Docs / Obsidian Mail Server / People
Public folders
Public folders are folders shared by the whole organization rather than belonging to one person: a noticeboard, a collection of useful mail, or a folder that receives mail for an address like [email protected]. Each organization has its own tree of public folders. Administrators create them under Public folders; people use them in webmail under Mailboxes > Public folders.
Create a public folder
- Open Public folders and choose New public folder.
- Type a name and choose Create. A new folder can be read by everyone in the organization.
- Use Subfolder on a folder to create one inside it. A subfolder starts with the same permissions as its parent.
People with the Publishing editor or Owner role can also create subfolders themselves in webmail.
Permissions
Each folder has a list of who may do what. A person's own entry counts first; otherwise the best of their groups' entries and Everyone in the organization applies.
| Role | Can |
|---|---|
| Owner | Everything, including permissions, renaming and deleting the folder |
| Publishing editor | Everything an Editor can, and create subfolders |
| Editor | Read, post, change and delete every item |
| Author | Read and post; change and delete their own items |
| Reviewer | Read |
| Contributor | Post, but not read: a drop box |
| None | Nothing; the folder is hidden |
Choose Permissions on a folder to change a role (it applies right away), to add a person or group, or to remove someone. To hide a folder from most people, set Everyone in the organization to None and add the people or groups who need it.
Changing a folder's permissions does not change its existing subfolders; subfolders created afterwards copy them.
Receiving mail in a public folder
Choose Give it an address on a folder and pick an address, for example [email protected]. Mail sent to that address is stored in the folder, where everyone with access can read it. It is a simple alternative to a shared mailbox when nobody needs to reply from the address. Address > Remove the address stops it.
Using public folders in webmail
- Mailboxes > Public folders in the sidebar shows every folder the person may see.
- New post (with Author or Contributor rights and above) writes a new item into the open folder.
- From their own mailbox, people can copy a message into a public folder: open it, choose Move or copy, then Copy to a public folder.
- Reading an item does not mark it as read for anyone else.
- Moving, categorizing and deleting follow the person's role; buttons they may not use are not shown.
Public folders are available in webmail. Phones, Mac Mail and IMAP apps do not show them yet, and replying directly from a public folder item is not available yet: write a new post, or email the sender from your own mailbox.
Deleting
Delete removes a folder with its subfolders and everything in them, and removes its address. Items deleted from a public folder in webmail can be recovered by an administrator for 14 days.