While we applaud the anti-spam industry for removing the plethora of unwanted email from our mailboxes, from time to time some legitimate email publications like ours are mistaken as unwanted. Sometimes, this results in mailings from our Shoestring News mail list hosting service bouncing back, with requests for us to respond to challenge/response messages to prevent future filtering.  However, due to the size of our client’s lists, it’s nearly impossible for us handle the volume of such requests.

We want you to receive our newsletters! You can make sure that you receive the newsletters to which you are subscribed by doing the following:

1. Never use the “Report Spam” button to remove a newsletter to which you subscribed from your Inbox. The “Report Spam” or “Junk Mail” button is not the same as the “Delete” button– it will send a message to your ISP that the newsletter is spam. This can prevent you from receiving other, wanted emails. If you subscribed, be a good subscriber and unsubscribe if you no longer want to receive a publication;
2. Add our publications to your “safe” or permitted email sender list.  This usually involves simply adding our sending address (From: mail@shoestringnews.com) to your whitelist, safelist, or list of privileged senders.  This is commonly known as “whitelisting” a publication and doesn’t prevent you from unsubscribing in the future.

Please refer to the following whitelisting instructions you can use to whitelist Shoestring News publications, depending on the filtering solution you use:

AOL

Go to keyword:  Mail Controls.
Select the screen name we’re sending your Shoestring News to.
Click Customize Mail Controls For This Screen Name.

Version 9.0:

Open your latest Shoestring News e-mail.
Click the Add Address button (on the right) to add to your “People I Know” list.

Alternatively, you can just send an e-mail to: mail@shoestringnews.com, and that
will add us to your “People I Know” list automatically. To do this:

Open your latest Shoestring News e-mail.
Click the Reply button (it’s in the top right corner).
A new email window opens with the wrong address in the “Send To” box.
Replace the address in the Send To box with: mail@shoestringnews.com
Click Send Now (in the top right corner).
Even if the e-mail you send doesn’t get through to us, the act of sending it does the job of putting us into your “People I Know” list.

CleanMyMailbox:

If Shoestring News is filtered, from the spambox,
click on the white “W” icon on the left column of the mailing. 
When the pop-up window comes up, simply click the Add to Whitelist button.

Alternative whitelisting methods: 

* Click on the White List button.
   Add: mail@shoestringnews.com to the bottom of your existing list. 
   Click the Submit List button.

Cloudmark SpamNet:

Select Cloudmark | Options… from the Cloudmark SpamNet toolbar in Outlook.
Click Advanced.
Go to the Whitelist tab.
Click the Add button.
Type: mail@shoestringnews.com
Click OK.
Click OK.
Click Yes.
Click OK.

Earthlink:

Click on Address Book (it’s over on the left, below your Folders).
When your Address Book opens, click the Add button.
On the Add Contact screen, find the Internet Information box.
Enter mail@shoestringnews.com into the top Email box.
Click Save.

Hotmail:

Click the Options link, on the main menu tabs, then Safe List.
Type: mail@shoestringnews.com in your Safe List.
If you see a message that should not be in your Junk Mail folder, click
‘This is not Junk Mail’ to avoid having e-mail from the same source sent to
the Junk Mail folder in the future.

Mailblocks:

Click the Addresses tab.
Click New.
Type: mail@shoestringnews.com
Make sure ‘Accept Mail From This Address’ is selected under Receiving Options.
Uncheck ‘Display in People Picker’ under Other options.
Click Submit.
Click OK.

MailShield:

Click Friends from the toolbar.
Click Add.
Type: mail@shoestringnews.com
Click OK.

MailWasher:

Click Tools, then Blacklist & Friends.
Click Add… on the right, the Friends list side.
Make sure Plain email address is selected.
Type: mail@shoestringnews.com
Click OK.
Click OK.

McAfee Spamkiller:

Click Friends from the sidebar.
Click Add.
Type: mail@shoestringnews.com
Click OK.

MSN:

Click on Settings: E-mail | Junk e-mail (it’s at the bottom left of the screen, just above Calendar)
On the E-mail settings screen, click Junk E-Mail Guard.
Select Safe List.
In the space provided under “Add people to the safe list”, enter mail@shoestringnews.com.
Click Add.

oddpost:

Check your ‘Probably Spam’ folder.
If you see that Shoestring News was incorrectly filtered out,
select it, and click the ‘Move to Inbox and Mark as Not Spam’ button.

Outlook 2003:

Add mail@shoestringnews.com to your Safe List.
Add mail@shoestringnews.com to your Personal Contacts in your Outlook Address Book.
Open any desired e-mail, then select Mark as Not Junk.

