You can create a vacation auto-reply or an out-of-office message in the Google Web App (GWA) using the "vacation responder".
- Log into your Google Apps account using the GWA (it must be done in GWA).
- In the top-right, click the gear icon
.
- Select Settings.
- Scroll down to the Vacation responder section (stay in the "General" tab).
- Select Vacation responder on.
- Fill in the date range, Subject, and Message.
- You can limit who can see your vacation response:
- Check the box next to Only send a response to people in my Contacts if you don't want everyone who emails you to know that you're away from your mail.
- You'll also see an option to send a response only to people in your UCSB Connect domain. If you check both of these boxes, only people who are in your contacts and your domain will receive the automatic response.
- Click Save Changes at the bottom of the page.
Your vacation responder starts at 12:00 AM on the start date and ends at 11:59 PM on the end date, unless you end it earlier.
In general, your reply is only sent once to people who email you. However, if the same person contacts you again after four days and your vacation responder is still on, Google Apps will send another vacation response to remind the person that you're away from your email. Your vacation response will start over each time you edit it, so if someone receives your initial vacation response, and then emails you again after you've edited the subject or body of the message, he or she will receive the edited response.
Messages classified as spam and messages addressed to a mailing list you subscribe to will not receive a vacation response.
<source: http://www.connect.ucsb.edu/usage/google-apps/vacation-auto-reply>