The drop down arrow enables you to be more selective. Send only,
receive only, or operate only on a specified ISP mailbox.POP3 mail.
Outlook Express is a POP3 mail handler.
POP3 mail stands for "Post Office Protocol version 3". When e-mails are sent to you, they are stored at the ISP until you download them on to your computer, and are usually then deleted from the server. You can then read, reply, forward, compose at your leisure even when you are not connected to the internet.
In order to use POP3 e-mail, you must first have an account with an ISP. Most of them provide you with a mailbox, (and free web space, which we are not going to handle in this course).
Suppose you have registered with cheapisp.com with the user name me_myself. Then the ISP will know you as me_myself, and your e-mail address will be me_myself@cheapisp.com.
When you retrieve e-mail your OE program will ask the ISP to send you the contents of the me_myself mailbox.
Note that e-mail addresses are usually in lower case, though the system seems to be case insensitive. The me_myself would be your user name, said as "me underscore myself".
The @ is said as "at", and the server as "cheapisp dot com". The ISP may have .au, in which case this is said as "dot au"
People can send you electronic e-mail at this address, and any e-mail you send out will bear this address. The name of sender (you) may be your e-mail address, or it may have your own name shown, depending on how you set up your "account".
When telling people your e-mail address you may have to spell out unusual words, because if an e-mail address is incorrect in even the slightest detail, it will not reach the addressee, and may even cause embarrassment by reaching someone else! For example, my user name is rainbowfarm, and I have to tell people it is all one word.
After establishing your account with the ISP, you then set up an account on your own copy of OE. Don't be confused by the word "account" having several meanings. The account with the ISP is the one you pay for, with real money out of your bank account. The e-mail account on your own computer is just the name by which you will send and retrieve your e-mail, and it has a list of important information, most of which you will get from your own ISP.
e-mail is sent over the Internet webwork, using the same four number (four byte) code as is used for web sites. Once it reaches the ISP of the addressee, it is put into a mailbox, and sits there until the addressee logs on and asks for his/her e-mail or reads it on a web mail server.
Think of it like a PO Box which you go to once a week or once a day, or like the letter box at your front gate, which you need to open before you can pick up your post.
NB. When you "send" an e-mail, it may not be sent out into the network immediately. Depending on your preference settings, it may be placed in your "Outbox" ready to send when you click the send/receive button.
Note. Most people have one ISP and one e-mail account. Outlook express permits you to have several of each.
Retrieving web e-mail in POP3 e-mail program.
Some web e-mail sites now allow you to use your POP3 e-mail program to access your web e-mail site. Among them is Yahoo.
Most ISPs allow you to access your e-mail through the web browser, so you get the best of both worlds.
Collecting your e-mail.
On the Main window, click on the send/receive tool bar button.
The drop down arrow enables you to be more selective. Send only,
receive only, or operate only on a specified ISP mailbox.
If you are not already connected, this will initiate a log on dialogue.
© James Nelson, 2001.