• IT Services
• Essential Stanford Software
• Macintosh Software
• Connecting to Stanford Usenet Newsgroups

Connecting to Stanford Usenet Newsgroups with Thunderbird

Obtaining Thunderbird

Thunderbird is available from http://www.mozilla.com/thunderbird/.

Note: For instructions on how to configure Thunderbird to work with Stanford's email service, see Configuring Your Email Program .

---

Setting up a Newsgroup Account

Note: See Usenet Newsgroups for more information about using newsgroups at Stanford.

1. In Thunderbird, go to the Tools menu and click Account Settings. Then, click the Add Account button.
   
   
   
   
2. Select the Newsgroup account option and then click Continue.
   
   
   
   
3. Enter your name as you want it to appear and your email address. Then, click Continue.
   
   
   
   
4. For the name of the Newsgroup Server, enter news.stanford.edu and then click Continue.
   
   
   
   
5. Enter a name for your newsgroup account and then click Continue. (The default is the name of your news server.)
   
   
   
   
6. Click Done to save your settings.
   
   
   
   
7. Under the name of your news account, click Server Settings. In the Security Settings section of the window, do the following:
   • Use Secure Connection (SSL): checked
   • Always request authentication when connecting to this server: checked
   
   
   
   
8. Click OK to close the Accounts Settings dialog box.

::top of page

---

Subscribing to Newsgroups

1. Click the name of your newsgroup account on the left side of the Thunderbird main window. Then, in the Newsgroups section of the window, click Manage newsgroup subscriptions.
   
   
   
   
2. Enter your SUNet ID at the prompt and then click OK.
   
   
   
   
3. Enter your SUNet ID password and then click OK.
   
   
   
   
4. To subscribe to a newsgroup, select the newsgroup and then click Subscribe.
   Note: You may need to click the arrow to the left of a newsgroup to see all the newsgroups associated with it.
   
   
   
   
5. When you have finished subscribing to newsgroups, click OK.

::top of page

---

Reading and Posting to a Newsgroup

Note: Thunderbird email and newsgroup accounts require separate logins. If you are not already logged into the news server you will be prompted to do so.

1. Double-click the name of your newsgroup account on the left side of the Thunderbird main window to show the newsgroups to which you are currently subscribed.
   
   
   
   
2. Click a newsgroup to see the messages it contains. Click the message you want to read. (Double-click the message if you want it to open in a separate window.)
   Note: When you are reading posts, you may have to click the arrow to see all of the replies.
   
   
   
   
3. To create a new post to the selected newsgroup, click the Write button on the tool bar.
   
   
4. To reply to a particular post, select the message and then click the Reply button on the tool bar.

::top of page