Internet and Domain Name Services
Email Handling
Introduction Domain Names Email Web Hosting Writing Web Pages
Register Domain Names Web Host Provider
Introduction
As the holder of a Domain Name you can choose whatever email addresses you like, and keep the same addresses if you change internet providers. Depending how the domain is organized, you can have as many email addresses and mailboxes as you like.
You can also have the opportunity for advanced email features such as email forwarding, autoresponders, and mailing lists.
Typical Email Accounts.
A typical dial-up internet account with a local Internet Service Provider provides a mailbox with a unique email address and storage space for messages, often about 5 to 10 megabytes.
Such email accounts really consist of two separate facilities. The first facility is the space on the internet provider's computer, where messages are stored until you collect them using the email program on your computer. The second facility allows you to send email messages, which go first to your Internet Service Provider from where they are sent on to the recipient.
For large businesses with their own computers and internet access, much the same thing happens - there is a facility to store incoming email for each user, and a facility to send email to the mailboxes of other people both inside and outside the business.
Advanced Email Features.
To follow the suggestions on this group of internet pages, you must always have the two facilities referred to above - the ability to send email through a provider's computer, and space on a provider's computer to hold incoming messages before you collect them.
However, the two facilities need not be on computers of the one internet provider - for example you can send outgoing email through the computers of your local dial-up internet provider, and collect your incoming mail from the computers of another provider hosting your internet site in another country. Depending on your needs, there can be good reasons for doing things this way.
Email Forwarding.
An email address can be set up without a mailbox, so that messages sent to that address are automatically forwarded to another nominated email address (which should have an associated mailbox to store messages).
For example, the email address that you tell people about can be an email forwarding address. It forwards messages to the mailbox you have with your local dial-up internet provider. You never need to tell people the email address given to you by your dial-up internet provider, although you will have to use it in contacting your dial-up internet provider. If you change internet providers, or want to temporarily use another mailbox somewhere else, just change the forwarding accordingly and the email forwarding address that everyone knows continues to work.
Some domain registrars provide email forwarding as part of the registration costs. For a small annual cost, other organizations provide forwarding for as many email addresses within your domain as you want.
Autoresponders and Mailing Lists.
Advanced email features such as these are normally associated with hosting of internet sites. Not all providers offer such features, so you need to check first if you want them.
When an email message is sent to an autoresponder, the autoresponder sends a pre-determined reply back to the sender of that message. Autoresponder addresses have the same format as email addresses.
For example
There can be various options associated with autoresponders - some can send back attachments, the frequency at which they respond to the same email address can sometimes be set. They can be used in conjunction with normal email addresses to acknowledge incoming mail, and can be used as independent addresses to distribute information on customer request.
Mailing lists offer a facility so that a message sent to an email address is then distributed to a number of email addresses. Once again, there are various alternatives depending on the internet hosting arrangements.
Spam Email.
Some web hosting allows you to specify types of unwanted email for deletion at the web server (so that it never reaches you), as well as identifying other email that is likely to be spam email. These facilities vary considerably between web hosting providers.
If the email program on your computer can also sort incoming email into different folders, you can create a "spam" folder for all incoming email that has been identified as spam. This folder can be reviewed independently of other email, and it is usually easy to identify and delete unwanted messages without having to read them.
This ability to better deal with unwanted email can be one of the most important reasons for managing your own domain name.
Bamfords, Post Office Box 11, HALL ACT 2618, AUSTRALIA
Phone +(61 2) 6227 5532 Fax +(61 2) 6227 5995
Bamford Industries NSW BN97702171, and John Bamford & Associates NSW L8632225
Copyright ©Bamford Industries 2003-2006
Home Page http://www.bamford.com.au