IMAP E-Mail Program Issues

General Tips

The email program you use may have issues with IMAP. We recommend Thunderbird for the best IMAP experience.

Please be aware of the following IMAP behaviors:

Only folders you have "Subscribed" to will appear in your program. If you create a new folder and use several different computers, be sure to use the "subscribe" feature on each one to see the new folder.

The "Junk" folder contains email caught by the Whidbey Telecom spam filter. Email should be rescued using the Junk Mail Summary, Web Mail, or by adding the address to your Trusted Senders list in your Email Options:

http://www.whidbey.com/mailoptions

You can copy old e-mail into your IMAP account by dragging message(s) or folders from your "POP3" account. Please make a backup of your computer's email data beforehand, and check the tips below.

The standard folders for IMAP are Junk, Sent, Drafts and Trash. These cannot be changed, but your email program may use other folders for the same function.

Unfortunately, filters and address books are still stored on your computer. This is a limitation of all e-mail programs. You can also filter email using Plus Addressing.

Outlook

Design Issue: Folder names differ from standard ones. For example, sent messages are stored in "Sent Items" instead of "Sent". That means you may end up with multiple folders for the same purpose.

Bug: Messasges are sorted by "INTERNALDATE" (modified time), instead of the "Date:" field. This means if you upload a POP3 message, or modify one, it will be sorted as though it was a new message. This can be very confusing if you upload a large amount of old e-mail.

Design Issue: Uploading messages must be done by holding down the "CONTROL" key. Otherwise, Outlook will "move" instead of "copy", which has will result in lost email if a problem arises mid-transfer.

Design Issue: "Drafts" and "Sent" items are not saved on the server.

Design Issue: Deleted messages are not moved to the "Trash" folder. Instead, they are deleted "in-line", which produces dimmed messages in your Inbox list.

Bug: You cannot move a folder into another folder (to create a sub-folder).

Bug:The IMAP command "IDLE" is never aborted. This means Outlook may display an error, approximately once every 30 minutes, complaining about "Connection Terminated".

Bug: Messages containing a "NUL" character may lock-up the program.

Design Issue: Using Outlook under Windows Vista means HTML messages (those that appear like web pages) may appear garbled or incomplete for "security" reasons.

Bug: Viewing your storage quota is not available. Please use Web Mail to view it.

View more issues..

Outlook Express

Bugs: This program has issues similar to Outlook.

Tip: You can configure "Drafts" and" "Sent" items to be saved on the server. Go to the "Tools" menu, choose "Accounts", select the account and click "Properties". Then click the "IMAP" tab, and check the appropriate boxes. Note: You may need to create a "Sent" and "Drafts" folder manually beforehand.

View more issues..

Apple Mail

Tip: Please be sure to do a "Software Update" under the Apple menu to ensure you have the latest version of this software.

Design Issue: Folder names differ from standard ones. For example, sent messages are stored in "Sent Messages" instead of "Sent". That means you may end up with multiple folders for the same purpose. You can, however, click on a pre-existing "Sent" folder, go to the "Mailbox" menu, and choose "Use this Mailfox for -> Sent". The same is true with "Deleted Messages".

Bug: Viewing your storage quota is a broken feature. Please use Web Mail to view it.

Thunderbird

Tip: You can override the "Subscription" IMAP feature discussed above. Go to "Tools -> Account Settings", choose your account, select "Server Settings", then click "Advanced". Un-check the "Only show subscribed folders" option.

iPhone

Tip: Setup your account using "Other" provider. Remember to enter your username and password under "Outgoing Mail Server".

Tip: Once you've added your account, use the "Home" button and tap the "Settings" app. Scroll down and tap "Mail, Contacts, Calenders". Then tap on your account, and scroll down to tap "Advanced". Under "Mailbox Behaviors", you should tap each Mailbox item to select the proper folder:

Drafts Mailbox: Choose "On the Server: Drafts"
Sent Mailbox: Choose "On the Server: Sent"
Deleted Mailbox: Choose "On the Server: Trash"

Other Programs

Other programs have not been tested and our technical support staff cannot assist with them. However, they may work, and include clients such as:

These programs are no longer maintained by their creators:

Entourage v.X: Discontinued January 9, 2007

Eudora (All Versions): Discontinued May 1st, 2007

Netscape (All Versions): Discontinued July 15, 2003

Users of these programs should upgrade to the latest free version of Thunderbird.

If you discover an important bug or design limitation not listed above, please email support@whidbey.net