Response to last week's article was interesting. While most of our experienced admin readers didn't find anything new, John Weiss writes, "Yeah, I've done this a thousand times or more. Maybe I can print this out and give it to my users and avoid doing it another thousand times!"

Hilton Day had a caution to pass on, based on the fact that I'd mentioned I'd also installed Designer and Administrator on my machine:

I'm not positive, but mentioning that installing the Designer & Administrator part of Notes has a significant impact on the money owed to IBM/Lotus. I'm guessing the powers that be might be somewhat panicked at the thought of all their users with full blown installs of Lotus Notes on each of their machines. In reality, I guess the chances of users actually having access to the Notes CD is rather slim but still; being aware of the ramifications might make computer life better for all concerned.

And Irwin Mayer asks, "If I don't want to use Outlook Express for email, can I use Notes as just an email client?"

Irwin, that's what this article's all about.

Setting up a POP client
Once you've done the basic client install, the next step will be to configure the client for POP email access. If you've never configured anything in your new install, launching the client will result in the screen shown in Figure A.

FIGURE A


Let's configure the client. Roll over picture for a larger image.

There's nothing to configure here, but if you click Next, you'll be brought to the User Information dialog, shown in Figure B.

FIGURE B


If you're just using this as a POP3 client, don't specify a Domino server. Roll over picture for a larger image.

Here's the simple trick for making Notes into a POP3 client. Do NOT check the "I want to connect to a Domino server" checkbox. If you leave this option unchecked, your Notes client will be a standalone application. Click Next to move to the next screen.

Because we're going for simple POP3 functionality, you don't need to set up instant message. Leave "Setup instant messaging" unchecked, as shown in Figure C, and click Next.

FIGURE C


OMG! I don't need IM! I'm too old to use AOL! LOL! Roll over picture for a larger image.

At this point, you'll be presented with the Additional Servers screen shown in Figure D.

FIGURE D


Now's the time to check a box. Roll over picture for a larger image.

This screen is where you'll tell Notes that you want to retrieve POP3 email. Just click "Internet mail servers," and then click Next.

Nothing's more exciting than setting up Internet mail. On the Set Up Internet Mail screen, select POP from the drop-down menu, select Incoming Internet mail from the second drop down menu, and enter your email server for incoming email (from your ISP to your machine), as shown in Figure E.