Thread: broader email perspective desired

From kaharastudio
Currently I am a guest on an ISP account, AOL. A few questions in a row that are linked...questions because I don't know underlying functions.
If I set up my own account with an ISP is there something I should know that works best with Blue Voda? Is there ISP service through Blue Voda...?...this being a key to my lack of knowledge about ISP and Web Hosting and if this overlaps in Blue Voda. Is AOl adequate? Is there some reason I should really keep my email account with AOL for example vs. running all my emails through my Web Sight? I look at the e-mail software options, which seems pretty straight forward, but I don't have a reference for choosing between them. Does one work better with particular ISP?, for example. So a visual recap...I fire up my computer, the AOL icon is on the screen, if I'm starting from scratch and looking for an ISP, and I want a nice clean flow with Blue Voda and the Web Hosting, what is recommended? Or is it just the old six of one half a dozen...
Thanks.

Hi, if you wish to use the FREE Bluevoda & soho website builders, you have to have an account with Vodahost. BV won’t work with other ISP’s.
With emails, you can use aol or the ones that you will have with your new domain & account at VH. http://www.vodahost.com/prices.htm

ISP: Internet service Provider. Usually a term used to designate the company that allows you to connect to the internet. It has NOTHING to do with VH or BlueVoda.

As Chris said, to use BlueVoda you need to have a VodaHost account.

Having a connection to Internet through a ISP will usually allow you to also have one or more email addresses with this ISP. However, this is not in your domain. You can, create as many email addresses as you like, in your own domain.

Hi. Thank you.
I don't have any reference point for choosing the various email software options. Do you have recommendations?
kaharastudio.com

Your post is supposed to be a question?
It would have been easier to offer some insight had you "qualified" yourself a bit more in your statement by listing the functions you require, would like to avail yourself with, or hope to ****** to using.
>> My "read" on this is not so much a question of ISP's (since you obviously have connection) but on a real utility.

Do you currently or plan to perform email blasts? If yes, what kind of volume are you talking about?

Do you need a specific formatting in your emails (HTML, Plain Text, Rich, etc.) that might predicate which utility would be most suitable?

Do you prefer to use templates, or do you create on the fly? (Many 3rd party utilities offer different combinations of function, according to specialty)

Are you requiring compliancy in your email programs, such as "opt-out," automatic filtering (bounce management), automated response, etc.?

Are you hoping to distribute emails as scheduled or on demand? (This would predicate an automated distribution capability, as might be found in ACT or another stand-alone).

See my point?

If it IS about ISP's, then the same criteria would apply: looking for speed, volume, price, etc.

Eric: I beleve he was only asking if VH could have any problems (as far as email functions are concerned) with particular ISP's.

Under this point of view, from what i have read in this forum, many advise to avoid AOL.

I have no personal experience.

Kahara: Not knowing what country you are located in, makes it tough for anyone to recommend any ISP for you. You may want to let us know what country you are in and then some people here on the forum, I'm sure will jump in and let you know what ISP they use, good or bad experiences, etc. I know there are people here who use AOL as their way to connect to the internet and it works fine for them. There are different ways to connect to the internet, such as dial-up, cable, satellite, etc and depending on where you are located people have different experiences. I would recommend asking people around you, neighbors, friends, co-workers who they use and recommend as an ISP.

Once you determine your ISP that you use, I am assuming you want to build a website and have it hosted by Vodahost. As Naval above said, the ISP has nothing to do with Vodahost or BlueVoda Webuilder. With that said, I highly recommend VH and BV for your website building and hosting. For the cost, it is Great!

Email....Once you have a Vodahost account, you can create your own email addresses (as many as you like) that is connected to your website such as kahara@yourdomain.com , etc. In order to access your emails you will need to have a program such as outlook express, microsoft outlook and there are many others, but these seem to be the most popular. Your other option, which many people do, is to keep you AOL email account or msn or yahoo. It really is up to you and how you want to check your emails. Another program that people use to check emails is www.mail2web.com which allows you to check you email anywhere in the world from any machine. I actually have outlook express that I used to receive incoming mail from VH, I use qwest for outgoing mail, I also have a hotmail account and I use mail2web. So, some use all different email accounts.

Again, I would check with people you know in your country, city, neighboorhood for the ISP, I would sign up with VH as your hosting account for your website, and I personally like Outlook Express for checking my email.

