Page updated 1 November 2012
Checking for Mail Headers
Having set up a mail account during installation of nPOPuk, you may check for new mail waiting on the server by clicking on the Mailbox icon on the toolbar (Menu: CONNECT > CHECK ACCOUNT. Keyboard: CTRL+N). If not currently on-line, this will also start the connection procedure.
If there is more than one account installed then first select the Mailbox of the account to be checked from the Mailbox Pane. It is also possible to click the button one to the right to "Check all accounts" (Menu: CONNECT > CHECK ALL ACCOUNTS. Keyboard: CTRL+J).
During communication with the server, messages indicating progress appear in the Status Line. The nPOPuk.ini file can also be edited so that the information can be recorded in a server log file.
If the Global Option to display an icon in the system Tray is set then a small grey envelope icon will appear in the Notification Area (a.k.a. System Tray).
Account checking can be initiated by right-clicking on the icon and selecting either the "Check all accounts" or "Check" option. In the latter case a cascading menu will open showing up to the first ten accounts. Select the desired account to check. Those with more than ten accounts will need to use the options available from the main window.
If the appropriate Global Option is set, account checking can also occur automatically at predetermined intervals. During communication with the server, the icon is overlaid with a "download" arrowhead.
In the event of new mail being found when the server is checked the icon changes colour to the familiar nPOPuk yellow. Clicking on the icon will restore the Main Window with the first new mail selected.
Used with the Notification Area icon nPOPuk is ideal to use as a "Mail Checker". It uses minimal system resources, so doesn't slow your computer down as many conventional heavyweight e-mail programs do. Refer to the Global Options page for the settings that can be selected to make the most of this feature.
If not set to connect through a LAN, nPOPuk uses the dial-up connection for the selected, or default, account. Progress of the connection, logging on and interrogation of the POP server is shown through messages on the nPOPuk status line.
As nPOPuk checks the mail on the server, unless the default setting has been altered, it reads the top 100 lines of each new message held there. As the mail items are retrieved, their headers are displayed in the Main Window. (The icons associated with each mail item are explained on the page describing the Main Window.)
Any filters (Menu: MAILBOX > EDIT > FILTER) which are in use will also affect whether, and how, items are displayed in the mail list. Some may not appear at all. Others might be marked as read, for deletion or full download.
Optional visual and audible warnings on completion of the mail check can be configured, which will appear if the Main Window is open but not active or minimised.
If there is new mail in more than one Mailbox an indication of the number of Mailboxes with new mail appears on the title bar. An asterisk appears against each Mailbox with new mail in the Mailbox Pane.
The number of lines retrieved, how mail is saved, and whether to reveal the full headers are controlled through the Global Options dialogue (Menu: FILE > GLOBAL OPTIONS > RECV). Further options are also available to control the automation of checking events etc. (Menu: FILE > GLOBAL OPTIONS > CHECK).
Reading, replying and forwarding the mail are each covered on separate pages.
Problems on Checking Mail
Constantly Reloading Mail
Some users, with accounts containing hundreds of messages, have reported that on checking the account nPOPuk always loads them from the beginning again and want to know how to get it to add new mail to the existing messages shown in nPOPuk.
This issue occurs when they are using another e-mail program or web service in conjunction with nPOPuk. If mail is deleted other than in nPOPuk, then what remains on the server does not tie in with nPOPuk's record of what is there. To stay small and fast nPOPuk only keeps a record of the number of messages in the InBox and the ID of the final message. The only way it has to synchronise its records is to reload the entire set of messages. The solution is to use nPOPuk to delete unwanted messages from the InBox.
Disappearing Mail
Some users complain that on checking for new e-mail nPOPuk throws away all the email already downloaded. If mail is not saved then nPOPuk will only show the new mail found on the server. The problem is caused because the default setting on the RECV tab of the Global Options dialogue has been changed to "Nothing saved". To retain the full list of all mail still on the server, on the Global Option dialogue select to save either the header or header and body.
Providing the mail on the server has not been deleted, it is possible to re-fetch the missing items. The left hand part of the status line reveals how many items you can see and how many are still on the server. To show all the messages on the server, before you next connect, open the Mailbox menu on the main window and select Initialise.... On the dialogue that opens, set "Mail from item number:" to the value "1".
Updating Mail Bodies
By default, only the first 100 lines of a mail item are retrieved from the server. If the defaults have not been changed (Menu: FILE > GLOBAL OPTIONS > RECV) and the item is longer than 100 lines, it will be necessary to retrieve the entire body to read it all, or complete the download of any attachment. This is done by marking the item then requesting an update of the server.
Aborting Mail Checks and Updates
Once a Check Mail or Update Mail process is running, the option to "Stop" becomes active. The circle with a cross icon on the toolbar turns red. Clicking on this icon (Menu: CONNECT > STOP. Keyboard: CTRL+S) will abort any of the connection, check or update processes.
If the Notification Area icon is in use, then it is also possible to stop the checking of the server by right-clicking on the icon and selecting the Stop option.