4. Set up your Mailboxes

Click here for a step-by-step video tutorial

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Mailboxes allow you to send, receive and store e-mail messages. Here we discuss the following topics:

This section presents selected material designed to help you get started. To find out about the additional features of the mail system please consult the User Manual and Video Tutorials.

 

 Understanding Mailboxes

Mailboxes are used to send and receive e-mails via client based mail software and can store mail on the hosting mail server.

 Creating Mailboxes

To create mailboxes in addition to webmaster and postmaster mailboxes obligatory created on each maildomain:

1. Click New E-mail on the maildomain Controls page:

   

2. On the configuration page that you will be taken to, do the following:

   

   • Enter mailbox name in the Email address field.
   • Check the Catch All box to collect email messages sent to a nonexistent account on the mail domain.
     If Catch All isn't enabled on any mail resource running on the mailbox's mail domain, such email message will bounce back to the sender with an error notification.
   • AntiSpam: check this option to enable antispam filtering for your mailbox. (Read about AntiSpam protection)
   • AntiVirus: check this option to enable antivirus protection for your mailbox. (Read about AntiVirus protection)
   • Check the box next to MAILBOX and configure:
   • Password: see below.
   • Comment: enter description to help identify the mailbox.
   • Discard All Incoming Mail: see below.
   • Alias by: use this option for mass creation of mail aliases. Enter alias names (without the @ part) separated by ',' or ';' or 'SPACE'.
3. Click the Submit button at the bottom of the form.
4. Agree with the charges, if any.

 Removing Mailboxes

To remove a mailbox preserving other services running on this e-mail address:

1. Click the mailbox e-mail address in the E-mail list on the maildomain Controls page:
   

   

2. Uncheck MAILBOX.
3. Click the Submit button at the bottom of the form.

To remove a mailbox with other mail services running on this e-mail address, click the Trash icon in the mailbox Properites entry on the Mail Controls page:

Postmaster mailbox can't be deleted.
To delete a Catch All mailbox, first switch Catch All OFF.

 Mailbox Storage Quota

Mailbox quota defines how many MB of mail you can store in your mailbox. You can't store more than allowed by the mailbox quota. It is not included into the site disk space quota. If your hosting plan allows, you can increase the initial free mailbox quota.

To increase mailbox quota:

1. On the maildomain Controls page click the of X MB link in the mailbox Properites entry:

   

2. Enter new quota size in megabytes and click the Submit button.

From this moment on, you will be charged for the difference between this new amount and the free amount your hosting plan grants. This charge will be added to the recurrent fee at the beginning of each billing period.

You can't change quota for the postmaster mailbox.

 Mailbox Password

Mailbox password is an alphanumeric combination that authenticates logging into the mailbox. It is required when you are logging into the mailbox outside your control panel or when you configure an external mail client to access your mailbox.

To change mailbox password:

1. Click the e-mail address in the E-mail list on the maildomain Controls page.
2. In the MAILBOX section enter a new password in the Password and Confirm password fields.
3. Click the Submit button at the bottom of the form.

 Discarding All Incoming Mail

If you don't need ALL your incoming mail, you can configure your mailbox to discard all incoming mail.
In this case senders won't receive 'undelivered mail' notifications.

1. Click the mailbox e-mail address in the E-mail list on the maildomain Controls page.
2. In the MAILBOX section check the Discard All Incoming Mail box.
3. Click the Submit button at the bottom of the form.

 Signing into a Mailbox

To send and receive mail from your mailbox you should sign in. This can be done from your control panel by clicking the Launch Webmail icon in the Properties column:

Provided you signed up for a Unix/Linux plan, you can also sign into your mailbox from outside your control panel by entering http://YOUR_WEB_SERVER_IP in the Address field of your browser and clicking the IMP-mail client link on the page you are taken to.

 

 Understanding Autoresponders

Autoresponder automatically sends a preset message in reply to all mail sent to the autoresponder's e-mail address. They don't store the incoming mail as mailboxes do, nor can they be used to send messages other than the preset autoresponse.

 Creating Autoresponders

To create an autoresponder:

1. Click New E-mail on the maildomain Controls page or existing mailbox settings:
   

   

2. If you chose New E-mail, enter the autoresponder name in the Email address field.
3. Check Catch All to reply with this message if mail arrives at a nonexistent address on this mail domain.
      If catch all isn't enabled on any mail resource running on the autoresponder's mail domain, incoming mail will bounce back to the sender with an error notification.
4. Scroll down to the Autoresponder section and fill out the form:
   

   

   
   
   • Check the box next to AUTORESPONDER.
   • Choose whether you want to quote the original message in the autoresponse.
   • Enter the uniform response in the Message field and its title in the Subject field.
   • H-Sphere 2.4.2: You can add attachments to your autoresponder, for instance your corporate logo.
5. Click the Submit button at the bottom of the form.
   
