OperaMail

Email and Opera

Email is the most widely available and popular internet tool in the world. As an Opera user, you have at least two different, yet complementary, types of email services available to you.

The Opera 5 browser includes a full-featured email client (program) that you can use with your existing POP/SMTP email account(s). This program is integrated with the Opera browser interface. You can conveniently use the Opera emailer while browsing with Opera. You can also read and write your email while offline, save, and then send and receive your messages later when you go online again. This document explains in detail how to set up and use the Opera email client. (If you prefer to use your existing email client, see Use External client in the Email section of the Opera Help.)

The other email service is OperaMail, which is a free, web-based email service. "Webmail", as it is sometimes called, differs from client-based email in the way that mails are stored and accessed. When you use web-based email, your mails are not downloaded from the remote server. They can only be read and written while you logged into your account online. The OperaMail web interface is handy because it is accessible from anywhere that you can use a browser. To sign up for an account, see the OperaMail homepage.

The Opera emailer, one step at a time:

If you are new to Opera, it may help you to get familiar with the Opera interface before beginning this tutorial. The following instructions with images will show you how to use Opera's built-in email client. Detailed instructions in text only can be found in the Help.

Setting up an email account (You are here)
Exploring the email interface
Composing, sending and receiving email
Features and functions

1) Setting up an email account

First of all...

Select E-mail on Opera's main menu bar and choose New account. A dialog box will pop up. In this dialog box, there are five tabs, as you will see in the following image...

Email account properties

In the E-mail account properties dialog box, only the first two tabs, Account and Servers are essential in setting up your account. The other three tabs, Incoming, Outgoing, and Warnings, are there for adjusting your personal preferences and are explained in detail in the help.

The Account Basics properties, as shown in this image, require:

Account name This is the nickname of the account which appears only to you in your email program. (With the Opera emailer you can have multiple accounts, so entering a unique Account name for each one allows you to distinguish between them.)
Full name Enter your name as you wish it to appear to those receiving email from you.
E-mail address This is simply your full email address.
Organization You may enter the name of the organization which you belong to, or you may leave this blank. This text will also appear in the mail header to those who receive your mails.
Reply-To Think of this address as your return address. Usually this is the same email address as entered above. When receipients of your emails reply to you, the Reply-To address is used. If you type the Reply-To address incorrectly, replies to your mail will not reach you.

Email servers

Click on the Servers tab of the E-mail account properties box. Here you need to enter specific mail server information in order to send and receive mail. Your Internet Service Provider or your System Administrator will have provided you this information about your email account.

Just as in postal mail, email requires two types of mailboxes. Email is sent, received, and stored by computers called mail servers. Incoming mail is received to your personal mailbox, which is space designated to you on a mail server. Outgoing mail is that which you wish to send out, similar to dropping a hand-written letter into the box at the post office.

Incoming

Server Enter the name (or number) designating your POP mail server.
Type The protocol that Opera uses for incoming mail is called POP3, which means Post Office Protocol.
Port Unless your ISP or System Admin has specified otherwise, you should leave this setting at its default, which is 110.
Login Enter your Login or User name. Most often this is the part that appears before the @ sign in your email address.
Password Enter your email account password. This will be shown as asterisks (stars) as it is typed, for security reasons.

Outgoing

Server Enter the name (or number) designating your SMTP mail server.
Type The protocol that Opera uses for outgoing mail is called SMTP, which means Simple Mail Transfer Protocol.
Port Unless your ISP or System Admin has specified otherwise, you should leave this setting at its default, which is 25.

What's next?

Now that you have set up the email account and server properties, you can begin to use the Opera email client. There are more options available to you, but it is not necessary to investigate them in order to use Opera email. If you wish, you may configure the advanced preference settings in the E-mail account properties dialog (as shown in the image above, the Incoming, Outgoing, and Warnings tabs). This is detailed in the Help.

Continue to Part 2: Exploring the user interface

Or go back to the Tutorial

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