Adam Webmail Support.

In a recent attempt to define ‘webmail’ I came across this definition from Wikipedia:

The word “Webmail” is a neologism that refers to any system of checking email over the Internet via a web browser. This term subsumes both web-based email services that are similar to accounts on the Internet as well as any system whereby email is checked and managed over the web by means of a mail client such as Microsoft Outlook or Mozilla Thunderbird that uses IMAP, POP3, etc to check and/or receive email.

A step further: Google’s Gmail service allows you to use an IMAP server (for receiving and downloading) and an SMTP server (for sending and uploading).

Must Read: Adam Webmail

Now, one of the biggest problems with webmail services such as Gmail is that they rely on their own servers to do the mail checking. What this means is that you cannot check your email using a client such as Thunderbird or Outlook Express if those accounts are configured as IMAP or POP3 servers.

As webmail is now becoming more popular, there are even applications that allow you to use any Gmail account as an IMAP or POP3 server for your favorite mail client. These tools work pretty well but they don’t always give 100% satisfaction and Gmail is known to shut down these applications’ access if it sees them using its servers in a way it doesn’t like.

Right now, the only (recent) solution I am aware of is an extension called “Webmail Lite” which you can find at www.webmailsupport.com. It allows users of Google’s Gmail service to set up their favorite mail clients as POP or IMAP servers and use those clients to check and manage their Gmail accounts.

Once installed, “Webmail Lite” adds a button next to the “Gmail” button which you will find on the upper right corner of your browser toolbar. Pressing this button brings up a menu that allows you to check or send emails from your Gmail account either as an IMAP or POP server.

The only annoying thing I have found so far is that you have to press this button each time you click on a mail to link since Gmail’s IMAP server doesn’t seem to recognize the folders associated with your client’s mailbox, forcing you to pick between “Inbox” and “Other”. This can be easily fixed by creating a new folder in your client named “Gmail” and pointing it to “[Gmail]/All Mail”.

I hope this helps. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to post them below.