SVPAL User's Guide

0) Policies

Please review the Terms of Use at http://www.svpal.org/termsuse.html periodically.

1) Getting help

a) Use online resources when possible. The http://www.svpal.org/ website answers many questions, and provides many useful services.

b) If you have e-mail or web access anywhere, e-mail support requests to support@svpal.org

c) If you do not have Internet access of any kind, leave a message at 408 448 3072 (unfortunately, this will delay our response).

2) Setting up, and connecting to SVPAL

2.1) Menu (text-only) accounts: Please see the instructions at http://www.svpal.org/support/connect/menu.html

2.2) PPP (full Internet) accounts: Please see the instructions at http://www.svpal.org/support/connect/ppp.html

Phone numbers for dial-up access are listed at http://www.svpal.org/services/phones. If you cannot connect to one location, try a different one.

3) Connection problems

3.1) Dial-up: Confirm that your modem, computer and phone line are working properly.

3.2) "Invalid login." Make sure your type in your exact username and password. Both are case-sensitive.

3.2.1) Forgotten password: Contact us. We will reset the password and call you back.

3.2.2) If there is a system outage, you may receive "invalid login" messages, even though your account, username and password are perfectly correct. System outages are rare, and typically short. Try again later.

4) Setting up and using e-mail

There are three options for reading and composing e-mail:

a) Text-only, server-based pine program.

Dial-in to the (text-only) menu, or telnet/SSH to svpal.org. Log in, get past the MOTD (Message of the Day), and go to:

1. eMail =>

and then

1. Read/Send eMail [PINE]

b) Web-based interface.

Go to http://webmail.svpal.org/ (insecure) or https://webmail.svpal.org/ (secure)

Log in with your username and password.

c) Client software running on your computer.

Install and configure your software of choice, such as Thunderbird (setup instructions at http://www.svpal.org/subscriber/tb/).

Instructions for Outlook can be found at http://www.svpal.org/subscriber/oe/

General information and instructions can be found at http://www.svpal.org/subscriber/popemail

If you cannot access your e-mail the usual way, try one of these alternatives.

Forwarding your mail: Connect to the text-only menu. Go to:

1. eMail =>

and then

2. Forward your email

Problems with outgoing mail: Make sure you configure your client to use port 587 for the SMTP server.

5) Web publishing

a) Dial-up and PPP users: Log in to the (text-only) menu. Go to:

2. World Wide Web =>

and then

16. Personal Web page =>

b) Hosted Web Accounts: Use FTP to upload your files.

6) Accounting

Changing your username: The only way to "change" your username is to close the account, and open a new one. You will need to back-up all files and information.

Changing your password: Please see http://www.svpal.org/subscriber/menupass

Updating your contact information: Contact us at support@svpal.org

Reviewing your invoice: You may choose to have your invoice e-mailed to you monthly, and you may review it at any time on the web at http://www.svpal.org/subscriber/bill

Making your payments: You may send your check to:

SVPAL
PO Box 5052
San Jose, CA 95150

or pay online at http://www.svpal.org/subscriber/bill

Reviewing your disk usage: The disk storage policy can be found at http://www.svpal.org/subscriber/diskpolicy

Log on to the (text-only) menu. Go to:

14. Manage Files =>

and then

15. Disk Usage Report

7) Mailing lists

Please see Mailman and Majordomo information under http://www.svpal.org/subscriber/ and http://mailman.svpal.org/

For other questions not answered here or on the SVPAL website, please contact us at support@svpal.org