JWG Email Tutorials:
Using Email Clients
What is an email client?
Basically, it is a piece of software that is installed on your computer which allows you to download and read all your emails offline, as opposed to webmail such as Gmail and Hotmail, where you read and compose mail online, on the Gmail or Hotmail servers. The obvious advantage to webmail is that you can access your email on any computer, anywhere, as long as you have an Internet connection, and a web browser (Firefox, Opera, IE and so on). However, many of us like to use a local (on your own computer), email client as well when we are at home, (or perhaps at work too), as this often offers greater functionality, and allows us to manage mail from several different accounts (ISP, Domain names, Gmail etc), in the same place, which can be very convenient. If you are using a Windows Operating System, (Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP), it will already have an email client installed, known as Outlook Express. This is NOT the only email client available, and just because it is on your computer, doesnt mean you have to use it of course! The screenshots that follow in the rest of this tutorial do apply to Outlook Express, because it is a popular email client, and when this tutorial was originally written, that is what I was using. Over the past couple of years I have been experimenting with a number of other email programs, and can now recommend Thunderbird, OperaMail (integrated within the fabulous Opera browser - now free of ads!), and Eudora as excellent, safe, reliable alternatives to OE, if you are looking for something different. Thunderbird is probably the most similar program to OE, and is written by the people who develop the Firefox web browser. Therefore, if you have moved to Firefox recently from Internet Explorer, you may wish to consider moving to Thunderbird, too. If you can add email accounts to OE, you will certainly be able to do so in Thunderbird, as the interface and procedure are very similar.
Using Outlook Express
You can have Outlook Express configured for all your pop3 email accounts, but not free hotmail accounts (as of April 2005). This gives you the flexibility to use stationery, signatures background colours etc, if you wish.. If however, you are worried about being deluged with spam, or even receiving a virus in your email (sadly, not uncommon these days), there are several measures you can take to keep yourself safe:
Security:
Dont use the Preview Pane
Whilst this is undoubtedly convenient, it is also a security risk for you. This is because OE automatically opens in the Preview Pane the first email it downloads, including any attachments. If that attachment contains a virus, your computer (and everyone in your address book), can become infected. Obviously, you need to use an effective anti-virus program, but you can also minimise the possibility of viruses being downloaded in the first place.
Go to Tools: Options: and click on the Read tab.Take the tick out of the box next to: "Automatically download messages when viewing in the Preview Pane" Then click Apply and OK.
Now go to View:Layout
You will see various boxes about the Preview Pane. Take the tick out of the box next to "Show Preview Pane"
If it is grayed out, (as in the last shot) it will be because you have unticked the box in Options, so dont worry about it in that case. OE will look a bit strange at first without the Preview Pane, but you will soon get used to the new method of double clicking on individual emails to open them.
Download Headers only
In the folders list of your email accounts, double click on the name of the account, and this will appear in your main window:
Click on Settings, and select Headers Only as shown in shot 5. Do this for all the email accounts you have set up in OE. When you open OE and it checks for messages in your accounts, it will then only download the Headers (subject and sender), and not the whole message. Therefore, if you are a bit dubious about any emails, you can simply delete the headers in the usual way, without downloading the actual emails to your computer.
Use Mailwasher
This is an excellent first line of defence. Basically this program downloads the headers of your emails from the server and you have the choice of downloading the emails in full, or deleting them directly from the server before downloading them. Therefore spam and potential viruses never actually reach your computer. When you have finished checking your mail in Mailwasher, OE opens and downloads only the emails you want to receive. You can download a free older version of mailwasher that works with Hotmail and POP3 email acounts. (The newest version that supports Hotmail and multiple email accounts, is now no longer free). Full tutorials and FAQs on setting up Mailwasher are available on the mailwasher website.
Anti-Virus Software
It is absolutely essential that you protect yourself and others, by installing a good anti-virus program such as avast! home edition to scan your mail. This is completely free for home users, and we have been using it happily in our house for a while now, with no problems whatsoever. There are quite a few other decent anti-virus programs available, but most are not free. Have a look at tucows.com or cnet downloads.com for more choices.
Configuring your Email Accounts
I have removed the section on configuring Hotmail accounts, because Microsoft no longer allow you to access your free hotmail accounts anywhere but on the web. Solution? Find an alternative webmail provider if you want to use pop3 email, and download to a mail client on your computer, as well as access your email via the web. Gmail is good :-) Feel free to contact me at my gmail address if you would like a Gmail invite. They have very comprehensive tutorials on configuring various email clients. In the web interface, just click on settings: forwarding and pop. Click on enable pop email, and save changes. Go back to settings: forwarding and pop, and follow the configuration instructions given for your particular email client
Adding POP3 Email Accounts
The procedure for adding new email accounts that you create when you buy a domain name, have been given an email address by your ISP, or open a Gmail account, is very similar to the one that I used to use for Hotmail, so follow screenshots 6-14 here (but ignore the references to Hotmail). Follow the same first steps to add a new account as shown in the screenshots, but when you type in your email address, (like this for example) :
the next screen that you see will look like this one:
Here you type in the POP3 and SMTP settings that your domain host or ISP has given you. My domain uses mail.jewelswebgraphics.com for both incoming and outgoing servers, but many ISPs use pop.yourdomain/isp and smtp.yourdomain/isp......so check this out before you start. On the next screen you type in the username and password you have been given:
Then continue as shown above to name your account memorably.. ie: my example would be named "Jewel" and any others I set up for that domain would be named accordingly: (tutorials, webmaster etc), otherwise they would all be named mail.jewelswebgraphics.com, which is a bit confusing to say the least!
You may also need to "enable authentication" for your server. Some email providers require it, some don't, and they will usually tell you which is the case when you receive your account details. If not, the simplest way is to enable it, and if OE doesnt connect successfully to your email provider, untick the box to disable it.
Which box? Go to Tools:Accounts:Mail: and click on the name of the account you have just entered. Then go to Properties (on the right hand side, as shown in the Hotmail screenshot), and click on the Servers tab.
You will see a litle box at the bottom left under Outgoing Mail Server"My server requires authentication" Tick this box and click Apply. If OE fails to connect to your server, go back in and untick the box.
Inserting Signatures in OE
When you are sending a new email, make sure your cursor is in the main body of the message and click on Insert on the tool bar of your new message window. Choose Picture, and browse to where your signatures are stored on your hard drive. Double click on the one you want, (or click once on it and click open) and your sig will appear in your message.
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