Setting up a no-reply email address with Google Apps

Question

I have my domain's email set up with Google Apps, and I am interested in sending automated emails (when users register, for example) with the From and/or Reply-To field being "[email protected]". I have a few questions pertaining to how this is done:

1. Should I actually set up a user in Google Apps named "no-reply"?

2. If not setting up a "no-reply" user, should I log in with a real address (e.g.: "[email protected]") and send the email as being from "[email protected]" instead? Or should I simply use the Reply-To email header?

3. If it's necessary to use the Reply-To header, is there a way to block the true From address (i.e.: the username I used to log into Google's SMTP server)?

Answer 1

Unless you can think of a really good reason for it, I would suggest that you send your emails from support@ rather than no-reply@.

The whole reason for a support@ email address is to receive comments and feedback from your userbase, and if you're sending them emails why bother making it hard for them? If they can just reply to the email you'll receive way more feedback that way.

Answer 2

I don't know if this will help or not, but IIRC, with gmail you can do something like

[email protected]

Then, set up a filter so that emails with that "something_else_here" part go past the inbox to a label.

Does that help?

Cheers!

Dave

Answer 3

Just set up a "no-reply" account. It won't hurt anything, people will still try to send stuff to it, and it will serve your purpose.

As for the latter two questions, it depends.

If you're sending these e-mails as a part of an automated script (i.e. forum registration) just use the "no-reply" accounts credentials. Log in periodically to make sure you aren't getting legit delivery errors (as opposed to the jokers that use fake e-mail addresses) or other odd behaviour.

If you're not sending these e-mails as a part of an automated script, it depends. If you also manage a support address ([email protected], [email protected], etc.) you may want to send on behalf of, and use the reply-to. But this part is a little more subjective, and really depends on your setup.

Answer 4

Hi Matt,

I suggest you set up a "Nickname" alias ( Manage Domain > Users > edit user > Add Nickname ). Then create a filter that sends any reply to that nickname straight to trash or spam.

Answer 5

I think the right thing to do is setup a filter that sorts your mailer-daemon messages into a special folder (Or trash if you so desire.) Or, like other comment have suggested, use a separate mail address.

noreply is good to indicate to people that this isn't an address you check, but it's not really the solution to dealing with bounce mail. In fact it's more likely your mail will end up in spam filters because your attempt at sender obfuscation will just look like spam to the receiving host.

Answer 6

You should create a noreply user. But use it as a spam mail (when registering unknown sites) and a mail for testing.