Mail Menu

The Mail Menu area allows you to manage all aspects of your email, from adding new accounts, managing mailing lists, and setting spam filters. There are quite a number of options available, so take your time.

Note: All email options can be used in conjunction with each other. For example, you could set up an auto-responder on your main account to email an "Out of Office" message, a forwarder to send the email to your uncle's house where you are staying, and a spam filter to reject all email with "credit" in the subject line. This flexibility is what makes email so powerful as a communication medium.

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Reading your email

You can read your online email using NeoMail. This popular webmail script allows you to read your email, save them, keep an address book, and perform all of the other basic email functions that you are used to. The main difference between NeoMail and an offline email applications, such as Eudora or Microsoft Outlook Express, is that all of these functions are performed online, rather than on your own computer, and offline applications generally provide many more features.

NeoMail is optional. You can still use your favorite offline email applications, if you prefer. You can even use a combination of NeoMail and another tool - you can check your e-mail online, perhaps when you're at work, and download your email to your computer when you get home. You can automatically configure Outlook Express, or manually configure other mail applications.

To read your email online:

1. Click on the Web Mail link in the Mail Menu area to access your default email account, or click on the Add / Remove accounts link and click on the Read Webmail link next to the account that you want to read.

   Note: You can also save this link as a bookmark, so that you can access it without having to use cPanel.

2. You are now in the NeoMail window for your default email address. Click on any message link to read the message, and use the toolbar to reply to the email, or perform any other function. Refer to the NeoMail summary if you need more information about using NeoMail.

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NeoMail summary

NeoMail is fairly self-explanatory. The text below describes the main buttons in NeoMail and what they do. This is provided as a summary reference, and not a detailed description of how to use NeoMail. If you do not know how to use some of the features, please contact your hosting administrator.

Note: You can not use HTML code in NeoMail - plain text only.

NeoMail functions:

• Inbox - Choose a folder to display. The default folder is your Inbox.

• Compose - Compose a new email message and send it using the Send button. You can not use HTML code - plain text only.

• Refresh - Refreshes the displayed page. Use it to check if new mail has arrived since the window was opened.

• User Preferences - Displays the Preferences page, which allows you to set a variety of options., such as default language, number of messages displayed per page, and your email signature.

• Address Book - Displays your Address Book of saved email addresses. Click on an address to create a new email with their email address automatically added.

• Folders - Allows you to create new folders and delete old ones. Useful for organizing your email.

• Empty Trash - Empties the neomail-trash folder.

• Logout - Closes the connection between you and Neomail.

• Page Navigation - Navigate to the first, previous, next, last, or specific page of email.

• Move - Moves the selected items to the displayed folder - the default folder is the trash. Click on the on the tick box next to the specific message to select, or click on the All tick box to select all messages in this window.

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Email Accounts

You can set up as many POP (Post Office Protocol) email accounts as you require, up to your maximum limit. Each one of these is in the standard email formation of address@yourdomain.com. As with your default email address, you can access these accounts through NeoMail or through your own offline email application.

To add an email account:

1. Click on the Add / Remove accounts link in the Mail Menu area.

2. Click on the Add Account link.

3. Enter the first part of the email address and the password for the account in Email and Password fields.

4. Click on the button.

5. Your new account has been added. Refer to Configuring Outlook Express to read email if you want to use Outlook Express to read email received by the new account.

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Reading an email account

As with your default email account, you can read your email online using NeoMail, or download it to your offline email application.

To read your email accounts online:

1. Click on the Add / Remove accounts link in the Mail Menu area.

   Note: You can also save this link as a bookmark, so that you can access it without having to use cPanel.

2. Click on the button next to the required email address.

3. You are now in the NeoMail window for your email address. Click on any message link to read the message, and use the toolbar to reply to the email, or perform any other function. Refer to NeoMail summary if you need more information about using NeoMail.

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Configuring Outlook Express to read email

Because Microsoft Outlook Express is the most popular email application available, you can automatically configure Outlook Express from cPanel. This saves time in manually configuring your email application and avoids errors.

Note: This will only work if you have Microsoft Outlook installed on your machine and are running any version of Windows.

To automatically configure Outlook Express:

1. Click on the Add / Remove accounts link in the Mail Menu area.

2. Click on the Outlook (Express) AutoConfig link next to the required account.

3. Read the message in the alert window and click on the OK button. You may need to repeat this step two or three times.

4. Click on the Open this file from its current location radio button, and click on the OK button in the File Download window.

5. Click on the Yes button in the Registry Editor window and repeat for the last window. Outlook Express has now been configured for this account. You need to repeat this process for as many accounts as you want to access through Outlook Express.

