Friday, January 22, 2016

Domain Management: Every Domain Needs These Email Addresses

Every domain is supposed to have a "Postmaster@..." address.
I always recommend more addresses (webmaster@..., abuse@..., etc). 
With the careful use of email forwarders, you can have dozens of address but have only one mailbox to check.

If you are managing a website, you have different roles and responsibilities.
  • As webmaster, you are responsible for the technical aspects of running the page, ergo you need a "webmaster" address.
  • As owner, you have certain responsibilities to the organizations that "run" the Internet; hence, a "postmaster" address.
  • From time to time there may be an issue that needs your attention but doesn't actually have anything to do with the technical aspect of your website: you'll need a catch-all "abuse" address.
  • If you want to separate inquiries about your product, you may want an "info" address
  • Of course you will want an address that goes directly to you by name...
Most people have experience with call forwarding for telephones.  For example, some people forward their landline to their cell phone.  The call "hits" the landline and then shows up on the cell phone.  If the call goes to voice mail, then it is the cell phone that records the message! The land line is essentially a relay point.

An email forwarder is essentially a relay point, too.

I believe in using email forwarders, also known as an alias, to manage these responsibilities I outlined above.

To start, I create a forwarder to use as a single exit point. This makes the destination address easier to change.

I often use 0.admin@domain... (The "0" in 0.admin is the number zero, not the letter "o")  Here's why:
  • An address that starts with a zero automatically sorts to the top of the list of address that are sorted by alphabetical order
  • Because it is unusual; SPAMMERS don't guess at dotted email addresses
    Important: I never advertise or use this email address for anything once I create it. If I ever receive an email addressed to that account then I know something is up.  Did I get hacked?
  • Depending on the phase of the moon or time of day, I may create something different (but always with a dot somewhere in the name!)
    0.Forwarder
    @domain...
    0.ExitAddress@domain...
    0Exit.Address@domain...
    0Exit.email2me@domain...

I forward my 0.admin mail to the "real" email account that I check every day. For example, I might forward 0.admin-@-jaggers.pw to rickjaggers-@-mygmail.com.

Next, I create the usual accounts as forwarders:
  • 0.admin@domain... forwarded to abctampabay@gmail...
  • Info@domain... forwarded to 0.admin@domain...
  • Hello@domain... forwarded to 0.admin@domain...
  • Postmaster@domain... forwarded to 0.admin@domain...
  • Webmaster@domain... forwarded to 0.admin@domain...
  • Abuse@domain... forwarded to 0.admin@domain...
  • Rick.Jaggers@domain... forwarded to 0.admin@domain...
The bottom line is that I now have 7 new email addresses, but I don't have to check 7 mailboxes!  The email is delivered to a gmail mailbox that I already check every day. I like gmail because they have good SPAM filters:




If I have two domains to manage, then I'll need 12 new addresses, and but I will still want only one mailbox to check.



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