Contents

Manual

Servers Tab

This tab offers options for configuring your newsgroups server.

To quickly configure everything here please answer Yes to the question that asks you to automatically configure yDecode and Outlook Express during the installation of yDecode (you can reinstall it to get this question again if you already answered No). Also, you can use Outlook Express Config Wizard from Start Menu - Programs - yDecode that can configure this automatically as well. If you don't use Outlook Express you have to configure these options manually.

NNTP server name - Type your newsgroups server here - this is where yDecode will connect. your.news.server in the above screenshot is only an example and not a real server name, therefore, type your own server name instead. You can add more than one server if required, but only one will be active at the time. If you allowed yDecode installer to automatically configure yDecode and Outlook Express (as described above) and if the Test Config button reports server connection success, you don't have to change anything here (in this case leave Remote Port unchanged as well).

Note: If you don't know what needs to be entered here, please phone your Internet provider and ask them what is the name of your newsgroups server and then type it in this box. After that, replace server name in your newsreader software (other than Outlook Express) from name you just entered in yDecode to localhost - yDecode will now behave like a "newsgroups server" and its name is localhost. That is why you have to change it in your newsreader software as well. Look at the picture below to understand how it works before and after yDecode installation and also read the quickstart section.





Local server name - Cannot be changed (nor there is a need to do so) - it is a read-only information for you. You can only change Local Port. This box can display one of two names depending on state of the option Resolve local server name in Options tab. If this option is unchecked it will show localhost. If the option is checked it will show the name of the computer where yDecode is running. If you are a beginner do not care much about what is shown here!

If you are running yDecode on a computer where you also run Outlook Express, set Outlook Express (or other newsgroups reader) to access the localhost as a newsgroups server like shown on a picture below. You can also write 127.0.0.1 instead because localhost is just an alias name for the 127.0.0.1 IP address.



Windows Mail screenshot follows.



For most uses the above setup will be enough. However, if you are creating an advanced connection (not recommended for beginners) and put yDecode on a LAN computer or some remote host, you will need to configure your newsreader to access IP address or host name of that host where yDecode is running (this is where Resolve local server name option may help). This way you get the proxy functionality. Beware, others can also access yDecode this way unless you filter out unwanted IP addresses in IP filtering! By default yDecode blocks all addresses except the ones you added as "allowed" ones, so you can't easily mess it up.

Local and remote port - Leave both values at 119, they are probably correct for your configuration. If you are sure that your server is on some other port number (this is extremely rare case) you can easily change it here. Note that if you change Local Port in yDecode you also have to change it to the same value in your newsreader software as well (e.g. Outlook Express) or else it will not be able to reach yDecode anymore.

Test Config - This button can be used to verify if your Outlook Express news account(s) is configured to work with yDecode correctly. It will also check the connection to the newsgroups server. If you get a successful connection to the server that means you've configured NNTP server name and Remote Port correctly. You must be connected to the Internet while testing the connection. This button is automatically disabled when yDecode is downloading data from the newsgroups and re-enabled when the download is complete. Pressing Test Config button will open a new window:



NOTE: In case of any problems with news account configuration and/or server connection you cannot solve, please copy report from this window (use Copy to Clipboard button) and paste it in the mail body when sending an error report (right mouse button - paste or CTRL+V). Then, send this email to us with the description of the problem. Red text will usually indicate a possible error.

Delete - This button removes the newsgroups server from the list of servers.