Email Clients

Email clients are applications that access email from email accounts. They can use a number of different settings related to how they handle email. Below, are the three main types of mail reading protocols email clients or mail readers use.

Protocols:

IMAP

POP

MAPI

These protocols have various versions.

IMAP Emails are kept on a mail server until they are deleted Both web browsers and email clients can access the email account's emails The email client updates the mail server as changes to email folders are made The mail server updates the contents of the email client as changes are made to the email account's Inbox

POP or POP3 Emails are saved on local devices with an email client set for a POP email account Once the email messages are saved from the mail server to the local device, they are deleted from the mail server All emails are kept on the computer or mobile device These days, POP3 is being used instead of POP

MAPI Microsoft's version of IMAP Can only be used with Microsoft email clients Provides full functionality for Microsoft accounts when using a Microsoft email client

Email Clients Currently Being Used

Thunderbird

Microsoft Outlook

Windows Mail and Calendar

Apple Mail

Gmail

Postbox

EmailTray

Spike

General Layout

The layout of most email clients is as follows.

The email account folders for each added email account are listed on the left pane of the email client's window for each email account. On the right pane, the Inbox is displayed or the selected folder of the email account being viewed. Users can switch between email accounts, too. At the top, there is usually a menu bar containing menu options. An option to add a third pane to the right may be available in email clients. Some email clients like Windows Mail and Calendar have icons for various functions on the main window. Almost all if not all email clients contain a search box for emails in the layout of the given email client.

Priority of Emails

The priority of an email represents the importance of an email to the recipient. In the Inbox, high and low priority emails are represented with a color coded symbol next to them in the listing of received emails. Normal priority emails do not have any indication of the priority level of them.

Connected Accounts

Email accounts can be linked to each other in many cases. An example of an email service which permits email accounts to be linked to each other is Outlook. In Outlook, external email accounts and other Microsoft email accounts can be connected to the Outlook email account. Connected accounts do appear in email clients just like in webmail. Other email service providers like GMail and AOL provide the ability to link email accounts, too. Linking email accounts must be done from the webmail interface. On the left-most pane of numerous email clients like Thunderbird, the linked or connected accounts' folders will appear alongside the added email account.

Email Grouping

Email messages can be sorted into various groups. By default, they are sorted by date. However, other sorting conditions can be used, too. On example is, displaying emails by, Subject. The order of email listings can also be cannot display latest emails upon opening the inbox first or vice-versa such that emails are displayed in ascending order or descending order by date. Emails can be ordered by size or whether or not they have file attachments, too. The major types of email groupings for ordering them are listed below.

Major Email Ordering Methods

By:

Date

Subject

Correspondent(s)

Priority

There are other ordering methods too, for email listings. Depending on the webmail platform, this may vary. Very often, by clicking on the column headings in mailbox folders, the order of email listings can be switched from ascending to descending and vice-versa. For convenience purposes, it is best to have the newest emails appear in the inbox when it is opened. Switching the order of emails in listings in email account folders can be useful when searching for specific emails. For example, if you are looking for High priority emails, you may want to temporarily alter the order of emails in the inbox to display the latest High priority emails at the top of the inbox. Filter can be used to order emails by using a combination of filtering terms.

Email Attachments

Email Attachments

Configuring Thunderbird

See the following link(s).

Mozilla Thunderbird Support - Manual Account Configuration

Configuring Microsoft Outlook and Windows Live Mail

See the following link(s).

Outlook:

Microsoft Support - POP, IMAP, and SMTP settings

Windows Live Mail:

mail.com - Setting Up Windows Live Mail

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