Settiing Up Email

[billbenson]

Email has chainged since I knew what I was doing.

In the past, using Thunderbird, I set up pop emails so that a number of emails could share a single folder. I have several work emails that I want to appear in the same folder. I also have personal emails and throw away emails which I want seperate.

What is the best way to set this up today. I have a new pc running on Linux (although that shouldn't matter with thunderbird). What is the best setup?

[Harold Mansfield]

In the past, using Thunderbird, I set up pop emails so that a number of emails could share a single folder.

Doesn't this work anymore, or are you just looking for a new way to do it? I'm assuming you want more than just emails forwarded, you want each box to have full functionality to reply, forward and send from that address. Or do you respond to all emails from a single address?

[billbenson]

I want to receive all business emails in one inbox. I have several business emails. Pop still works for this but it is my understanding that it is not as secure as some newer formats I am not familiar with. I also have other emails that can go to their individual inboxes.

[Harold Mansfield]

I want to receive all business emails in one inbox. I have several business emails.

I understand this part, but do you just want the emails merely forwarded to one box or do you also need to respond and reply from the different email addresses?

I'm asking because if you need the different addresses to be fully functional it's best to let them have their own folder so that they function independently of each other including back ups.

For instance, I have 2 email addresses from the same URL. They go to their own folder/inbox. Not both to one folder because I need them to function separately. Separate inbox, spam folder, send folder and so on.

If I just needed to see emails from one, but never use that address to send, I'd just forward them to the same inbox.


Pop still works for this but it is my understanding that it is not as secure as some newer formats I am not familiar with. I also have other emails that can go to their individual inboxes.

I use Outlook and have 6 email addresses set up that are a combination of Gmail and private email addresses. All of them are set up as IMAP which is the secure connection you are probably speaking of. Whatever email service or hosting you are using should have instructions on how to set up IMAP on an email client such as Thunderbird.

[Brian Altenhofel]

The only difference most end-users will see between IMAP and POP is IMAP allows two-way synchronization between the remote mailbox and your client, and POP does not. Both are equally secure. Other differences you may consider is that IMAP allows multiple simultaneous connections from multiple clients, server-side searching, and partial fetching.

The argument that is made for IMAP being more secure than POP is based on ISP implementation. POP was widely adopted before using SSL for nearly everything was the norm, while IMAP was adopted after. Many ISPs who implemented POP early on without SSL either haven't added POP over SSL support or haven't made it the default out of fear that legacy clients will no longer be able to connect. The primary driver behind POP being more widely adopted by ISPs in the 90's and early 2000's was storage costs. No one likes hosting email because email never goes away. POP forced users to download their emails and free up storage space on the ISPs' hardware.

[MyITGuy]

Both are equally secure.

With the caveat that the host must have implemented TLS/SSL for POP or IMAP and the end user sets up their mail client to utilize this security protocol.

If it were me, I would likely go the route of IMAP so I could utilize my desktop client along with my smartphone (You could likely achieve the same with POP, but couldn't sync status/locations). Just ensure that you download/test the backups from your webhost so you do not lose your e-mails in the event of a server issue.

[billbenson]

With the caveat that the host must have implemented TLS/SSL for POP or IMAP and the end user sets up their mail client to utilize this security protocol.

If it were me, I would likely go the route of IMAP so I could utilize my desktop client along with my smartphone (You could likely achieve the same with POP, but couldn't sync status/locations). Just ensure that you download/test the backups from your webhost so you do not lose your e-mails in the event of a server issue.

My important emails are 9 to 5 pacific to eastern time. I don't use my smart phone for work. I just sit in front of my pc and answer my business line all day long. I'll send an email to my host as well. I don't know if that changes your recomendation at all.

[MyITGuy]

My important emails are 9 to 5 pacific to eastern time. I don't use my smart phone for work. I just sit in front of my pc and answer my business line all day long. I'll send an email to my host as well. I don't know if that changes your recomendation at all.

With that understanding, then Secure POP3 would likely be the best for your situation