Can T-Bird work with Hotmail ?

[DanRaisch]

IMAP is a more functional and convenient option for anyone who accesses their email account(s) from multiple computers. Perhaps they use their desktop at home, a different desktop at work, a laptop on the road, a workstation at their library, etc. In such cases they can reach all of the messages on the server, sent and received, from any of those computers. That benefit becomes moot if the user wholly or primarily works from only one computer and/or, as kerft pointed out, wants to be more "hands on" in managing their messages, including archiving their mail. POP is also a good choice for those whose email provider (particularly ISPs) don't offer sufficient server storage space for their needs.

[BuddhaNature]

More good points. Thanks very much, Dan. Have a clearer picture now.

[tanstaafl]

The problem with the offline folders for a IMAP account is if the original messages (or folders) are deleted the offline copies get deleted when Thunderbird sync's the remote and offline folders. However, you could use messages filters to automate copying the messages to "Local Folders", where they are not at risk, or to another IMAP account (like a second free Gmail account). You could also use some sort of scheduled backup of the profile to protect the offline folders.

http://kb.mozillazine.org/IMAP_backup

[rodhudson]

Well I've learned something as well through all this, so that's great.

Which does lead me to re-iterate a question posed by BuddhaNature :-

'After reading the link you provided, Dan, on the difference and advantages of either IMAP or POP I kind of struggle to see why anyone would actually want to use POP.'........"

Me too ! [To coin a modern phrase !]
So ARE there any advantages of POP over IMAP ? Or DISadvantages in using IMAP ?

[tanstaafl]

POP accounts are more useful if you have a very slow connection or its bandwidth limited. They're the only account type that supports a global inbox (hides the POP accounts folders, which use Local Folders instead). Its less work (no need to use message filters to copy/move to Local Folders) to safely store mail on the disk.

The main advantages of IMAP accounts are you can use all webmail folders, its designed for sharing mailboxes with multiple devices, you can minimize disk usage/profile size if you want to, and your'e not at risk of a logjam due to trying to download a"bad" message when checking for new mail.

However, most of the time its a question of whether or not you're comfortable using IMAP since it works quite differently. Some users just can't adapt to a mail account working differently. For example, with a POP account you typically assume that any mail you downloaded is safe . But you can't rely upon offline folders as safe permanent storage on disk because they can get deleted due to syncing. That's just too different for some users.

[rodhudson]

So if, as it now seems to be so, IMAP as well as POP can be set up to download messages to an EMAIL CLIENT, is that a setting [E.G.] in Thunderbird, or in the Server Account ? [e.g. Hotmail ?]

[tanstaafl]

Its based on what type of account (POP or IMAP) you add in Thunderbird. The account type is not editable, but the Server Type field in the accounts server settings indicates what type of account it is. i.e. Server Type: IMAP Mail server means its a IMAP account.

Some email providers default to only providing POP support unless you select that you want IMAP support in one of their webmail settings. That's just enabling the email client to use both servers, its still up to the email client to decide whether to use POP or IMAP. Its been a long while since I looked at the hotmail/outlook webmail settings but I don't think it makes you do that extra step.

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Hotmail

[BuddhaNature]

@rodhudson

I have my TB Hotmail IMAP settings setup to download copies messages into TB itself. As far as remember to do this the procedure is go to Account Settings > Synchronisation & Storage. There is a setting element there titled Message Synchronising with one option (at least for IMAP accounts - I have no idea if that differs for POP accounts) Keep messages in all folders for this account on this computer. Put a tick in that box to enable the setting - copies of all emails for all folders will be downloaded into TB. Also (even if just to have a look) click on the Advanced... button and you will see other options to include/exclude specific folders. In the Advanced settings a tick in a box enables downloading copies of messages for that specific folder into TB. As far as I remember if you ticked the 'global' setting Keep messages in all folders for this account on this computer then all folders in the Advanced options are ticked by default.

As far as I remember (I made that setting years ago and have never touched it since) I did not have to make any setting at the Hotmail/Outlook webmail server account to have the TB settings come into affect. In effect, it was all managed locally and automatically by TB.

Some other details, and instructions for the Advanced settings, can be seen here: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/im ... ronization On quick read through of the information there it seems to be the case that the Advanced settings are only enabled for specific folders if you have not ticked the 'global' setting Keep messages in all folders for this account on this computer. I haven't experimented with the Advanced settings myself (I just download everything using the global setting) so you might want to experiment to check what I've said here.

[rodhudson]

Interesting points from @BuddhaNature.

But what I'm keen to find out, RE the POP v IMAP thing, is that if there is an inadvertent loss of some files or Folders on the Server, does that mean they would be 'deleted' from TBird as well , due to 'syncing' ?

Or would they be SAFE ?
Or would that depend on some settings on T-Bird? And if so, what and where ??

[tanstaafl]

"is that if there is an inadvertent loss of some files or Folders on the Server, does that mean they would be 'deleted' from TBird as well , due to 'syncing' ?"

That not documented anywhere that I'm aware of but I've seen Thunderbird delete unknown mbox files in the accounts directory when syncing. The more typical risk is that if you lose messages in remote folders when you sync you lose them in the offline folders too. If you want the local copy to be safe you need to either backup those files or automate copying the messages to "Local Folders". The ImportExportTools and ImportExportToolsNG add-on have a backup scheduling tab. It can be configured to backup either everything in the profile or just mail.

[rodhudson]

Thanks for that. This is all for an IMAP setup. [ I gather the 'syncing' doesn't apply to a POP3 setup.]

I think to Automate copying to Local Folders would be the best. How and where is that best done ?

Or can the Incoming Messages be routed to LOCAL FOLDERS direct ?

That would be OK too, if it can be done , as it's all just for one Account.

[tanstaafl]

Use a message filter. See http://kb.mozillazine.org/Message_Filters and http://write.flossmanuals.net/thunderbird/filters/

You can use a global inbox to remap the inbox of a POP account to Local Folders, but not for a IMAP account.