Configuring Thunderbird

You can set up email, RSS, or UseNet Newsgroup accountsor all three, although you need to do them one at a time. Email is the best place to start. You need to know some basic information that you should have handy; if you don't, you can get it from your Internet service provider (ISP) or, if you're on a corporate network, your systems administrator.

The first pieces of required information are your name and email address. The next few bits of information need to come from your ISP or network administrator. As a general rule, if you're not sure what IMAP email is, you have POP. And if you have been using another email program, the server names almost certainly will be listed in it under "account settings" or a similar name. No matter how you get these pieces of information, this is where you type (or paste) them in.

Server Information.

(If you imported settings from Outlook Express, all this has automatically been done for you.)

The user name you type into the next screen may or may not be the same as your usual email name. Some ISPs and corporate networks require your entire email address. Others don't. This is one of those pieces of information you may need to get from your ISP or admin if you don't have it handy.

User Names.

The next screen is where you name this account. If you have only one email account, you can call it "email" and be done with it. Or you can get creative. Naming email accounts is important only if you have more than one, and even then you can name them whatever you like.

Account Name.

The last screen is a recap where you can check the information you typed in to make sure it's correct. If some of it isn't, you can click Back until you come to the screen where you made the mistake and correct it. If everything's fine, click Finish. You're now ready to use Thunderbird to send and receive email. It automatically launches and starts downloading email as soon as the installation is done.

Finish.

From this point on, using Thunderbird is so simple that you can figure it out without help. Clicking menu items to see what they are won't hurt anything. Any change you make can be changed back, so feel free to explore and experiment.