OE (and Windows Live Mail, the equivalent for Vista) are very good (i use the second one, that makes a GREAT job with spam mail) are both very good pieces of software.

However, the ISP might also be important, especually if it blocks port 25 which you need to send mail through your own domain email addresses.

Kali Mera, General!

Right....as I mentioned, for many, the first consideration seems to be price for ISP subscriptions (unfortunately) rather than the capabilities of ISP's to deliver the features that make the experience overall either favorable or a handicap!

For example, to provide the best all-around abilities for laptops in my organization, I went to Florida to pick up the Verizon Broadband cards since they are not available on the West Coast yet, and offer by far the best overall performace than the competitors (Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile, etc.). Even though they are the best Broadband cards out there, broadband itself is not the most optimal performer, and regularly chokes on large file transfers.....this would be the considerations of overall reliability and convenience vs. high functionality.

For my static offce connections and my personal home office, I prefer hi-speed cable, which allows me to download/transfer/update very large files and loads comfortably and quickly......and I was able to crank out good deals from my local cable provider (Comcast) which allowed me to evolve past my infamous satellite connection I suffered with previously.

Each comes with their own "package" of bundled services, but it is not mandatory that you simply stick with their services just to take advantage of the connection they provide: I host my own centralized services via a real-time "partner" insofar as I an on an "Enterprise Level" of services. Even so, for casual communications, I often use the various email functions that they come with....at least I have the option to choose!

But, as you mentioned, there are certain reputations surrounding providers not so much for price nowadays as much as for the added-in advertising or "stroking the community" that is held as a captive marketing segment AND the caps on functionality (file transfer size limits, email volume restrictions, number of aliases, compatibility with other programs resident on your system/in your operations setup, etc.), and this is where AOL, Google, MSN, and Yahoo fail to rise above the tolerable level of service for fee.

Whichever ISP is selected, it needs to be considered as a long-term partnership due simply for the challenge of changing/transferring much of the personal data and contact information, as well as for your evolving use patterns and growing requiements for continued flawless online performance. How much it what you want really worth?

Wow!!! Thanks for all this response and effort.
Just to let you all know...I've never used a forum before and I don't really know the procedures/etiquette. I posted some questions about the forum in the "general" category...so until I figure out how to really use this service I'm afraid I'm a little sloppy.
Responding to the above:
*I am already with VH and have been since my first post.
*I live near Denver, Colorada, USA.
*I am currently using AOL as my ISP as a guest on someone elses account...so I was curious to know, before I set up my own ISP if someone new of an ISP that worked better with VH, or conversely...something like..."definitely don't go with such and such because you may have trouble with this and that."

*The email software I am talking about are: outlook 2002, 2003, express, thunderbird, netscape, etc. It is this step in the setting up of the email that I don't know how to choose from. The steps of setting up one of these choices looks pretty straight forward so I don't need any help on that front, it is just the choosing between them.

At this point, my email needs/concerns are:
1) Privacy for myself and clients. I want to be able to ensure clients that the info they provide (not credit card info...just personal info) is confidential and also I don't want spam to be able to slip through. I only know what spam is, I have no idea about the underlying workings of spam and how I might inadvertantly open myself up to undesirable email.
2) I need clients to be able to answer a few set questions and I need to be able to respond in a direct fashion. It looks like this can be done with a form but I don't know if that is preferable over someone just directly sending me an email. Later I may need to have an auto response capability.
Does any of the above make a difference in terms of choosing between Outlook, netscape, thunderbird, etc.?
Thank you all very much!

I would suggest sticking with Office (Outlook) 2003, as Office 2007 no longer has the ability to create email messages in HTML, having been universally "simplified" to utilize only the editor in Word.

As far as browsers? I am bouncing between IE6 and Slim Browser (clean, and uses Tabs).....and am avoiding IE7 and anything Vista as long as I can. (Too many reasons to detail here --- search the forum to come up with many a thread of lively discussions). I have also given up FireFox, as there are still issues remaining on how webpages are displayed and present. AOL clogs your computer, and inserts a type of "spyware" that is nefarious at best.

