Outlook Express

Outlook Express is an E-mail client. It is usually distributed with Internet Explorer. The Windows 3.1x version uses POP3 (Post Office Protocol III) to manage E-mail messages. The Windows 95 version uses POP3 and IMAP (Internet Mail Access Protocol) to manage E-mail messages. Outlook Express can be configured for multiple accounts with E-mail services.

This program has address book creation, spell-checking, and the ability to send attachments.  It can also be incorporated into MAPI functions of other Microsoft products.  This means you can send documents directly from the application in which they were created.

How to setup Outlook Express

General Settings:

Each version is configured in the same manner. The Internet Connection Wizard is used to input the general information about each account's mail server. When installing Outlook Express for the first time, the Internet Connection Wizard will automatically run.  The wizard can also be run when you want to add new accounts.

To launch the wizard in Outlook Express, follow these instructions:
 

1. Open Outlook Express.
2. Select the Tools menu and the Accounts option.
3. In the Internet Accounts window, select the Add button and the Mail option.

The Internet Connection Wizard asks for the following information:
 

1. Display name   - This should be your real name.
 
2. E-mail address - This should be the E-mail address where you receive your messages.  For example:
 
• GatorLink E-mail services: username@ufl.edu
• NERDC NERSP accounts: username@nersp.nerdc.ufl.edu
• CIRCA Grove accounts: username@grove.ufl.edu
• Freenet E-mail services: username@afn.org
 
3. Type of server - Most computer accounts with mail services will use POP or IMAP servers.  You will need to check with your account manager for this information.
 
• GatorLink E-mail services: provides POP3 & IMAP servers
• NERDC NERSP accounts: provides POP3 & IMAP servers
• CIRCA Grove accounts: provides POP3 & IMAP servers
• Freenet E-mail services: provides POP3 & IMAP servers
 
4. Incoming mail (POP or IMAP) server -  This is the name of the mail server that manages your incoming mail. You will need to check with your account manager for this information.
 
• GatorLink E-mail services:  POP3 server -  pop.ufl.edu
IMAP server -  imap.ufl.edu
 
• NERDC NERSP accounts: POP3 server -  pop.nersp.nerdc.ufl.edu
IMAP server -  imap.nersp.nerdc.ufl.edu
 
• CIRCA Grove accounts: POP3 server -  grove.ufl.edu
IMAP server -  grove.ufl.edu
 
• Freenet E-mail services: POP3 server -  pop3.afn.org
IMAP server -  imap.afn.org
6. Outgoing mail (SMTP) server -  This is the name of the mail server that manages your outgoing mail. You will need to check with your account manager for this information.
 
• GatorLink E-mail services: SMTP server -  smtp.ufl.edu
• NERDC NERSP accounts: SMTP server -  smtp.nerdc.ufl.edu
• CIRCA Grove accounts: SMTP server -  grove.ufl.edu
• Freenet E-mail services: SMTP server - smtp.afn.org
 
6. POP account name - This is the username of your computer account. It is the part of your E-mail address before the @ sign.
 
8. Password - Every computer account is protected by a password. Enter the password of your computer account that has E-mail services.
 
9. Internet mail account name - This is a name that you create to represent your mail services.
 
10. Choose connection type -  Choose the way you connect to the Internet.
 
11. Dial-Up connection - Select the dial-up account.

Once the wizard completes, you will have a new account added to Internet Accounts list.

Specific settings:

As mentioned before, the wizard only configures the general settings. You may find it necessary to change some specific settings in each account. To find the specific settings of each account, open the Internet Accounts window, press the Mail tab, select the account name and press the Properties button.

Most settings can be left as they are. If you do not know what a setting does, select the ? button located in the top-right corner of the window and the then select the setting. A brief description will appear explaining what the setting does.

We strongly recommend not selecting the setting, Only show prescribed folders, for any E-mail account you set-up.  This setting is located on the Advanced tab of each account's properties window.

We also recommend not selecting the setting, Check for new messages every -- minutes.  This will prevent the excess querying of the mail sever while you are on-line. This setting is located on the General tab in the Options window.  The Options window is opened by selecting the Tools menu and the Options button.

IMAP Considerations:

Where is the mail directory?

When you use the IMAP server, most E-mail clients will place your messages in a directory of their choosing.  If you use more than one program to read your E-mail messages, it will be necessary to tell each client in what directory your messages are stored. If this is not done, then the clients may not display all of your mail folders and messages.

For example, if you have a CIRCA Grove or NERDC NERSP account and you have used the Pine E-mail program provided by the account, you will find that your messages are stored in files in the mail directory. You will need to setup Outlook Express to look in that directory to display these saved messages.

The setting, Root folder path, directs OutLook Express to store messages in and read messages from a specific directory.  This setting is located on the Advanced tab of each account's properties window. In Outlook Express, this setting should be set to the following directories for each account.

GatorLink E-mail services:  Leaving this setting blank works for most E-mail clients. Outlook
Express by default reads the proper directory.

NERDC NERSP accounts:  Type   mail/

CIRCA Grove accounts:  Type   mail/

Other accounts:  Check with your account manager for guidance.

Where can folders be created?

The GatorLink mail server will only allow folders to be created ONLY inside the Inbox folder. To create a folder in the Inbox, highlight the Inbox, select the File menu, the Folder and New Folder option, type the new folder name, and press the OK button.

Other mail servers may have different rules.  For example, CIRCA Grove and NERDC NERSP accounts allow mail folders to be created outside of the Inbox folder.  For other accounts with E-mail services check with the account administrators for any rules regarding the creation of folders.

POP Considerations:

The POP3 protocol allows an E-mail program like Outlook Express to download your messages directly from the mail server and store the messages on your local computer. Therefore, no messages are stored on your computer account.

If you read messages using POP3, remember that your messages are stored on the machine you are using and that you will need to remove these message if you do not want them read by anyone else who has access to the computer.

POP3 clients also have the ability to only download copies of your messages and leave the original messages in the Inbox of the mail server. This means that the next time you read your messages you may read old messages again.  Most POP3 clients have a mechanism* that will mark and eventually delete these messages. Outlook Express offers two such deletion methods in the Advanced tab of each account's properties window.

* This mechanism can become confused (out of sync) if you read your mail from multiple computers.

10/20/97