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Webmaster

Hello. I am Fr. Vincent Benoit, OP, webmaster for opwest.org. Your feedback is welcomed and encouraged! Thank you especially to those who send emails regarding textual and grammatical edits. You can find the webmaster contact link at the bottom of 99% of our web pages.

Frequently Asked Questions

Systems, Usernames, Passwords
There are different systems employed within the province web services. "OPWest", "@opwest.org" email, and "YahooGroups" are the big three. Each of them require independent password accounts.

OPWest

For logging into the private area of the website for WDP friars use only.

How do I request a username and password?

Contact the Webmaster

What can I do with this login?

There are always additional features being added. You can access private areas of the website just for friars of the province, change your password online, email yourself a forgotten password, and post an article or homily, just to name some of the features.

How often do passwords get changed?

You may change your password at any time while online. However, on rare occasions passwords are forcibly changed for security reasons. When this occurs, your new random password will be emailed to you.

What is required of new passwords?

Five to fifteen alpha-numeric characters long. You may not use spaces or special characters.

Are passwords and usernames case-sensitive? Yes.

@opwest.org Email

The website has a separate component this offers email accounts. These accounts always end in @opwest.org, eg. friarsname@opwest.org and the webmaster issues these accounts. The following help is only for @opwest.org email accounts and not email accounts with yahoo, gmail, hotmail, or any other email provider.

Who is eligible for an @opwest.org email account?

Employees and friars of the Western Dominican Province.

What kind of email is it?

It is WEBMAIL with POP3 access, which means you may use both the web-based and client-side email options.

How do I get an email account?

Contact the Webmaster

Forgotten password for my @opwest.org email account?

You will have to contact the webmaster and have him reset it for you. He will randomly make one up, but then you can change it to whatever you like.

I want to change my @opwest.org password, how do I do that?

Click on this link and sign in with your existing user name and password You can also set a vacation message or forward your mail to another address.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of web-based and client-based email options?

Web-based Option

The advantages of this options are that you only need an internet browser to retrieve your email. You simply go to the opwest.org website, go to the internal menu option, and login. You get your email while traveling very easily this way. You don't even have to carry a laptop with you. You only need to borrow someone's computer or go to public access computer in an internet cafe, library, or elsewhere and login. Security for this is very good when you logout and close your browser. It is easy, quick, and gets the job done.
The disadvantages of this option are that you have no spam filter and limited contact management. Your obvious spam will show up with ***SPAM*** in the subject and cannot be moved to a spam folder automatically. So you end up having to delete in manually while in there.

Client-based Option

The advantages of this options are that you have the full power of the many advanced softwares available to you. Programs like Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, Safari, etc. can run filtering rules to throw your spam in a folder or delete it, color code or play sounds based on the rules you create, advanced spell checking, contact management, etc. They also can managed multiple email accounts, all at the same time. For example, you have three email accounts, when you press "send/receive" the client sends/receives your email from all three accounts with a single click. Then you can also share your address book for contact management amoung all the accounts. Generally, you can keep a lot more information about your contacts too. When you learn the functionality of your email client, it can greatly reduce the spam you see and make for a much more pleasant emailing experience.
The disadvantages of this option are that you have to go through the setup procedure. Each email client software has slightly different methods of setting up POP3 and SMTP, so one has to spend the time doing this. Normally, one should be able to setup a client in 5 minutes. Last but not least, your email is downloaded to your computer, aconvenient thing in some ways, but requires you to have your computer with you to view older emails. (Yes, you could leave mail on the server, but it is not encouraged - overfull email stops funtioning.)

How do I use the web-based option for my email?

The "Internal" menu at the top of our web pages has an option called "Friar Web Mail" that will take you to the login. There is also a webmail link at the bottom of every page.

How do I use the client-based option for my email?

You must already have installed on your computer an email client program that allows you to enter the email client settings. These settings tell your program how to communicate with the mail server so that your email may be retrieved and sent.

How do I configure my email client software?

How do I stop the spam?

Most client software is already set up to catch obvious spam.  They also have the ablility for you to manually mark messages that you receive as spam, thus keeping that email address from appearing in your in box again.

Does the web-based option have spam filtering?

Not under user control. Believe it or not, 90% of spam is removed before it ever gets to your in-box.  Some suspected spam is allowed through, but marked ***SPAM***.  To be safe, I would delete these without reading.

List Server: "YahooGroups"

YahooGroups are what we use for our list server capabilities. They offer this service for free without limitations on sending, so this has solved many technical problems of our past.

What list servers are available?

There are two listserver groups available at this time:

friarsonly and non-WDP

Are there restrictions on who may use the listservs?

Yes.  Only Friars of the Western Dominican Province may access the information in friarsonly. This is not to be shared with other. It is our way of communicating with each other and it is essential that in some sense it is private.

Anyone could conceivably be placed on the non-WDP listserv.

Forgotten username and/or password?

One may join a yahoogroup by using their YahooID, or join without one. If you joined with a YahooID you will have to use yahoo.com's username and password recovery system. If you joined without a YahooID or were joined by the Webmaster, there is no password or username and so you have not forgotten them.

How do I join a listserv?

1. Email the webmaster from the email address you wish joined to the listserv and let him know which listserv(s) you want to join.
2. He will add you to the listserver and you will receive an email confirming this.

I've changed email addresses, what do I do?

Follow the same instructions above for "How do I join a listserv?", but also tell the webmaster which old email accounts you need deleted. Both the new and the old address should receive confirmation messages.

Miscellaneous

How do I report a broken link?

Cut and paste the URL (the web address) the specific page into an email and send it to the webmaster at the email address at the top of this page.

How do I report a textual edit?

Cut and paste the URL (the web address) the specific page with a note into an email and send it to the webmaster at the email address at the top of this page.

[WDP Friars Only] I want to submit an item to be featured on the website, what do I do?

Western Dominican friars are encouraged to submit feature items to the website. When submitting feature items please reference the guidelines located in the "Province Members" area of the website. You will need your login credentials to access these guidelines, and to enter the article or homily

Where did that feature go that I saw on the website some time ago?

Please enter a search word or phrase in the search box. If the feature still exists it will be shown in the results.  There is also an archive item under the "HOME" menu that gives links to each month we have posted.  Clicking on one of those links will reveal all posts for that month, no matter what category they were entered under.

How do I contact friar _________?

There is no way for the general public to contact friars via our system.  That feature was discontinued at the request of the friars to avoid spam.  Western Dominican friars, please use the "Directory of Friars" in the private area. Not all friars are available. There is a Catalogus with all current information in the private area.

I am researching my family genealogy, where can I inquire into your history?

If you are looking for a friar who is still alive, please use our "Directory of Friars" on the "About Us" menu option at the top of this web page.If you are looking for a deceased friar, please use the "Directory of the Deceased" on the the "About Us" menu option at the top of this web page.  Only very general information is available so as to avoid identity theft.
For additional inquiries, please contact our Province Archivist using our "Province Officials" on the "About Us" menu option at the top of this web page.

Firewalls

There are different types of firewalls, some are software-based, while others are hardware-based. If your physical location is using a SonicWall firewall and you require assistance with it, please contact the webmaster. Sometimes the SonicWall's have false-positives and block content on the internet. The webmaster can help get these fixed, usually within 24 hrs. There are also other advanced features of the SonicWall, so if you have questions or need help, just ask.

Do you have a question that is not covered above?
Feel free to contact the webmaster using the email at the top of this web page.