I’ve posted before about how to install WordPress on a self-hosted blog, mostly so that I had a reference for myself if I needed to do it again since I am sure to forget all the how-to minutiae in the meantime, and I wanted to do the same for setting up a new e-mail account. Once again, instructions on such things seem to be lacking or inconsistent, even though the steps are rather easy.
These instructions are for creating a new e-mail address in cPanel — say for a domain name that you own with a self-hosted blog — and then setting up that new account in Outlook Express. In general, they apply to setting up any new account in Outlook Express. Your ISP or Web hosting provider will have instructions that apply specifically to its services (hopefully). This is just what I learned along the way.
Creating the Account in cPanel:
Log in to cPanel.
Click on “E-mail Accounts” in the “Mail” section.
Click on “Add Account.” Enter the name of the new address. Make sure the domain extension is the one you want from the drop-down menu (if you have more than one domain).
Create a password for this e-mail address.
You can change the maximum amount of disk space this account uses under “Quota,” but it isn’t necessary.
Click on “Create.”
Cpanel then asks if you want to configure the account for a specific software application, but my understanding is that there are less steps if you do it manually, as below, so decline this.
Click on “Tools” and then “Accounts” from the drop-down menu.
Click on “Add” and then “Mail” in the submenu.
Enter the name you want displayed for this address when someone receives an e-mail from it. Click “Next.”
Enter the e-mail address. Click “Next.”
Your hosting service will have given you instructions for the next screen in a welcome e-mail. Make sure the incoming mail server type matches what is listed, then enter the incoming and outgoing mail server names. Click “Next.”
For account name, enter the full e-mail address.
Enter the password you established for this address in Cpanel when you created the account.
Check the box next to “Remember Password.” Click “Next” and then “Finish.”
A Few Extra Instructions:
Go back to the “Accounts” screen. Highlight the name of the account you just created and click on “Properties.”
You can change the name of the mail account, which is how it will display in your account list, under the “General” tab, though it isn’t necessary.
Go to the “Servers” tab and check the box “My server requires authentication” near the bottom under “Outgoing Mail Server.” Beside this is a “Settings” button that will open a popup in which you can enter the e-mail address and password that the program will use for outgoing mail authentication. If it is the same as that for incoming mail (which you’ve already entered in the previous steps), just check the box to indicate that.
Go to the “Advanced” tab. Your hosting provider might indicate, in the welcome e-mail or in its support documentation on its Web site, a different SMTP Port number than the one listed as the default. This is where you would enter that number. Services use different port numbers to defeat spam.
Click “OK” and you’re done.
Note: There is a difference in Outlook Express between “identities” and “accounts.” Identities can be used if there are different users on the same computer that have their own e-mail accounts. When you switch identities while using the program you are connected to a new screen with its own Inbox, address book, set of folders, etc., and asked if you want to keep the same Internet connection. There is an identity manager in the “File” menu to set up identities.
You can have different accounts (different e-mail addresses), however, within the same identity, and I’m sure this is what most people use, with just one identity; in this case, e-mails from different addresses go to the same Inbox. When sending an e-mail, you can choose from which address it will be sent.
Deleting an identity deletes the e-mails, address book and all the rest for that account, even though the account still exists. It’s fun to learn this the hard way when no help documentation says this will happen and all you are trying to do is reconcile your accounts into one identity after learning there’s a difference. The delete confirmation screen mentions losing “identity-aware” such-and-such. Why couldn’t it say “Your e-mails will be deleted from this account even though the account will still exist”? (Deletion does place backup [.bak] files for what was deleted into your Recycle Bin, so they are retrievable, but instructions on this are cryptic to me so far; you can’t just hit Restore and it sounds like you have to have a special software program to do it.)
Anyway, that’s it. It looks like a lot, but it really isn’t. Several service providers have instructions with screenshots and videos. I just wish software companies would hire fiction writers to write their help documentation. Fiction writers are used to putting themselves in the shoes of those who are reading something for the first time with no prior knowledge of the subject matter.
Next comes addon domains, subdomains and parked domains.
How to Create a New E-Mail Account Without Wanting to Take an Axe to Your Computer
These instructions are for creating a new e-mail address in cPanel — say for a domain name that you own with a self-hosted blog — and then setting up that new account in Outlook Express. In general, they apply to setting up any new account in Outlook Express. Your ISP or Web hosting provider will have instructions that apply specifically to its services (hopefully). This is just what I learned along the way.
Creating the Account in cPanel:
Helpful link: cPanel doc on managing e-mail accounts
Creating the Account in Outlook Express:
A Few Extra Instructions:
Note: There is a difference in Outlook Express between “identities” and “accounts.” Identities can be used if there are different users on the same computer that have their own e-mail accounts. When you switch identities while using the program you are connected to a new screen with its own Inbox, address book, set of folders, etc., and asked if you want to keep the same Internet connection. There is an identity manager in the “File” menu to set up identities.
You can have different accounts (different e-mail addresses), however, within the same identity, and I’m sure this is what most people use, with just one identity; in this case, e-mails from different addresses go to the same Inbox. When sending an e-mail, you can choose from which address it will be sent.
Deleting an identity deletes the e-mails, address book and all the rest for that account, even though the account still exists. It’s fun to learn this the hard way when no help documentation says this will happen and all you are trying to do is reconcile your accounts into one identity after learning there’s a difference. The delete confirmation screen mentions losing “identity-aware” such-and-such. Why couldn’t it say “Your e-mails will be deleted from this account even though the account will still exist”? (Deletion does place backup [.bak] files for what was deleted into your Recycle Bin, so they are retrievable, but instructions on this are cryptic to me so far; you can’t just hit Restore and it sounds like you have to have a special software program to do it.)
Anyway, that’s it. It looks like a lot, but it really isn’t. Several service providers have instructions with screenshots and videos. I just wish software companies would hire fiction writers to write their help documentation. Fiction writers are used to putting themselves in the shoes of those who are reading something for the first time with no prior knowledge of the subject matter.
Next comes addon domains, subdomains and parked domains.
Oh, my.