone's Gmail by typing lastnamefirstinitial@mps.middletownk12.org instead of the normal @middletownk12.org.
Note: this is only to be used during this transitional phase.
- How do I flag an email like I did in Outlook?
The 'flag' in Outlook is a 'star' in Gmail. You can add this by clicking on the star next to any email message. All migrated email from Outlook that had a flag will be starred automatically.
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How can I create multiple signatures?
In Gmail you are only allowed one signature per email account. However, there is a 'Gmail Labs' option which can act as a work around for those who may need this feature. You may use the 'Canned Responses' Lab to save and send common messages (each containing a different signature). To turn this on hit the gear icon in the upper-right corner of Gmail, then click the 'Labs' tab. Then turn on 'Canned Responses' in that menu and hit 'Save'.
For example, to use one signature internally and a different signature externally, you can create two different Canned Responses. You can then use the 'Canned responses' drop-down on the 'Compose Mail' form to insert the appropriate signature.
