Configuring Mail Manually

If Mail cannot automatically configure itself to work with your email account, you may need to configure the remaining steps manually with the following steps:

1. Follow the steps in the preceding section, Configuring the Mail Program for Your Email Account, until you reach the point at which Mail cannot automatically configure itself to work with your email account.

2. Click Continue. A dialog appears, asking for your incoming mail server, as shown in Figure 43-2.

   

   Figure 43-2. The Incoming Mail Server dialog lets you define the name of the server that stores your email.

3. Click the Account Type pop-up menu and choose POP, IMAP, or Exchange. In general, a POP account is used for individual accounts, while IMAP and Exchange accounts are more often used by corporations to set up email accounts for employees.

4. Click in the Description text box and type any text that identifies your email account, such as Personal Mail. Whatever you type here is for your benefit only, so you can make up any descriptive name.

5. Click in the Incoming Mail Server text box and type the server name, such as popisp.net or mail.isp.net. Mail tries to contact your email server to verify that you can access it.

6. Click Continue. An Incoming Mail Security dialog appears, as shown in Figure 43-3.

7. Click the Authentication pop-up menu and choose a method, such as Password. (Choose the other options only if your email account requires these other options, such as MD5 Challenge-Response or NTLM. The company running your email account can tell you which settings to choose.)

8. Click Continue. An Outgoing Mail Server dialog appears, as shown in Figure 43-4.

9. Click in the Description text box and type any text that helps you identify the mail server name, such as Acme Mail Server.

10. Click in the Outgoing Mail Server text box and type the mail server name (also called the outgoing mail server or the smtp server), such as smtp.isp.net.

    

    Figure 43-3. The Incoming Mail Security dialog lets you choose how to restrict access to your email account.

    

    Figure 43-4. The Outgoing Mail Server dialog lets you define the name of the server that will send your messages out over the Internet.

11. Click in the User Name text box and type your username.

12. Click in the Password text box and type your password.

13. Click Continue. Mail tries to verify that your chosen mail server is working. If it succeeds, an Account Summary dialog appears, as shown in Figure 43-5.

    

    Figure 43-5. The Account Summary dialog displays your email account information.

14. (Optional) Select or clear the Take account online checkbox. If selected, this option tries to retrieve new messages from your email account as soon as you click the Create button.

15. Click Create. The Mail window appears and displays your account as an Inbox folder in the left pane.