The WELL's newest email server is named Iris, for the ancient Greek messenger goddess. The email and collaboration services on iris.well.com are powered by a modern open-source platform called Zimbra.

Note: If you joined prior to 11/6/2009, you may still be set up for older mail server and programs. Support for those systems continues on the legacy email help page. You may upgrade from the legacy mail system on the email upgrade page at no charge, and with no resulting changes in your plan's price.

Is email even included with my membership plan?
How can I read my mail with my Web browser?
How can I bring my mail onto my computer? (IMAP and POP)
Can I read my mail with my iPhone?
Where do I change my password?
Can I forward my well.com mail to another address?
Can I add more email addresses to my WELL account?
What can I do about spam?
How do I remove mail copies from iris.well.com?
Is there a manual for the mail system?

Is email even included with my membership plan?

Every Complete Plan membership includes an email address at The WELL. (To determine which membership plan you have, log into the Billing Information Center.)

How can I read my mail with my Web browser?

Wherever you are, if you can get to the Web, you can read your mail using the webmail option by logging in to iris.well.com, powered by Zimbra.

How can I bring my mail onto my computer? (IMAP and POP)

You may use either IMAP or POP connections with your desktop email application. (Thunderbird, Outlook Express, Apple Mail and other modern email programs will work). We suggest that you set your email program up for IMAP if you can, usually found as a choice on the incoming mail settings page in your mail program.

With IMAP, you display mail from the iris.well.com mail server on your own machine with your desktop mail program. You can manipulate that mail (delete, reply to, etc.), and the IMAP server will sync your changed list of mail with the server, detecting and recording all the changes you made to the mail you keep in your inbox on the server. You may remove any of mail from the server by deletion and by archiving to your personal computer as you choose. Or leave it there and you can also access it via Web browser as needed. Read or respond to that same mail from any computer, and at any time with webmail powered by Zimbra. When ready, you can easily archive it on your own machine or delete it as you choose without having to deal with duplicates.

With POP3, the older method, the default is to remove your email from the server each time. If you use an alternative strategy and instruct your POP3 program to leave a copy of all of your mail on the server, then whenever you decide to delete some of it, it must be manually deleted in both places. Leaving copies on the server via POP will also leave "spam with the ham," so you will tend to reach your server quota more quickly, and when you re-download the mail you may have to sort to remove any copies of spam that slipped through, which you probably already deleted before.

Basic configurations:

• For sending mail with your ISP's outgoing (SMTP) server, no changes should be required.
• For sending mail with The WELL's new server:
  • Server: iris.well.com
  • If you have a choice between TLS and SSL (Secure Socket Layers), select TLS. Otherwise, select SSL.
  • Authentication: password
  • Port: 25 or 587 (you may need to try both)
  • You no longer need to check for mail before sending
• If you wish to switch to IMAP to retrieve email (recommended), you must use the following settings:
  • Server: iris.well.com
  • Use SSL (Secure Socket Layers)
  • Authentication: password
  • DO NOT enable "Secure Password Authentication" if present - it is not needed with SSL, and may cause problems if enabled.
  • Port: 993
• If you wish to continue using POP to retrieve email, you must use use the following settings:
  • Server: iris.well.com
  • Use SSL (Secure Socket Layers)
  • Authentication: password
  • Port: 995

Specific configurations for specific email programs are on the Settings for IMAP and POP clients page.

Can I read my mail with my iPhone?

On a mobile device with a mail application, just set it up using the IMAP instructions, above. On a device with a browser, you may also bookmark https://iris.well.com/ and select the mobile version of Zimbra at login time to read your mail via your mobile device's browser.

Where do I change my password?

To change your password, go to the Billing Information Page. Generate one at https://www.well.com/newpass/ to be sent to an off-well email address if you have provided one.

Can I forward my well.com mail to another address?

If you want to forward your WELL mail to any other Internet mailbox, log in to webmail powered by Zimbra, go to Preferences in the top toolbar, select Mail from the column and the center window, scroll down to Receiving Messages. Enter the email address you want to forward to in the box. (Uncheck the box instructing Zimbra to leave a copy on the server unless you plan to pick up and sort the same batch of mail a second time.)

You can instruct another Web email program like Gmail to pick up your mail from The WELL's iris.well.com mail server using the instructions on their site. This can avoid showing the "sent no behalf of" message seen in some email clients.

Can I add more email addresses to my WELL account?

If you would like more email addresses at The WELL, use your login and password to sign up for an ExtraMail account.

What can I do about spam?

When you mark a message in your list of mail as Junk, our mail service learns quickly to move such mail to your Junk folder. Complete the "training" of the mail program by occasionally looking at the Junk folder to catch any good mail it may have misfiled. If you know the email is legitimate but you don't want to read it, Delete rather than marking as Junk to keep the training as accurate as possible.

Whitelists and blacklists are available. Log into webmail. Just below Receiving Messages, you'll find Junk Mail Options, where you can enter the email addresses of people from whom you either never want to receive mail or always want to receive mail.

How do I remove mail copies from iris.well.com?

When you use webmail to view your mail, mail you can see in your inbox is mail that is on The WELL's iris.well.com mail server. Watch the quota bar just below your name in the upper left corner of the application. If you hold your cursor over the bar you'll see the percentage of your disk space quota. If you exceed the quota, your email will bounce until you download and delete or bump up your quota level.

If you download your mail using a POP3 or IMAP desktop mail program, you should be certain that you are not instructing the program to leave a copy on the server unless you intend to download or delete some mail before you reach your disk space quota.

Is there a manual for the mail system?

Log in to webmail at iris.well.com. Click Help in the upper right corner of your webmail page to go to an extensive Zimbra manual.

For information about The WELL or for WELL Customer Support, use the Helpdesk contact information on the footer of this page.

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