Since most people on Long Island have Cablevision as their ISP (Internet Service Provider), I will be using their email service as a demo. Many people have an Optimum Online account so therefore, I will use my OptOnline.net account as an example. Here is a screen shot by screen shot walk through...
First, open Mail. Then, go to the Mail menu up top (next to the Apple Menu) and select "Preferences."
You will be presented with the following window:
Make sure you have the "Accounts" tab selected. It is very likely that you won't see any email accounts already configured. All of my email accounts can be seen in the left column. If you're reading this blog, you probably don't have any email accounts configured yet. So let's get going. Just make sure you have selected the "Accounts" tab.
At the bottom of the window below the left column, click the "+" sign. This is a common procedure for adding accounts. You will likely see this in other areas of the Mac OS.
Now you'll be presented with a dialogue window asking for all of the information necessary to setup your email account. You'll need to know this information. You can call Optimum Online if you don't know it. And once you find it out, write it down because if you need it again, you'll have it! But for the most part, you'll see what information you'll need.
Obviously, put in your information and then hit "Continue."
If there are problems, you can manually configure your account.
If so, just plug in the information. Obviously, just use YOUR email address and password. The incoming mail server should be "mail.optonline.net". This procedure is the same for almost any account. But if it is a Gmail account, for instance, I believe the incoming mail server is "pop.gmail.com".
The Account Type is POP. See my last blog for an explanation. The "Description" is merely a name by which YOU will recognize this account. The next pieces of information are vital. You must enter the "incoming mail server", the "user name" and "password" correctly. If you get any part of this incorrect, this will not work. So take special care in entering this information.
NOTE: The password does not display; instead, you see just a line of bullets. Often, the bullets will not even represent the correct number of characters. Again, this is a security feature so don't let this fool you.
After hitting continue, you will be presented by this window.
This is your OUTGOING mail server. Cablevision conveniently names their outgoing mail server the same as their incoming mail server. You do not need Authentication for this to work. This is because they know that you are a paying customer by the modem that you're connected to. So long as it is a Cablevision modem that you're connected to, the outgoing mail server will work. This is why sending mail may NOT work if you are at your neighbors house surfing their wireless connection when they have FiOS. Cablevision will not let you send email unless you are on THEIR network. It makes sense and minimizes spam through their servers.
So when presented with the screen above, just hit continue. Optimum Online does NOT use SSL.
The following screen displays all of the information that you submitted and voila! Your email account has been created.
I hope this helps. Email can be tricky but using an email client is so well worth it, in my opinion.