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Where to post queries on email & webmail

EmpireCad
Grafter
Posts: 91
Registered: ‎19-04-2008

Where to post queries on email & webmail

Is there a special place on these forums to post queries or problems on email or webmail?  There seem to be dedicated headings for just about everything else.
My query is simple.  I have been a PN subscriber for nearly 3 years.  My first "master" email address allocated by PN was FirstName@username.plus.com.  This got spammed last May.
My second email address allocated by PN was username@username.plus.com.  This got spammed last May.
I had to stop using these and create a new email address and notify all my contacts, change website registration details etc.  Even now they still receive spam so I normally have my catchall switched off
Now I see that you have created another "master" mailbox called mydefaultmailbox@username.plus.com
The question is: does this mailbox exist as a separate entity?  How do I access it as I don't have a password for it.  Nothing seems to work for it when trying to log on via webmail.
Sorry if this is a dumb question but PN created it.  I just want to know how to use it! Embarrassed
12 REPLIES 12
chillypenguin
Grafter
Posts: 4,729
Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: Where to post queries on email & webmail

mod:note
Moved to "Community Support"  Wink
EmpireCad
Grafter
Posts: 91
Registered: ‎19-04-2008

Re: Where to post queries on email & webmail

@chillypenguin
Thanks for moving this post to the "right" forum.  Any chance of an answer?
Also...
after the great spamming debacle last year I had to create a new email address and advise all my contacts, change website registration details etc... a real pain.  Once happy that I was not going to miss any real emails to my old address I switched off the catchall.  Result: zero spam.  But every now and again I switch the catchall back on just to see what the current spam situation is.  I did this a couple of weeks ago and I see that the same old rubbish is still coming through (Viagra, bikini girls, male organ enhancement, fake watches etc).  So on Saturday I switched the catchall off again.  But I didn't notice that the relevant page has a Mailbox drop-down menu which defaults to "Mydefaultmailbox@...".  So this has now apparently stopped spam coming into "username@..." but not stopped spam arriving to my original "FirstName@...".
I would have thought that, by definition, switching the catchall on or off would apply to any email addressed to any non-mailbox or any non-alias on that account.  Am I missing something?  Can someone please explain in words of one syllable?
Just to prove the point I was making in my original post, I have just created a new alias attached to "Mydefaultmailbox@..." and sent a test email to it.  I have not received anything as this mailbox does not have an account in my email client.  I have also sent a test email direct to "Mydefaultmailbox@..." with the same negative result.  So this proves that this "master" mailbox does exist as a separate entity.  So can someone explain what I am supposed to do with it and access it?  None of my account passwords work for it in Webmail and I don't recall being informed that it was being created by PN or how to use it.
Help please?
bobpullen
Community Gaffer
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Re: Where to post queries on email & webmail

Quote from: EmpireCad
@chillypenguin
Thanks for moving this post to the "right" forum.  Any chance of an answer?

I've no idea why you now have this mailbox TBH. The username to login to the mailbox is your default username. The password is your main account password. This isn't the conventional naming for a default mailbox so I can only assume that it has been renamed by somebody (you can rename again yourself by visiting the Manage My Mail tool in the Member Centre).
Quote
Also...
after the great spamming debacle last year I had to create a new email address and advise all my contacts, change website registration details etc... a real pain.  Once happy that I was not going to miss any real emails to my old address I switched off the catchall.  Result: zero spam.  But every now and again I switch the catchall back on just to see what the current spam situation is.  I did this a couple of weeks ago and I see that the same old rubbish is still coming through (Viagra, bikini girls, male organ enhancement, fake watches etc).  So on Saturday I switched the catchall off again.  But I didn't notice that the relevant page has a Mailbox drop-down menu which defaults to "Mydefaultmailbox@...".  So this has now apparently stopped spam coming into "username@..." but not stopped spam arriving to my original "FirstName@...".

Not sure what you mean here. When you switched the catch-all on, email to <anything>@username.plus.com will have been getting delivered to the Mydefaultmailbox mailbox. That includes messages sent to both username@... and FirstName@...
Quote
I would have thought that, by definition, switching the catchall on or off would apply to any email addressed to any non-mailbox or any non-alias on that account.  Am I missing something?  Can someone please explain in words of one syllable?

That's an accurate assumption.
Quote
Just to prove the point I was making in my original post, I have just created a new alias attached to "Mydefaultmailbox@..." and sent a test email to it.  I have not received anything as this mailbox does not have an account in my email client.  I have also sent a test email direct to "Mydefaultmailbox@..." with the same negative result.  So this proves that this "master" mailbox does exist as a separate entity.  So can someone explain what I am supposed to do with it and access it?  None of my account passwords work for it in Webmail and I don't recall being informed that it was being created by PN or how to use it.

Details to access the mailbox are as above.