When it comes to Privacy, that is a whole arena of it's own, and really is not part of the connectivity or email issue whatsoever: since you are in the US, you need to have a Patriot Act + Cann compliant Privacy Policy cognizantly established and maintained, and seemingly, you have a need to support that with an SSL certificate to be installed on your website/account.
If you are looking to transact business proper on your website, there are multiple aspects for you to consider: using one of the many available eCommerce cart utilities, or the option to use the PayPal as your processor (which directs traffic to THEIR secure area).

Back to Email: since you mentioned email and Privacy in the same vein, methinks you would do well to search this forum to bone up on the many important issues surrounding email compliance, methodology, and systems that can be used effectively......and the measures of compliance you are accountable for. Not only will you be self-assured, so will your clients and visitors.
>> Use these words in your forum Advanced search: "email compliance, Patriot" and see what you come up with.....maybe even plug in my name and click on "Show Posts" might be a more direct route to good results.

Good Luck.

Generalissimo Sir!
This gives me much to chew on and even a kind gesture in the direction I might travel.
Thank You

Kahara: I am in Colorado Springs, CO and as I mentioned above, I use qwest dsl as our ISP. We have been very happy with their service here in Colorado Springs. I would not use AOL because of what Vasili has said. Outlook Express or Outlook 2003 would be good choices for your email software. We look forward to hearing more from you as you begin your journey into webbuilding. It really is a lot of fun!

Kahara back again.
OK. This shows my ignorance...or just total newness to this. I had no idea that Outlook 2003 or Express, etc. were connected with the ISP. As far as I new that software was going to be a part of the steps in the tutorials. So I'm looking around for where these programs might be. Do other people just know this or are a lot of people starting off where I am? If that's the case then there doesn't seem to be any obvious info that says "look to your ISP for this software...these are just the steps for how to set up something that has nothing to do with BV or VH." Anyway, all I see on the system I am using is Outlook Express. Does this software just come with the ISP I am signed up with so that I don't really have a choice as to which one to use?

Dream Lady,
Thanks. OK. That is pretty clear. I've been moving around a bit lately...but it looks like my first step is to get my own ISP account again. Do you happen to know if I can set up a Quest account without having my own phone line...this is part of my moving around alot. Or...if not, do you have another recommendation for an ISP that isn't dependent on having my own land line?
Kahara
P.S. Do you have any idea why, once in a while, after I have already logged in, I go to post a reply and I get the following message..."You do not have permission to perform this action. Please refresh the page and login before trying again." ?? And in the Posting Rules box it shows I can still perform those functions.

The email program you use has nothing to do with your ISP. On my computer I have Microsoft Office and my particular version came with Outlook and Outlook Express. I prefer Outlook Express and so I use that program to send and receive emails. Since I have my own Hosting account with Vodahost with unlimited emails, I choose to use my hosting account to set up my email addresses. If you view the tutuorials (found above) it will guide you through, how to set up your email account in your vodahost cpanel, as well as the steps you need to take on your own computer. Depending on the ISP you go with, they may require that you use their outgoing smtp to send emails. This is something they will tell you. If not, you can use vodahost for incoming and outgoing.

I'll be honest, in that it is not easy to understand all of this if you are brand new to all of this. But I encourage you to do a search in the forum under the various categories. There have been thousands of posts on various aspects of your questions. That's how I learned alot, was just reading a lot of the others posts. For any of us to try and explain in detail how you need to go about getting an ISP, and selecting an email program, is a little much, because there is so much involved.

Once you are set up and ready to go, please ask your heart away about the bluevoda webbuilder and vodahosting and we will be here to help in any way we can.

Thanks.
You have cleared some things up for me.
Kahara.

Originally Posted by navaldesign

OE (and Windows Live Mail, the equivalent for Vista) are very good (i use the second one, that makes a GREAT job with spam mail) are both very good pieces of software.

However, the ISP might also be important, especually if it blocks port 25 which you need to send mail through your own domain email addresses.

Please help I have these problems with my Windows Mail in South Africa, please please help all I want is my own email address with BV as my host.

It is impossible to hel you from a distance. However, there is a full step by step tutorial about setting up your email account in Outlook Express. Windows Live Mail is VERY similar, so have a look at http://www.vodahost.com/tut_email.htm

i have watched the tutorial and i have tried, almost everything possible, are they working on something at BV specific for Windows Mail?

As already said, Windows Mail is the same as OutLook Express as long as settings are concerned.