FAQ

Helpful answers to common questions relating to email, websites, etc.

Email

How do I check my email on another computer?

The simplest way is to use webmail. As long as the computer has a Web browser, webmail allows you to easily login to your email account to read and send email. (Note that if you are not an Abiliba customer, you cannot use our webmail to access your email. You must use your email provider’s webmail or an alternate service such as web2mail.)

If you use Abiliba’s IMAP service (which stores your email on the server), you can also set up a “regular” email client. The Abiliba IMAP service works properly with two or more email clients accessing the same email account.

What is the size limit for email attachments?

The maximum size for an email is 10 MB. If this size is exceeded, the email is refused as undeliverable.

Most attachments need to be considerably smaller than 10 MB. The average file grows in size by up to 50% when it is converted to an email attachment. In practice, the largest file you can send is about 6-7 MB.

Your connection speed also controls the largest file size you can send. The mail server has a five minute limit for sending an individual email. The average dial-up connection can send a file of about 2 MB in that five minute limit.

If you regularly send extremely large files, you probably should be using another means to transfer the files. Video, large collections of digital images, and other large files usually work better — and faster — with services devoted to those purposes.

Plone

What is a content management system (CMS)?

A content management system (CMS) is used for creating, organizing, and publishing Web-based documents and other content. It allows non-technical users to create and maintain a Web site. A CMS often is a collaborative system, where several people create and maintain content on the same site.

A document in a CMS can be a Web page, an article, a PDF file, a manual, or almost any other content. You’re looking at an example of a CMS right now. (This FAQ entry is a document on our Plone CMS-based Web site.)

The Plone CMS (which Abiliba uses and supports) can be extended through the installation of applications. Plone can be used for a variety of purposes: general-purpose Web sites, on-line stores, blogs, forums, shared content on intranets, news sites, etc.

A CMS actually does a lot more “behind the scenes.” It can automatically create navigation menus, index content to make it searchable, keep track of users, limit access to content, and much more.

How do I learn about Plone?

To learn about Plone, the best place to start is the Plone Web site.

If you’re just getting started, we recommend the documentation area. Especially look at the content under the “Customizing Plone” section. You should also grab a copy of A user's guide to Plone which is available both as a free electronic version and as a hard-copy book.