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Changing an email account password

You can change the password on any of your email accounts whenever required. It is useful to occasionally do this to maximize your email security. You should always change your password if you think someone else has access to your account.

Note: Make sure that you change the password in your offline email application as well, or you will not be able to upload or download email to this account.

To change an email account password:

1. Click on the Add / Remove accounts link in the Mail Menu area.

2. Click on the button next to the required email address.

3. Enter the new password in the New Password field.

4. Click on the button.

   Your password has now been changed for that account.

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Deleting an email account

You can delete an email account when the account is no longer needed. You can not delete your default account.

Warning: Make sure you download any mail that you want to keep, as deleting the account will delete all of the mail still in that account. You can not recover this information once the account has been deleted.

To delete an email account:

1. Click on the Add / Remove accounts link in the Mail Menu area.

2. Click on the button next to the unwanted email address.

   Your account has now been deleted.

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Setting your default email address

Any email that is sent to an unknown account at your domain name, such as unknown@yourdomain.com, gets automatically rerouted to your default email account. All web site accounts are automatically assigned a default email address - user@yourdomain.com - which you can change, if required.

To set your default email address:

1. Click on the Default Address link in the Mail Menu area.

2. Click on the Set Default Address link.

3. Enter the complete email address of the new default in the field next to your web site name drop-down list.

   Note: You can enter :blackhole: to throw away all incoming mail, or :fail: to bounce the email back to the sender.

4. Click on the button. Your new default email address has now been set.

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Auto-Responders

Auto-responders are email messages that are sent automatically when an email arrives for a specific email account. auto-responders are most commonly used for an "Out of Office" style message to inform your correspondents that you are not available, without you having to reply manually. You can have more than one auto-responder on one account.

Note: You can not add HTML code to the email reply - plain text only.

To add an auto-responder:

1. Click on the Auto-Responders link in the Mail Menu area.

2. Click on the Add AutoResponder link.

3. Enter the address of the account that the auto-responder responds to in the Email field.

4. Enter your name or address in the From field. You do not have to put anything in this field.

5. Enter the subject line of the auto-responder in the Subject field.

6. Enter the auto-responder message in the Body field. You can not use HTML code in this field - plain text only.

7. Click on the button.

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Editing an auto-responder

Modify an auto-responder if you need to alter the details of the message or if you set it to the wrong account.

To edit an auto-responder:

1. Click on the Auto-Responders link in the Mail Menu area.

2. Click on the button next to the auto-responder that you want to edit.

3. Edit the Email, From, Subject, and Body fields as required. Refer to Auto-Responders if you are not sure what you can do in each field.

4. Click on the button to edit the auto-responder.

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Deleting an auto-responder

Delete an auto-responder when you no longer need to use it. If you use the auto-responder at frequent intervals, such as an "Out of Office" message, you can modify it to point to a nonexistent email account, such as store@yourdomain.com, and then simply change the account name back when you need it again. Refer to Editing an auto-responder for more information.

To delete an auto-responder:

1. Click on the Auto-Responders link in the Mail Menu area.

2. Click on the button next to the auto-responder that you want to delete.

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Blocking email

You can block an email using spam filters. There are many definitions of spam, but one of the most useful ones is the following:

"Spam: unsolicited email, usually of a commercial nature."

Spam is the electronic version of junk mail, and has been around since the Internet was created. Spam filters are a way of filtering your email to remove unwanted mail based on a variety of criteria. You can block any sort of email, not just mail of a commercial nature. Blocked mail is deleted automatically - it does not even bounce back to the sender. These filters are quite flexible - some examples are provided after the instruction on how to add a spam filter below. All filters are cumulative.

Useful spam links:

• Six simple things you can do to prevent spam

• Alternate definition of spam

• Usenet definition of spam

Also refer to Spam Assassin for another approach to dealing with spam.

To add a spam filter:

1. Click on the Block an E-mail link in the Mail Menu area.

2. Click on the Add Filter link.

3. Click on the required header field in the first drop-down list. These are the various fields in any email message.

4. Click on the required filter action in the second drop-down list. This action will act on the text entered in the third field.

   • equals - match the text exactly (whole words only). "Credit" will block "Credit".

   • matches regex - matches the text based on regular expression (regex) rules. Regular expressions are a powerful but complex area. You do not need to use regular expression filters for most circumstances. Refer to these two good introductory tutorials - Using Regular Expressions and Learning to Use Regular Expressions - for more information.

   • contains - match the specified text in any circumstance. "porn" will block "porn" and "pornography".

   • begins with - match the specified text when it is the beginning of a word. "porn" will block "porn" and "pornography" but not "teenporn".

