Best practice when using smtp

[Sebastien]

Hi,

This is not related specifically to f3, but I'd like to get your input on the best way to send an email from a F3 application.

Most of the times, emails sent from my application are going to spam folder, especially with outlook.com.

I really don't know if it's caused by 1) the mail server I'm using (www.critsend.com) or 2) the 'from' address domain name or 3) if it's related to the way I'm sending the email....

In order to eliminate the 3rd option, I would like to know if there are additional attributes I can set on the smtp email to prevent this behavior...or if there is something I can set on the email template?

In another post, I saw an email template starting with:

MIME-Version: 1.0                                                                                                                               

Content-type: text/html; charset=xxx

From: em...@xxxxxx.com

To: em...@xxxxxx.com

Subject: xxxxxxxxxxxx

I this something that would help?

Thanks,

Sebastien

[ved]

Several factors can be in play here, including all the ones you said. But you didn't give us enough information to pinpoint the reason.

When opening one of the emails that got marked as spam, on most email clients there's an option to see the full email source, including headers. (On gmail is called "show original")

On the email source headers, usually there are some clues that may indicate why (and where) your email is being marked as spam.

Maybe the contents are spammy, maybe the SPF/DKIM records are wrong or non-existent, maybe your mail server just isn't trusted.

There's really nothing regarding F3 that would be responsible for that or that could mitigate that issue.

[Nuwanda]

Critsend should be able to help you. They will deal with this type of issue constantly and should be able to offer expert tips.

[Sebastien]

Thanks for your information. I will validate with Critsend. Meanwhile, I'm also testing my own hosting mail server to see if it's reliable. If so, I will drop critsend.

[ved]

I wouldn't recommend running your own mailserver unless you really need to send a very large volume that would make it very expensive to use third party providers.

I personally use mailgun.com as my current email provider. It's free up to 10000 mails per month and my emails never get marked as spam (afaik, ymmv)

There are other similar services with free tiers:

mailjet.com

pepipost.com

sparkpost.com

sendinblue.com

Or if considering paid services:

sendgrid.com

postmarkapp.com

aws.amazon.com/ses/

And I'm sure there are many others.

[Sebastien]

Sorry for the confusion... by 'own mail server' I mean the mail server from my hosting service (webfaction).

That being said, I will have a look at mailgun. Seems interesting, and with so much free mails per month, I will never have to pay something.

Thanks!

[ved]

No problem, good luck.

[Nuwanda]

I assume webfaction uses shared servers, or shared mail servers. The problem that arises here is the mail server itself can get flagged if an account sending mail via that server is deemed to be sending spam. That could be any one of thousands of accounts that webfaction hosts along with yours, but since you're all sending via the same mail server, you can be blacklisted. I've had this problem on Dreamhost, and no longer use DH for this reason.

A dedicated mail service is a great option considering their rates are so low. Many people never even get close to exceeding the free option.