E-Mail Alias
An e-mail alias is a synonym in the first part of an e-mail address in order to identify the user (to the left of the "@" sign). For example, the user Peter Müller might want to have a “prettier“ (easier to remember) e-mail address than the one derived from his actual account name (for instance, abc00@uni-koeln.de) and use the alias peter.mueller@uni-koeln.de or mueller.p@uni-koeln.de instead. Umlauts are not possible for e-mail addresses.
Note: One user can only register one alias. If you wish to register a new alias, the old one has to be deleted. The e-mail address which contains the user identification, like abc00@uni-koeln.de, cannot be changed or deleted.
As an exception to the aforementioned rule, a second e-mail alias can be set up for you in case your name changed (e. g. when you get married) and had an alias with your old name set up previously. In this case, please contact the help desk and state the exact alias that you would like to register.
Setting up an e-mail alias
Use the uniKIM functions to set up or change an e-mail alias. Please follow the instructions on the uniKIM website as to which browsers can be used to apply for an e-mail alias.
- After logging in to UniKIM, click on the "Applications" tab at the top and then click on "Create e-mail address" [Image 1].
- You can now select a suggested alias in the new window. Then click on "Apply" [Image 2].
It will take approx. 2 to 3 hours from the time of application until a new alias is entered on the mail server. Only then can the new or changed alias address be used. To not only receive emails under the alias address (this happens automatically), but also to use it as the sender address for your own emails, please follow the instructions below:
Identitäten in Apple Mail (macOS)
Identitäten in Microsoft Outlook
Identitäten in Thunderbird
Conventions for the E-Mail Alias
For administrative reasons, we can only accept aliases that are of the following type:
Firstname.Lastname
First-Letter-of-Firstname.Lastname
Lastname.Firstname
Lastname.First-Letter-of-Firstname
Other versions (like Prof.Mustermann@) are not possible due to the higher administrative work. Regardless of that, you can adjust the name to be displayed in e-mails you sent to your likes using the “name” field of your e-mail address. You can change these settings in your e-mail program (client). For instance, you may include your title like this:
"Prof. Dr. H. Mustermann" <h.mustermann@uni-koeln.de>
When using the webmail service, the name field can be set by adjusting your “Identities”. See our tutorial for setting up identities in the webmail service for more information.
Special circumstances of names
In very rare cases, all of the e-mail aliases suggested by the uniKIM system may be unsuitable for you. For instance, this might be the case if
- Your name, as registered in the uniKIM system, contains several components, but only some of them should be part of the alias address.
- Your name, as registered in the uniKIM system, contains several components, and they should be displayed in a different order in the alias address.
- Your name originates from a different naming scheme and needs to be written in a special way in order to be both unambiguous and easy to understand for everyone.
If your name falls into one of these categories, please contact the Help Desk and state the exact alias address that you would like to have for your account. Note that the desired alias still needs to be along the lines of the aforementioned rules (part of first name and last name, separated by dots), in essence.
Limits of alias addresses
Please note that e-mail aliases are addresses referring to one person only. As such, we cannot provide aliases for institutions such as institution@uni-koeln.de (for example fs-medien@uni-koeln.de or media-workshop@uni-koeln.de) Please apply for a mailing list if you would like to use an e-mail address that is not tied to one single person.
Contact
If you have any questions or problems, please contact the ITCC-Helpdesk