Bob Pullen
Plusnet Product Team
If I've been helpful then please give thanks ⤵

EmpireCad
Grafter
Posts: 91
Registered: ‎19-04-2008

Re: Where to post queries on email & webmail

@Bob Pullen
Thanks for the reply.  So my "master" mailbox which is now called "Mydefaultmailbox@..." is the one that PN had created as "username@..." which replaced my original master of "FirstName@...".  I do now remember renaming it myself.  I did this because my "username@..." email address (which I had never used myself) was obtained by the spammers who compromised PN's security this time last year.  I believe that I wanted to rename it as the new email address that I created after the compromise and had notified to all my contacts.  But if I remember correctly I was not allowed to do this as I had already created a "sub-mailbox" using the required "username+newemailname" combination.  I also seem to remember that we were not allowed to blackhole the master mailbox at that time to eliminate spam.
So... can I now rename my master mailbox as my "newemailname@..." and do I have to delete my "username+newemailname@..." mailbox first?
If this is all getting too complicated to keep my email addresses confidential, would you prefer a PM with the real email addresses?
With regard to the catchall situation:  as stated in my original post I switched this off again a couple of days ago.  It is correctly preventing mail addressed to "username@..." getting through but I am still receiving spam addressed to "FirstName@...".  Any idea why please?
ChrisL
Rising Star
Posts: 760
Thanks: 4
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎13-12-2007

Re: Where to post queries on email & webmail

@EmpireCad
I may be being dumb, but is the problem simply that you understood <mydefaultmailbox> as the literal name of a mailbox when it was meant to refer to your default mailbox (whatever the actual name of that was)? People have different names for their default mailboxes (and can reset them in the Members Centre under Manage My Mail). Someone trying to be helpful to everyone would refer to all these collectively as <mydefaultmailbox>, wouldn't they?
Can I suggest you go to Email Settings from the PlusNet Members Centre and have a browse around? At least this might help you frame your problem in a way that we can understand better.
(Just seen your latest post, but posting this anyway in case it's still helpful....)
bobpullen
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Re: Where to post queries on email & webmail

Quote from: EmpireCad
So... can I now rename my master mailbox as my "newemailname@..." and do I have to delete my "username+newemailname@..." mailbox first?

Yes, you can do this but would need to remove the "username+newemailname@..." mailbox first. Bear in mind that your login details to access this address would then change too (the username would change from 'username+newemailname' to just 'username')
Quote
With regard to the catchall situation:  as stated in my original post I switched this off again a couple of days ago.  It is correctly preventing mail addressed to "username@..." getting through but I am still receiving spam addressed to "FirstName@...".  Any idea why please?

No idea TBH. It should let through both from what I can see.

Bob Pullen
Plusnet Product Team
If I've been helpful then please give thanks ⤵

EmpireCad
Grafter
Posts: 91
Registered: ‎19-04-2008

Re: Where to post queries on email & webmail

@Bob
Re point 1 above:  Thanks, I will do that and simplify things for myself.
Re point 2:  I have the catchall set to Off so you mean exactly the opposite don't you?  Neither "username@..." nor "FirstName@..." nor "any other name@..." except my specified mailboxes and aliases should get through?
And sorry to bang on about this but you agree that the catchall is either on or off for all mailboxes on the account.  So please why is there a drop-down menu on the catchall screen in "email settings"?
Although it currently shows "off" I just tried setting it to off with my "username+newemailname@..." which is my everyday address in the drop-down and sending myself a mail addressed to "FirstName@..." and it got through.  Can you clarify the purpose of the drop-down options or is that a mistake or just a reminder of all sub-mailboxes attached to the default box?
I just tried the equivalent of a reboot and set catchall to ON and then set it to OFF again to see what happens.  I presume these setting "take" immediately?  While ON the "username@..." message went to my default mailbox which my Outlook does not have as an account and the "FirstName@..." message went to my normal Outlook mailbox.  After resetting catchall OFF again "username@..." did not show but "FirstName@..." did.
Am I doing something wrong here?
bobpullen
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Re: Where to post queries on email & webmail

Quote from: EmpireCad
Re point 2:  I have the catchall set to Off so you mean exactly the opposite don't you?  Neither "username@..." nor "FirstName@..." nor "any other name@..." except my specified mailboxes and aliases should get through?

Yes, my mistake. Neither address should collect mail.
Quote
And sorry to bang on about this but you agree that the catchall is either on or off for all mailboxes on the account.  So please why is there a drop-down menu on the catchall screen in "email settings"?

If catch-all is off then the drop-down is irrelevant. If it's on though, the drop-down is used to specify what mailbox you want catch-all mail delivered to.

Bob Pullen
Plusnet Product Team
If I've been helpful then please give thanks ⤵

spraxyt
Resting Legend
Posts: 10,063
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Registered: ‎06-04-2007

Re: Where to post queries on email & webmail

Quote from: EmpireCad
…  I just tried setting it to off with my "username+newemailname@..." which is my everyday address in the drop-down …

Do you actually have that in the drop-down? To me that implies you have a mailbox which is called "username+newemailname" which I think is wrong. On my account mailbox names appear in the drop-down just as themselves without "username+" prepended to them. The only places "username+" is prepended is for accessing the contents of the mailbox using webmail or Outlook.
David
EmpireCad
Grafter
Posts: 91
Registered: ‎19-04-2008

Re: Where to post queries on email & webmail

@spraxyt
I presume you are addressing that question to me, not Bob?  No, I don't actually have that in the drop-down, I have exactly what you have described.  I was just using that terminology to try and make clear that I was treferring to a "sub-mailbox" that I had created.
EmpireCad
Grafter
Posts: 91
Registered: ‎19-04-2008

Re: Where to post queries on email & webmail

@Bob Pullen
I now have all my mailboxes, aliases and catchall completely sorted, so many thanks for your advice and patience.  Most problems were created by myself while attempting to get rid of all spam  Embarrassed
At least I have learned a little more about how the catchall works and hopefully others reading this have too.  Life and computers are never simple are they?
Again many thanks.
Over and out.
bobpullen
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Re: Where to post queries on email & webmail

Glad to hear all's now sorted!  Smiley

Bob Pullen
Plusnet Product Team
If I've been helpful then please give thanks ⤵