"He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying."
-- Friedrich Nietzsche


MyPopchecker is a web application write entirely in C# allowing users to check their e-mail accounts from anywhere in the world via a web browser. Once registered, user information is encrypted in a database, and the interface offers much of the e-mail functionality you'd find in a desktop application.

To use the application, visit http://www.mypopchecker.com.

Once a user account is created, the MyPopchecker control panel manages the user's POP3 account information. Here, the user can input all of the standard POP3 and SMTP information for their account, and test those settings to help troubleshoot potential problems.

When the user checks their mail, MyPopchecker will integrate all of the mail from each account in the main window.

Mail can be sorted by mail account, received time, subject, or name. Additionally, e-mail can be deleted directly from the mail server, and e-mail attachments can be received via MyPopchecker to save on the user's local machine.

E-mails, of course, can be replied to, forwarded, or composed from scratch. The compose dialogue contains many options, including the ability to choose the account to send from, use Blind Carbon Copy, and attach files from your local computer. Robust error handling also verifies the e-mail is sent so there's no uncertainty you often find with some web based mail.

A new feature is the rich text editor! Gone is the bland text box: now, fonts, sizes, even images can be placed in e-mails with ease. The editor also includes a spell checker.

Security is also a major design factor: passwords are all stored in a secure database using Microsoft's SHA cryptographic provider. Administrators can reset the passwords, but they can never be revealed.

MyPopchecker was originally an ASP/COM application that was written in 2000/2001 that offered much of the same functionality. Rewriting it in C# improved on the functionality and security, and also greatly increased the performance and scalability. In 2004 this was launched as a scalable commercial-ready application.