Mailmate not picking up new mail

I'm sorry to hear that. Here are some suggestions:

1. Check that all mailboxes are online under SOURCES in the mailbox outline.
   
2. Fetch the latest test release: Hold down ⌥ when clicking “Check Now” in the Software Update preferences pane.
   
3. If the problem persists, open the Activity Viewer (⌥⌘0), restart MailMAte, and when connections settle down, use “Help ▸ Send Server Logs” to provide more information.

thanks, let me explain that i'm a total idiot when it comes to this :)
i did manage to get it to update when i found a menu that said "sychronize", perhaps it is not synchronizing automatically (maybe I "undid" something unknowingly)

i can't find anything that says "sources"
i don'tnderstand what that key is before the "command" key
software is totally up to date

In the mailbox outline in the left part of the interface, there are two sections: MAILBOXES and SOURCES. Under SOURCES you'll find each IMAP account added to MailMate (you might just have 1). These are the mailboxes found on the server and if anything is offline then it'll be in a grey color with some kind of state in parenthesis. You can right-click the account and select “Take Online” if it's offline. Synchronizing would have the same effect.

The ⌥ is the “alt” key on the keyboard, also some times known as the “option” key.

everything seems to be working fine now! thank you.