POP3 Accounts

What is a POP3 account? How do I use it? Look in here to find out.

How do I add an extra pop3 account (mailbox)?
 Go to the Mail &gt; Addresses area of our web panel and click the "create a new email address" link. Choose an email address for this new mailbox. Make sure the "will be delivered to these email addresses" option is selected. Also be sure to check off the "deliver to this mailbox:" option. Name your new mailbox. Create a password for it. Set its disk quota and inbox rotation preferences. Click "Create Address" and you're done.. it will take up to an hour for the new mailbox to work on the server though! 

What is my POP3 username to check mail sent to my email address?
You can find your email username by going to our Web Control Panel and clicking on the "Mail" tab, then "Manage Email".

Can I use email programs like Outlook to read mail from my pop3 account?
You can read email at your pop3 account using any standard email software such as MS Outlook, Netscape Mail, or Eudora. The specific method will vary based on the client you use, but you'll always have to set your incoming server and SMTP server as "mail.yourdomain.com" and enter the username and password for the mailbox you want to check.

You can choose either IMAP or POP3 as the server type.

What's the difference between POP3 and IMAP?
POP3 automatically downloads all emails from the inbox, while IMAP lets you view the emails on the server in the inbox and any other folders. More details are on the POP3 vs IMAP page.

Should I leave messages on the server?

 * Should you leave your email messages on the mail server?

That depends, but in general, if you're using POP, the answer is no.

We highly encourage users to delete their messages from the server, as it results in better performance for everyone involved (including you!)


 * What's this whole "leaving messages on the server" business?

To check your mail, your POP client logs into the mail server, and asks if there are any new messages. If the answer is yes, your POP client downloads those new messages from the server to your work or home desktop. Since your messages are now safe on your desktop, there is no reason to keep them on the server. Hence, at this point, most POP clients also tell the server to delete those new messages.

However, some users configure their POP clients to leave the messages on the server, even after they have already downloaded them safely to their desktop, for any of these reasons:


 * They want an exact copy of all their emails at work and at home. (IMAP is a better solution for the work/home situation than is POP, and in addition, leaving your messages on the servers places unnecessary burdens on the mail servers.)
 * They want a remote backup. (If their local computer crashes or is stolen, they'll be able to re-download their email.)
 * They're unaware that their mail client's settings are to leave messages on the server.

Here's why leaving mail on the server creates a burden.

Scenario 1: A user has 300 messages in her INBOX, leaves her messages on the server, and has her POP client check for new messages ever 5 minutes. This means that every 5 minutes the mail server must search through all 300 messages looking for new messages.

Scenario 2: Take the scenario above, and imagine that 1000 users were doing exactly the same thing. Now there are every 5 minutes, 300,000 messages are being searched, an equivalent of 60,000 messages every minute!

When you consider that we've found some users with 25,000 messages in their INBOX, you can see how this has spiraled out of control in the past!

Please, if you're using POP, be kind to everyone and follow the simple advice found in this article.

If you really must leave your messages on the server, you should really be using IMAP, as it was designed for exactly that.

If you used to leave messages on the server and now you want to delete them, you can do so just by using an IMAP client (including our webmail), or by just chaging your POP3 settings to no longer leave messages on the server!

Improving Mail Performance for Everyone!
If you primarily use POP to retrieve and read your mail, your client may be improperly configured to leave mail on the server. When lots of users make this mistake, it can slow your mail server to a near screeching halt.

Following the steps below will help speed up your mail server, and will not change in any way your mail experience (at least this is true in 99% of cases).

If you're a typical user, you should just follow the steps below. If you are curious, and you wish to learn more about the reasons why, please read: Should I leave messages on the server?

Outlook: Click "Tools"->"Accounts" Click on the "Mail" Tab Select your Dreamhost POP mail account from the list (eg mail.mydomain.com) Click on "Properties" Click on the "Advanced Tab" Uncheck "Leave a copy of messages on the server". If you prefer to leave the above box checked, then please check "Remove from server when deleted from 'Deleted Items'" Click "OK"

Netscape: Click "Edit"->"Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings" Find your Dreamhost POP mail account from the list (eg myname@mydomain.com) Click on the SubMenu "Server Settings" under your POP mail account Uncheck "Leave messages on server" If you prefer to leave the above box checked, then please check "Delete messages on server when they are deleted locally" Click "OK"

Eudora: Click "Tools"->"Personalities" Right click on your Dreamhost POP mail account and select 'Properties' Click on the "Incoming Mail" Tab Uncheck "Leave messages on server" If you prefer to leave the above box checked, then please check "Delete from server when emptied from Trash." Click "OK"