Using webmail with your email client
- This article was written for Thunderbird but also applies to Mozilla Suite / SeaMonkey (though some menu sequences may differ).
Thunderbird supports using POP and IMAP mail servers for fetching/reading new messages. It does not support webmail. If you want to use webmail (or WebDAV or HTTPMail) with Thunderbird you need to use an extension or an add-on that essentially makes it emulate a POP or IMAP account.
Yahoo! typically provides access to a POP3 server if you have a free account outside the USA (though you may have to sign up for Yahoo Delivers). If you get a free account in the USA you only have support for webmail and need to use something like the Ypops! add-on. Gmail provides a free POP3 server with all webmail accounts.
If you check "Tools -> Account Settings -> Server Settings -> Leave messages on server" you can access your mail both from Thunderbird and from a browser. You may want to set the number of days it keeps a copy to avoid filling up your webmail mailbox.
Extension
The WebMail extension for Thunderbird enables access to Yahoo, Hotmail, Lycos, MailDotCom, Gmail, Tiscali, and Libero webmail using v1.5. It supports Thunderbird v1.0 through v1.5, though it does not support Yahoo and Hotmail in v1.0.7 due to a security restriction. It has a dedicated thread in the extensions forums.
Add-ons
- YPOPs!: Open source Yahoo! Mail proxy program for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Also see these setup instructions for Thunderbird, with screenshots.
- YoSucker: Open source Yahoo! Mail proxy program written in Perl.
- Blue HttpMail: Open source C++ library.
- hotwayd: Open source Hotmail proxy program for Linux.
- MrPostman: Open source proxy program for Yahoo!, Hotmail, Gmail, and more written in Java.
- FreePOPs: Open source extensible proxy with Lua scripting for AOL, Hotmail, Netscape, Yahoo! and more.
- Poppeeper: a freeware solution that allows you to use Hotmail, Mail.com, Lycos.com, RediffMail, Yahoo! Mail, and others, with your e-mail client.
- Web2pop: (shareware $29 USD) supports Gmail, Yahoo, AOL and others.
- Hotmail Popper: For MSN and Hotmail on Windows. Costs $17.50.
