The button both displays how many messages are currently in the NEWMAIL folder and allows those to be accessed using a single action. Selecting this button changes the folder context to NEWMAIL and displays a listing of the messages in that folder.
Unread messages in the NEWMAIL folder are shown in bold and when read return to regular text.
When the NEWMAIL folder is selected soyMAIL periodically will check back to the server for new mail. Should the new message count have increased it prominently displays N E W M A I L on the browser title bar and (usually) any associated desktop icon. The number of minutes between checks is a user option.
For supported platforms it is also possible configure a user option for an audible alert (e.g. "you've got mail") to be sounded by the browser when new mail is detected. In addition, an email message containing the number of new messages can be sent to an independent address.
User options can be selected via the soyMAIL page.