FaithGroups from Ecunet members may choose to have their Inbox forwarded to an external Internet email address, or they may retrieve their FaithGroups from Ecunet Inbox internally directly from our parent mail server, "mail.ecunet.org."  Below you will find directions on how to use external and internal POP3 mail delivery and pick-up, as well as how to set up "rules" in Outlook Express to sort your messages into folders.

NOTE: Don't let the name POP3 distract you, it is the most common protocol used on the Internet to get electronic mail. However, FaithGroups from Ecunet also supports the newer IMAP protocol to get electronic mail.  To find out more about IMAP, please select the "set-up HELP" link under "IMAP use of FaithGroups from Ecunet" header found at the "Edit Preferences" section of "My Profile." With IMAP, you can skip the section below on "Mail sorting and rules" as IMAP does this function automatically.

Step One: Setting up POP3 in the web interface.

NOTE: Each Inbox on FaithGroups from Ecunet can have only one Internet email address for forwarding. Any other FaithGroups from Ecunet Inbox account that tries to use the same email address for forwarding will be rejected.

Step Two: Setting up your email software client.

Your software client. Once you have selected the email client on your computer that you will be using, you must set your options/preferences. Open the mail client, and enter your FaithGroups from Ecunet "Inbox name" and "Password" in the fields provided. Next, you will tell the mail client where to look to retrieve your FaithGroups from Ecunet Inbox.

Incoming mail. On the field provided for POP or "POP3" (incoming mail server) in the Preferences or Set-up area of your mail client, enter your "FaithGroups from Ecunet Inbox name" and "FaithGroups from Ecunet Inbox password" in the fields for "user name" and "password." IMPORTANT: When entering your inbox name replace spaces with periods. For example, John.Doe or Jane.Smith.

Incoming mail server address. Next, you must next type in the "name" of the POP3 server (incoming mail server) you will be using.

If you are forwarding notes to an external email address, such as provided by your Internet Service Provider (ISP), you must enter their mail server address. This is usually as simple as using the domain name (such as "earthlink.com"), and adding "mail." to the front of it. So the POP3 (incoming mail server) would be "mail.earthlink.com" or "mail.mindspring.com" or "mail.flash.net".  Please contact your ISP if you need more information.

If you are forwarding notes to the FaithGroups from Ecunet internal email address, you will retrieve notes from our parent email server: "mail.ecunet.org."  Please enter this as your POP3 (incoming mail server) address.

Outgoing mail server address (SMTP). In the field provided for SMTP, please type in your Internet Service Provider's outbound mail server address. This is usually as simple as using the domain name (such as "earthlink.com"), and adding "mail." to the front of it. So the SMTP (outgoing mail server) would be "mail.earthlink.com" or "mail.mindspring.com" or "mail.flash.net". Members must use their ISP's outgoing mail server regardless of whether or not they use an internal or external email address!

NOTE: When sending messages or replying to FaithGroups from Ecunet mail from your email client please set your preferences or options to send outbound mail as "plain text" and not "html." By sending mail in plain text FaithGroups from Ecunet members will be able to read your messages in meetings and in their personal Inboxes.

Step-by-step for setting up Outlook Express 5.0 or higher

1) For Outlook Express 5.0 Windows95/98 users go to the [Tools] menu, click on [Accounts], then click on [Add], then [Mail]. The Internet Connection Wizard dialogue box is displayed.

2) You are prompted for your name. Enter your first and last name, then click on [Next]. You are then prompted for your email address. Enter your Ecunet e-mail address, e.g. jane.smith@ecunet.org, or jane.smith@ecunet.org then click [Next].

3) You are then prompted for your "Incoming mail (POP3, IMAP, or HTTP) server," select POP3.

If you are forwarding notes to an external email address, such as provided by your Internet Service Provider (ISP), you must enter their mail server address. This is usually as simple as using the domain name (such as "earthlink.com"), and adding "mail." to the front of it. So the POP3 (incoming mail server) would be "mail.earthlink.com" or "mail.mindspring.com" or "mail.flash.net".  Please contact your ISP if you need more information.

