[ Team LiB ]

Using Your Email Accounts
[ Team LiB ]Choosing an Email Editor
Outlook has two email editors to choose from, with Word set as the default email editor.
The Outlook editor, which is included with Outlook, offers basic editing and word
processing capabilities. The Word Editor, which has all the editing features of Word,
including grammar and spell check as you type, and signatures that automatically change
with the account type.
To select an email editor, choose Tools, Options, Mail Format (see Figure 5.1
). To make
Outlook your email editor, clear the check box labeled Use Microsoft Office Word 2003
to Edit Email Messages.
Figure 5.1. Choose your email editor and message format using the Tools, Options,
Mail Format dialog.

With the exception of features found only in Word, such as spell checking as you type,
the Outlook Editor and Word have the same basic features, although they're often found
on different menus.
One example is Options. In Word, the Option button includes options for E-mail
Signature, Stationery, and Show/Hide the From and BCC headers. Using the Outlook
editor, these options are on the View menu (headers) and the Insert menu (signatures). A
second example is message format. Using Word, you can choose between HTML, RTF,
and plain text from a toolbar button and can quickly change formats on the fly (see Figure
5.2). With the Outlook editor, you have to use the Format menu and switch to Plain Text
when switching between HTML and Rich Text options.
Figure 5.2. Although there are many minor differences between Outlook's editor
and Word's interfaces and the location of menus and options, there are many

Web-based email accounts. Like IMAP, messages are stored on the email server and a
user downloads copies of her messages to her local machine. The difference is that HTTP
uses port 80 to access the mailbox and IMAP uses port 143. Because port 80 is also used
for Web browsing, only one port needs to be opened on the firewall, which increases
network security. At this time, only Hotmail and MSN support HTTP access to email
using an email program.
Exchange Services encompasses two types of access to your mailbox. Traditional MAPI
access is typically used within LANs and supports special Outlook folders, such as
Contacts and Calendars, which are not supported by IMAP and POP3. Security-conscious
companies prevent access to mailboxes across the Internet, except when using a VPN
(Virtual Private Network) connection. Outlook 2003 supports a new protocol: RPC over
HTTP (Remote Procedure Call over Hypertext Transfer Protocol). RPC over HTTP
provides MAPI (Messaging Application Programming Interface) access to your mailbox
using port 80, the same port used by Web servers, thus providing the same email
experience to remote users that is enjoyed by local users. Although RPC over HTTP
sounds great, it has one major limitation. It's supported only in Exchange 2003 and
Windows Server 2003 and requires Outlook 2003 to be installed on Windows XP SP2.
Simple Mail Transport Protocol, or SMTP, is the protocol that POP3
and IMAP accounts use to send email.

Set up the Send/Receive settings for your accounts using Tools, Options, Mail Setup,
Send/Receive (see Figure 4.1
). You can also access your Account Properties from the
Send/Receive dialog.
Figure 4.1. Use the Mail Setup tab to configure Outlook to send messages
immediately when connected, to control how Outlook connects to dial-up accounts,
and to access the Send/Receive settings.

If you don't know what type of email account you have, you'll need to
ask your ISP or email administrator.

). You should always add a check to Remove from Server When Deleted from
"Deleted Items" to help keep the size of your mailbox under control. Unless you have a
large mailbox and receive very little mail, you'll also want to check Remove from Server
After nn Days. Without these settings, copies of your messages remain on the server and
cause your mailbox to reach its maximum size, preventing the delivery of new messages.
Figure 4.2. Configure Outlook to leave messages on the server after downloading so
that you can access them from other computers.

If you're on a slow Internet connection, you might want to download only headers for
your messages, shortening the time you need to remain connected. After the headers are
downloaded, mark the messages for download or deletion and process the marked
headers.
From Tools, Options, Mail Setup, click the Send/Receive button and then the
Send/Receive group the account uses. Unless you created additional groups, your account
is in the All Accounts group. Choose Edit and select your account in the Send/Receive
settings dialog, shown in Figure 4.3
.
Figure 4.3. Use the Send/Receive Settings dialog to choose headers only or complete
items. You can choose Headers Only for large messages.

Finally, you should configure Outlook's send and receive settings. You can do this by
account or by all accounts, if you have more than one account and want them to share the
same settings. Open the Send/Receive Groups dialog using Tools, Options, Mail Setup,
Send/Receive (see Figure 4.4
).
Figure 4.4. Outlook can check for new messages on a regular basis, when you are
online or offline. For best results, you should use check for new mail no more than
every 8 to 10 minutes.

