What is POP/POP3?

POP stands for "Post Office Protocol". It is a popular method (or protocol) used for receiving email. All messages are downloaded at the same time and can only be manipulated on the client's machine. The most recent version is POP3. This protocol is built into most popular email programs, such as Outlook Express, Outlook and Eudora.

What is SMTP?

SMTP stands for "Simple Mail Transfer Protocol". In converse to POP (which is used to retrieve email messages from mail servers), SMTP is mainly used in the transferring or sending of email messages across mail servers. Since it is limited in its ability to queue messages at the receiving end, it is usually used with one of two other protocols, POP3 or IMAP, that let the user save messages in a server mailbox and download them periodically from the server.

Creating an Email Account (address) via cPanel

(a) Login to your control panel.
(b) Under the section "Mail" click on "Email Accounts".
(c) Set the following in the "Add a New Email Account" section:

Email: Enter the name of the email account you want to create. This will be the username such as info@yourdomain.com.
Select the domain you want to use for the email account from the drop down menu (if applicable).
Password: Enter the password you want to use for the new email account. You can use the "Generate Password" feature via clicking on the button if you wish. * Remember to record and store your password in a safe place.
Mailbox Quota (optional): Enter the amount in megabytes you want set for the amount of disk space allocated to the new email account. Zero (0) is for unlimited.

(d) Click on the "Create" button.
(e) You will see a confirmation message. Click on the "Go Back" link.
(f) You should now see your new email account in the five-column "Current Accounts" table.

Creating an Email Forwarder (forwarding email from one account to another via cPanel)

Forwarders allow you to send a copy of all mail from one email address/account to another.

For example, if you have two different physical email accounts "sales@yourdomain.com" and "orders@yourdomain.com", you could forward all emails sent to "sales@yourdomain.com" to "orders@yourdomain.com", so you do not need to check both accounts.

** Note however, that the email sent to a forwarded email address will still be delivered to that address as well.
If you do not want mail to be delivered to the first mailbox as well, rather setup an "alias" as explained in the next section.

(a) Login to your control panel.
(b) Under the section "Mail" click on "Forwarders".
(c) Click on the "Add Forwarder" button.
(d) Under the section "Address": Enter the email address you want to forward in the "Address to Forward" text box.
(e) Under the section "Destination": Enter the email address where you want the email to be forwarded to in the
"Forward to email address" text box.
(f) Click on the "Add Forwarder" button.
(g) You will see a confirmation message. Click on the "Go Back" link.

Creating an Email Alias (redirecting email from one address to another via cPanel)

Aliases allow you to redirect all mail from one email address to another, without physically having to setup a mailbox for the alias email address.

For example, you can have the account "orders@yourdomain.com" setup up on the server and create an alias for it called "sales@yourdomain.com". Email that is then sent to the alias "sales@yourdomain.com" will simply be redirected to "orders@yourdomain.com".

** Note the diference between an "alias" and a "forwarder" is that an alias is not a physical mailbox, so no copy will be delivered there, but only to the redirected account. Also you cannot send email directly from an alias account using an email client such "Outlook" or "Outlook Express" as it is not a mailbox.

(a) Login to your control panel.
(b) Under the section "Mail" click on "Forwarders".
(c) Click on the "Add Forwarder" button.
(d) Under the section "Address": Enter the email address you want to forward in the "Address to Forward" text box.
(e) Under the section "Destination": Enter the email address where you want the email to be forwarded to in the
"Forward to email address" text box.
(f) Click on the "Add Forwarder" button.
(g) You will see a confirmation message. Click on the "Go Back" link.

Creating an Auto-Responder (Not available on the "Basic" package)

(a) Login to your control panel.
(b) Under the section "Mail" click on "Auto Responders".
(c) Click on the "Add Auto-Responder" button.

(d) Set the following:
"Email" - Enter the username of the email address you are using to create an auto-responder.
Then select the domain for the associated email address from the drop down menu.
"From" - Enter the "From" email address in the "From" text box.
"Subject" - Enter the subject of the auto-responder in the "Subject" text box.
"Character Set" - Select the character set you want to use from the "Character Set" drop down menu.
"HTML Message" - If you want the auto-responder to be sent as HTML, click on the "HTML Message" check box.
"Body' - Enter the text/html of your auto-responder in the "Body" text box.

** Note: You also have the option to use any of the following variables in your email "Body" text area box for both Plain Text and HTML email:

"%subject%" The subject of the message that was sent to the auto-responder.
"%from%" The sender of the message that was sent to the auto-responder.
"%email%" The sender's email from the message that was sent to the auto-responder.

(e) Click on the "Create/Modify" button.

How to log into Webmail

Web-based email or Webmail is a term referring to an email service intended to be primarily accessed via a web browser, as opposed to through an email client. A major advantage of web-based email over application-based email is that the user has the ability to access their inbox from any internet-connected computer around the world, such as in internet cafes.

You can log into Webmail by going to: http://www.yourdomain.com/webmail/ or http://the.nameservers.ip/webmail/

Your username will be the entire email address. For example: address@yourdomain.com with the password you've created.

