Note: You must be logged in with the Windows Live ID of the account owner. Be ready with addressee names and passwords for each account. From your site account Home page, start in the top navigation:
» More » Account Management » E-mail Accounts » Create a new E-mail account
Accessing Your Email Inbox
Reset Your Password: There is one more step to complete before you can use your new address. Log out of your OL site account. Log back into OL (http://www.smallbusiness.officelive.com) as you normally would, except use the email address and its password as the log-in ID. At this point, you will be asked to change the password and to provide some additional information, so be ready for this. Once this little formality is completed, you can begin to use your new address.
http://mail.live.com is an alternate route to your inbox. Again, use the email address and corresponding password to log in. While you are logged in, take the opportunity to explore around the various options available. In particular, check the features in » Options » More Options.
Set Your Time Zone
While your are logged into http://mail.live.com, you can set your time zone:
» Options » More Options » View and Edit Personal Information » Registered Information
Select your time zone in the two drop-downs for Home Location and Work Location. You may need to do this for each email address.
Link Your Windows Live ID's
Linking your ID's offers a couple of advantages. You can access all of your email accounts with a single log-in. If you have several site accounts, it facilitates logging in with the correct ID. Using your primary WLID, log into the site http://account.live.com. Be sure you have reset the passwords as indicated above. In the left navigation, you will see the link "Linked ID's." You can link up to five email accounts. Once completed, you will now see a drop-down in the upper-right corner of your inbox. Click on this to move directly to your other linked addresses.
Set Up a Desktop Mail Client
If you are already using Outlook, you don't need my help. I like Windows Live Mail because of its simplicity. This is a free download from the Windows Live family. After downloading, click on Add email account or use »Tools » Accounts » Add... » Email Account. Enter email address and password and for "Server," choose HTTP. Be sure you have reset the password as indicated above, or WLMail will not be able to access the account. Continue adding addresses to access all of your personal and site accounts in one place.
Assigning an Address to the Contact Us Form
Your site comes with a pre-built Contact Us page. By default, the routing address is the WLID you used for signing up. To change the address to one of your site addresses, open the Contact Us page for editing, right-click on the contact module and click on Properties. You will see a text box for changing the address. Be sure you have reset your password as described above, or "the mail won't go through."
If test mails sent through the Contact Us form are not appearing in your inbox, check your junk mail settings and the Blocked Senders List for each address. Be sure the address ContactUsForm@officelive.com is not among the Blocked Senders List. Log into http://mail.live.com for each address:
» Options » More Options » Safe and blocked senders » Blocked Senders
Controlling Spam in Your OL Mail
The first rule is never publish your address on a public website or forum. This includes your own site. Spammers use automated web crawlers to seek out email addresses. Instead, use the Contact Us form on your site or use the email link tool. The second rule is get private domain registration. This prevents spammers from locating email addresses in "Who Is" networks. For newer sites, this comes automatically with a custom domain name, but older sites may need to purchase it separately. Find it in » Add/Manage Services » Website and E-Mail. The third rule is be careful filling out surveys and accepting "free" offers on websites.