Yahoo! Mail Blog, UK and Ireland

It’s that time of year again… time for everyone to get together with family and friends to eat, drink and be merry. And as much as we love our jobs, we’re going to take a break from the blog until the New Year to do the same as you. But rest assured, we’re going to come back to work refreshed, rejuvenated, revitalized and probably just a little bit heavier from all the holiday festivities.

It’s been an amazing year for the Yahoo! Mail Beta Team. We’ve put our heart and soul into bringing you the launch of Yahoo! Mail Beta and had a lot of fun along the way. The fantastic new mail interface lets you drag and drop mail items, gives you a preview pane and offers up tabbed messaging, to name just a few features available.

Now, I’m not usually one to make New Year’s resolutions, but I will make this one: to work tirelessly to continue to bring you the best Mail product ever! (Oh, and maybe go on a diet too.) So, watch this space in the New Year to see what’s coming next.

We also want to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very happy holiday season, and a very happy New Year.

Since you started to use All New Yahoo! Mail, you’ve probably noticed a small bespectacled, geeky sort of character popping up around the place, in various nifty outfits.

Who is he?

His name is Liam. No, he’s not named after the Oasis frontman, or Tony Blair’s son for that matter. In fact, some simple Countdown-style letter juggling will reveal to you the reason for his name. I don’t really want to go into his origins - it’s complex, emotional and shrouded in mystery. All we really know is that he arrived with the All New Yahoo! Mail and he’s here to help.

What does he want? Why is he here?

Liam’s sole purpose is to help people use All New Yahoo! Mail. Here at Yahoo! we aim to design everything to be entirely intuitive in its simplicity but we also appreciate that this version of Yahoo! Mail is quite a departure from the old one. So, if you are having any problems finding ways to do anything, Liam is often on hand to provide hints and tips to help you through. He’ll also appear here and there to point out new features or highlight ways you can use existing features better, all so that you get the best out the service. Think of him as a signpost to useful information about Yahoo! Mail.

Is he slowing down my load time?

No, absolutely not. You’ll notice that Liam appears as you log in, typically showcasing his latest trick (currently shadow boxing in a pair of lilac shorts). He’s just there to fill the space and entertain you while your inbox quickly loads - like a warm up act before the main event. As we work to improve New Yahoo! Mail that load time will become so brief that Liam will lose his spot there altogether. However, in the meantime please enjoy - or at least put up with - his antics, safe in the knowledge that he’s not slowing you down.

Where can I find him?

If you need help and Liam’s nowhere to be seen, you can always go to him. Just visit the Overview by clicking Help then selecting Yahoo! Mail Overview from the dropdown. Or click here�to go there now.