Saturday, April 21st, 2007
Note: These instructions still work under Mac OS X Leopard (10.5)
It has been brought to my attention that a surprisingly large number of people don’t know all the steps involved in properly configuring an IMAP account in Apple’s Mail.app. Though this has been covered elsewhere I’m sure, I thought I’d share the steps in a quick-start way to help reduce the frustration that results from assuming some things are done by default (know the basics already? skip to the last step »).
The Basics
Most of the IMAP setup process is identical to creating a POP account. Within Mail.app:
- Go to Preferences (Mail → Preferences)
- On the Accounts tab, click the [+] at the bottom left to start the account setup process
- Change the Account Type to IMAP and fill in your details
- Set the Incoming Mail Server and Outgoing Mail Server details
Many people stop at this point and assume they are finished. This is where problems arise, and why I’m writing this little tidbit.
IMAP Folders
IMAP allows all mail (including your Sent, Drafts, Spam and Trash folders, as well as custom folders) to live on the server. This is one of the main benefits of IMAP, since your account is identical whether accessing your mail from any workstation or webmail. The problem is that hosts create different sets of default folders when you create a new account, and that Mail.app doesn’t automatically connect the folders on the server to its local functions (most importantly, Sent mail and Drafts).
For example, MediaTemple only creates your Inbox and Spam folders; Dreamhost creates your Inbox, Sent, Drafts and Trash folders, but since Mail.app doesn’t automatically assign those functions to the folders on the server, it doesn’t actually matter in this case. This means if you don’t follow these next steps, you won’t have any sent mail or drafts saved anywhere; this can be an annoyance or a major problem, depending on your specific needs.
Creating IMAP Folders
Creating new folders is simple:
- Control-click (or right-click if you have a multi-button mouse) on the Inbox for your account (if you have multiple accounts within Mail.app, you’ll see sub-Inboxes in the left sidebar that have the names you’ve assigned each account), and select “New Mailbox…”
- In the resulting dialog, make sure that the correct account is selected in the drop-down menu, and enter a name for the mailbox (e.g. “Sent” if you’re on MediaTemple).
The mailbox is created on the server, and Mail.app updates its folder list for that account. Do this as many times as you want, whenever you need a new folder to help organize your messages (for our purposes, make sure your create whatever function-related folders are missing).
Setting Mail.app Straight
Now that you’ve made sure the folders exist, in order for Mail.app to save your drafts or copies of your sent messages it needs to know where to put them, so this final step is the most important:
- Click the folder name that matches the function you want to assign (e.g. “Sent”) so it is highlighted in the list
- Go to Mailbox → Use This Mailbox For → [function name] (e.g. “Sent” again)
That’s all there is to it—your folder will disappear from the list, and reappear as a sub-folder beneath the function you specified, with the same name as the account it’s connected to. So, if your account name is “My IMAP Account”, the “Sent” folder will now be located under “Sent → My IMAP Account” in the Mail.app sidebar.
Hopefully this will ease some of the frustration of setting up an IMAP account for the first time. After you’ve gone through the steps once, you’ll remember them for the future and never be without your drafts and sent messages again.
Update: Check out the comments below for some extra tips and tricks.
Posted in Uncategorized | 39 Comments »
Friday, April 6th, 2007
Lately I’ve found myself having the following “discussion” (I prefer “heated debate” myself) regarding ‘Web 2.0’, usually with someone who has consumed a certain amount of Web 2.0 Kool-aid:
cultist: “I want to make sure we have enough Web 2.0 features in our application.”
me: “‘Web 2.0’ is just a term, and doesn’t signify anything important in and of itself. Sure, it’s a way of easily defining things like improved usability, user-centric design, friendly applications, and other tangible concepts that developers and designers can and should take to heart, but it only refers to those practices because we’ve decided it should, as a community.”
cultist: “But ‘Web 2.0’ is such a simple way of saying all those things! It makes it much easier for people to understand what they should be doing!”
me: “Just like ‘AJAX’ makes it easier for people to lump ‘superfluous JavaScript visual effects’ under the same terminology as ‘communicating with the server without a reload’? ‘AJAX’ is not synonymous with ‘animation’, people! It’s important to know the difference as web developers and designers; it’s up to us to be the responsible party.”
cultist: “But people don’t understand those things if there isn’t a simple term to describe them!”
me: “Then perhaps they shouldn’t be using something they don’t understand.”
Posted in Uncategorized | 24 Comments »
Thursday, April 5th, 2007
So, I had this dream last night, and I was standing in front of the entire internet totally naked, and when I woke up, I realized it wasn’t a dream!
Today marks the 2nd Annual CSS Naked Day, Dustin Diaz’s lame inspired attempt to increase awareness of… oh crap, I’ll just let Dustin explain in his own words:
“The idea behind this event is to promote Web Standards. Plain and simple. This includes proper use of (x)html, semantic markup, a good hierarchy structure, and of course, a good ‘ol play on words. It’s time to show off your <body>.”
So join us as we strip down, take it all off, and skinny dip today. You’ll be glad you did.
Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
Sunday, April 1st, 2007
I’ve been putting a lot of thought into this site over the last few months, and my “personal brand” if you will, and I’ve come to the realization that people have a difficult time spelling the name of this site. To help make it easier on everyone, I’ve decided to change the name to “SuperfluousBits” — I figure that should solve most of the spelling problems with my URL.
To go along with that change, I’ve revised the logo a bit, giving my spiral mark a little more importance, and surrounding it in a frame that focuses more attention on the spiral shape and the “sb”. Overall, it gives the site a more “branded” feel, and I’m very happy with it.
My only regret is that I didn’t announce this sooner, as it seems a few other people have also launched redesigned logos today as seen in this Flickr pool.
Update: It seems as though legal action may be taken against a list of designers.
Posted in Uncategorized | 14 Comments »
