Mozilla Thunderbird 3 is the latest email client supplied by the Mozilla Foundation and is a useful alternative to other common applications such as Microsoft Office Outlook or Windows Mail. It can support a variety of functions via downloadable extensions to improve the functions such as calendar support, RSS feeds & security addons such as SPF verification and PGP encryption. The following guide shows how to access your email account provided by Freestart PLC within this email client (note that this guide assumes the use of Microsoft Windows, all versions supported follow the same steps):

If you have a fresh installation of Thunderbird 3 then the following steps are not required, please click here to skip to step 4 after following step 1.

1. Open Mozilla Thunderbird 3.

2. Click "Tools", followed by "Account Settings..."

3. Click "Account Actions" and "Add Mail Account..."

4. The screen shown below is displayed, requesting only your name, your email address and your current password. Thunderbird will use this information once completed to attempt an automatic IMAP connection to your account. Please complete the required information as per your control panels email account setup or on the information sheet supplied in your welcome pack. Allowing Thunderbird to remember your password can be useful unless the computer is shared.

5. Upon entering the required information, click "Continue".

6. Thunderbird will attempt to simplify your email setup by locating & testing all required account details with the most secure method being used. This may take a few moments, even if Thunderbird states it has located your account information we require several alterations in order to ensure correct operation. Click "Edit" to make some changes.

7. Please make the following changes:
7.1 Ensure that the "Username" field contains your full email address.
7.2 Ensure that "Incoming" and "Outgoing" are set to "mail.YOUR-DOMAIN-NAME"

*Note - if you obtain Internet access through Orange or any mobile ISP (via a USB dongle or mobile connection), you will need to enter your ISP's Outgoing (SMTP) server instead. You may need to contact your ISP for this information directly.

7.3 Click the drop-down menu for IMAP and change this to POP.
7.4 Change the number to the right of "POP" to "110" and the number below this to "25".
7.5 Change both drop-down menus to the right to "none" to attempt a basic connection.

8. Click "Re-test Configuration".
9. The following screen should be presented, now showing that Thunderbird has found the right settings and both incoming mail and outgoing mail should show an amber / orange light to the left.

10. Click "Create Account". The following screen MAY be displayed detailing that the connections are not secure, this is perfectly normal and nothing to worry about (your account is still secure via user account authentication, however the connection does not use SSL as would an online purchase.) Please "check" that you understand the risks and click "Create Account".

11. Congratulations, your email account should now be fully active and operating correctly.