6. Agree with the charges, if any.

In older builds of H-Sphere 2.4, autoresponder had a field 'Send a copy to', which was removed later, because it duplicated the functionality of mail aliases and mail forwards. In newer versions it is used only for backward compatibility. If the field is cleared, it disappears.

 Editing autoresponder message or its subject

To edit autoresponder message or its subject:

1. Click the autoresponder e-mail address in the E-mail list on the maildomain Controls page:
   

   

2. Perform last three steps of the create autoresponder procedure above.

 Removing Autoresponders

To remove an autoresponder preserving other services running on its e-mail address:

1. Click the autoresponder e-mail address in the E-mail list on the maildomain Controls page as you do on the first step of editing autoresponder message or its subject guide.
2. Uncheck the AUTORESPONDER box.
3. Click the Submit button at the bottom of the form.

To remove an autoresponder along with all mail services running on its e-mail address, click the Trash icon in the autoresponders Properites section on the Mail Controls page:

To remove a Catch All autoresponder, first switch Catch All off.

Understanding Mailing Lists

Mailing lists act similar to mail forwards/aliases with the only difference that they offer wider possibilites such as independent end user subscribtion, message and subscription moderation, archivation and much more.

The mailing list solution available in the control panel is the popular EZMLM/IDX MAILING LIST MANAGER. For comprehensive information on EZMLM, see EZMLM FAQ.

 Creating Mailing Lists

To create a mailing list:

1. Select Mail Info in the Mail Info menu.
2. On the mail domain controls page click New Mailing List
3. Create the mailing list using the form that appears:

   

• E-mail address: the name of the mailing list from which mail will be forwarded to subscribers.
     * Note: you can enter only a new e-mail address. If you need to use an existing address, first delete the resource that uses it.
• Comment: a comment that will help you identify this address among other mail resources, if needed.
4. Agree to additional charges if any.

See below how to configure the mailing list according to your needs.

 Configuring a Mailing List

To configure a mailing list:

1. Click the mailing list e-mail address in the E-mail list on the maildomain Controls page:

   

2. On the page that appears, configure mailing list preferred settings:

   

   Enter the e-mail address that enables mail list subscribers to report their problems or error messages sending requests to your_mailinglist-owner@domain.com. Since EZMLM can take care of virtually all requests without human intervention, the list owner may read mail only infrequently.

   

   By default, all messages sent to a list are kept archived. This way, subscribers can later retrieve messages from the archive. For instance, subscribers haven't been following the list for a while, or they just want to see the discussion of a specific question.

   E.g.: retrieve one message at a time with the -get command: your_mailinglist-get.123@domain.com (get message 123)
   Read more on commands to access the ezmlm message archive.

   * The archive is also used to create digests.

   Check Not Archived to disable archiving the messages sent to the list.

   

   You can prohibit the overall access to the archive and authorize only moderators to get at it.

   

   Check the Digest box to set up the mailing list with a digest function. The digest is a special kind of mailing list extension. Instead of sending separate messages, it sends out a collection of messages ordered by digest subscribers collections of messages. Digest is sent out when a predetermined time or traffic limit has been reached. Receiving digest is very convenient for users who want to follow a list, but not to participate in the discussion. Digests contain each message as it was sent out by the list. No editorials, no missing messages. If the list owner has chosen to restrict posts and archive access to subscribers, digest subscribers are automatically given the same privilege.

   From the subscriber point of view, the digest list for the mailing list your_mailinglist@domain.com is called your_mailinglist-digest@domain.com. You use the same commands to work with digest as you do when you work with the main list. The only difference is that you use your commands with 'digest' indication.

   

   Check "No prefix" to prohibit adding prefix to the subject line of each message that does not already contain it. If you want the subject line of each message that does not contain it, to include the prefix, place the text in the file DIR/prefix

   

   Here you can restrict the access to the mailing list archive by allowing only subscribers retrieve the archive. Non-subscribers' requests will be rejected.

   

   Usually an applicant for subscription (your_mailinglist-subscribe@domain.com) is sent a confirmation request. To confirm it, one should just reply to the message. When it is done, recipient's address is added to the database and he becomes a subscriber.
   This verification mechanism tests if the person at the subscription address really wants to be a subscriber. You can always include or exclude confirmation from the subscription procedure.

   

   Normally, confirmation is not required to unsubscribe from a mailing list. However, this option gives added security in that one can't remove another without permission.

   

   Mailing list users are not allowed to list the addresses of all subscribers. Still, you can allow remote administrator to get it. The subscription log stores entries for each modification made to the subscriber database. Remote administrators can list this log or search it for specific entries. For example, listing this file allows the remote administrator to see recent additions and removals.

   

   In special cases, the list owner may set up the list to be message moderated. On a message moderated list, messages, instead of going directly to the list (to send messages to the list, one must know its name. If the list is called mailinglist@domain.com, just send a message to mailinglist@domain.com), are sent to one or more moderators. They can accept or reject, but not modify the message. If the message is accepted, it is sent to the list unmodified. If it is rejected, it is e-mailed back to the sender, optionally with an explanation from the moderator. On moderated lists it may take a little longer for the message to reach all the subscribers, since it has to be read and approved by at least one moderator before being sent out to the subscribers.

