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I hate paying someone else to deliver my email. It just seems crappy. So, in that spirit: Set up a server with postfix. Don't to this on EC2. Many just bla

by mdasen 18y ago

I hate paying someone else to deliver my email. It just seems crappy. So, in that spirit: Set up a server with postfix. Don't to this on EC2. Many just blacklist those IPs. Implement DKIM. It isn't too difficult and if you just google for a how to there are plenty. That way, the messages are signed and nice. I would avoid SPF. A lot more people have forwarding addresses now and most forwarding servers don't play nice with SPF and that causes mail to get rejected. Most importantly, make it very obvious how to stop getting the emails with one click. Users hate messages they can't easily stop. Don't hide it thinking that you'll convince some to stay receiving. They'll send you to SPAM and that's the end of your email server. Make it one click, make it all messages, don't ask for passwords, don't ask for email addresses, nothing. One click opt-out. Anything else and, well, you deserve getting dumped in the SPAM folder. EDIT: almost forgot, make the address go to a real mailbox if someone replies. Most of the time, the reply will be "take me off". Just click the link from their message and be done with it. Don't tell them how, just do it. It takes less time and makes them happier.

mhartl 18y ago
If you enjoy this kind of thing, more power to you, but there's a lot to be said for comparative advantage. Spending a bunch of time on a DIY setup risks being penny-wise and pound-foolish.
- mmmurf 18y ago
  True, that and the fact that it takes a while before ISPs begin to trust your IP addresses, so if you need delivery to occur right away it's good to go with someone whose IPs have established trust.
  - mmmurf 18y ago
    (such as hellocreature.com) :)
nickb 18y ago
Set up a server with postfix. Don't to this on EC2. Many just blacklist those IPs. Implement DKIM. It isn't too difficult and if you just google for a how to there are plenty. That way, the messages are signed and nice. I would avoid SPF. A lot more people have forwarding addresses now and most forwarding servers don't play nice with SPF and that causes mail to get rejected. None of the things you've offered as solutions actually guarantee delivery. In fact, I'll wager that emails sent from an email server that's been setup like you propose will not even show up in Hotmail's Spam folder, let alone Hotmail inbox! Having DKIM doesn't do anything for Hotmail or Y! Mail, for example. Spammers use DKIM too. I wouldn't avoid SPF since some European ISPs require it and Hotmail actually does care about it once you actually get past bigger issues that stop Hotmail delivery. And even if one of your test emails does get through Hotmail, a first Spam report (i.e. someone clicks on that dreaded "Spam" button) by one of the recipients will blacklist your whole server and domain, INSTANTLY! And who knows how long it will take you to get off that dreaded spam list. SPF is a must. In short, setting up your own mail server and thinking that your emails will show up in people's inboxes is naïve. You wouldn't believe what it takes to have a 95% delivery rate. Those email delivery companies have dozens of people who talk daily to postmasters of major email companies and resolve issues. We went through this process, maybe foolishly, and it took a lot of work and more importantly, a lot of time. And we still have issues with some email services. It will take you about a month to jump through all the hoops to actually have about 80% delivery rate. If I were doing it again, I'd go with a hosted email service instead. Unless you're sending over 10K emails a day, hosted is the way to go. I might make a writeup on the process once I get some free time... let me know if anyone's interested.
- jsdalton 18y ago
  > Unless you're sending over 10K emails a day, hosted is the way to go. I might make a writeup on the process once I get some free time... let me know if anyone's interested. We're considering rolling our own email server setup. We send about 30K emails a day in the form of a daily newsletter, and are getting ready to build a custom community update users, that will go to about 10K per day. A long way of saying I'm VERY interested in your experiences with your setup.
  - 18y ago

by mdasen 18y ago

mhartl 18y ago

If you enjoy this kind of thing, more power to you, but there's a lot to be said for comparative advantage. Spending a bunch of time on a DIY setup risks being penny-wise and pound-foolish.

mmmurf 18y ago
True, that and the fact that it takes a while before ISPs begin to trust your IP addresses, so if you need delivery to occur right away it's good to go with someone whose IPs have established trust.
- mmmurf 18y ago
  (such as hellocreature.com) :)

nickb 18y ago

Set up a server with postfix. Don't to this on EC2. Many just blacklist those IPs. Implement DKIM. It isn't too difficult and if you just google for a how to there are plenty. That way, the messages are signed and nice. I would avoid SPF. A lot more people have forwarding addresses now and most forwarding servers don't play nice with SPF and that causes mail to get rejected. None of the things you've offered as solutions actually guarantee delivery. In fact, I'll wager that emails sent from an email server that's been setup like you propose will not even show up in Hotmail's Spam folder, let alone Hotmail inbox! Having DKIM doesn't do anything for Hotmail or Y! Mail, for example. Spammers use DKIM too. I wouldn't avoid SPF since some European ISPs require it and Hotmail actually does care about it once you actually get past bigger issues that stop Hotmail delivery. And even if one of your test emails does get through Hotmail, a first Spam report (i.e. someone clicks on that dreaded "Spam" button) by one of the recipients will blacklist your whole server and domain, INSTANTLY! And who knows how long it will take you to get off that dreaded spam list. SPF is a must. In short, setting up your own mail server and thinking that your emails will show up in people's inboxes is naïve. You wouldn't believe what it takes to have a 95% delivery rate. Those email delivery companies have dozens of people who talk daily to postmasters of major email companies and resolve issues. We went through this process, maybe foolishly, and it took a lot of work and more importantly, a lot of time. And we still have issues with some email services. It will take you about a month to jump through all the hoops to actually have about 80% delivery rate. If I were doing it again, I'd go with a hosted email service instead. Unless you're sending over 10K emails a day, hosted is the way to go. I might make a writeup on the process once I get some free time... let me know if anyone's interested.

jsdalton 18y ago
> Unless you're sending over 10K emails a day, hosted is the way to go. I might make a writeup on the process once I get some free time... let me know if anyone's interested. We're considering rolling our own email server setup. We send about 30K emails a day in the form of a daily newsletter, and are getting ready to build a custom community update users, that will go to about 10K per day. A long way of saying I'm VERY interested in your experiences with your setup.
- 18y ago