Outlook Express Settings for
Off-Campus Users and Students

Background Information

Graceland e-mail is handled by and stored on a central server that services our e-mail. The term server can refer to the service (software) or to the computer (hardware) that runs it. The context in which the term is used helps us distinguish, but the distinction is unimportant in most conversations. Graceland's e-mail server is a Microsoft Outlook server (server-side software) and most employees use Outlook client (client-side software) that is running on their computer. Note: Outlook [client] is not the same as Outlook Express (another client program). The Outlook client is not used by students and it does not work for employees who take their computers off campus. Fortunately Outlook server has multiple ways it can be reached. Think of it as a multi-lingual server with different operators standing by on different channels for us to access the same information using the language of choice. The three ways to connect with the Outlook server are:

Outlook direct - This is Microsoft's own proprietary protocol (language and procedures) as mentioned above. One needs the Outlook client on their computer and be directly conntected to the on-campus network. This is the most responsive and satisfying way to handle e-mail, but its proprietary nature makes it unavailable from off campus (without more extreme measures).
Web Based E-mail - This is the opposite extreme. It is the most universally available, but less responsive and satisfying than using the Outlook client directly. It is universal since we do not use an e-mail client program, but rather a web browser. The Outlook server has an HTTP channel and, like a web server, delivers web pages except that these mimic the behavior of an e-mail client. To access Graceland e-mail this way go to http://outlook.graceland.edu/exchange.
Using a POP Client - The Internet has its own standards for e-mail processing and the Outlook server has a channel of communication for one of them called POP3 (Post Office Protocol, version 3). You can use most any e-mail client program and set it up for POP3 access to our mail server. A POP client downloads e-mail from the server to the local computer and may be configured to automatically delete it from the server once downloaded or perhaps after the client-side copy is deleted. Unlike web-based e-mail, it lets us keep old e-mail without doing so on the server (avoids filling up our e-mail account). An e-mail client is often more responsive than web-based e-mail. The downside is getting the details right for installing and configuring the e-mail client. The remainder of this document shows how to configure a popular e-mail client, Outlook Express, for POP3 access to Graceland e-mail.

ATTENTION: the following screen shots are from a prior era and until they are updated you may need to contact Info Central (x5167) or Information Systems staff to get the correct settings. I believe that mail.graceland.edu continues to be the correct setting for the incoming POP3 mail server and outgoing SMTP mail server. Regardless, these instructions are still instructive, and they might still work!

The following instructions show you how to configure a particular version of Outlook Express, unlike the one you have today. The details should be similar. This example also illustrates how to set the client to access more than one e-mail account from different servers.

Steps to Configure Outlook Express

Steps 1 and 2 occur if this is not your first time to run Outlook Express, that is you already use it for other e-mail accounts and want to add your Graceland account to the mix. If not, then you will quickly find yourself at step 3.

Step 1

From the Outlook Express Tools menu, select Accounts.

Step 2

Click on the Add button to add a new mail account.

Step 3

Answer questions from the Wizard, starting with your full name. Use your real name here, otherwise responses to your questions or credit for homework that you e-mail to faculty may not happen.

Step 4

Enter your complete Graceland e-mail address.

Step 5

Enter mail.graceland.edu as your incoming (POP3) and outgoing server.

Step 6

Enter your account name (i.e., your Graceland account username). If your PC is not secure from others using it, then you probably should not enter a password and have it be remembered. In that case, you will be asked for your password each time you start Outlook Express.

Step 7

Click on the Finish button if all is well.

Step 8

You should be at the Accounts dialog box (from step 1) and see the added Graceland account. If it is not highlighted, select it and click on the Properties button to review the configuration settings for this account.

Step 9

Under each tab (General, Servers, Connection, Security, Advanced) you have an opportunity to change configuration settings. If you do, press the Apply button to save them. When finished press the OK button. You probably do not need to do anything if the data was entered into the Wizard correctly. Your settings will look similar to those below. Make sure that the checkbox to Include this account is checked under the General tab.

Notice that under the Advanced tab, the Leave a copy of messages on server is not checked. This is common. Many users are happy to have their e-mail deleted from the server once it is transferred to their local computer. It is also common for a user to check their e-mail from several different computers (perhaps one in your dorm room and another back home), in which case one often checks this checkbox on all but one's own computer. That way you can check mail from several computers but it will remain on the Graceland server until you check up on your e-mail from your own primary computer, thus giving you a chance to keep important e-mail on your own computer.

Step 10

Once you are returned to the Accounts dialog box, press the Close button.

Step 11

From the main Tools menu select Options... and verify that Outlook Express does not check mail more frequently than 5 minutes. If not then correct this and press the OK button. The default setting of 30 minutes is fine since you can check your mail any time you desire (see step 12).

Step 12

Now when you press the Send/Recv button you will get mail from all of the accounts you have configured (that is, those in which you checked the checkbox for Include this account, as seen in step 9). Any accounts that are not configured correctly will result in errors (for that you may want to uncheck the aforementioned checkbox until you get the correct settings from someone who knows).

Step 13

You should test out your e-mail setup by composing a new e-mail test message and sending it to yourself.

Step 14

If you have multiple accounts, then you will see a From field with a drop-down button to the right of it. Make sure you are sending e-mail from your Graceland account. If no From field is showing then you only have one account configured for sending e-mail.

[back for more helps]



	Notice that under the Advanced tab, the Leave a copy of messages on server is not checked. This is common. Many users are happy to have their e-mail deleted from the server once it is transferred to their local computer. It is also common for a user to check their e-mail from several different computers (perhaps one in your dorm room and another back home), in which case one often checks this checkbox on all but one's own computer. That way you can check mail from several computers but it will remain on the Graceland server until you check up on your e-mail from your own primary computer, thus giving you a chance to keep important e-mail on your own computer.

Outlook Express Settings for Off-Campus Users and Students