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SMTP, POP3, SSL, IMAP, what does it all mean? When it comes to these acronyms, you don't need to know what they mean to get your email working, but it does come in handy if/when your email goes down. An understanding of how your mail program works can also help you choose the right email client program for your needs. And it's far more impressive to think "hm, my POP mail came to me via SSL/SMTP" than to hear "you've got mail!" when you check your Inbox!

Before you setup your email program, your Internet connection should be properly configured and working (if you can read this, you're set!) You'll also need to get some information from your ISP:

- name/address, port, and type of incoming mail server (ie: pop.myisp.com, port 110, type: POP3) - name/address and port of outgoing mail server (ie: outmail.myisp.com, port 25) - your email address (ie: )

Unless your computer is continually connected to the Internet and is setup with a mail transport agent (ie: sendmail), your ISP will provide you with an email account on their mail server. You use an email client program (also known as a mail user agent), such as Eudora, to log onto the mail server and download your mail onto your computer. You can then read your email and write replies at your leisure, whether you're connected to the Internet or not. In this sense, the ISP's mail server is acting like a post office which receives your mail. You write and address all your mail on your computer, which then sends it off through the post office to the recipients.

You can access the configuration options of your email program by selecting email options, preferences, etc. Before configuring any mail servers, let's make sure people can reply to the messages you send: fill in your name, email address, and if desired/required, an organization and reply-to address. The reply-to address is only needed if you want the replies to your email to be directed to another address. This information will be attached to every email you send, so type carefully!

The standardized set of rules and procedures by which your computer communicates with the ISP's mail server is called a protocol. With incoming mail, this protocol is POP (Post Office Protocol) or IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol). POP is the older and more widely used of the two, even though IMAP is more powerful. POP works best as an offline model, where you download your mail to a single computer. IMAP can also work in the offline model, but it also supports advanced online functions which don't require you to download your mail. Both perform the same functions when paired with a good email program. If in doubt as to what protocol your ISP uses, try POP first.

When configuring your email program for incoming mail, you'll need to fill in the mail server name/address, the server type (POP/IMAP), and your username and password. Depending on the email program you use, you may be presented with several options: check for mail every x minutes, remember/store password, leave messages on server, etc. Most of these options can be set to your personal preference. Checking your mail every 5 minutes or so may be a good idea if you've got a broadband connection, but if you're on a modem, you can leave it unchecked. Setting your email program to remember your password is convenient, but it also lets anyone who has access to your computer to download your mail. Leaving your messages on the server (or NOT deleting your mail from the server after downloading) makes for a backup of all your mail on the ISP's server, and allows you to download or view your mail from anywhere in the world. However, you may need to delete your mail every once in a while to avoid going over any preset disk space limit (contact your ISP for how large a space you've been allocated).

With outgoing mail, configuration is a little simpler. You don't have to select the protocol type since almost all mail is transferred via SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol). SMTP is an ASCII (text) based protocol, which means any binary information you send in an email (such as a picture, video, word processing file, etc.) must first be converted to plain text. This is done transparently through Binhex or UUEncode. As with incoming mail, you'll have to fill in the name/address and port of the outgoing mail server, and possibly your username and password. You'll also be presented with a number of options, from addressing, return receipts, word wrap, etc. You can set these to your own preferences: for more information, check your email program's help file. One option that you should select is to save all your sent mail in a specific folder (usually "Sent".) This gives you a record of all the mail you send by saving a duplicate copy on your computer.

A word on security: Internet email by nature is hardly secure. Since SMTP is used to transfer your mail, anyone who intercepts it can read it with a text editor. Your email program may support the use of SSL (Secure Socket Layer) or TLS (Transport Layer Security) for sending your mail. These are protocols that use cryptographic algorithms to encrypt (scramble) your mail. Without the proper key, anyone who intercepts your mail will be presented with a bunch of unreadable gibberish. Whether or not to use it depends on your own requirements and your ISP. Encrypting a note to your great Aunt Ida may be overkill, but if your ISP doesn't support it, it's all moot.

Once you've got everything setup, try sending yourself an email, then check your mail and download it from your ISP. If all goes well, you should have a strong case of déjà vu in your Inbox!