1. Background
    1.1 What is @Mail?
    1.2 Why was @Mail created?
    1.3 Why the name "@Mail"?
    1.4 How does @Mail compare to other email software?
    1.5 How thoroughly tested is @Mail?
    1.6 What are the future plans for @Mail?
    1.7 Whom do I contact for support?
    1.8 Is there any more information on @Mail?
    1.9 Where can I purchase @Mail?
    1.10 Who develops @Mail?
    1.11 Can I get a demo version of @Mail?

2. General Technical Questions
    2.1 What Hardware does @Mail require?
    2.2 How much harddisk space do I require?
    2.3 What to do if I have problems getting @Mail Setup?
    2.4 How compatible is @Mail with my existing webserver setup?
    2.5 May I include the @Mail software on a CD or other package I'm distributing?
    2.6 How do I get the most out of my @Mail server?

3. Installing @Mail
    3.1 What do I need for @Mail to run?
    3.2 Can you remotely install the software for me?
    3.3 Does @Mail run under windows platforms?
    3.4 What MTA does @Mail support?

4. @Mail Feature Questions
    4.1 How do I setup Email to SMS gateways under @Mail?
    4.2 Which languages are supported? Can it be modified to support another language?
    4.3 Can we use our own branding and remove '@Mail' in the script and pages?
    4.4 How do I modify the user-interface of @Mail to suit the design of my website?
    4.5 What does the full site license include?
    4.6 Does @Mail run under Virtual Servers?
    4.7 Does @Mail support large user bases?

5. Configuration Questions
    5.1 How do I configure @Mail to host multiple domain-names for WebEmail?
    5.2 Can I use an external SMTP server to send Email?
    5.3 What browser should I use with @Mail?
    5.4 Why does @Mail send a cookie on every response?
    5.5 Does @Mail support SSL?

6. Contact Information

1. Background

@Mail is the total WebMail and Email Server Solution.

@Mail allows users to read and compose email messages and access POP3/IMAP email accounts using a web-browser. Users can sign-up for a new account which is instantly activated, choosing from a list of domains determined by the Administrator via the easy-to-use WebAdmin interface. Users can also access the Wireless interface on mobile-phones/PDA's and SMS messaging is integrated, allowing email-alert messages. Full Calendar and addressbook support is available, including Outlook Synchronization.

The software includes enhanced Anti-Spam and Anti-Virus modules for the Webmail interface and mail-server backend.

Written in 1998, the @Mail software is continuously rewritten by a growing international technical team, and now supports a new release based on client feedback about every three months.

Email is still one of the most popular applications for the Internet, with the majority of all Internet users owning an email account. Providing web-based and/or POP3/IMAP-accessible email accounts is the top priority of ISP's and the IT departments of many businesses and educational institutions.

Business relies on email communication between clients, customers and employees. The traditional desktop email application has become replaced by Webmail in terms of usage. Countless websites offer free email accounts as a way to attract users and keep them coming back. In 1998 we saw a lack of quality and customizable Webmail programs, so @Mail was developed to fill the void.

Since then, we have endeavored to offer a commercial source-code-distributed program that is based on client feedback and always features the latest technologies.

The name '@Mail' represents the nature of the software; fast and efficient, cleverly achieving top ranking in search engines by virtue of it's alphabetic superposition.

@Mail includes the full source code, allowing clients to modify features as required without expensive development costs.

The interface of @Mail is constantly kept up-to-date with browser enhancements, so that @Mail always offers one of the most attractive and intuitive WebMail interface available. The server backend of @Mail is based on a high-performance SMTP/POP3/IMAP server written in C/C++, using maildir for message storage and MySQL as the database backend for user authentication/settings.

The @Mail software has been designed to scale to over 1 million active email accounts.

@Mail was first developed in the Summer of 1998. Since then, @Mail has been used by numerous large ISP's, government organizations, and corporations worldwide.

Millions of people have active email accounts which are hosted on @Mail installations, and each day the userbase grows. The software is continuously and thoroughly tested by developers, administrators, and users [Thanks to all our active Beta Testers and Clients for their indispensable feedback!].

The @Mail Group works closely with users of the software, and we are always busy implementing new features and functionality based on our clients' requests. When bugs show up, we release patches and new versions in a timely manner (often more timely than expected by industry professionals).

