Email System Frequently Asked Questions

 

What is the GreekHunter.com e-mail system based on?
Our webmail is a mail server product from Software.com.  GreekHunter uses this product for our mail servers, and you use it to manage your mail from your Web browser.
 
What are e-mail accounts?
E-mail accounts or aliases are the names to which e-mail can be sent (i.e. John.Doe@MyFraternity.com, Jane.Doe@MySorority.com, etc.)
 
An option I set isn't working.
After selecting your options, always click OK to save your changes. Then click 'Click here to continue' to complete the process.
What is the difference between POP3 and Forwarding?
POP3 is a protocol used to retrieve your e-mail from our mail server. You then configure your mail client (for example, Internet Explorer, Netscape, Eudora) to read your mail directly from our mail server.

When configuring for POP3, please use the following:

  • 'pop.registeredsite.com' for your incoming mail server name
  • 'smtp.registeredsite.com' for the outgoing mail server address
  • The user name and password we issued to you.
  • POP3 for type of Mail server
Forwarding is when our mail server forwards e-mail to your local ISP or e-mail address instead of storing it. When we set up your account, all of your e-mail is forwarded to the e-mail address you supplied to us.
 

 
IMPORTANT: Wherever you see pop.registeredsite.com and smtp.registeredsite.com noted, you must type this information exactly as it is written. Do not use pop.yourdomain.com or smtp.yourdomain.com.

What is an autoresponder and how do I set it up?
An autoresponder or vacation message is a message automatically sent to anyone who e-mails a particular address. For example, you might set up an autoresponder for your account that says 'I'm on vacation and will check my e-mail on Monday.' Then, anyone who e-mails you will automatically receive in reply an e-mail stating that you are on vacation. This feature can also be used to automatically send sales literature or technical support in reply to a message.

To access autoresponder setup, log on with your user name and password. Click Options in the left navigation bar, then click Rules. At the top of the Rules page is the vacation message option. Type the text of your message and use 'Usage Rules' to determine how the message is sent.

Here is an explanation of the Autoresponse options available in the options interface. The following radial buttons are listed under “Rules”:
AutoReply --
Disabled – This means the autoresponder is turned off and is not sending automated replies.
Reply Every Time – This means the autoresponder is turned on and is sending automated replies to every message that appears in your mailbox.
Reply Every Time With Echo – A copy of the sender’s message is returned along with the autoreply.
Reply Once to Each Sender – Only one response will be sent to each address within a seven-day period. Subsequent emails from a sender will not be sent replies until seven days after the first e-mail was responded to.
 
What is an e-mail alias and how do I set up aliases?
Aliases are alternative addresses that other people may use to send messages to a particular mailbox. With our e-mail system, one can enter up to 10 aliases for a user, separated by spaces or on separate lines. To set up an alias, go to the Mailbox page under Options.

Special note:  There can be only one alias used in a domain with the same name.  For instance if you have an alias set up under your account such as TheMan@MyFraternity.com, your brother will have to use an alias of TheBoy@MyFraternity.com as you are already The Man and there can only be one TheMan in your chapter.

 
What is forwarding?
Forwarding is a way of sending e-mail to an address other than the one to which it was originally addressed. We provide unlimited forwarding to POP e-mail accounts, which are usually included in your account with an Internet service provider. Here's how it works:
  1. The mail server keeps a configuration file for the forwarding information.
  2. An e-mail comes in, addressed to someone at your domain.
  3. The e-mail server software finds the listings for your domain name in the forwarding configuration file.
  4. It checks for the specific alias at your domain.
If it finds the alias specified, it will forward the mail to the specified address. You may configure the forwarding to either keep copies of your e-mail on the server after the e-mail has been forwarded, or to discard the e-mail from the server once it has been forwarded.
 
What is parental control and how do I set parental controls?
Parental control places restrictions on incoming messages. If you would like to have parental control set up for your e-mail account, please let your e-mail coordinator know so that we can get it in place for you.
 
Is the length of the user name limited in forwarding addresses and aliases?
It is not necessary to use the Tab, Enter or Return keys once you reach the end of the box - just keep typing the name. Using these keys in the midst of typing an address will result in entry of an incomplete address.

If you are sending a message to a group of people, you have the option to send to up to 50 recipients.

 
What is a wildcard account?
A wildcard account is a special account that automatically takes receipt of any e-mail message addressed to an unknown user within a domain rather than returning the e-mail to the sender. This is also referred to as a 'nobody' account since many e-mail systems use an account with 'nobody' as the name on the wildcard account.

We usually set up one person in your chapter to get the e-mail that does not match up to any valid e-mail address.  This person will take care of forwarding it to the person that it was intended for.  Therefore any e-mail messages that are addressed to an unknown user within that domain will be placed into that person's account (since it is also functioning as the wildcard account).