If you are forwarding notes to the FaithGroups from Ecunet internal email address, you will retrieve notes from our parent email server: "mail.ecunet.org."  Please enter this as your POP3 (incoming mail server) address..

5) You are then prompted for your account name and password. Type your inbox name in the "Account name:" box using the following format, Jane.Smith or Jane_Smith. Type your inbox password in the "Password:" box. Click [Next]. The final dialogue box is displayed.

6) Click [Finish] to complete the account setup. Next, click on the [Tools] menu, then [Accounts], then double click on your mail server address, i.e. "mail.ecunet.org." The General tab of the server address Properties box appears. Type your email address in the "Reply address:" box. Click on [Apply], then [OK].

7) Send a trial note addressed to mailrequests@ecunet.org, with Help as the subject line.  This will provide you with commands you can use from your mail client to control your FaithGroups from Ecunet mail account. Click on the [Send/Recv] button to process your mail.

NOTE: You can set up separate identities in Outlook Express 5.0 for several Inboxes in order to maintain the privacy of different Inboxes. To set up a separate identify for a different inbox click on the [File] menu in Outlook Express, then click on [Identities], then [Add New Identity...] You will be prompted to "Type your name:", enter the inbox name you wish to add. You can protect this identity with a password by clicking inside the box to the left of "Ask me for a password when I start." Be sure to write down the password or keep it in a safe place.

Step three: Mail sorting and rules for your Windows or Macintosh mail client.

Windows 95/98 - Filtering your Inbox using Microsoft's Outlook Express (Version 5).

Filtering your incoming mail from the FaithGroups from Ecunet server is a wonderful way to organize your FaithGroups from Ecunet meeting mail. Often one or more meetings you have joined can be very active and several messages from these meetings will arrive in your Inbox folder. Your meeting messages will be mixed with other mail messages which can slow down the reading of your Inbox notes. Sometimes a personal mail message can be missed when it is received within a batch of meeting messages. To eliminate missing messages or the need to wade through several meeting messages you can separate meeting and personal messages by moving your meeting messages to separate folders under your Inbox folder.

1) First create a folder to hold all of your meeting folders. Name the folder, "FaithGroups from Ecunet Meetings." To create the "FaithGroups from Ecunet Meetings" folder, first open Outlook Express. Then using your mouse, point and click on the [File] menu at the top left.

2) Next, click on [New], and then click on [Folder]. The "Create Folder" dialogue box is displayed. The "Inbox" folder should be highlighted. If it is not highlighted, click ONCE on the Inbox folder.

3) Next, click inside the box under "Folder name:" then type FaithGroups from Ecunet Meetings and click [OK]. The "FaithGroups from Ecunet Meetings" folder is now listed under your Inbox folder. Create each of your new meeting folders under your "FaithGroups from Ecunet Meetings" folder starting with the instructions in item 4 below.

4) To filter your email (by meeting name) into specific folders on your computer's desktop using Outlook Express click on the [Tools] menu then click on [Message rules].

5) Next, click on [Mail]. The Message Rules dialogue box is displayed.

6) Next, click on the [New] button. The New Mail Rule dialogue box is displayed. Four available options are displayed in this box, "Select the Conditions for your rule:" "Select the Actions for your rule:" "Rule Description (click on an underlined value to edit it):" "Name of the rule:"

7) Under "1. Select the Conditions for your rule:" point and click your mouse arrow in the box to the left of "Where the To line contains people."

8) Under "2. Select the Actions for your rule:" point and click your mouse arrow in two of the check boxes on the left. First, click in the box to the left of "Move it to the specified folder". Second, click in the box to the left of "Stop processing more rules". NOTE: you will need to scroll down to this second check box.

9) Under "3. Rule Description (click on an underlined value to edit it):" click on "contains people." A new dialogue box is displayed. Type the name of the meeting you would like to filter to a separate folder - for example, TABLE_TALK.topic. NOTE: The meeting name must be entered in uppercase letters followed by .topic and the spelling and format must be exact.