@Mail will continue to be a full-source code product, keep up with advances in Ajax, HTML, Javascript and web developments in general, collect suggestions for fixes/improvements from users and administrators, and respond to the needs of large volume providers as well as occasional users.

Have a look at the @Mail Changelog & Roadmap for more details.

@Mail Customers receive technical support for the software by the original developers -- email the team for more information: info@calacode.com. We can also be contacted via telephone or real-time chat on request.

Customers who have questions regarding installation and configuration should first consult the online documentation available at http://support.atmail.com/ and the Knowledge Base at http://kb.atmail.com/ before consulting the @Mail team via Email.

• See the main @Mail web site for a complete overview and detailed features descriptions.
• See http://demo.atmail.com/ for a live demonstration of the system.
  
• Technical Information & Documentation is available at http://support.atmail.com
  
• Product download & pricing information can be found at http://order.atmail.com
• Portfolio of selected clients: http://portfolio.atmail.com/
• Hardware Appliance now available: http://appliance.atmail.com/

The software can be purchased online at http://order.atmail.com . @Mail is shipped electronically and the download details sent within 1 business day of the order.

CalaCode are the current providers and original developers of the @Mail software. The company began with the name 'CGIsupport', with a head office in Sydney, Australia. As the company has grown, management duties have been delegated to our best and brightest in various timezones -- today, CalaCode is an international organization based in the USA and Australia.

Yes, you can download a fully functional version of @Mail for both Unix and Windows platforms at: http://atmail.com/eval.ehtml

A live online demo is also available at: http://demo.atmail.com

2. General Technical Questions

An online document detailing the system requirements of @Mail can be found here

If the option is available we recommend you use a Linux server configured with Mod-Perl for maximum performance .

That all depends on how much mail is stored by your clients. Because you have the power to adapt @Mail to your needs, you can restrict the size of user mailboxes. Therefore the space needed is flexible to suit your hard-drive capacity. The formula is as follows:

Number of users X user quota = Maximum hard disk space required for @Mail. In our experience an average of 40-70% of disk-quota is used server wide for accounts.

If you are having trouble with your @Mail server software, you should take the following steps:

Check your webserver's error log.
@Mail tries to be helpful when it encounters a problem. In many cases, it will provide some details by writing one or more messages to the webserver's error log. Sometimes this is enough for you to diagnose and & fix the problem yourself (such as file permissions or the like). The default location of the error log is usually /usr/local/apache/logs/error_log, but see the ErrorLog directive in your webserver's configuration files for the correct path or location on your server.

Email the developers of the software
A lot of common problems are addressed in the @Mail Online Documentation and the online knowledge base - The developers are available via Email at info@calacode.com but we ask you to first consult the online documentation before contacting us, as your question may already be answered.

The software is developed to run in the Apache webserver environment. Due to our concerns regarding the stability and security risks inherent in alternate webservers, we currently support @Mail on the Apache webserver platform exclusively.

The @Mail Group encourages patches from outside developers. There are 2 main types of patches: small bugfixes and general improvements. Bugfixes should be submitted to bugfix@calacode.com. Improvements, modifications, and additions should follow the instructions below.

To submit your patch, send Email to developers@calacode.com with a Subject: line that starts with [PATCH] and includes a general description of the patch. In the body of the message, the patch should be clearly described and then included at the end of the message. If the patch-file is long, you can note a URL to the file instead of the file itself.

Yes, but you must first receive written permission from us (CalaCode). If you would like to bundle a demo version of @Mail, contact info@calacode.com

@Mail will run under any Operating System that supports Perl5 and the Apache webserver. This includes popular OS's like Linux, Windows 2000/2003-Server/XP and all flavors of Unix. We recommend the Webmail system to be setup under a Unix-based Operating system due to the superior performance and stability when compared to Windows servers.

The server which runs the @Mail system should be dedicated to mailserver operations, the configuration files should be clean and compact without any unnecessary modules and configuration values defined.

For sites which host a great number of user accounts the system should be spread across multiple machines ("clustered environment"). The @Mail system can be setup so that all messages are stored on a central server which also hosts the SQL database. Email messages and account preferences are stored on the database server (in maildir and MySQL, respectively), while incoming HTTP requests are handled by separate machines.

