How to set up an e-mail through a new website?

August 10, 2009 6:43 AM

How to set up an e-mail through a new website?

My boss just had me purchase a domain name from godaddy. We opted not to have our email set up through godaddy, though. Now, my boss has these lovely new business cards with a non-existent email address on them. My question is... how can I set up an email that is basically [e-mail] when the website isn't up and running yet? (She isn't concerned with the site right now- she just wants people to be able to send her emails.) Is there a way to do this?

posted by roxie5 to computers & internet (10 answers total)

Google Apps for your Domain.

It's what I did for my stuff, and it gives you all the benefits of Gmail.

Otherwise, your host should have a way to set up email addresses.
posted by theichibun at 6:48 AM on August 10, 2009 [1 favorite]

Surely GoDaddy let's you add e-mail even after you've registered only the website?

Or is it a case of "we don't want GoDaddy to handle our e-mail, period"?
posted by slater at 6:49 AM on August 10, 2009

You need someone to host your site. Choose a hosting comapny that has a decent admin panel and offers all the stuff a business will need -- a quick list of things you probably want:

POP Email Accounts
Email Aliases
Webmail
Auto Responders
Email Forwarding
Spam Assassin
Whitelist
Blacklist
SSL Certificate
Commerce Shopping Cart
FTP Access
PGP, CGI, Flash
Password Protected Directories
CGI-Bin
MySQL Database
Apache Web Server

I use a local company because the same guy answers the phone on the second or third ring whenever I call, & he knows me by name. They're not as cheap as Dreamhost, but I don't care, after the horror stories I've heard about trying to get support, and since you sound new at this, a human on a phone is going to be worth paying for.
posted by Devils Rancher at 6:52 AM on August 10, 2009 [1 favorite]

Addl: once you've chosen a hosting company, they'll give you 2 DNS (domain name server) numbers -- something like NS1.XX.XXX.X.X. You'll then have to log into Godaddy to point your domains at those name servers, and it'll take a while (from an hour to a day, depending) to propagate & point at their server, which is where your website & email will reside.
posted by Devils Rancher at 6:55 AM on August 10, 2009

Please keep in mind that there is no requirement for your web hosting company to be the same as your e-mail hosting company. It's perfectly normal to choose different ones based on price, convenience, features offered, etc.
posted by odinsdream at 7:04 AM on August 10, 2009

E-mail is not "under" or "through" a website. E-mail and websites are not related. And your e-mail address is most certainly not [e-mail].

You have a domain name. THAT is the "base". After that, many, many different services can be addressed at that domain name, and these services can run anywhere, including on different servers in different countries run by different ISPs. Websites and e-mail are the two most common kind of such services, the kind most people want, but neither requires nor is subservient to the other.

If you can get that little tree diagram (domain on top, web and mail as two children beneath) firmly nailed-down in your own head this will be a lot less confusing for you. :)

It sounds like you could really use a hosting firm or two (web hosting? mail hosting?) to work with, but if you're determined to go it alone, then I think ichibun has it: Google Apps for your domain ("Company GMail") is probably going to be easiest for you.
posted by rokusan at 7:06 AM on August 10, 2009

I can't speak for godaddy but namecheap has free forwarding. It's on the management page; I'm sure godaddy has something similar. You do not need a hosting company just to forward email. I forward to my gmail account which can be set up to send with your custom domain as the reply-to address.
posted by chairface at 7:13 AM on August 10, 2009

The advice I've always received on this is don't rely on your web host to handle your e-mail, because they specialise in web services, not e-mail services, and trying to keep your emails intact in the event that you change web host is likely to be a pain. But my needs have never risen above personal, so I've ignored it and have no horror stories to show. Your mileage may vary, and perhaps someone smarter than I can debunk or expand on this.

Also, +1 for Google Apps for Domains. Super easy to set up, and you get all the benefits of Gmail.
posted by nostrich at 7:47 AM on August 10, 2009

Nthing Google Apps for Domains. It's what I use.
posted by limeonaire at 10:58 AM on August 10, 2009

Google Apps for Domain is the best!
posted by london302 at 1:50 AM on August 11, 2009