Metawerx Mail IMAP Guide

This page contains information on getting started with your new IMAP mail service.

Setup

Creating a new IMAP Mail Address

• Before you can create an IMAP-enabled mail address, you must first create a POP3 mail address in Metawerx Mail. If you are still new to Metawerx Mail, see How to set up a new Mail Account.
• After creating the address, please send a request Metawerx Support to IMAP-enable the address. Please include the email address(es) you want IMAP-enabled.
• When the new IMAP service is enabled, follow the instructions below to set up your folders, and remove any POP3-collection for the address in your mail client.
• IMAP addresses are integrated with Metawerx Mail, and allow AutoResponders, URL Notification and Junk/Virus filters in the same way as you are used to.
• The new IMAP address will have the same password as the POP3 address. If you change the password, you will need to contact Metawerx Support again to have the IMAP password changed. In the future, we will be providing automatic integration of password changes, but currently this is still a manual process.

Setting up Outlook Express for IMAP

• Follow the instructions on the page Metawerx Mail Outlook Express (IMAP)
• Don't forget to disable your POP3 mail collection account, or your new mails will be deleted from your IMAP Inbox on the server by Outlook when new mail is collected.
• Proceed to the next section to set up your folders correctly

Setup of Inbox, Sent Items and Drafts folders

• First, go to the properties of the IMAP mail account (eg: in Outlook Express, this can be accessed in Tools->Accounts, or by right-clicking the IMAP mail account in the folder-list).
• In the IMAP settings page:
  • set the "Root folder path" to INBOX. (don't forget the full stop)
  • set the "Sent Items path" to "Sent Items"
  • set the "Drafts path" to "Drafts"

• Close the properties panel
• Right click the IMAP account and select Reset List. The folder list will be updated.
• Right click the IMAP account in the folder-tree, and select New Folder. Create a folder called "Sent Items".
• Create another folder called "Drafts".
• Right click the IMAP account and select Reset List again. This will make the new folders appear in the correct place visually.
• Send yourself a test email. You should notice the email appears in the new Sent Items folder.
• Create a new email, and save it instead of sending it. You should notice the email appears in the Drafts folder.

TroubleShooting

Error Message: Message is no longer available on the server. Outlook Express is unable to retrieve the requested message because the server no longer has the message available.

This error can appear if someone else on another machine has already deleted the email you are trying to view, but your local client has not yet performed a send/receive, so is still displaying the email in the folder.

Additionally, this message can also be displayed in Outlook Express (seemingly entirely at random), even if no one else is accessing the mailbox. This usually happens if you attempt to access a message while it is being retrieved, in which case the error appears in the very top (most recent) email in the Inbox. This prevents the email from being read at all. To fix, move the email to another folder. It will then re-download, and can be read correctly.

Error Message: Your 'SOME FOLDER NAME HERE' folder was not polled for its unread count. Could not get the unread counts for 'SOME FOLDER NAME HERE' on 'EMAIL ACCOUNT NAME' Account: 'EMAIL ACCOUNT NAME', Server: 'imap.metawerx.net', Protocol: IMAP, Server Response: 'Mailbox does not exist, or must be subscribed to.', Port: 143, Secure(SSL): No, Error Number: 0x800CCCD2.

This error occurs in Outlook Express and other clients when receiving email. The cause is that a folder has been renamed or removed using another computer or the webmail client. The error message means that the folder is missing. To fix the problem, right-click the IMAP account name in the folder-list tree, and select "Reset List". This will update the folder names.

Error Message: Your folder could not be created: the IMAP server refused to create it.

This error usually appears when trying to add a new IMAP folder, at the top level, and has to do with the way IMAP folder structures work. In IMAP, all folders are really subfolders of the INBOX, so the new folder name should really be INBOX.NewFolderName. However, this is inconvenient and confusing compared to POP3, so to make new folders appear at the same level as the Inbox, a setting has to be entered in your email client. There are two solutions:

• Solution 1 (Recommended): To make new folders appear at the same level as the Inbox, find the IMAP setting called "Root folder path". In Outlook Express, this is in the Properties Page for the IMAP mail account. Set the field to INBOX. (don't forget the full stop at the end). This tells Outlook Express that INBOX is the root path, and that subfolders of this folder should appear as top-level folders.
• Solution 2 (Easy): Keep all folders as subfolders of Inbox. To do this, right click the Inbox folder and select Create Folder. This is representative of the way IMAP folders are stored internally, but doesn't feel as natural as using the above solution. This is an easy solution for when you have multiple IMAP accounts on the same machine.