When you receive around forty emails a day in your Aix-Marseille academic inbox and Roundcube shows a saturated inbox, the reflex is to read everything in the order it arrives. The problem is that urgent administrative messages get drowned out among newsletters from the rectorate and Pronote notifications. A few targeted settings in Roundcube are enough to transform this inbox into a structured work tool, without changing email clients.
Roundcube Filters to Automatically Sort Academic Emails
The least utilized feature of Roundcube on the Aix-Marseille webmail is the server-side filters. They can be found in Settings, then Filters. Each rule applies even before the browser is opened, which means sorting works even when checking messages from a smartphone.
A useful filter in an academic context: automatically redirect Pronote and Moodle messages to dedicated folders. You create a “Pronote” folder, a “Moodle” folder, then add a filter based on the sender or a keyword in the subject. Notifications from the ENT follow the same logic.
For emails from the rectorate or the DSDEN, you can apply a filter that automatically adds a flag (star). This allows you to spot these messages at a glance without them getting lost in the daily flow. Several guides detail this approach, notably the Aix-Marseille academic messaging on Geeknology, which offers a step-by-step guide for each type of filter.
Feedback varies on this point, but some colleagues find that filters do not trigger on messages already present in the inbox. They only apply to new incoming emails. For the existing stock, you need to sort manually the first time.
Migration to messagerie.education.gouv.fr: What It Changes in Roundcube
The Aix-Marseille academy is engaged in a gradual migration to the national messaging service messagerie.education.gouv.fr. During the transition period, both systems coexist: you can still access the local Roundcube webmail while having an account on the national portal.
This coexistence creates a concrete situation: emails arrive at the old academic address, while others arrive at the new one. If you do not set up a redirection, you risk missing messages received on the portal that you do not check.
Application Passwords for External Mail Clients
The most concrete change concerns logging in from Outlook or Thunderbird. With the new national messaging service, the usual academic password no longer works for external mail clients. You need to generate a dedicated application password from the web interface, in the Preferences section, then Secure Passwords.
This specific password is unique to each device or software. If you use Thunderbird on the office PC and Outlook on a personal laptop, you generate two distinct passwords. This separation limits the damage in case of compromise of a single device.
- Log in to the national messaging service via the browser, go to Preferences, then Secure Passwords
- Click on “Create an application password” and name the device (for example “Thunderbird office”)
- Copy the generated password and use it as the SMTP/IMAP identifier in the mail client, instead of the usual academic password
- Store this password in a secure manager, as it will no longer be displayed after creation
Signature and Professional Identity in Roundcube Aix-Marseille
Roundcube allows you to create multiple identities in Settings, then Identities. In an academic context, you often need at least two signatures: one for internal exchanges (colleagues, administration), and one for communications with parents or external partners.
Each identity can have its own HTML signature, with name, position, institution, and contact details. You select the appropriate identity when composing a new message, via the “From” dropdown menu in the composition window.
A point not to be overlooked: the default signature also applies to replies. If you reply to an internal discussion thread with the “parents of students” signature, the tone is off. It’s better to set the internal identity as the default signature and switch manually for specific cases.
Roundcube Security: Check the Version of the Academic Webmail
Several security vulnerabilities affecting Roundcube have been documented recently, including XSS vulnerabilities and remote code execution. The patched versions (1.6.17 and 1.7.2 in particular) close these gaps, but the academic server must have applied the update.
To check the installed version, look at the bottom of the Roundcube interface after logging in: the version number usually appears in the footer. If this number is lower than the patched versions, report it to the academic IT support via the usual channel (often a form on the Esterel portal or an email to the TICE contact at the institution).
Basic Reflexes Against Phishing
The academic messaging service is a regular target for phishing attempts. Roundcube displays the full address of the sender when you hover over the displayed name. This action takes two seconds and helps identify spoofed addresses that imitate an ac-aix-marseille.fr domain with a modified letter.
- Always check the sender’s address before clicking on a link or opening an attachment
- Never enter your academic credentials on a page reached via a link in an email; always go through the official portal
- Report suspicious emails to the institution’s digital referent so they can be escalated to the academic CISO
The Aix-Marseille academic messaging on Roundcube remains a reliable tool as long as it is not used with default settings. Filters, multiple identities, and vigilance regarding security updates form a foundation that covers most daily irritants. With the ongoing national migration, taking ten minutes to configure application passwords now prevents issues on the day the switch becomes final.