So you’ve been given some details to set up your email account, but have no idea what to do! Sound familiar….read on….
What device are you installing on – phone, computer, iphone, Android, Mac, PC – So many variations…..
IMAP or POP – what’s the difference! arghh – too hard basket? amiright?
In an attempt to try and make the process less daunting, I have put together some instruction videos which you can check out below. Sorry android users, I don’t have access to one, so wasn’t able to put together any instructions for you (the principle though, should be pretty much the same).
POP3 vs. IMAP Email Setup – which do I choose??
Your Jem Website Design hosted email account can be set up either way. So it might make sense to decide whether POP3 or IMAP is best for how you use email.
Once you understand the difference between POP and IMAP, it can actually revolutionise the way you use email—and it can help turn your Inbox into an effective productivity tool….well for some perhaps…
Let’s Break it down…
When someone sends you an email, it’s stored on your website’s server. You can access this new email one of two ways:
1) POP – Using your email app (Outlook, Apple Mail, etc.), you can download your email to your computer, and then delete it from the server.
2) IMAP – Using your email app (Outlook, etc.), you can manage your email directly on the mail server, rather than downloading it to your computer.
Each has it’s advantages and disadvantages – but I have learnt that it really comes down to the user and how they manage their mailbox. If you are like me and every email gets filed either in a folder, to do list or trashed – then IMAP is the solution for you. Otherwise if you think your email box is likely to get filled up quickly and space may be an issue – then a POP account is what I would recommend.
The table below highlights the advantages and disadvantages of both.
POP ACCOUNT
Advantages
- You don’t need to worry about running out of online storage space. Since you’re downloading your emails to your computer, you can keep as many emails as your computer can store.
- You will need an Internet connection to download email, but you can manage (ie: search your inbox, and folders) your downloaded email offline (i.e., without an Internet connection).
Disadvantages
- Since your email is stored on your computer, you must be at that computer to manage your email. This prevents you from managing email on-the-road or from your mobile device. (Although you can set your email client (Outlook or Apple Mail) to NOT DELETE email off the server for a certain period of time, if you plan to travel, or do check your email from multiple devices, thus enabling you to get your email on each device. It just requires checking the server with all the devices in a regular manner.
- You will need to implement an effective backup system for your computer, in case you need to retrieve lost or deleted emails.
IMAP ACCOUNT
Advantages
- Since the emails are stored on the mail server, you can access and manage your email and email folders from multiple computers or mobile devices.
Disadvantages
- As your email mailboxes do not have unlimited online storage space, you will need to delete emails periodically to avoid exceeding your storage capacity. If you want to SAVE the emails, you can simply “move” the emails from your InBox on the Server to your “Personal” folders on your “local” computer.
- If your Internet connection becomes unavailable, you cannot access your email offline.
Last but not least, Archiving Emails
So you have your emails set up as an IMAP Account and are now finding yourself out of space – what to do?
Apart from the obvious of a ‘Mass Cull’ of emails, there is another way to Keep your emails and FREE up some space.
PC - ARCHIVING EMAILS
Follow this link for an easy instructional video on how to Archive your emails to create more space
