When Emails Aren't Where They Should Be, Whitelist

GENERAL MANUFACTURED HOUSING INDUSTRY TOPICS

by Joe Geller

Many of us have gone through the frustration of not receiving an email, even after we verify the sender has sent the email, and he or she has not received an email indicating the email was not delivered. Often, if the person who did not receive the email looks in their SPAM or JUNK folder, they will see the email in it, and are at a loss as to how it was diverted there.

This is where the whitelist comes into play. A good definition of it may be found at this web site: http://searchexchange.techtarget.com/definition/whitelist. What this is telling you is there is a facility to tell the software you use to receive the email this is not from someone sending SPAM, but is someone whose email you trust, and want to receive in your inbox. Once the sender is whitelisted, the email will no longer be filtered as SPAM and will reside where you expect it to be, in your inbox. Let's look at an example of using this facility provided by Google's Gmail, using a newsletter you have just subscribed to.

The day arrives when you are anxiously awaiting your first newsletter from a popular web site that mails one out each week. After using your web browser to sign onto Gmail, you look in your Inbox for the newsletter and cannot locate it. The first thing you should do is point your mouse at one of the words in the left column and you should see a folder marked SPAM appear. Click on the word SPAM, the folder will open, and a list of emails in it will display and one of them is the newsletter. If you click on the email subject displayed in the SPAM folder that you wish to whitelist, then look near the top of the page you should see the following:

It is as simple as clicking the box labeled “Not spam” on the following display:

When you open your inbox by clicking on the word “Inbox” in the left column of the page, you should see the email and can read it by clicking on the subject that displays.

Note, this method only works on a single email that has been diverted to your SPAM folder. If you want to ensure all email from the sender is received. A different procedure is used, that will add the sender of the email to your Contacts list.

Follow the same steps as described previously to find and open the email marked as SPAM. Near the top of the email you should see something like this:

If you click on the downward pointing arrow at the extreme right of the illustration above, the box will display. The sixth selection on it will display “Add sender to Contacts list”. The name of the sender will display where I have indicated it using the word “sender”. Click on this selection and you should then see a confirmation message “The sender has been added to your Contacts list”. Note, if you receive your email using email software on your PC from Google (and other email services) it may have its own junk mail filtering as described in this link, http://support.google.com/mail/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=78759. Be sure you are not also filtering your email using email software on your PC, or it will still be diverted to your SPAM or JUNK folder.

Due to the diversity of how different service providers like Goggle such as Yahoo, AOL, MSN, etc. please refer to their online help to whitelist your emails that are diverted to your SPAM or JUNK folder. Using search terms in Google such as “Yahoo SPAM”, “AOL SPAM”, or “MS SPAM” yields links that will explain each provider's specific process to both remove the junk mail filtering using their browser-based email software, or adding a filter to divert email from your Inbox to your SPAM or JUNK folder.

For email software that resides on your PC, we have provided the following links that will familiarize you with how junk mail filtering works for your particular PC email software:

• Microsoft Outlook

http://www.sitedeveloper.ws/tutorials/spam.htm

• Mac Mail

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/dealing-with-junk-mail-in-mac-os-x.html

• Mozilla Thunderbird

https://wiki.mozilla.org/Thunderbird:Help_Documentation:Dealing_with_Junk_E-mail

Using search terms in Google such as “Outlook SPAM”, “Mac Mail SPAM”, or “Thunderbird SPAM” and others, yields links that will explain the specific PC-based email software's process to remove the junk mail filtering, or add a filter to divert email from your Inbox to your SPAM or JUNK folder. # #

Joe Geller, MHProNews.com/MHMSM.com WebTech and IT Management. Remember, MHMSM.com offers superior cost effective web based marketing solutions. Contact us at this link to learn more.