 
My e-mail is bouncing back to me. How do I stop it?
Mail can be returned to the sender for many reasons, the most common reasons being oversized mail and improper account settings. If you know how to check your account settings, do so. Most accounts have a set limit on the size of mail that can be received. Please check your account information to find out the maximum allowable size of an e-mail. You may have to call your account manager if you need to add additional space.
Why won't my form send e-mail to my e-mail account although it will send e-mail to a non-GreekHunter e-mail address?
If your account is new, please keep in mind that DNS entries have to propagate for e-mail to work. Mail is sent through a domain, and if the domain is not functional, e-mail on that domain will not be functional either. DNS entries can take 5 to 7 days to fully propagate throughout the Internet.

Our e-mail server has strict spam filters that reject mail which appears to be coming from an invalid e-mail address. Spammers' e-mail programs are set to use a default address from which the mail appears to be sent. The GreekHunter server will often reject these addresses.

When your form is submitted, all the data in the fields is sent to the CGI script and then sent to the mail program. The CGI script uses certain fields in the header so that the message is formatted before it reaches the mail program. Those fields are named within the HTML code in the form and match certain aspects of the CGI script. The formmail.pl file that we offer has an accompanying sampleform.htm file designed to work directly with the formmail.pl script. The fields in the HTML code are input tags and look like this in the form:

<input type="text" name="email" value="" size="60">

This line sets a field in which the user enters his/her e-mail address before submitting. This line will cause the e-mail address entered to be placed as the 'from' address in the e-mail that is finally sent. The part which reads name='email' must be in all lowercase to work with the formmail.pl script we supply. If it is not, the mail program places the default address in the 'from' section of the header and our e-mail server rejects it. If you want to ensure that you will always get the mail, place this line in the top of the form's code:

<input type="hidden" name="email" value="your_usrXXXX_email_address">

<input type="hidden" name="recipient" value="some_address">

Here, your_usrXXXX_email_address is the default administrative e-mail address and some_address is the e-mail address to which the form is to be sent. If you do not have a line of code that says this:

<input type="text" name="email" value="" size="60">

or this:

<input type="hidden" name="email" value="your_usrXXXX_email_address">

then you should add the latter as specified above.

If you allow visitors submitting your form to specify their own addresses, should they put in a fake e-mail addresses, their forms will most likely be rejected. The best way to avoid this is to use the added line suggested above. The formmail.pl file we use is from Matt's Script Archive. If you are using a form mail CGI script other than the one we supply, then you will have to find documentation on that script to determine the required field name for the 'from' address that is to be inserted.

How do I know if my mailbox is full?
As you approach 70% of your quota, you will receive an e-mail warning before any mail will bounce. Once you have reached your limit, you will receive an e-mail stating that your storage limits have been reached. If someone sends you an e-mail message and your mailbox is full, the sender gets an e-mail message stating that their message was undeliverable due to the reason that the user's account is temporarily over quota.

This default value of 70% can be reset if special needs arise.
 
How did my mailbox get full so quickly?
The e-mail servers have a limited amount of disk space, which must be shared between all users of the system. If the total size of all your e-mail messages exceeds that limit, you will not be able to send or receive new e-mail messages until you delete some of your old messages. Although you may not have many messages in your Inbox (or your New Mail folder), some of the messages could be quite large, especially if they have file attachments. Alternately, you may have messages that you have sent stored in your Sent or Outbox folder, there may be messages in your Deleted folder awaiting permanent deletion, or you may have messages left on the server.

If the mailbox capacity seems unusually small, check the quota for the mailbox in the Options section. This must be entered in KB, not MB, so make sure the mailboxes were set up with adequate storage space.

 
I was told that my mailbox is full, but I deleted everything in the Inbox.
When you delete messages from your Inbox folder, they are only removed from the Inbox and automatically moved to your Deleted folder rather than being permanently deleted. Therefore, to free up space, you will need to delete the messages from your Deleted (trash) folder. Once you delete the messages from the Deleted (trash) folder, they are permanently deleted and the space will be made available for new messages.
 
How are Disk Quotas set?
Disk quotas will be set for the account as a whole. Whenever a mailbox exceeds its storage quota, the e-mail server sends a warning message to that individual mailbox.
 
What happens if my mailbox reaches it allocated quota?
When a mailbox has reached its maximum, additional messages sent to that mailbox will bounce back to the sender until that mailbox is brought under quota. You can resolve this by deleting messages.
 
What is the maximum attachments size for mail?
If you are using a mail client such as Outlook to send and receive e-mail, the maximum size mail message allowed is 10 MB, including all attachments. The maximum size is 5 MB if you are using the online (WebEdge) e-mail interface. The maximum size mail message allowed is 10 MB, including all attachments. The system doesn't make any distinction of whether the message has attachments or not; it just sees the size of the entire message.