   

   Here, you can allow remote administrators to edit the text files that make up most of the ezmlm responses. Replies are sent only if the target address is a remote administrator. With this switch, ezmlm replies to the -edit command with a list of the files in dir/text/. Only files where editing seems reasonable are included in the list. The remote administrator can edit any file in dir/text/ by sending e-mail containing the new text to -edit.file where ``file'' is the name of the file replaced (edited). In reply to this command, ezmlm sends a message with the file and editing instructions. A ``cookie'' based on the date, file name, and contents of the file is added to the ``Reply-To:'' address. The cookie becomes invalid as soon as the file has been changed, or after 27 hours, whichever is shorter. Also, the cookie cannot be used to edit any other file, even if the other file has exactly the same content.

   

   Here you can disable posting by subscribers to the mailing list, so they will only receive messages posted by moderators. This is usually chosen to send announcement or notifications where the interaction between recipients is not intended.

   

   If you enable this function, users will be required to request to the remote administrator in order to retrieve mail list archives. Otherwise, archive will be accessible only to the remote administrator.

   

   With this option enabled, it will process commands sent in the subject to list-request@host.

   

   A remote administrator is an address with the rights to do certain administrative tasks remotely by E-mail. Depending on how the list is configured, remote administrators may have the right/ability to list subscribers, search for subscriber addresses by name, add and remove subscriber addresses and/or edit the texts that are sent in reply to list commands.

   

   Mailing lists may use subscription moderation. Subscription to these lists is identical to the process described above, except that after confirmation the request is passed on to the list moderator(s). One becomes a subscriber only after his request has been approved by a moderator, i.e. he replies to the ``Reply-To:'' address.

   

   You can set up your mailing list to allow posts from subscribers only. In this case posts received from non-subscribers will be rejected and sent back.
   As per ezmlm manpages, "there is no reason to combine of SENDER checks on posts with message moderation. Therefore, the combination of the -u switch with the -m switch is used for a configuration with SENDER restrictions (like with -u alone), with the difference that posts from non-subscribers will be sent for moderation instead of being rejected. This allows the list admin to let non-subscribers post occasionally, as well as to catch subscribers posting from non-subscriber addresses."

3. Click the Submit button to save changes.

For specific details on how to configure your mail list, please read documentation at www.ezmlm.org)

 Managing Your Mail List Subscribers

The number of subscribers shows in brackets in the mailing list Properties column.

To add subscribers to a mailing list:

1. Click the Subscribers icon in the mailing list Properties column on the mail domain controls page.
2. Enter subscriber's email address in the Add subscriber field. To add several subscribers at once, enter their e-mail addresses separated with line break in the Batch subscribers creation field:

   

3. Click Submit.

To remove subscribers from a mailing list:

1. Click the Subscribers icon in the mailing list Properties column on the mail domain controls page.
2. Click the Delete icon next to the subscriber to delete subscribers one by one or the Delete icon in Remove all subscribers.

 Sending Messages to Mailing List Subscribers

To send a message to a mailing list, send the newsletter to the mailing list e-mail address using WebMail or any mail client such as Outlook Express.

 Managing Your Mailing List Moderators

Moderators approve of message posts and requests for subscription. Individual moderator's addresses are kept secret, even from other moderators. The total number of moderators is displayed in brackets in the mailing list Properties column.

To add a moderator to your mailing list:

1. Click the Moderators icon in the mailing list Properties column on the mail domain controls page.
2. Enter moderator's email in the Add moderator field:

   

3. Click Submit.

To remove a moderator from your mailing list:

1. Click the Moderators icon in the mailing list Properties column on the mail domain controls page.
2. Click the Delete icon next to the moderator

There can be several moderators, both for messages and subscription:

• Message moderators allow messages to be sent to the mail list. The message will be passed on to the mailing list subscribers only if a moderator approves it.
• Subscription moderators allow people to join the list. If at least one subscription moderator approves the request, the user address becomes a subscriber.

As a rule of thumb, most lists use the same addresses for both functions.

 Adding Mailing List Trailer

Message trailer is a uniform text added to each message. Typically, it contains instructions on how to unsubscribe from the list and similar information for subscribers. There can be only one trailer for all messages within one mailing list.

To add a message trailer:

1. Click the Trailer icon in the mailing list Properties column on the mail domain controls page.
2. Enter the text that will be added to each of your subscribe messages:

   

3. Click Submit.

To edit a message trailer:

1. Click the Trailer icon in the mailing list Properties column on the mail domain controls page.
2. Edit the text and click Submit.

To remove a message trailer:

1. Click the Trailer icon in the mailing list Properties column on the mail domain controls page.
2. Remove the text from the text field and click Submit.

 Removing Mailing Lists

To remove a mailing list click the Trash icon in the mailing lists Properties column on the Mail Controls page:

 

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