Note that much older versions of Outlook as well as versions from Outlook 2002 behave slightly differently than in these instructions. Please feel free to call us if you need help setting up your mail software.

Outlook and Outlook Express can receive email from several mailboxes at once. You may already have a mail account configured for the ISP that provides your Internet connection.

Start your Outlook software. Click on the "Tools" menu, then click on "Accounts". This brings up the Internet Accounts window. Click on the "Mail" tab. This lists all existing email accounts configured in Outlook.

Click on the "Add" button on the right and click on "Mail". Enter your name and click "Next". Enter your email address. This can actually be any valid email address that you can receive mail at, but it would typically be something like This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Click on "Next".

In the Email Server Names window, you can leave the first setting as is - "My incoming mail server is a POP3 server". Advanced users may also want to use IMAP, which is supported.

In the "Incoming mail server" box, type "mail.blueskyhost.net" or mail.yourdomain.com.au.

In the "Outgoing (SMTP) mail server" box, you would normally type the name of the SMTP server provided by the ISP that you get your Internet connection from. Examples include mail.bigpond.com and smtp.iprimus.com.au. These details are normally available on their web site. There are good reasons for using your ISP's SMTP server rather than ours, but if necessary you can (for instance AOL users do not have access to an SMTP service).

If you wish to use our SMTP service, type "mail.blueskyhost.net" or mail.yourdomain.com.au into the Outgoing mail server box. There is one additional step you will need to complete later (see below). Click on the "Next" button.

In the Internet Mail Logon window, you need to specify the user name and password for your mailbox. In the "Account name" box type your user name in the form This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it - for instance, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Normally this would just be your email address. Enter your Password and click on "Next".

Click on "Finish" and this will return you to the Internet Accounts window. The account you just created should be highlighted. It should be called "mail.blueskyhost.net" or mail.yourdomain.com.au. If the email address you entered above is the main email address you want to send mail from, you should click on the button on the right that says "Set as Default".

You may want to rename the account to something friendlier. Also, if you chose to use our SMTP service you need to edit the account properties. Click on the "Properties" button on the right. This opens the Properties window on the General tab.

The Mail Account name should be highlighted and you can change it here to something more obvious such as "joe's mail" or "joe@yourdomain". Click on the Servers tab. If the "Outgoing mail (SMTP)" setting is either "mail.blueskyhost.net" or mail.yourdomain.com.au, you need to check the box at the bottom, under "Outgoing Mail Server", that says "My server requires authentication". Click on OK and you're done. Click on "Close" to close the Internet Accounts window.

We recommend that you send yourself an email as a test. Click on Send/Receive to check for new mail. Your test message may take a couple of minutes to come through.