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Getting Started

Email Setup

FAQs
Setting Up Your Email

Email Overview
Email is the single largest use of the internet. Most average users of email use it for personal communication, replacing the US Postal Service or the telephone. Anyone who has an account with an Internet Service Provider (ISP) for accessing the internet automatically receives one or more Post Office Protocol (POP) email boxes from the ISP. The email services provided by your ISP also allow you to send messages. For sending, the ISP provides a "send mail server" called a SMTP (send mail transfer protocol) which you can use to send messages after you have signed onto your POP.

To use the email services provided by the ISP, you need to install a program that calls the POP to download any incoming messages or connects you to the SMTP for sending messages. The program you need to install is called an email client program. Basic client programs are installed with any Microsoft or Netscape browser you install or have already installed on your PC. The Microsoft email client program is named Microsoft Outlook Express, and the Netscape email client program is named Netscape Messenger.

Many persons not wanting to set up an email client program; or just wanting an email address that won't change over time as they move their ISP and lose their ISP-provided email address, instead use free web based email services. Such free web based email services are offered by hotmail.com, yahoo.com, excite.com and many others. With these services all incoming and outgoing messages are not stored on your computer but stay on the provider's computers.

The web based free services may be sufficient to accommodate your personal communications needs. However, if you have a domain with us and want your email to reflect your domain name so people can send mail to you@yourdomain.com, you will need to use a client program to check your POP boxes on our servers. (At GoWilkes.com, domains hosted on our servers can have up to 50 actual POP email boxes, as well as an unlimited number of alias names that you can redirect to an actual POP address)

As mentioned above, there are 2 parts to email; receiving (POP) and sending (SMTP) and your domain has both parts. Although the POP for your domain resides on our servers, you can use your ISPs SMTP for sending. In fact, many ISPs (earthlink.net, att.net among others) will not relay a request to send if an SMTP is not on their servers as an anti-SPAM precaution. Simply stated, the ISP won't allow you to use the SMTP named yourdomain.com. As more and more ISPs prevent SMTP relay to domain names off-site, it is preferable to always use your ISP SMTP address in your email client programs SMTP set up. You can still use you@yourdomain.com in the FROM and REPLY TO sections of the email client program set up.
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Common Email Problems:
The most common email problems are:
  1. Receiving email OK, but cannot send
    The most common cause of this problem is that your email program is not sending the username and password with your outgoing email.

    To correct this in Outlook, go to Tools > Email Accounts, and click to "View or Change Existing Email Account." Double-click the email that is giving a problem, then click on "More Settings." Here, you will see a checkbox that states "My outgoing server requires authentication." Place a check in this box, then click on OK or Close to close all open windows and return to your email.
  2. Receiving the same messages over and over
    This happens when your mail box is full. To prevent this from happening, don't check "Leave Mail on Server" in your email client program. Or, at least, enter "delete after 5 days."
  3. Time outs when connecting to your POP:
    This is likely caused by a bad link in the connection between your location and our servers.
    To check for bad links, use a trace route program. Microsoft Windows users can run tracert.exe from the MSDOS prompt accessible using the Run link from the Start button. Any * indicates link problems, not problems with the server.
  4. SPAM
    There are no easy answers for preventing SPAM from being received. We do utilize spam filters by default, although you can request that these spam filters be turned off. Advanced users can create and install a .procmailrc recipe into their home directory.

    We can optionally install Boxtrapper for you, at no additional cost. This program sends an automatic reply to any email that you receive, asking the sender to reply and verify that they are a legitimate person. Once they reply, the email will be delivered to you immediately. While this can be a minor inconvenience for your customers, it will block 99% of all spam.
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Email Accounts and Email Forwarding
There are several ways to handle email. Please review the options to identify those that will best work for you. Note that every account comes with a default mail box account called a POP box and is named yourdomain@yourdomain.com. Access to it will be discussed shortly.

  • Email Forwarding

    • Forward it to one or more email addresses of your choosing, using the EMAIL FORWARDING function. For example, email addressed to "webmaster@yourdomain.com" can be sent to you@yourISP.com (any valid address that is not an alias itself) or can be sent and retrieved in your POP box, or even a combination of both. To set up email forwarding, please     contact us.
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  • Web Based Email Program (Squirrel Mail)

    • Each account has its own webmail program installed that can be configured as you wish. To access it, go to: http://www.yourdomain.com/webmail (replace with your actual domain name)

    You should now see a pop-up box. For NAME, enter the username. If for your main POP box, enter your FTP username name, or for a different POP box, enter that user's name. Then, enter the corresponding password for the box you wish to check.

    Once logged in, you can choose whether to use HordeMail or SquirrelMail. HordeMail is a much more graphic program with a lot of features, but SquirrelMail is much faster, so you can use whichever program that you prefer, or alternate between the two; they both access the same information.

    You can also use this screen to change your preferences and settings, by choosing selecting from several options at the bottom of the page.

    For complete details of the SquirrelMail program, please see the developer's site at     www.squirrelmail.org/.
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  • Email Client Programs

    • You can use any email software program that you configure on your local computer to check the POP box. Most internet users already have Outlook Express (Internet Explorer) or Netscape Messenger (Netscape), and both programs include extensive HELP files that explain how to set up a POP account.
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    Restrictions:
    Your email account has the following restriction in place:
    • Each mailbox will be limited to a total of 10Mb of space on the server.
    • Our servers will allow you to send and receive attachments providing the entire message including headers is under 5Mb. However for good practice we recommend the maximum message size as 3Mb.
    Under no circumstances may you send unsolicited email through your email accounts. Any reports of spam can and will terminate your website host without warning.
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    Questions about the website? Email     		Small Business of the Year, Wilkes Chamber of Commerce 2004