Table of Contents

1. First Test Your Account Using Webmail
2. Settings Required In Any Mail Client
3. Comparison of Mail Clients
4. Testing Mail Server Ports Using TELNET
5. Eudora
6. Microsoft Outlook
7. Outlook Express
8. Netscape 4.7
9. Netscape 6.2
10. Journal Of Changes

1. First Test Your Account Using Webmail

Before trying to set up your own mail client, first test that your mail account itself is working correctly by using the "Webmail" interface. To start up webmail, type mail.bluesoft.ca into any browser. This brings up a login page asking for Account Name and Password. For account name, type in your primary email address. For password, type in your password. Then test that you can now both send and receive messages.

2. Settings Required In Any Mail Client

(Revised 2004 June 26) All mail clients must contain the following five pieces of information:

  1. Address of SMTP server   (to send messages)
  2. Address of POP server    (to pick up messages)
  3. Your Account Name        (to pick up messages)
  4. Your Account Password    (to send and to pick up messages)
  5. Your return address      (to send messages)

Use the above checklist after you have followed individual instructions particular to your mail client. The fields may have different names on different programs. For example, Microsoft Outlook uses different names from Eudora. Unfortunately the settings are not all in one list where you can inspect them, they are usually scattered on several different screens. Here is a detailed explanation of each of the above items:

1. Address of Outbound SMTP Server The outbound SMTP server is the server to which you send outbound mail. It is not necessarily the same as your inbound POP server. However, they can be the same. You can set both of them to mail.bluesoft.ca.

2. Pop Server (mail.bluesoft.ca) The "POP Server" is the server that contains your mail account. It must be set to Mail.bluesoft.ca.

3. Account Name: This is the name of your email account on our server. With the current server, our standard is that the account name also contains the domain name. For example, the account name is not just "Fred", it is "Fred@MyDomain.com". This ensures all accounts are unique, even if two customers have someone with the same name. With Netscape, it is necessary to use a "%" rather than the "@" sign.

4. Authentication Password Your mail client must contain the password of your account. This is obviously necessary to pick up your mail. However our mail server requires your mail client to send the password with every piece of outbound mail. This is called "authentication". You must turn authentication "ON" on your mail client, to cause it to send the password.

Many older servers did not require a password for outbound messages, so if you are switching from another mail service, you may not have authentication enabled. Since 2001, most mail clients have an authentication feature. However, the method of setting it up varies wildly from one mail client to another. In Eudora it is referred to as [x] Use Authentication. In outlook it is different. See specific instructions.

Note: The authentication scheme may appear to be working even if you have not enabled authentication, because our server also has a feature known as "Pop before SMTP". Once you pop some mail, the server "pre-authenticates" your mail client, enabling it to send mail without a password. This feature was intended to partially support people who don't have their authentication properly set up. But it is intermittent, so the safest thing is to make sure you have properly configured authentication.
  Case where problem occurred: In June 2004, we forgot to enable authentication in Betsy's MS Outlook client. The messages just stuck in her "out box". There was no indication that it wasn't working unless you went into her outbox. However eventually we discovered that in the authentication part of Outlook we had forgotten to change the email account address.

5. Return Address (Fred@MyDomain.com) You should make sure that your mail client contains your proper return address. Otherwise when people get your message and hit "reply", their message will go into deep space.

3. Comparison of Mail Clients

Eudora is the simplest mail client to set up, with Outlook being the next simplest, and Netscape 6.0 is the most difficult. So if you get frustrated with your present mail client click on the following Installing Eudora 5.1

4. Testing Mail Server Ports Using TELNET

TELNET is a command line program. If you have Windows, it will already be on your computer. All you need to do is bring up a command line session, then type "telnet" followed by the mail server name, followed by the port number. You can use it to make sure your machine can connect to any given mail server. Eg: Test that you can connect to mail.bulesoft.ca on port 25.

Use telnet when your mail client suddenly won't connect to the mail server. You'll quickly find out if the mail server is down, or Telus is blocking the protocol, or there is some problem in your email client setup.

Here is a simple test:

  telnet smtp.telus.net 25

220 priv-edtnes84.telusplanet.net ESMTP server ...

Now try the following:

   telnet mail.bluesoft.ca 25

"Could not open a connection to host on port 25".

On home connections, Telus is blocking connections to any outbound SMTP server but their own. They are not blocking business connections, only home connections.
 

