Hatrack River Forum: How does Thunderbird work? (Mayfly)

This is topic How does Thunderbird work? (Mayfly) in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.

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Posted by Javert (Member # 3076) on :

So I'm somewhat interested in downloading Thunderbird for my email needs.

However, I have no idea how it works, and am unfamiliar with such terms as IMAP and POP. Can anyone explain this to me in simple language? Can I hook up any email account I have and use it in Thunderbird? Does it use it's own email account? Does it only work with some?

Help please! [Dont Know]

I'd just download it and play around, but I'm at work, so I won't be trying it until tonight. I'd rather find out if I can use it before bothering with a download, if possible.

Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :

It will work with most email accounts. Who provides your email? You will need some information from/regarding them in order to set up Thunderbird to check your email.

Posted by Javert (Member # 3076) on :

The university I work at gives me my primary email.

This is the link to access it online, which is what I do when not at work.

Posted by MidnightBlue (Member # 6146) on :

It basically logs into your existing email account and downloads all of the emails you have there, but also leaves them there. If you read an email on Thunderbird, it will be marked as read online, and vice versa. I'm not entirely clear on setting it up, because a friend set mine up for me. I can look at it later and see if I can figure it out if you want.

Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :

Okay, it took a little googling, but I found a webpage that should apply. There might be more up to date information through your IT department.

http://www.uarts.edu/ac/email/email-setup.html

If you download any of the PDFs, it should have the necessary settings. Since they support it, you should probably use IMAP. That will keep your Thunderbird email and your email you see in webmail synchronized (you can get POP to, too, but it is easier with IMAP).

You'll want to follow something like this tutorial: http://opensourcearticles.com/articles/thunderbird_15/english/part_01 (your experience won't be quite the same, but it should be close enough).

Your 'incoming server' should be mail.uarts.edu (I'm just reading the corresponding fields from the Outlook Express PDF from the uarts page I linked). Your incoming username should be the part before the @ sign in your email address. The account name is whatever you want it to be. The outgoing server should be mail.uarts.edu as well.

After creating the account, go to Tools->Account Settings . . . In there, select Outgoing Server. Check the username and password box, and fill in the same as your incoming username.

That should be enough to get things working.

Posted by Javert (Member # 3076) on :

Thanks. I'll try it some time tonight.

If my computer blows up, of course, I will be blaming you. [Wink]