How to use the Postmaster Mail
Manager for your mahiai virtual mail host
Your
virtual email host is very easy to set up and manage via the Mail Manager
control panel. After navigating to the
Mail Manager from the main http://mahiai.aloha.net web page (click Control
Panel, then Mail Manager), you will come to the Main menu as shown
above.
Here
are the 5 actions you can take from here:
1.
Email accounts: Set up new accounts (email boxes), delete
accounts, modify accounts, and set the catchall feature
2.
Aliases Forwards: Set up aliases and
forwards
An Alias is just another name for a mail account, not a separate
account or mailbox.
A
Forward is an instruction to
forward mail to a different address from that to which if was originally
addresses.
3.
Mail Robots: Set up autoresponder
messages
4.
Mailing Lists: Set up your own
private mailing lists
You
can also log out from this menu, a wise thing to do instead of using the back
button to get out.
Instructions
for managing your mahiai virtual mail server as Postmaster of your domain:
Once in the Email Accounts
screen from the Main Menu, here’s a summary of the actions you can take as
Postmaster:
1. The email accounts screen lists all
of the mailboxes set up. The Postmaster mailbox was set up automatically and
cannot be deleted. You, as the postmaster of your domain, have the capability
to set up an additional 24 mailboxes (and more if you request more).
2. There are 3 columns of radio
buttons: Modify User, Delete
Account and Catchall Account. Here's what they mean:
a.
Modify User: Change password, enable or disable
forwarding, enable or disable vacation mail.
b.
Delete Account: Delete the mailbox (any except Postmaster.... which cannot be deleted)
c.
Catchall Account: Designate which account
(if any) you want to receive all mail addressed to a misspelled or nonexistent
mailbox.
3. There are 6 other possible actions
you can take from this menu:
a.
Next or Previous: Go to the next or previous page listing 15
mailboxes. (Only shows up if you have more that 15 accounts set up)
b.
Set catchall email deleted: Clicking
on this will remove the catchall function from whichever account was designated
as Catchall and simply delete mail addressed to a misspelled or nonexistent
mailbox.
c.
Set catchall bounced: Clicking on
this will remove the catchall function from whichever account was designated as
Catchall and bounce the mail addressed to a misspelled or nonexistent
mailbox back to the sender. Note
that the default setting when a virtual mail host is first set up is Catchall
Bounced
d.
Set remote catchall account:
Clicking this button will allow you to designate any valid email address in the
world, outside of the mailboxes within your domain, as the catchall account.
e.
Create Email Account: This click allows you to set up a new
mailbox within your domain. (See below)
f. Main
Menu: Takes you back to the initial main menu.
How to set up a new mail account
After clicking on Create New Account on the Email Accounts screen (or New Email Account on the Quick Links screen), you’ll see the Add Email account form shown above. Fill it out as follows:
Email Account:
Enter the username you want to create
(can be any length)
Password & Password (again):
Enter an appropriate password.
Real Name: Enter any name you want, usually, but not
necessarily, the user’s real name
Subscribe the new user…… Here, if there is a mail list already created (as in
this example), check the “Subscribe User” box
if you want this new user to be a part of the list. Else, leave it
unchecked. See a later section on Mail
List creation and management.
Be aware that the password for the Postmaster mailbox, which was created automatically when the mail host was first created, is the same as the password for the Mail Manager control panel faxed to you originally when the account was first set up.
How to
modify a user
1.
Password: The first two boxes are
for changing the password of a user's mailbox.
Note that, as Postmaster, you can change a password for any account
without knowing the original password (handy feature in case a user has
forgotten).
2.
Real Name: Type any name in here to affect how the mail account's name
appears in message headers. Normally it would be the user's real name, but can
be anything.
3.
Disable Forwards/Vacation: This toggle button will disable forwarding
and vacation mail. It works in conjunction with the Enable Forward and Enable
Vacation radio buttons. If you have either of those features enabled, clicking
the Disable Forwards/Vacation button will do just that
4. Forward Email to: This text box will specify the mail address
you want all mail forwarded to. Type
the full email address, such as username@domainname.com.
5.
Enable Save Copy and Forward: Normally, when you specify a forwarding
address and click the Enable Forward button, a copy of the forwarded email DOES
NOT remain in the original mailbox.
Clicking on this button will override this default and retain a copy of
forwarded messages in the mailbox.
6.
Enable Vacation: This radio button will enable the vacation
mail function after you have filled in the Vacation Subject and Vacation
Message fields. Turn the function off with the Disable Forwards/Vacation
button.
7.
Vacation Subject: and Vacation
Message: Self explanatory
8. Modify
User: This button must be clicked
each time you make any change on this page. Note that it will do the
modification requested, but will not take you out to another page. You must
press Main Menu to get out of this Modify User page.