5. Eudora

Older versions of Eudora such as version 3.1, require the "%" sign, as explained above. However later versions, such as version 5 don't have the problem, so you can use "@". To find the settings in Eudora, just look under "Tools..Options" then "Getting Started"

  Real Name:  Fred Smith
  Return Address: Fred@mydomain.com
  Mail Server (Incoming): mail.bluesoft.ca
  Login Name: Fred@mydomain.com
  SMTP Server: (outgoing) mail.bluesoft.ca
  [x] Allow Authentication

One more thing with Eudora is to turn OFF the Secure Sockets. Secure sockets is a scheme to encode your email, but it is only of value if both the sender and receiver are using it. For now, the simplest thing is to turn it off. You have to turn it off in two places: Go to Tools..Options..Checking Mail and set SSL to "Never". Same thing under Tools..Options..Sending Mail.

6. Microsoft Outlook

Microsoft Outlook varies, depending on which version of Windows you are using. The windows 2000 version of outlook is different than the Windows XP version. Outlook is different than outlook express. It comes with Microsoft office.

To configure a Microsoft Outlook mail client, click on Outlook icon, then Tools..Accounts..Properties. (On Windows 2000, Tools..Services..Properties.) This brings up a screen with 4 tabs:

General, Servers, Connection, Advanced.

GENERAL TAB: Under the "General" tab, set Mail Account:

  mail.bluesoft.ca
  Name: Fred Smith
  E-Mail: Fred@MyDomain.com

SERVERS TAB:

  Server Type: Pop3
  Incoming Mail: mail.bluesoft.ca
  Outgoing (SMTP:) mail.bluesoft.ca
  Incoming Mailserver Account Name: Fred@MyDomain.com
  Password: 
  [x] Remember password  

Tools..Accounts..[Pick an account]..Servers..[x]My Server Requires Authentication

7. Outlook Express

Very similar to Microsoft Outlook. Authentication: Be sure and find how to enable sender authentication, because otherwise messages will sometimes stick in your "out box" for no apparent reason. To set it is similar to what is described for outlook, above.

To find your server settings:

Tools..Accounts..Properties..Servers

8. Netscape 4.7

This is reasonably easy version to configure. Just find the places where the information has to be input, and fill it in.

9. Netscape 6.2

This is quite difficult to configure, and seems to take several tries before it starts working. The settings are scattered on several screens.

Start..Programs..Netscape6.2..Mail. Then click Accounts Settings. This brings up a screen titled "Mail and Newsgroups Account Settings". Click on "New Account", choose "ISP or Email Provider", then next.

  Your Name: Dan Goldberg
  Email Address. DanG@serratus.ca

Then Server Name:

 Server Name: mail.bluesoft.ca
 User Name: DanG%Serratus.com
 Account Name: Dan Gold on Bluesoft Server

Then a Verify screen comes up:

  Account Name: Dan Goldberg on Bluesoft Server
  User Name: DanG%serratus.com
  Email Address: DanG@serratus.ca
  Incoming Server  mail.bluesoft.ca
  Incoming server type: Pop3
  Outgoing Server Name: (SMTP) mail.bluesoft.ca

If the outgoing server name (SMTP) is not correct, you can adjust it under "news"

  Server Name: mail.bluesoft.ca
  [x] Use Name and Password
  User Name: DanG%serratus.ca

Default Account Go to "Mail and Newsgroups Acount Settings", then click on the new account you just set up, and then "Set As Default". Then check File..Get New Messages". Note: In working with customers, we've had a lot of trouble actually picking up the mail, but then suddenly it would start working. We tried changing the default account, and as a last resort, delete the account and put in in again.

10. Journal Of Changes

Below is a chronological list of changes:

2006.04.03 Bypassing Telus

Some customers are having trouble with using Telus as their outbound mail server. One way to get around this problem is to use Bluesoft server both for inbound and outbound mail. To use it as outbound, it will require your mail client to send the account name and the password.

Outbound Server: mail.bluesoft.ca
  Outbound account: JoeBlow@bluesoft.ca (note the full name)
  password: (same as the password used to pick up mail)

2006.04.03 Changes to Webmail Address Bill has changed the webmail address to: http://mail.bluesoft.ca/mail". The admin address remains as http://mail.bluesoft.ca. The webmail address used to be mail.bluesoft.ca. The reason for the change is that in order to support that address, the address had to be redirected by his webserver. But with the new scheme, the address is directly on the mail server, and thus there is one less thing that can break.

And if you want secure email, use "https:" rather than //http:. But you'll get a warning message.