Dan's Mail Format Site:

Configuration

See also Polish translation of this page provided by Milana Sharapova (done by others in their own site, with my permission)

NOTE: I haven't been getting around to updating these "configuration" articles nearly as often as I should. Mail programs and webmail interfaces are constantly coming out with new versions, often radically different from earlier ones, and regrettably, often less compliant with traditional standards and practices of mail formatting with each revision. If an article is out of step with the current version, my apologies; I'll try to update it one of these days.

Here's the practical part of this site... it's where you can find out specific information about the e-mail program or Web-based mail service you use -- in particular, how to configure it so as to comply, as much as possible, with the standards and traditions of Internet e-mail, and cause the least trouble for people at the other end who may not use the same software you do. These comments may also help you decide what mail program or service to use, if you haven't decided yet -- seeing how easy or difficult it is to follow proper standards with each of them may be the fact you need to make up your mind. (If the mail program you use, or are considering using, isn't on this list, e-mail me and suggest it; if you've got some comments on how you've configured your program, they'd be helpful too.)

The Bat -- Fuel up the Batmobile and try out this standards-compliant mail program.
Dialog -- It's getting to be a popular Usenet news reader, and it supports e-mail too.
Eudora -- Once the dominant PC mail program, it's still around now despite declined popularity.
GMail -- Google's much-talked-about Web-based mail, originally available by invitation only.
Hotmail -- It was the pioneering web-based e-mail service, but it got gobbled up by Microsoft and is now part of the Evil Empire.
iOS -- The operating system of iPhones, iPods, iPads, and whatever other iDevices Apple may put out, complete with its own built-in e-mail app.
Juno -- A free web-based mail service that also offers various free and paid options to use their own software to connect to the Internet.
Lycos -- It started as a search engine, but once they got Portalitis, they had to be everything to everybody, and e-mail is one of their services.
Mozilla / Thunderbird -- The open-source browser project has put out a mail program, both standalone (as Thunderbird) and as part of the Mozilla / SeaMonkey suite.
Outlook -- A.K.A. "Outhouse" or "Lookout", it's the business-oriented mail-and-more program you either love or hate.
Outlook Express -- Actually a very different program from Outlook, despite the name.
Pegasus Mail -- A very popular mail program in the early '90s, it's still hanging in there, and supports some standards better than most programs.
Pine -- A text-based mail reader for Unix or Windows.
PocoMail -- Yet another GUI-based mail reader for Windows.
SquirrelMail -- Many ISPs and Web hosting providers use this open-source program for their Web-based mail.
Yahoo -- Yet Another Heap Of... Oh, darn, what do I complete the acronym with? (By e-mail, Greg Porter suggested "Offal", and Baiya Egahu suggested "Ordure".) Anyway, it's a popular Web mail service.
Yahoo Groups -- A commonly-used mailing list service allowing reading and posting by e-mail or by a Web interface.

Dan's Mail Format Site:

Configuration

Links