SpamButcher:

Click the Configure button.
Go to the Known Senders tab.
Click Add under ‘Known Good Senders and Recipients’.
Type: mail@shoestringnews.com
Click OK.
Click OK.

SpamCop:

Open your browser and go to: http://webmail.spamcop.net
Log into your SpamCop account.
Click on the Options icon in the toolbar.
Under Mail Management (in the middle), click SpamCop Tools.
Select Manage your personal whitelist.
Near the bottom, where it reads “Click here to add to your whitelist”, click on Click here.
Enter mail@shoestringnews.com in the first empty slot.
Click Submit.

Spameater Pro:

Click Filters from the sidebar.
Click the Approved Senders tab.
Click Add Filter.
Type: mail@shoestringnews.com under Address.
Choose ‘Full Email Address’ under Address Type.
Select Email Domain.
Click OK.

Spam Inspector:

Select Spam Inspector, then ‘Manage Friends List’
from either the Spam Inspector toolbar or from the Outlook menu.
Make sure Email is selected under ‘Add a New Friend’.
Type: mail@shoestringnews.com
Click the >> button.
Click Close.

Spam Interceptor:

Follow the Trusted link under > Authentication Lists.  Enter the email
address: mail@shoestringnews.com
Click Add.

Spamkiller:

On the Spamkiller sidebar, click Friends.
Click Add.
Enter mail@shoestringnews.com and click the OK button.

SpamPal:

Click on the SpamPal system tray icon with the right mouse button.
Click ‘Add to Whitelist’ from the menu.
Type: mail@shoestringnews.com
Click Add.

Spam Sleuth:

Select File, then Configure.
Go to the Friends category.
Make sure Active is checked.
Type: mail@shoestringnews.com on a line by itself in the entry field.
Click OK.

Verizon:

Go to your Verizon Inbox.
Click Options.
Select the Block Senders tab (near the top of the screen).
On the Block Senders screen, you’ll see both a “Block Sender List” and
a “Safe List”. In the space where it says “Enter e-mail address or sub
domain to always accept even if the domain is blocked”, enter mail@shoestringnews.com.

Yahoo! Mail

Open your Yahoo! mailbox.
Click Mail Options.
Click Filters.
Click Add Filter.
In the top row, labeled ‘From header:’ make sure Contains is selected in the pull-down menu.
Click in the text box next to that pull-down menu, then enter the address: mail@shoestringnews.com
At the bottom, where it says “Move the Message To:” select Inbox from the pull-down menu.
Click the Add Filter button again.

If Shoestring News has been filtered to your “bulk” folder, simply
open the message and click on the “This is not Spam” link next to
the “From” field.

Other providers:

If Shoestring News is being filtered, try adding mail@shoestringnews.com to your Address Book or Contact list.  If this option is not available, try moving the message to your ‘inbox’ or forwarding the message to yourself.

If subsequent messages continue to be filtered, call or e-mail your ISP’s technical support
and ask how you can be sure to receive all e-mail from mail@shoestringnews.com.

Domain: If they need to know the domain we’re mailing from, tell them:  shoestringnews.com
   
IP Address: If they ask for our sending IP address, tell them: 207.45.176.130 and ds1019.securenet-server.net

###

*Shoestring News is a newsletter hosting service operated by Shoestring Solutions. For a list of our hosted publications, go here.

As of 5/13 at 2:25 pm, the subject tag has been updated to “SPAMJUNK::” (without the quotes). It was formerly “***SPAM***”. The change was made to accommodate Gmail users who cannot configure asterisks (*) into their mail filters.

To make use of the SpamAssassin subject tags, open your email program and find the “Mail Rules” or “Mail Filters” dialog. Create a mail rule that moves any emails with “SPAMJUNK::” in the subject line out of the Inbox and into a special junkmail folder for later viewing.

Major Internet Service Providers (ISPs) like AT&T/Bellsouth and Comcast continue to tighten the rules on email delivery in response to Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE) and spam. ISPs use many different methods to minimize junkmail and will even block mail from other servers when the percentage of unwanted email reaches a predetermined level.

For smaller service providers like Shoestring Solutions, the tighter rules mean plenty of headaches! Because our server hosts only our client sites, the amount of genuine email is very low, meaning that the ratio of spam to genuine email is much higher. As a consequence, our server is occasionally blacklisted by a major ISP.

The block is always quickly removed, but it is always an inconvenience and a serious service issue for us. The problem can be traced to email “forwarder” addresses. At your web site, you may have published one or more addresses like info[at]yourdomain.com that “point” or forward to your Bellsouth or Comcast account. Because that address is displayed on your site, it is “harvested” by spammers. Any junk sent to that address is immediately forwarded to your primary account. The spam, because it is forwarded by our server, looks to your ISP like it originated with our server, and therein lies the problem!