3. Installing @Mail

@Mail's Webmail frontend is written Perl, legibly commented and using the strict pragma, while the server-mode backend in a mixture of C/C++. @Mail has been successfully installed under Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, Sun Solaris, Irix, Mac-OSX, and Windows systems.

For a fee (currently $100 USD), a member of the @Mail staff can remotely install the @Mail software on your server. To request a Remote Installation on your server, fill out the secure form at: https://secure.calacode.com/install/

Yes, @Mail has support for Windows Platforms. The @Mail system runs under Windows 2000/2003-Server/XP . The installation of @Mail is very easy under Windows. The software comes pre-configured with all the components required to use @Mail

The following components are included and pre-configured with Win32 @Mail :

• Apache WebServer
• Exim SMTP Server (optional)
• @Mail POP3/IMAP Server ( optional )
• @Mail Clam Anti-Virus (optional)

@Mail currently only supports it's own inbuilt Exim MTA. This allows for numerous functionality which cannot be attained using alternate SMTP servers.

4. @Mail Feature Questions

For more information on the SMS service of @Mail consult the SMS guide

@Mail has been designed to use a multilingual template so that conversion to the language that best suits you is eminently possible. Since the source-code and HTML files are separated, all that needs to be done is to translate the Language file.

We are constantly looking for people to translate @Mail into other languages, and we welcome you to do this. In return, we can give you a discount on the price of the @Mail you have purchased. For more information about translating @Mail, please see our Translation Guide

Using the WebAdmin utility in @Mail, go to Config -> Branding . Here you can define the BrandName of your email service, and remove all references to @Mail.

We would appreciate it if you could keep "@Mail developed by CalaCode" on your login page.

Since @Mail includes the Full Source-Code you can modify any element of the software to suit the design of your website or client's project requirements.

The entire user interface of @Mail can be easily changed by modifying the content of the files located in atmail/html directory. For quick interface customization, use the Branding feature in the @Mail Admin.

Information on this topic can be found here.

Under the @Mail license, you can configure the software to host or provide access to as many email accounts as the number purchased in your User License, for the number of domains purchased in your Domain License. However, the license is only valid for your own company use. If you are interested in reselling the @Mail program to your clients or installing @Mail on another server for a separate deployment, you will need to purchase individual licenses. We offer an attractive Reseller Program; details can be found here.

In most cases, this is possible, but always depends on the level of access allowed by the hosting provider and whether your project requires full mailserver functionality or only a webmail frontend interface. If you have SSH access to your Virtual-server this aids the installation process. However a dedicated server is recommended.

Yes. How large depends on the hardware used in the server machines. When using @Mail for a user base of over 50,000 accounts, we recommend using more than one server. As newer and faster server hardware is made available, this number will likely go up -- of course, volume of mail delivery and speed of the network are factors as well. For more information please see The Install Guide and the Multi-server guide.

5. Configuration Questions

Using the WebAdmin (web-based administration interface), the administrator can add and remove domain names in @Mail.

*Note that this is not necessary in Client Mode, where @Mail simply uses the information supplied by the user on the login page to create a POP3 or IMAP session with the mailserver. However, in Client Mode, the mailserver IP or hostname can be 'hard-coded' so that the administrator controls which servers the users are allowed to access.

@Mail can send email through any external SMTP server on the Internet, so long as relay is allowed from the IP of your @Mail server. This is configurable via the WebAdmin.

Any browser which supports frames can use @Mail, although to use some of the advanced features of @Mail we recommend Internet Explorer 6+ or Firefox 1.0.4 or greater. Since @Mail uses Javascript and Ajax/DHTML (XUL in Firefox) to spice up the user interface, it is required to use a current version of your browser to take advantage of the most advanced features.

To keep login sessions separate and secure, @Mail uses cookies to store the Session ID and other login information. Be sure that your browser supports cookies and that the cookie support is enabled.

Yes, using SSL with @Mail is highly recommended for security reasons. Since @Mail is served by the application layer of the webserver's http handling, @Mail needs no extra modification to run under SSL.

In summary configure an SSL Virtual-Host to point to the DocumentRoot of @Mail under /usr/local/atmail/webmail/. You can also modify @Mail to send login details via HTTPS then redirect to HTTP for the rest of the interface. Details at: http://kb.atmail.com/view_article.php?num=163

6. Contact Support

For additional support, please visit our web site, http://www.atmail.com/ Or send us an eMail : support@CalaCode.com