In the interest of eventually eliminating a physical machine from my home network and not having mail be “down” when my power goes out, I'm moving, etc., I decided to make this changeover. Not only does this grant you email access, you can also add a calendar, docs and other Google stuff to this email account. If you already have a gmail account, things will look and be identical in functionality to that.

If you are using POP or IMAP in a desktop mail client like Thunderbird or Outlook, you can continue to do that, but you will have to make some configuration changes (those are detailed in Desktop Clients) and enable POP/IMAP via the web once you log in to the new interface.

Here is a table of all the important info you will need during this transition.

The very first thing you should do, after the transition takes place is log into your new webmail with your username (email address) and the temporary password you should have received. I hope you wrote that password down… If not, you will have to get a hold of me and get it. Note that you don't actually have to type in your whole email address in the username box since it has the @yourdomain.com below it. You just have to enter in the user portion of your email address there. Ex.: If your email address is johndoe@yourdomain.com, you just enter johndoe in the username field. Once you log in, you should be prompted to change the temporary password to something more to your liking. Once you change it, the temporary password is no longer used.

While you are logged in, it would be a good time to enable POP/IMAP if you plan on using a desktop client, like Thunderbird or Outlook to get your mail. Instructions for enabling that are in the next section.

This is a pretty simple, painless process. If you've got a gmail account and you use POP or IMAP to access that, you already know how to do this since it is the same interface. If you haven't done this before, here is how you do it:

1. You should be logged in to the webmail now. If you aren't, point your browser at mail.yourdomain.com and log in as detailed above
2. Once logged in, you should see a link for Settings in the upper right. Click that to open your settings.
3. Your settings are divided into “tabs”. Click on the “tab” labeled Forwarding and POP/IMAP.
4. If you wish to enable POP, in the section for POP Download click on Enable POP for all mail. You can also select what you want done with the email after you download it (leave it on the server, archive it, delete it off the server, etc.) in this section.
5. If you wish to enable IMAP, simply click Enable IMAP in the IMAP Access section.

Note that there are links to Configuration instructions for both POP and IMAP on this Settings page.

If you are looking to configure a desktop client, like Thunderbird or Outlook, you should read this section as it has helpful links. If you only plan on using the webmail, you can just skip this.

The main link for configuring most desktop clients for POP is located here.

The main link for configuring most desktop clients for IMAP is located here.

NOTE: In many of the instruction links, you are told to use different server names for the IMAP Server, POP Server, SMTP (Outgoing) Server, etc. Do not use the names in the instructions, instead use the names and info in the Vital Info section. The main difference you will see is that the instructions will tell you to use things like “imap.gmail.com” instead of “imap.googlemail.com”. You will always want to use the “.googlemail.com” one from Vital Info instead.

This is my mail client of choice, so it's the one I'm going to spend the most time on. As far as Outlook goes, you are mostly on your own. I hate Outlook with a passion and avoid it at all costs. Thunderbird is totally free to download and use for Windows, Mac, and Linux and you can get the latest copy at: http://www.mozillamessaging.com/en-US/thunderbird/. I strongly recommend using IMAP instead of POP. This will allow you to use multiple devices to connect to your account (desktop, laptop, phone, etc.) and keep everything in sync.

• If you are using Thunderbird 3.X for IMAP, follow these instructions.
• If you are using Thunderbird 2.X for IMAP, follow these instructions.
• If you are using Thunderbird 3.X (the latest version) for POP, follow these instructions.
• If you are using Thunderbird 2.X (update yours to 3.X!!) for POP, follow these instructions.

Remember to use the information in Vital Info as opposed to what they tell you in the instructions.

If you run into any issues setting this up, you can shoot me an email and I should be able to help you out with whatever issues you are having.

I hate Outlook. Go get a free copy of Thunderbird instead. Still reading this? Well, if you insist on using Outlook, here are some links to setting things up in Outlook:

• Outlook 2007 IMAP
• Outlook 2003 IMAP
• Outlook 2007 POP
• Outlook 2003 POP (animated demo)
• Outlook 2002 POP

Remember to use the information in Vital Info as opposed to what they tell you in the instructions.

Again, I hate Outlook so you are on your own for setting this up. I won't be able to support this in any way, shape or form.

If you run into some snags, I should be able to help with most things (outside of anything Outlook related). You can always email me at admin@splitstreams.com, but I would say to check Google's extensive online help first. Once you are logged in to your webmail, you will see that there is a Help link in the upper right (near Settings) that has quite an array of help you can dig into, including videos.

Happy emailing (and calendaring, and doccing, etc.) with your new email account.