Fortunately, the problem is easily solved. Generally, you need to eliminate the forwarders and pick up your site email directly from our server. That way, you receive all of your email and your ISP is happy.

We are currently experiencing no problem with email delivery to most ISPs. However, if you are a Bellsouth/ATT customer and you receive your site email in your Bellsouth/ATT mailbox, you should immediately make the following changes! Comcast customers should also consider making this change.

We will assist you with implementation of the following procedure. To request assistance, please submit a ticket through our HelpDesk (www.shoestringwebs.com/helpdesk/) or email us at somebody@shoestringwebs.com. Because it provides issue tracking, the HelpDesk is preferred.

Let’s make a mailbox…

1. Log into your web site control panel at www[dot]yourdomain.com/cpanel/ .  (If you do not know your cPanel login info, contact us.)

2. In the “Mail” section, select “Email Accounts.”

3. In the “Add a new email account” section, select a mailbox name and password. For the mailbox name, select something a little odd; you’re not going to give this mailbox address to anyone, anyway. Be sure to create a good password. Make your mailbox quota (size) 15 or 20 (megabytes) or leave the box empty if you want the mailbox size to be limited only by your total account quota.

4. Click “Create”.

5. On the next page, you will find instructions for configuring your email program, which can check more than one mailbox. If you use Outlook or Outlook Express, you may be able to allow the server to configure your email program for you. Unless you are technically knowledgeable or require added security, you will select “Auto-Configure Microsoft Outlook [Express] for POP3 Access”.

6. In the alternative, you can configure your email program manually. In your email program, find the dialog for creating a POP3 mailbox and use the following info:

• Mail Server Username (almost always your email address): info+yourdomain[dot]com (replace [dot] with a period, of course, and “yourdomain” with your actual domain). Note the “plus” sign in place of the ampersand (@). If “+” doesn’t work, use “@”.
• Incoming Mail Server: mail.yourdomain.com (If SSL: ds1019.securenet-server.net)
• Outgoing Mail Server: mail.yourdomain.com
• Check “server requires authentication” using your login info
• (For SSL, Outgoing Mail Server = ds1019.securenet-server.net (server requires authentication) port 465)
• Supported Incoming Mail Protocols: POP3, POP3S (SSL/TLS), IMAP, IMAPS (SSL/TLS)
• Supported Outgoing Mail Protocols: SMTP, SMTPS (SSL/TLS)

7. If you receive no error messages, you can test by sending an email to yourself.

Now let’s configure forwarders…

1. In the “Mail” section of the cPanel home page, select “Forwarders.” You will see the list of current forwarders and the mailbox or address to which they forward. You can create an unlimited number of forwarders.

2. Delete the forwarders that point to your ISP-hosted mailbox (we advise one at a time) and re-create them to point to the mailbox that you just created.

3. To add a forwarder, click “Add Forwarder.” On the “Add a new Forwarder” page, enter the first part of the desired forwarder in the “Address to forward:” box; then enter the mailbox that you just created in the “Forward to email address:” box.

4. Click “Add forwarder.”

If you are successful, all of your site email will be directed to your new mailbox.

Finally, go to the cPanel home page, then select “Default Address” in the ”Mail” section. The default address should be set to “Discard with error to sender (at SMTP time).” The default failure message is fine or you can create a short one of your own. 

Remember: The idea is to eliminate any forwarders to your ISP mailbox. When you’re done, you should have deleted them. In some cases, it is not possible to eliminate all forwarders but you should make every effort to do so, especially to major ISPs.

Final notes and additional considerations…

You may have noticed a few other mail-related features in the control panel. Contact us if you need help in configuring:

1. Webmail - You can access your mailbox from anywhere you have an Internet connection via the Webmail feature at www[dot]yourdomain.com/webmail/ . You will need your email address and password to log in;
2. SpamAssassin - This feature adds the special characters (currently “***SPAM***”) to the subject line of your email so that you can use a filter to move junk out of your Inbox. SpamAssassin is enabled by default on your account;
3. Email Authentication - Your account includes two features to minimize spam- “DomainKeys” and “Sender Policy Framework (SPF).” You should enable both; the default setting is fine IF you created a new mailbox as described above;
4. BoxTrapper - BoxTrapper protects your inbox from spam by forcing all people not on your white list to reply to a verification email before they can send mail to you. This is the most effective way to eliminate spam, but may not be appropriate for a business mailbox where you don’t want to require potential clients to take the extra step.

Version 1-080512/1715

Current Shoestring clients are encouraged to submit all future requests for service through the Help Desk.

On 4/9/08 PM and early on 4/10/08 during additional updates, several warning messages were generated regarding bandwidth and disk space limits. Those warnings were generated in error and should be ignored.