Going away for a long weekend or holiday vacation? Actually leaving the computer and handset behind? But you know the truth -- someone is going to still write you and expect a response yester-minute. Well, here is one example of how to use a mail server's built-in options to your advantage. Although we are using Yahoo! Mail as our example, many others follow a similar set of directions. Just keep your eyes open for key words like auto-response, vacation/auto-reply, etc.
Now for the fun of setting your Vacation Auto Response on Yahoo! Mail Classic.
1. Sign in
2. Look in the upper right hand corner for the word "Options".
3. Click on "Mail Options"
4. Look in the middle of the screen for a column titled "Management". Under that title there will be a heading "Vacation Response". Please click on that wording.
5. Adjust the Start and End dates as needed. (This is not like buying a plane ticket where you get to choose which hours, it's for the entire day. On at 12:01 am and off at 11:59 pm!)
6. Write your generic message in the "Generic Response" box.
7. You may also opt for a Special Response to certain domains (i.e. yahoo.com or whereveriwork.com, etc.) if you like. The messages received from people with those domains will get this Special Response. For example, this may help for creating a separate response to coworkers with the same domain then friends with a variety of domain names.
8. Decide if you want sample copies of these messages sent to your inbox by checking the appropriate box.
9. Review your message(s). DOUBLE CHECK FOR TYPOS AND SPELLING.
10. Click "turn auto response on" at the bottom left corner.
11. Have a relaxing vacation.
P.S.
If you get home early and want to turn the auto-response off, follow steps 1-4 to get to the editing page. You should see your current message(s). However, the button "turn auto response on" should now read "turn auto response off." There ya go. Welcome home.
