How to Choose the Right Email Setup for Your Email Accounts: POP, IMAP, or WebMail

There are three ways available to access your email with most website hosting accounts. You can choose from POP, IMAP, or Webmail. Which one is best for you? The overview below will explain the basics about how each works and when it might be a great choice for your email access.

POP: POP stands for Post Office Protocol and it’s easiest to understand if you think of the server as your post office. Mail is sent, the post office (server) receives it, and then your mail program (Outlook, Eudora, etc) goes to the post office and picks up your mail. The mail is then saved on your computer and is no longer on the server. Just like when you receive a letter in the mail, you end up with the only copy of that letter, and you don’t need to go back to the post office to read your letter. If your mail is critically important I recommend running regular backups of your mail program if you use POP.

POP works well if:
* You use one computer to access your email.
* You are the only one who needs access to the email account.
* You have a dialup connection or sometimes work offline and want access to your email without being connected to the internet. (Not required, POP works great with always on connections like DSL or cable as well.)
* You want to keep your mail stored on your computer so you can easily back it up to an external drive or online service like Mozy.

IMAP: IMAP stands for Internet Message Access Protocol. IMAP works in an “online” type mode where you connect to the server for your mail and all mail remains on the server, instead of being transferred to your computer*. You can create folders on the server and move mail around, delete mail, etc. and it’s all being done on the server. With IMAP you can then access that mail from multiple computers. Depending on your connection speed and how much mail is stored in your account IMAP can be slow to access. All mail is backed up by your host whenever they run backups. I recommend also keeping a local backup of your hosting accoung if your mail is critically important and not depending on the server backups.
* There are some IMAP programs which can be set to allow you to save a copy of the email on your local computer. You’d need to contact support for your email program to find out if your program supports this.

IMAP works well if:
* You need to access your email regularly from multiple computers.
* You are on a fast, always on type of internet connection (DSL, Cable, or similar).
* You regularly clear out old email and are able to keep the email in your box under the limit for your account (never deleting email that’s stored in an IMAP account can cause you to hit your account limit and make mail bounce back to senders until the limit it changes or old mail is deleted).

Webmail: Most website hosts offer a choice of different programs clients can use. Your host may offer Horde, SquirrelMail, Roundcube or other options. With webmail all mail stays on the server and you can access it from any computer that has an internet connection and browser. You login to webmail through your browser and can read and send messages through it.

Webmail works well if:
* You want to be able to access your email online from multiple computers.
* You would rather check your mail in a web browser and not deal with configuring a program on your computer to handle mail via IMAP or POP.
* You regularly clear out old email and are able to keep the email in your box under the limit for your account (never deleting email that’s stored in an webmail account can cause you to hit your account limit and make mail bounce back to senders until the limit it changes or old mail is deleted).
* You are traveling and want to access email while traveling.

Email setup can vary from server to server so be sure to check with your host for any specific email access questions.

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

Michelle Shaeffer is the CEO of Creo Communico LLC, a website hosting and design firm exclusively for small and home based businesses. Our mission is to provide affordable website hosting along with resources and support to help our clients succeed, including 300+ video tutorials, a choice of free site builders, and dozens of easy install scripts. Visit www.creocommunico.com today for a selection of free website management guides on domain names, website hosting, e-commerce and more.

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