Some brief help

E-mail

Your starting point is your e-mail address. You can very simply access it through the webmail interface.
Firefox 3 or later might complain about mis-matched security certificates during the first connection, which is fine. Once logged in, double-click e-mails to read them, and drag-and-drop them in your folders.

Your password

You can change your password and alter a few settings at the mailbox settings page.

Mail client

Your e-mail client (such as Thunderbird) needs a little information so it can fetch your mail. Always use:

• your full email address as a login,
• your regular password,
• the address mail.menopresto.net

Sending messages is done over the SMTP protocol. Make sure you are using STARTTLS encryption and that the port is set to 587. Recent versions of Thunderbird might complain about mis-matched security certificates during the first connection, which is fine.

Receiving messages is done either one of two ways:

• With POP3, which always downloads messages from the server onto your computer. Make sure you are using SSL encryption (you may have to set the port to 995).

• With IMAP, which always leaves messages on the server (so they remain accessible with the webmail) but which requires a working Internet access at all times. Make sure you are using SSL encryption (you may have to set the port to 993).

More information is available here, here, and there.

Instant Messaging

For instant messaging, menopresto uses Jabber, an open protocol – so you can chat in real time with other acquaintances. The chat feature in the Google accounts is compatible with Jabber (whose real name is XMPP).

Your Jabber account has the same name as your e-mail. Just login with a program such as Pidgin. To keep your conversations safe from eavesdroping (for example if you use wifi), activate protocol encryption in your program settings.

Your Jabber account can also be used for video chat, but the modest server often struggles under the load, so do not expect high reliability.

Your own blog

You can have your own webspace at http://you.menopresto.net/. Olivier can install the Wordpress blogging software there for you, but you can also set-up your own project yourself. Incredible things have been started in this way.

Your own domain

If you want to push things further, you can also register your own domain (something like anotherlatinmusicword.net), and plug it into the hosting at menopresto. It costs $10 per year though, and a little more for European domains. Talk it over before you do anything.

Huh?

In case you struggle, share the fun with Olivier.