Skip to:

Setup for Windows

On this page:

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. 

    Account Settings dialog box
     

  2. Select the Newsgroup account option and then click Next. 

    New Account Setup dialog box
     

  3. Enter your name as you want it to appear in the From field and your email address. Then, click Next to continue.

    enter your name and email address 
     

  4. For the name of the Newsgroup Server, enter usenet.stanford.edu and then click Next.

    enter name of news server
     

  5. Enter a name for your newsgroup account and then click Next. (The default is the name of your news server.) 

    enter a name for this account
     

  6. Click Finish to save your settings and exist the Account Wizard.

    save account settings and exit Account WIzard
     

  7. Under the name of your news account, click Server Settings. Check the following boxes:
    • Use Secure Connection (SSL): checked
    • Always request authentication when connecting to this server: checked

    server settings
     

  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. 

    manage newsgroup subscriptions
     

  2. If an error message is displayed, click OK to continue.

    security certificate error message
     

  3. Enter your SUNet ID at the prompt and then click OK.

    login prompt
     

  4. Enter your SUNet ID password and then click OK. 

    password prompt
     

  5. To subscribe to a newsgroup, select the newsgroup and then click Subscribe.
    Note: You may need to click the "+" to see all the newsgroups. 

    select newsgroups to subscribe to 
     

  6. 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.

    newsgroup subscriptions
     

  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 "+" to see all of the replies. 

    example of a newsgroup message
     

  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.