Ahoy!
Dread Pirate Rutabaga here. It's come to my attention that some of ye' Cabin Boys are wonderin' how to send and receive email from your web server. (Or, in Pirate slang, "web serv-arrr".) Well, get all hands on deck, 'cause this here email tutorial contains answers that will put some wind in your sails.
Dry dock: Welcome to Plesk, Land Lubber...
Firstly, know ye' that this tutorial assumes that you're using "Plesk" as the website management software for your website. You will create your email accounts from within your "Plesk" admin area. The Plesk login screen is shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Plesk Login Screen
locating your plesk login information
Once a store's hosting account is set up, and the store is hosted under its domain or subdomain, a Plesk control panel becomes available.
Your account's Plesk login information, including your username, password, and a link to the Plesk control panel, can be found in your store's Administration Area at: [Hosting > Connection Information].
If you still cannot locate your Plesk login information, please contact Modular Merchant Tech Support.
Weigh Anchor: Create your email accounts...
Now that you're logged in to Plesk, you can start creating your email accounts.
In this example, I will be creating the email account "captain@dreadpiraterutabaga.com"; so that I can keep in touch with my mates while I'm out at sea.
Once you're logged in to Plesk, follow these steps:
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Click the link for the appropriate domain name at the bottom of the screen.
For my example, I will click on my domain name, "dreadpiraterutabaga.com".
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On the next screen, click the "Mail" icon in the "Services" section of the page.
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Click on the "Add New Mail Name" icon.
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On the "Create mail name" screen use the following fields:
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"Mail name": Enter the first part of the email address. Example: captain
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"New password": Enter a password. Example: scurvy
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"Confirm Password": Re-enter the same password to confirm.
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Click the "OK" button.
Setting Sail: Checking your email in Outlook...
Once your email account has been created, you can set up your favorite email program to start sending and receiving email. Since I'm a crusty ol' sea dog, its no surprise that MicroSoft Outlook 2003 is my email program of choice. To configure your email account in Outlook, follow these steps:
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Go to Tools > Email Accounts. (This will open a popup window.)
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Select "Add a new e-mail account". Click "Next".
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Select "POP3". Click "Next". This will load the "POP3 Internet E-mail Settings" window. See Figure 2.
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In the "Your Name" field, enter your moniker.
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In the "E-mail Address" field, enter your complete email address.
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In both the "Incoming mail server" and the "Outgoing mail server" fields, enter "mail.domain.com". (Be sure to replace "domain" with your actual domain name.)
domain vs. subdomain
If ye be hosting a subdomain, such as mysubdomain.mywebsite.com, then the address of your incoming and outgoing mails servers will be that of your subdomain.
For example:
The incoming and outgoing mail servers for www.mydomain.com would be: mail.mydomain.com.
The incoming and outgoing mail servers for mysubdomain.mydomain.com would be: mysubdomain.mydomain.com.
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In the "User Name" field, enter your complete email address.
Note: The User Name is case sensitive. For example, if you create an email address in Plesk named "MyExampleEmail@example.com", then the User Name entered into Outlook will need to match its mixed upper and lower case.
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In the "Password" field, enter the email password you entered when you created the email address in Plesk.
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You're not done yet! Click the "More Settings" button. This will open another "Internet E-mail Settings" popup window.
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Click on the "Outgoing Server" tab. Click the "My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication" checkbox.
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Click the "OK" button. That second popup will close.
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Back in the original popup window, click the "Next" button.
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Click the "Finish" button.
Figure 2: Outlook's POP3 Email Account Setup Settings
Warning: Beware the Kraken!
Like any good sea chantey, Outlook contains a spooky mystery of the deep. See that "Test Account Settings" button? One would think that would test your email account's settings -- but that's just a siren's song! While it may actually work for you, the Dread Pirate Rutabaga has never seen this button ever work for any email account I, or any of my shipmates, have ever set up. Ever. Thus, if you click this button and receive an error message, it does not necessarily mean that your email account is set up wrong. The real test is to send yourself an email. If you can receive it, then you know your account is set up correctly.
Well there ye' go. No more messages in a bottle -- you're all set for electronic message correspondence! Let your messages go out like the evening tide. Good luck and smooth sailing.
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