Sunday, July 5, 2009

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about the SMTP relay service

Q. How are bounces handled?

A. If you send an email message to an address that is on your account's Bounce list, then that email message won't be sent, and instead, a notification will be sent back to the sender with this error message:

Web Service Exception BouncedEmailAddressException: Email address is on account's Bounce list. System.Exception: JangoMailNamespace.BouncedEmailAddressException: Web Service Exception BouncedEmailAddressException: Email address is on account's Bounce list.

If you send an email message to an address that is not yet on your account's bounce list, but the recipient address is invalid, then that address will then be added to your account's Bounce list. If you wish to receive an email notification of the bounce-back, like you would with a "regular" SMTP service, then set the appropriate options under My Options and Settings --> Bounce Handling.

Q. How are unsubscribes handled?A. If you send an email message to an address on your account's Unsubscribe list, the email message will not be sent and instead an error notification containing the following text will be sent back to the From Address on the email message:
Web Service Exception UnsubscribedEmailAddressException: Email address is on account's Unsubscribe list. System.Exception: Namespace.UnsubscribedEmailAddressException: Web Service Exception UnsubscribedEmailAddressException: Email address is on account's Unsubscribe list.

You have the option to have the SMTP relay bypass your account's unsubscribe list and not perform this check. To do so, check the appropriate box under My Options and Settings --> SMTP Relay.
Q. How is word wrapping handled?
By default, the SMTP relay is set to wrap lines at 76 characters. Many of Microsoft's email clients wrap lines at 76 characters, so we chose this as the default. You can, however, customize this setting under My Options and Settings --> SMTP Relay. Most desktop email clients, like Outlook, Thunderbird, and Eudora already transmit the email to the SMTP server with proper word wrapping in place. Many programming-based components, like PHP, ASP, and ASP.Net email components that send email programatically via an SMTP server, may not do any word wrapping at all. It is for this reason that the SMTP relay will do the word wrapping at 76 characters by default. To prevent the SMTP relay from doing any word wrapping, set the Wrapping option to 0 under My Options and Settings --> SMTP Relay

Q. Can I use the standard JangoMail unsubscribe link in my email messages sent via the SMTP relay?

A. Yes, you can. Just link to:

http://x.jango8.com/u.z?***uniqueid****

x.jango8.com can be replaced with the Tracking Domain specific to your account.

Q. My email client sends emails encoded in base 64 or quoted-printable. Will there be any issues with this?

A. Everything will work fine. JangoMail's SMTP relay will not only preserve your email client's original encoding scheme, but it will also still be able to add the open-tracking and click-tracking entities to your email message.

Q. What are the costs to use the SMTP relay?

A. The pricing is based on the number and size of the emails you send per month. Pricing is at http://www.jangosmtp.com/Pricing.asp.

Q. What happens if I attempt to send more emails through the SMTP relay than my account allows?

A. If your account is marked as an "overage allowed" account, then you will never encounter this issue. If your account does have set limits, as most do unless you've requested otherwise, then when your emails exceed your account limits, the sender will get return notifications indicating that the account is over limit and that the email was not delivered.

Q. Is my email message delivered to my recipient instantly through the SMTP relay?

A. Your email message is delivered within 3-5 seconds after it arrives at relay.jangosmtp.net. That 3-5 seconds is required for processing, such as adding the open-tracking and click-tracking mechanisms, signing with DomainKeys (and DKIM), and checking against your account's Bounce list.

Q. Can click-tracking affect phishing filters?

A. Yes, depending on the email program that the recipient is using. Since click-tracking alters your original URL, spam filters may detect this as a phishing attempt. The smarter email clients get though, the less of an issue this will become over time. Additionally, if your display text itself isn't a URL, then there won't be an issue. For example:

This is the best web site. (good way to link)

versus

http://www.google.com/ is the best web site. (bad way to link)

Q. What happens if I send email from either an IP address or a From Address that I have not yet authorized under My Options and Settings --> SMTP Relay?

A. An error notification will be sent to the Sender of the email message with the IP and From Address infomation:

Relaying denied for [IP Address] / "Joe Smith"