5. Enter the filter text in the third field. This text is case sensitive.

6. Click on the button.

Example:

To block all email from "john@paradise.net", enter: From, equals, john@paradise.net

To block all email from paradise.net, enter: From, contains, paradise.net

To block all references to pornography, enter: Any Header, contains, porn

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Deleting a spam filter

Delete a spam filter when you no longer need it. There is no way to modify a spam filter - if you have made a mistake, simply delete the filter and start again.

To delete a spam filter:

1. Click on the Block an E-mail link in the Mail Menu area.

2. Click on the button next to the spam filter that you want to delete.

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Forwarders

Forwards simply allow you to automatically forward email sent to one account to another account. This is useful when you work at two separate locations, or have gone on holiday.

To add a forwarder:

1. Click on the Forwarders link in the Mail Menu area.

2. Click on the Add Forwarder link.

3. Enter the first part of the email address that will be forwarded in the first field in the "Add forwarder" area.

4. Enter the full email address that the forwarder will forward mail to in the second field.

5. Click on the button.

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Deleting an email forwarder

Delete an email forwarder when you no longer need it. There is no way to modify an email forwarder - if you have made a mistake, simply delete the forwarder and start again.

To delete an email forwarder:

1. Click on the Forwarders link in the Mail Menu area.

2. Click on the button next to the forwarder that you want to delete.

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Mailing Lists

cPanel includes a popular mailing list script called Mailman. Mailing lists are an ideal tool for communication between far flung participants and can be about anything you want. Mailman allows you to set up a mailing list with a large number of configurable options, such as who is on the list, where mailing lists messages are sent, and whether you include welcoming messages to new subscribers.

The Mailman documentation, which is incorporated into its Administration panel, is clear and helpful, and should be referred to for all questions about using the script. The instructions in this section deal with how to set up, modify, and delete a Mailman mailing list from your cPanel.

The Mailman homepage is at the following address for more information: http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman.html

Note: It is a good idea to be aware of spam and its definition before setting up a mailing list - refer to Blocking email for more information.

To add a mailing list:

1. Click on the Lists link in the Mail Menu area.

2. Click on the Add List link.

3. Enter the name of the mailing list in the List Name field, the password for the list in the Password field, and the domain it is for in the Domain drop-down list.

4. Click on the button. The list is created in the /usr/local/cpanel/3rdparty/mailman/lists folder.

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Editing a mailing list

There are many different configurable options available with the Mailman script. This procedure shows you how to open up the Administration panel so that you can modify the script options. Use the Mailman documentation that is included in the Administration panel to answer any specific questions you might have.

To edit a mailing list:

1. Click on the Lists link in the Mail Menu area.

2. Click on the button.

3. Log in to the mailing list with your password. You are now in the Mailman Administration panel and can adjust options as you require.

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Deleting a mailing list

Delete a Mailman mailing list when you no longer want the list to be active.

Warning: Deleting the mailing list will delete all archives, current mail, and members email addresses. If you want to keep any of this information, be sure to download or otherwise copy these files before deleting the mailing list. Once the mailing list is deleted the information is unrecoverable.

To delete a mailing list:

1. Click on the Lists link in the Mail Menu area.

2. Click on the next to the mailing list that you want to delete.

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Spam Assassin

Spam Assassin is a mail filter installed on a mail server used to identify spam. It checks for spam using a large number of pre-set rules that check the header, body, and sender of all email messages sent to your domain mailbox. For more information about Spam Assassin, refer to the following links:

• Spam Assassin - Spam Assassin web site.

• Spam Assassin rules - A list of all the rules that Spam Assassin currently uses.

Also refer to Blocking email for more information about spam and setting up filters.

To enable Spam Assassin:

1. Click on the Spam Assassin link in the Mail Menu area.

2. Click on the button.

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Disabling Spam Assassin

You can disable Spam Assassin whenever you require. If you are not able to receive a non-spam email it is a good idea to disable Spam Assassin and resend the email.

To disable Spam Assassin:

1. Click on the Spam Assassin link in the Mail Menu area.

2. Click on the button.

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Mail Exchanger (MX Entry)

cPanel manages your email through its own mail server. However, by altering your MX (Mail Exchange Record) Entry you can point your email to another mail server, if this is required.

Note: cPanel will not be able to manage your email if you change your MX Entry setting.

To alter your MX Entry setting:

1. Click on the Modify Mail Exchanger (MX Entry) link in the Mail Menu area.

2. Click on the Change a MX Entry link.

3. Enter the domain name of the new MX Entry in the available field.

   Note: You can only change the entry to a domain name (e.g. yourdomain.com), not an IP (Internet Protocol) address.

4. Click on the button.

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