Configuring Outlook Express / Outlook / Live Mail

* For those who use Window's Live Mail, please refer to configuring with "Outlook Express", as the steps are similar.

To see a step-by-step tutorial on how to configure "Outlook Express" please click the link below:
http://www.mysite.co.za/faq/configure-outlook-express.php

To see a step-by-step tutorial on how to configure "Outlook" please click the link below:
http://www.mysite.co.za/faq/configure-outlook.php

Email settings for an Email Client (Outlook Express, Outlook, Live Mail, etc):

Incoming mail server: mail.yourdomain.com
Outgoing mail server: mail.yourdomain.com

Note: The mail server does require authentication, so that box must be checked.

Incoming mail port: 110 for POP3, 143 for IMAP
Outgoing mail port: 25 (If 25 does not work, try 26, as some ISP's block port 25)

Username is the same one as you use for Webmail (the full email address).
(If entering "username@yourdomainname" does not work, try "username+yourdomainname")

** Note that no SSL boxes should be checked.

Preventing SPAM

Spam is probably one of the most frustrating problems we have to deal with. That's why our accounts come with *BoxTrapper, SpamAssassin and Email Filters to help combat the problem.

** Please note that you can only use BoxTrapper or SpamAssassin on an email account, but not both together.

BoxTrapper (Email verification) - only available on our larger packages

BoxTrapper protects your Inbox from spam by forcing all people not on your "white list" to reply to a verification email before they can send mail to you. This is an effective way to make sure only people you approve can send you email. Spam will not be able to enter your Inbox without prior approval from you (as the white list manager).

Click here for full details

SpamAssassin

SpamAssassin and SpamBox allow you to identify spam mail and flag it or prevent it from entering your inbox. SpamAssassin is an automated email filtering system that attempts to identify spam messages based on the content of the email's headers and body.

Click here for full details

Email Filters

You can use email filters to send messages to certain places depending on their content. You can use filters to sort mail between business and pleasure, to delete unwanted mail, or to sort mail in another manner.

Click here for full details

Creating a MySQL Database (and User) via cPanel

Create a MySQL Database using the Wizard

(a) Login to your control panel.
(b) Under the section "Databases" click on "MySQL Database Wizard".
(c) When the page loads, enter the name of your new database in the "New Database" text box.
(d) Next, click on the "Next Step" button. You should see the following statement:
"Added the database YOUR_DATABASE_NAME."

(e) Enter the username and password you want to use for this database in the "Username" and "Password"
text boxes, respectively.
(f) Next, click on the "Next Step" button. You should see the following statement:
"Added USERNAME with the password PASSWORD."

When the page loads you will see a two-column table. The top of the table provides a checkbox option "ALL PRIVILEGES" allowing you to create the database with all privileges, otherwise you can check each of the items in the two columns that you want to allow for your new database.

(g) Assuming you have either checked the "All Privileges" option or a combination of the options in the two columns, continue the wizard by clicking on the "Next Step" button. You should see the following statement:
"User USERNAME was added to the database DATABASE."
(h) When the page loads you will have three available options to choose:

"Add another database" - click this link if you want to add another MySQL database to your web hosting account.
"Add another user using the MySQL Database Area" - click this link if you want to add another user to the database you created in the steps above.
"Return to Home" - click this link if you want to return to the cPanel dashboard.

Your database is now ready to use.
You can manage your database with phpMyAdmin - click here for assistance in using phpMyAdmin

Create a MySQL Database Manually

(a) Login to your control panel.
(b) Under the section "Databases" click on "MySQL Databases".
(c) When the page loads, enter the name of your new database in the "New Database" text box.
(d) Next, click on the "Create Database" button. You should see the following statement:
"Added the database YOUR_DATABASE_NAME."
(e) Click on the "Go Back" link.

When the page loads, you will see a table with your newly created database.
When you first create a new database manually, the "Users" column entry will be empty.
Continue to Step (f) below to learn how to create and add a user to your new database.

(f) In the "New User" section, enter the username and password you want to use for this database in the "Username" and "Password" text boxes, respectively.
(g) Next, click on the "Create User" button. You should see the following statement:
"Added USERNAME with the password PASSWORD."
(h) Click on the "Go Back" link.

(i) Find the "Add User To Database" section. Select the user you created above from the "User" drop down menu.
(j) Then select the database you created above from the "Database" drop down menu.
(k) Next, click on the "Submit" button.

When the page loads you will see a two-column table. The top of the table provides a checkbox option "ALL PRIVILEGES" allowing you to create the database with all privileges, otherwise you can check each of the items in the two columns that you want to allow for your new database.

(l) Assuming you have either checked the "All Privileges" option or a combination of the options in the two columns, continue the wizard by clicking on the "Make Changes" button. You should see the following statement: "User USERNAME was added to the database DATABASE."
(m) Click on the "Go Back" link.

You should now see the user you created above in the "Users" column.

Your database is now ready to use.
You can manage your database with phpMyAdmin - click here for assistance in using phpMyAdmin