November 2007 Email Update

Today I installed upgrades to the email system to increase security and provide more convenient spam filtering.

Messages tagged by SpamAssassin as spam are now diverted to a spam folder in your account on the server. They will no longer show up in your inbox, marked as Spam.
Messages in the server spam folder are automatically deleted after 10 days.
If you want to look in the spam folder, you can do it through the web (using SquirrelMail) or using IMAP (see below). If you don't see your spam folder, or any other folder that you have previously created, see the "Troubleshooting Note" below.
Now that spam messages are being diverted from your inbox, you can set up your smartphone or other device to check your mail without being buzzed every 10 minutes by someone wanting to sell you Viagra of dubious origin. I recommend using IMAP for this as IMAP supports push email. This means that your phone will receive emails instantly as they arrive on the server (like a BlackBerry), instead of only checking mail at a set interval.

Secure (TLS) SMTP is now available.
You can now use SMTP authentication when sending mail. This helps when sending emails from WiFi hotspots or in other cases when your IP changes frequently. Previously, you were required to check your mail on the server before you would be allowed to send mail from a given IP address. Look in the options of your email client to set this up, and remember to use your full email address as the username.

IMAP

IMAP has always been available but has not seen much use. If you use IMAP to store your email, you will see the same messages and folders on your desktop mail client as you do on webmail or on your smartphone if you have an IMAP client on your smartphone. You can set up IMAP in your email client using the same account information as you use for POP mail. You may have to tell your client to use SSL or secure IMAP in order for it to work properly.

If you aren't seeing your spam folder, or any other folder that you might have previously created, in SquirrelMail, click on Folders and look at the bottom of the page. You should see a list of subscribed and unsubscribed folders. Select "Spam" and choose Subscribe. Do this for any other folders that you might have previously created. This should automatically happen for most people.

If you have any questions, experience any problems, or need help please contact us.

Jesse Kovach
Lead System Administrator