Computer Software

Thunderbird not saving sent mail

Jul 12, 2010 by Paul White

If you find yourself in a situation where thunderbird is no longer saving your sent emails in the Sent folder, then I might have a solution.  In my case all emails from July 4th 2010 on were not showing.  That and anytime I clicked on my Sent folder it would take a very long time to load.  If any of these symptoms sound like your problem, then my solution should work.  Keep in mind by the time I got to this solution I had already gone through and deleted my .msf files, ran compact folders, and even created a new profile.  None of these solved the problem.  In short the problem was a bad email in my sent folder. But it also turns out there is a 4GB limit on folder sizes in thunderbird

Should I become sender score verified

Apr 8, 2010 by Paul White

After months of dealing with low open rates with one of my biggest client's email lists, I have finally gotten to the point where I am willing to join return path's sender score verified program which is a paid whitelist to ensure delivery into the inbox. I will be documenting my experiences here for good or bad.  Thus far the program is looking very promising

How to get into Yahoo Inbox with your bulk emails

Feb 21, 2010 by Paul White

Yahoo runs one of the strictest Anti Spam setups of all the Free mail Servers.  If you send any kind of bulk emails then you likely haven't had much success getting into the inbox of yahoo.  Your Emails are either bounced with a deferred message like this Reason: Remote host said: 421 4.7.0 TS01 Messages from 69.80.230.7 temporarily deferred due to user complaints - 4.16.55.1. or they end up in the spam folder.  After switching IPs of my mail server I had the opportunity to validate many of my theories on how Yahoo's AntiSpam technology works.

What sender score and IP reputation is really worth to your mail server

Feb 19, 2010 by Paul White

Most webmasters and server admins are relatively clueless as to what makes email really run.  Recently I was forced to migrate all my websites to new IPs.  I knew I was going to take a hit for this but I didn't realize how much.  This whole experience have given me a new perspective on how to get into yahoo's inbox with your bulk emails and newsletters.

ATT and Verizon DNSBL Problems.

Feb 13, 2010 by Paul White

Verizon and AT&T yesterday started bounced emails from my server.  This was very unexpected, as non of my websites do any kind of spam.  A few of them do send a newsletter but this is to a double Opt in Maillist.  Everyone getting the newsletter signed up for it.  So in this blog I will chronicle my journey to get this resolved with both ISPs.  If this turns out good, then fine. If it turns out bad, then at least I will have documented it for the rest of the world.

How to increase your open rates for your bulk emails

Nov 14, 2009 by Paul White

If you are are like me you have a strong belief that if you want it done right you have to do it yourself.  Running a Mail Server that sends any kind of bulk emails brings many issues that noobie Server Admins don't have a clue about.  I found there wasn't much information about how to properly run a mail server so I thought I would write a complete blog on the issue.  So if you want to greatly increase your open rates, read this

SmarterMail 6 Migration Issue with subfolders

Sep 28, 2009 by Paul White

If you recently migrated one of your domains to another box running smartermail 6 and you had a problem with email not displaying on the subfolders of your mailbox, then you need to read this blog

Constant Contact used by spammers, blacklisted by many

Aug 6, 2009 by Paul White

For Years Constant Contact has been an easy way for buisinesses to do their bulk emailing without any advanced programmer and server admin skills.  Well I think Constant Contact may be in some trouble, as spammers have been using their servers do send spam.  Read more for the details.

Block Foreign IPs to cut your server load.

Aug 3, 2009 by Paul White

Even though there are companies that have clients on an international level, most in the USA, are not interested with selling their goods and services to people outside the USA.  If you are one of these companies, that only cares about USA customers, then this blog might help you cut your server load, and Mail Server Load.

MX records being used to block spam

Apr 20, 2009 by Paul White

Recently I have noticed that the open rates of a few of my client's newsletters are going down.  This is leading me to believe that most free mail servers are using yet another litmus test to detect and block spam.  Unfortunately those of us with legit bulk emails campaigns are also feeling the pinch.