OK, so I am the dummy and this is really a tip to self

This YOUTUBE video demonstration is pretty comprehensivie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...v=1LWJEPYaVI8#!

This link is also a great resource

http://learnwebtutorials.com/setting...nt-imap-access

Here are the highlights for setting up Thunderbird 10 for IMAP SSL with Hostmonster.

It is assumed that you have already created email accounts on your host using Hostmonsters CPanel tools.

1) Download and install Thunderbird

2) Click on Local Folder

3) Click Create New Account

4) Enter "YOUR NAME: BigKahuna", "EMAIL: cheif@mydomain.com" , "PASSWORD: 123mypwd"

5) Click Continue

6) A message will appear saying "trying common server names" or similar

7) You should have a choice between IMAP and POP3. I always go for IMAP
You can find out more about the differences here:
http://email.cityu.edu.hk/faq/popimap.htm

8) Click Manual Config

9) Change the settings so it looks like this:
Incoming IMAP mail.mydomain.com PORT 993 SSL/TLS Normal Password
Outgoing SMTP mail.mydomain.com PORT 465 SSL/TLS Normal Password
and importantly make sure your USERNAME is the full email address e.g. cheif@mydomain.com

10) Click Create Account
You should have an account created within Thunderbird and all your necessary folders including inbox and sent box.


Things to check:

a) Click on "Outgoing Server (SMTP)" and make sure the Port is 465 and connection security is SSL/TLS
b) Click on "Copies and Folders" and make sure a copy of your sent mail is being saved back on your server, NOT to Local folder (unless you have a good reason for doing so).

That should be it.
Try it out. Test sending and receiving. Play with the options.
Enjoy.

Note: Thunderbird might offer some "common settings" but you will need to choose "manual setup" to get the config correct, as per above.