Choose Schedule an Automatic Send/Receive Every nn Minutes and Outlook will check

fields.
If your Internet email account is IMAP, select IMAP as the account type in the Tools,
Email Accounts Wizard. Enter your account information, including the display name you
use on outgoing email, your email address, your IMAP server name, and your outgoing
(SMTP) email server (see Figure 4.6).
Figure 4.6. Configure the required fields for your IMAP account before you use it.

IMAP accounts generally don't require additional configuration, except for outgoing
server authentication. If your email server requires authentication, enter the username and
password information on the More Settings, Outgoing Server tab found in the Internet E-
mail Settings dialog.
Hour 2
, "Outlook Configuration Basics," contains detailed
instructions on setting up each type of email account.

Outlook downloads copies of IMAP messages to a local message store and the messages
remain on the server until you delete and purge the folders.
When you're configuring a new IMAP account, you have to subscribe some folders for
download before you can configure the send and receive settings for your IMAP folders.
If you previously used the IMAP account with another email program, the subscribed
folders should display in Outlook after you add the account. You can change the list of
subscribed folders by right-clicking on any IMAP folder and choosing IMAP Folders.
Choose Query to show all available folders or enter a keyword to search for folders by
name (see Figure 4.7
).
Figure 4.7. Use the IMAP Folders dialog to query the IMAP server for your email
folders and subscribe or unsubscribe from them. The folder icon identifies
subscribed folders. Select the option to show only subscribed folders in your folder
list to restrict the size of your folder list.


Outlook does not have an option to automatically purge deleted items from your folders,
so you must remember to manually purge the folders occasionally.

The default view for the IMAP folder uses AutoPreview. A
recommended view is Group by Deleted Group Messages marked for
Deletion. This puts the deleted items out of sight, but not completely
hidden from view, lessening the chances that you'll forget to purge
deleted items.

IMAP doesn't support Outlook's special folders, including Calendar, Contacts, Tasks,
N
otes, and Journal. Exchange Server users can view the folders, but editing the contents
converts the items to mail items and results in data loss.
A third-party application, InsightConnector, is available from Bynari
( />) and works with any IMAP server. InsightConnector stores
Outlook's special folders on the IMAP server, enabling you to synchronize the special
folders with the IMAP server.
Using HTTP Accounts
An HTTP account uses HTTP port 80 to connect to a mailbox that you normally access
using a Web browser. Not all Web-based email accounts support the HTTP protocol by
using WebDAV, which is required for HTTP support. At this time, only Hotmail and
MSN are accessible using HTTP.
Using the HTTP protocol is a convenient way to access Hotmail and MSN accounts
because it removes the need to log on to a Web page to read your mail. Copies of the
messages are stored locally, so you can read them offline at any time after downloading
the full message.
Set up your HTTP account using Tools, E-mail Accounts and selecting HTTP. Enter your
display name and email address. When Outlook detects a Hotmail or MSN address, it
completes the server URL automatically (see Figure 4.9
).

mailboxes, you have to select More Settings, Advanced tab and add the mailboxes to
your profile.
Under most circumstances, you don't need to configure send and receive settings for your
Exchange account. However, if you're using Offline mode, you'll need to select the
folders you want available offline and set up filters and a synchronization schedule.
Cached Exchange mode doesn't require send and receive configuration. However, you
could create filters for folders, just as you do for Offline mode (see Figure 4.10
). I don't
recommend filters unless you routinely use two different profiles or computers and use
filters only with the second profile; otherwise, you might forget the filters are on.
Figure 4.10. Use the Synchronization settings to set up filters for Offline mode.

Using Exchange Server's RPC over HTTP
Outlook 2003 supports a new feature called RPC over HTTP, which allows Outlook to
connect to Exchange mailboxes over the Internet, using HTTP port 80. By using port 80,
administrators can leave the ports closed that are normally needed by Outlook for a
normal MAPI connection to Exchange Server.
You need to speak with your administrator to find out whether RPC over HTTP is
supported. You might be able to use RPC over HTTP if you connect to Exchange 2003,
which is installed in a Windows Server 2003 network.
In most cases, your administrator configures your Exchange
accounts for you. Always speak to your administrator before
changing your account information.

Unfortunately, just because your company has migrated to Exchange 2003 doesn't mean
that you can use RPC over HTTP. A number of other conditions must be met; for
example, all the servers Outlook needs to communicate with must run on Windows
Server 2003.
If your network supports RPC over HTTP, the next requirement is Outlook 2003 must be
installed on Windows XP SP2. You cannot use RPC over HTTP with Outlook 2003