10) Next, click on the [Add] button, and then click on [OK].

11) Next, click on "specified." The "Move" dialogue box is displayed. Here's where you can create a meeting folder under the "FaithGroups from Ecunet Meetings" folder.

12) Next, point your mouse arrow at the "FaithGroups from Ecunet Meetings" folder and click ONCE using your left mouse button. This highlights the "FaithGroups from Ecunet Meetings" folder.

13) Next, click on the [New Folder] button. You will be prompted for a new folder name. Type Table Talk and click [OK]. NOTE: The "Table Talk" folder is created under the "FaithGroups from Ecunet Meetings" folder. Click [OK] again. You are brought back to the "New Mail Rule" dialogue box.

14) Under "4. Name of the rule:" click inside the box containing the words, "New Mail Rule #1." Press the [Del] Delete key or the [Backspace] key to remove "New Mail Rule #1" and replace it with "Table Talk Rule" then click on [OK]. (See the New Mail Rule dialogue box above.)

15) The "Message Rules" dialogue box is displayed again and your new "Table Talk Rule" is listed as one of the rules that will be applied to incoming mail messages. Click on the [Apply Now...] button to apply the new rule to any messages in your Inbox folder. The "Apply Mail Rules Now" dialogue box appears. Click on the [Apply Now] button. After the rule is applied click [OK], then click [Close].

16) Click on [OK]. Mail sent to the "TABLE TALK" meeting on FaithGroups from Ecunet will be moved to the "Table Talk" folder in Outlook Express.

To make rules for all of your FaithGroups from Ecunet meetings copy the Table Talk rule above by clicking on the [Tools] menu, then clicking on [Message Rules], then [Mail], then click on "Table Talk Rule" to highlight it.

Next, click on [Copy], then the [Modify] button. Go to box #3 and change the 'contains "MEETING_NAME.topic"' link to the new MEETING_NAME.topic. For example, contains "ACTIVE_MEETINGS.topic". Next, click on TABLE TALK folder and create a new folder for the new meeting. For example, ACTIVE MEETINGS. Go to box #4 and change the name of the rule to the name of the new meeting. For example, "Active Meetings Rule", then click on [Apply Now...], then [Apply Now], then [OK] and [Close].

Follow the procedure above to move all of the FaithGroups from Ecunet meetings you have joined to their own meeting folders in Outlook Express 5.0.

Macintosh - Filtering your Inbox using Microsoft's Outlook Express (Version 5).

In the Macintosh version of Outlook Express, you can also use rules to organize your FaithGroups from Ecunet mail.

1) On the Tools menu, click "Rules."

2) Click the "POP Mail" tab.

3) Click "New." The following dialogue box will be displayed.

4) In the Rule name box, type a name for the rule. (A "rule" is really a folder where your FaithGroups from Ecunet inbox will be filed. You will create a rule for each meeting name. Call the first one THE MACINTOSH.)

5) Under "If," and next to Execute select "if any criteria are met."

6) In the first drop down menu select "Any To" recipient.

7) In the next drop down menu select "Contains."

8) In the text box, type THE_MACINTOSH. NOTE: every meeting you create a rule for must be in this format.

9) Under the "Then" heading open the first drop down menu and select "Move."

10) In the next drop down menu select "Choose Folder." A new window will open, click new and name it THE MACINTOSH.

NOTE: You must do all of the above for each meeting you want delivered to Outlook Express. All personal notes will come to the default inbox in Outlook Express.

ALSO: Make sure all the enabled boxes are checked next to each rule.

Now when you use Outlook Express, along with the standard folders in the left window i.e.; Inbox, Outbox you will also see folders with your meeting names. After you do a send receive you will see numbers next to each folder indicating the number of notes in the meeting. Click on the folder called THE MACINTOSH to read those notes.

You can stop this process for any meeting by opening Tools/Rules and unchecking the enabled box next to the meeting name.