Lotus Notes 8.5 Upgrade Information

Lotus Notes, an enterprise e-mail system from IBM, consists of three components: an e-mail client, a mail template, and webmail access.

E-Mail Client

This is the software installed on computers and used to manage your mail, calendar, contacts, task lists, and any other Lotus Notes application you may use.

Mail Template

Lotus Notes applies a mail template to each account. This mail template is designed to help customize the user interface. Once a new client is installed, the mail template version should match the client version installed. If a client is installed, but the old mail template is still in place, many upgraded features will still not be available. 

WebMail

Lotus Notes also allows you to access e-mail, calendar, and task lists online. This can be done from any computer with Internet access. An easy way to access Lotus Notes Web is to start from the UNLV Home Page, click the Faculty/Staff link on the left, and then the Lotus Notes Account link on the right. You will have to log in two times. The Lotus Notes Web username is your first name [space] last name. Your password may or may not be the same one you use for the client.

Having password problems? Contact the IT Help Desk at 895-0777 or ithelp@unlv.edu

Upgrade Schedule

Automatic Upgrades will be completed according to the following staggered schedule.  To identify your Domino server, look in the lower left corner of the Lotus Notes window.  A reminder e-mail will arrive on Monday or Wednesday and you will be prompted to upgrade the following day. 

A description of how the Automatic Upgrade will occur can be found under the Upgrade Instructions heading.  Half of the users on each Domino server will be upgraded on Monday/Tuesday, and the other half will be upgraded on Wednesday/Thursday. 

 * Veterans Day holiday.  You may allow the upgrade to run on the 12th when returning to work.

Automatic Upgrade for PCs

PC users will be placed in an upgrade group according to the schedule above. Watch for an e-mail the day before your upgrade is will be set telling you that it's your turn. The next day your e-mail Lotus Notes interface will look different and you will get a prompt to upgrade. Accept the upgrade, follow the prompts, and allow it to install. The process takes 45 minutes. There is no progress indicator - Lotus Notes will install invisibly as you work on other things. Do not quit the process.

You may choose to not accept the installation prompt if it is inconvenient for you. Lotus Notes will prompt you again the next day. However, during this time, some functions won't work, like your signature, preferences, and window panes.

In the event of an installation failure, please contact the IT Help Desk.

Manual Upgrade for Macs & Some PCs

All Mac users will need to upgrade manually. PC users can also do this too. It takes 45 minutes. Don't quit during the process, even though it looks like nothing is happening. You will download the installation file, run it to install, and then e-mail templateupgraderequests@unlv.edu to get your mail template upgraded as well.

Due to a variety of configurations, some Vista customers may find that they need to upgrade manually with an extra specific step:

• Download the software, saving it to your computer. 
• Find the installation icon, right-click it, and select Run as Administrator.

Once the installation is complete, send an e-mail to templateupgraderequests@unlv.edu

To download the software, log in with your Lotus Notes Web username and password. Usernames are first name [space] last name. Contact the IT Help Desk if you need password assistance. Make sure you select the installation appropriate for your operating system.

The software guides on this page are freely available to UNLV employees and are intended for use in computer training workshops or as a general reference.  In order to download these files, however, you must provide your Lotus Notes web mail username and password when prompted.

Lotus Notes 8.5: E-mail Guide

The Lotus Notes 8.5 E-Mail Guide provides the basic information necessary to effectively use Lotus Notes e-mail.

Lotus Notes 8.5: Calendar and To Do List Guide

The Lotus Notes 8.5 Calendar and To Do Guide will help you use Lotus Notes to stay organized with the calendar, schedules, reminders, to do lists, and more.

Lotus Notes 8.5: Sametime Instant Messaging Guide

Lotus Notes includes a secure instant messaging service called Sametime. Instant messaging (IM) offers another way to communicate with co-workers regarding questions that come up that don't warrant a phone call or e-mail message.  Use the Sametime Guide to learn how to use Lotus Notes instant messaging.

New and Improved Open List

The Lotus Notes Open List functions like a toolbar button by allowing you to quickly open up your mail, contacts, calendar, and other items. There are many default shortcuts included on the Open List, and you can easily create new shortcuts on the docked Open List from any open Notes tab.

Vertical Preview Pane

The Mailbox Preview Pane can now be opened to the right of the inbox, in addition to directly beneath it.

Multiple Levels of Undo

When you are typing in a message, you now have the ability to Undo your previous actions multiple times. In the previous version of the Lotus Notes client, you were only able to Undo one action.

Instant Spell Check

Notes now has a live spell checker for your mail messages that marks misspelled words with a wavy underline. You can use the right-click mouse shortcut to choose a replacement word or add the word to the dictionary.

HTML signature blocks

Instead of choosing between just text (TXT) or image (JPG, BMP, GIF) options for your signature blocks, you may now use HTML-styled signature blocks as well.

Mail Thread Management

You are now able to view related messages by changing the Notes view from Individual Messages to Conversations. You can expand or collapse the message and read an entire thread if desired. A notation will appear in parentheses to the right of a message to indicate how many messages are contained within the thread.

Changing the Notes Theme

You can now change your Notes color theme to match your operating system's theme colors in the File | Preferences | Windows and Themes section.

Improved Out of Office

Prior versions of Lotus Notes relied on an Out of Office agent that had limited functionality. The latest version of Lotus Notes offers a new and improved Out of Office. You may set up your Out of Office for events such as medical appointments, meetings, or even your lunch if desired, so long as these events are at least an hour in length. Users trying to contact you will receive the Out of Office notification immediately (prior versions had a delayed response of up to six hours).

RSS Feeds

Keep in touch with your favorite web sites using Really Simple Syndication / Rich Site Summary (RSS) newsfeeds. The RSS newsreader that is built into Lotus Notes will display the titles of the web sites that you’ve subscribed to, along with a summary of recent news items. Newsreaders save time because you’ll receive a summary of most articles without having to visit the web sites directly. Links are included directly to articles from within the newsreader, cutting down on the time it takes to navigate through web pages to find the content that you are interested in.

Widgets / Gadgets

Desktop widgets (or gadgets) are interactive mini-applications that can be docked in your Lotus Notes sidebar. Google offers a gallery of pre-built gadgets for download, and these are easily integrated into the Lotus Notes environment.

Display your Google Calendar

If you maintain a separate calendar using a Google account, you can display it within the Lotus Notes interface.

Video Tips for Using Lotus Notes 8.5

Organizing the Lotus Notes View

Customizing the Lotus Notes Sidebar