Using IMAP in Eudora

With the server storage for a CalMail email account having been elevated to 100MB, it has become realistic to store user email remotely, which in particular may appeal to users who need to access it from more than one location.

In its most basic form, email at the user's end is stored either locally or remotely. The latter has for many years been in the shape of so-called Unix shell mail, whereas the former has traditionally been represented by email client software using the POP protocol, which downloads mail messages to your computer before you can read them.

In recent years, another two email approaches have become popular as well. One is webmail such as the one that CalMail offers, which is basically Unix shell mail with a browser interface. The other option is IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol), an email protocol that is different from POP, but email client software such as Eudora that supports one protocol usually supports the other as well nowadays.

You can apply remote storage to POP to some extent by enabling the option generally referred to as "leave mail on server", which means that when email is checked, the messages are not deleted from the server at that time, so you can go to another computer and download them there as well.

The semi-remote IMAP protocol takes this a step further, as the actual mailbox folder structure is designed to reside on the email server to assure that the various local structures are synchronized with each other. While this appears ideal for users that use more than one computer, there are some additional details.

One such detail is that IMAP basically requires you to stay connected to the Internet whenever you work with your email. And due to the network overhead of transferring data from the email server, a regular modem may not offer an ample speed, which is something to consider as secondary computers are often located in the user's home away from campus. Using the IMAP protocol subsequently relies on the working order of non-local networking as well as the email server.

Another detail is that you may need to sync your local mailbox folder structure manually whenever you make changes to it. To sync on the PC, right-click on the top mailbox and select Resynchronize Mail Folder from the menu; on the Mac, click on the top mailbox then, at the lower part of the mailbox window, click on the far right icon and choose Refresh Mailbox List. An additional aspect of the semi-remotely IMAP is that while mailbox folders are aligned, filters are not, so you would need to change your filters to point to the new mailboxes. Use the same procedure for filters as you would with POP. You will also need to re-create your mailboxes under the IMAP structure and move your mail from the old mailboxes into the new ones.

If you use Eudora for Macintosh and would like to switch from POP to IMAP, select Special -> Settings from the menu, then go to the icon at the left labeled Checking Mail, click IMAP and then the OK button. You may also want to click the SSL icon farther down and enable "Required (TLS)" by "SSL for IMAP" to ensure that the email communication between your computer and the email server is secure.

If you use Eudora for Windows and would like to switch from POP to IMAP, select Tools -> Options from the menu, then go to the icon at the left labeled Incoming Mail, click IMAP and then the OK button. You may also want to click the Checking Mail icon and enable "Required, STARTTLS" by "Secure sockets when receiving" to ensure that the email communication between your computer and the email server is secure.