php - ambitious i know

[atari]

i have recently discovered php and mysql and decided to put myself to the test making a real working online program.

it seems simple to create and send mail with the built in function in php which is useful fpr sending data to webmaster (e.g. error reporting) but what if you want to allow people to set up email accounts and check their mail?

would i need to set up my own email server?
is there a function in php to get emails from a mail server?
or am i totally offbase and way out of my depth?

thanks,
atari

[aym]

Yes it is possible to setup an email system in PHP/MySQL, but it's not as easy as sending an email to the webmaster, you will have to do much more work.

Check out the PHP IMAP/POP3 functions.