| Post Office Protocol (POP) and Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) is a widely used method for retrieving e-mail. Using POP is most suited for situations where you access your email from just one machine. IMAP is more appropriate if you access your email from multiple computers. A POP-enabled e-mail program simply checks your email at specified intervals and by connecting and subsequently disconnecting from a pop server. During this process, any new email is removed from the pop server and downloaded locally to your personal computer. Because your email is downloaded to your computer, it is available for you to read even though your computer may not be connected to the Internet.
Contrary to POP, IMAP connects to an imap server and stays connected as long as you have your email program open. Any new messages will show up in your INBOX but will not be downloaded. This is convenient to screen your email and only download the messages that you actually need which may be useful on slower Internet connections. IMAP uses "message flags" that allow you to ensure that no matter where you check your email you know which messages you've replied to, which you flagged for deletion, and which messages you have not read. Many IMAP programs allow you to keep a cached copy of email locally that you have downloaded (i.e. read) although in general, it is best to be sure you are connected to the Internet when accessing your e-mail.
Beantree provides both POP and IMAP services for each account. If your primary domain name you receive email is called mydomain.com then you can set your email software to access your e-mail using the server name "mail.mydomain.com".
|
|