Wheatmail
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Instructions
If you would like your own Wheatheads.org Wheatmail account, just e-mail the following information to Sol:
All information is required, but you may use your chat name instead of your "real" name, and you may substitute "Wheathead" for your last name if you wish.
First Name:
Last Name:
Chat Name:
Your e-mail address will be set up as [Chat_Name]@wheatheads.org.
Account Forwarding
You can use your Wheatheads.org account as a standalone account. You can even reverse the directions below, and use it as your primary e-mail account. Most of us already have a primary e-mail account that we use, and you may want to consolidate your mail to one location so that you only have to check one place for all of your mail. These instructions will help you do that.
You should be able to set up forwarding of your Wheatmail account to just about any address, but these instructions assume that you use another Gmail account as your primary account.
- Sign into your Wheatmail account.
- Click Settings, then Forwarding and POP.
- Select Forward a copy of incoming mail to
- Type in your primary e-mail address before the "and" box primaryemail@gmail.com
- Select your choice in the drop-down menu for what to do with the original copy of the e-mail. I just archive, but there is no real reason to do so. If you get a large amount of mail, your mailbox may evenutally fill up, and disable your account, so you may want to set it to delete the original copy.
- Click Save Changes.
- Open a new browser window; (don't close the old one).
- Sign into your primary Gmail account.
- Click Settings, then Accounts.
- Click Add another email address.
- Type your name Sol Wheathead, and your e-mail address username@wheatheads.org
- Click Next Step >>
- Click Send Verification. At this point, a message will be sent to your Wheatmail account.
- Open the browser page with your Wheatmail still running. There should soon be a new message from "Gmail Team". (Refresh by clicking Inbox).
- Either click on the link in the message, or paste the confirmation code into the verification popup and click Verify.
- Go back to your primary Gmail account browser (you should still be on the Accounts page.
- Near the bottom of the page is an option that says When I receive a message sent to one of my addresses:, Select Reply from the same address the message was sent to.
You're done, but for a nice added feature, continue:
- Select the Labels tab.
- In the Create new label: box, type Wheatmail, then click Create.
- Select the Filters tab.
- Click Create a new filter.
- In the To: box at the top of the window, fill in your Wheatmail address username@wheatheads.org
- Click Next Step >>
- Select Apply the label: and select Wheatmail in the dropdown.
- Click Create Filter
Now you're done. Now, any new e-mails that are sent to your Wheatheads account will appear in your primary Gmail account, and will be tagged with Wheatheads in your inbox.
You can also send e-mail from your Wheatheads address straight from your primary Gmail account by clicking on Compose Mail, then using the From: dropdown to select your Wheatmail address.
Q & A
Q: Hey Sol, what's the deal? Are you offering me a free email account on your domain?
A: Yup.I should probably put some more details in here, but you can have this address forward to another mailbox, you can have other mailboxes forward to this, etc. It's basically a Gmail account with a wheatheads.org address. I have been using my Gmail account for a couple of years now as my primary account. I send and receive e-mail from 9+ different addresses from within a single account, and I think it's great. It's also got a pretty decent spam filter built in. No, this is not an ad, but if Google wants to pay me a commission, I'm ok with that.
Q: Is this permanent?
A: This is a Google Beta product, and it's free. As with most Google Beta products, it's probably permanent. I would guess that as long as Gmail is around, this service will be around.
Q: Sol, is first and last name public info?
A: By default, I think it would show when you send an e-mail. You can change that after you sign up, or just provide your chat name. You have to send me your name (or chat name) via e-mail (so I have your e-mail address to send the password to). I promise, all I am doing with them is entering them into the system and that's the end. I'm not collecting anything.
Q: Why are you doing this?
A: Thought it would be fun. My original idea for the domain was to create a portal and allow users to play, post, comment, keep calendars, etc. Well, the wiki pretty much took care of that idea, so I was trying to figure out what else I could do with it. Then the Gmail for Domains thing came along. I figured that was at least something fun and potentially useful. They just got back to me yesterday about it. We'll see how it goes!
Q: Does it cost anyth...
A: Nonsense.
Q: I signed up four hours ago, and I haven't gotten my account information. What's the deal?!
A: Unfortunately, sign-up is a manual approval process. The e-mail goes to me (Sol), and I have to create the account. If I am asleep, on vacation, or otherwise away from a computer (rare), it may take a while before you get your password back. Please be patient.
Q: Can I get this for my domain?
A: You can sign up for the beta here. It took about 3-4 weeks to get approval. It's free for now.
Q: What's this chat thing about?
A: It's just like Gmail Chat.
Q: Can I use POP e-mail with Wheatmail?
A: You can use POP access, but the configuration requirements are slightly different:
- Any time you're asked for your username during the configuration process, you'll need to enter your full email address (username@wheatheads.org).
- The incoming server is pop.gmail.com, and outgoing server is smtp.gmail.com.
Q: This is very cool, Sol. Do you have your wheatheads.org e-mail account set up so that it all gets forwarded to your Gmail account? That sounds like the way to go.
Also, I just set up a domain, and I'm thinking of subscribing to the Gmail service for the e-mail accounts. Was it easy to do? Does Google also host the wheatheads.org domain, or do you do that separately?
Thanks, dood. --Toad 10:16, January 10, 2007 (AKST)
A: No problem, Toad. Enjoy! Yep, it was pretty easy to set up. My domain is registered at a separate service from Google. All you do is redirect the mail [MX] records to Google, per their instructions, then log in and adminster the settings and such. I do have my wheatheads.org mail forwarded to my "normal" Gmail account, and then I use the "Settings --> Accounts" feature under Gmail to be able to send from my wheatheads.org account from my regular account. It's really easier than it sounds. (See Account Forwarding, above.) -- Sol® 11:42, January 10, 2007 (AKST)
Q: What was the other Q & A you were going to write in this blank space?
A: I can't remember. Feel free to add more Q:s and I will add A:s.