How to set up Aliases and Forwards in your Mail Manager
What's
the difference between a Forward and an Alias?
An
Alias is just what it says... it’s
an alias, or another name, for an existing mail account. It is not a
separate account or mailbox. To
create an alias, click on Add New Alias
and follow the instructions on the ensuing screen. Pull down the menu at Email
Account and choose the email account you want to set up an alias for. Then type
in the alias name you want and click the ADD button. Now, the alias name can be
used as a valid email address, but all mail will end up in the mailbox with the
aliased name.
A Forward
is a standing instruction to the server to forward mail to a different
address from that to which it was originally addressed. To set up a forward,
click on Add New Forward and follow
the instructions on the ensuing screen. In the first text box, type the full
email address to which you want all mail forwarded. This can be any address,
either within your domain or worldwide. In the 2nd text box, type in only the
username of the mail account you want to forward. Then click on the ADD
button. From then on, all mail
addressed to the username will end up in the forwarded mailbox account, and
no copy will be retained in the local mailbox (unless you specify the Enable Save Copy and Forward feature in
the Modify User screen).
See
screenshots on next page. The text boxes and buttons are largely self
explanatory.
How to set up a Mail Robot, or
Autoresponder
To
set up a Mail Robot, or autoresponder, you must choose Mail
Robot from the Quick Links menu (the first screen to come up after logging
in to the Mail Manager). An autoresponder is a preprogrammed email message that
you want your correspondents to receive when they send a message (blank or not)
to a predetermined autoresponse email address, such as info@yourcompany.com or the like. It’s a handy feature to include
on your website.
Mail Robot
Name:
First, name the Robot with a meaningful username, such as info, or catalog, or
da-scoops.
Send Copy to: Assign a cc:
address in the Send copy to: box if
you want a copy of the sender's request to go to you or any other person who
should know that a request was made. You have no other convenient way of
knowing who has asked for information.
Subject: Type in a subject, such as Company
info, or Your Request of Information, or the like.
Then,
fill in the large text box with as
much information as you want, telling about your company, or whatever else you
may want people to know about without you having to manually answer email
requests for information.
Add: Click the Add button to activate your
autoresponder.
Note: You can change/modify your autoresponder
message as often as you like and you can set up multiple autoresponders. Just remember that a Mail
Robot/Autoresponder is an automatic email response mechanism. It is not a
separate mailbox into which you can receive mail. It is a specialized mail
account for one way traffic only.... to automatically send prepositioned
information to a potential client or correspondent.
How to create and manage Mailing Lists
Mailing
lists are a handy feature to allow you to disseminate information to multiple
correspondents without having to address them with individual emails. Here’s how to create one (and you can create as many as you wish).
Mailing
List Name: Assign your list a meaningful name, such as
Members, AllHands, Employees, or anything you want. This name will end up being
the name seen in the To: line of the email message received by all the people
on the mailing list.
Disregard
the 4 radio buttons below the Listr Name text box. These features are currently
inactive.
Click
the Add button to create your mailing list.
To
add subscribers to the mailing list, click on Mailing Lists from the Main Menu to get to the
Mailing Lists page. From there, click
the Add Subscriber radio button to get to the Add Subscriber to
Mailing List page.
Enter
the full email address of the new subscriber and click on the Add button.
Note, you can only add new subscribers one at a time… there is no facility for
bulk adding of subscribers.
See
next page for example screen shots.
Sending
and Receiving Mail
There are two
ways to check your email:
Method 1 - Secure Web Browser
HOL has
provided a web-based method to check your email. To protect your privacy, we've restricted the web-based email
access to encrypted connections only. If you don't have a web browser that can
do SSL, you'll have to use Method 2.
Note: This method is foolproof and can be used from anywhere in the world
so long as the user has a connection to the internet and a standard web browser
which supports SSL. It requires no
special configuration. The individual user just clicks on the Check Mail
button on the main page (http://mahiai.aloha.net) and logs in at the next page using the whole
email address (yourname@yourdomain.com) and
password. Here is the screen that follows.
Method 2 - POP Client
Email can also
be downloaded via most traditional POP clients. Use these settings:
|
POP server: mahiai.aloha.net |
Note: When setting up a
user’s POP client, such as Outlook, Outlook Express or Eudora, special care
must be taken to configure the username as username%domainname.com,
and NOT username@domainname.com. The email address itself uses the “@” symbol
but the email program must have the “%” symbol in place of the “@” sign. Examples of the appropriate config screens
follow below:
Note: You can also handle mail via IMAP if your
mail client is capable.
Configuration
Screenshots:
For Outlook:
For Outlook Express:
For
Eudora:
