Configure the connection to an outgoing email server so the instance
can send email messages to users.
Jive uses an SMTP email
server for sending messages such as content update notifications, task reminders,
registration confirmations, and so on. You configure a connection
to an outgoing email server in the Admin Console.
Fastpath:
The main part of configuring outgoing email settings involves the settings for the
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) server that outgoing email
will use.
- The mail host and server port should correspond to your email
server. You're likely going to have something like smtp.example.com for a host
name. If your outgoing email server requires a port number, enter it here.
- Turn on mail debugging if you want to have messages from the outgoing
server written to the application log. (Note that you should not leave mail
debugging on a production instance any longer than necessary to debug a
problem.) These can be useful if you suspect there's a problem with outgoing
email. For more on viewing logs, see Getting
Application Logs.
- If your SMTP server requires authentication to send email through it, set the
server user name and password.
- If you want to encrypt the connection between the web app node(s) and the SMTP
server, select the check boxes to use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) or Transport Layer
Security (TLS).
Set the server admin email and name to use a default email address and name for
outgoing email. In practice, outgoing emails can appear to have been sent by any one of
many people, depending on the reason for the message. For example, when someone posts a
message to a discussion thread, the email can appear to have come from them and will be
received by anyone receiving notifications for the message.
Jive Software strongly recommends
using a
bounce email address. This will prevent users' automated
email replies, such as Out of the
Office emails, from posting in your community. In other words, if an outgoing
Jive email
bounces because its recipient is no longer available, the returning email will be sent
to this bounce email address. This is the best way to keep this kind of email from cluttering
the inbox of an address that you use for other purposes.
Note: Avoid setting the bounce
email address to a domain that is the same as the domain for registering users. The
bounce email address will be placed as the return-sender address in the email header
for a message sent out from the system for validation. If the email address of the
user attempting validation and the bounce email address have the same domain, spam
filters may see this as a spoofing attempt and drop the message.
Select the Set Username in Notification Email From Address, when you want a
person's user name to show in the FROM line of a notification email instead of their full
name. In other words, if someone posts a discussion reply message, notification messages
sent to other people will show the FROM line as, for example, "gladysk" rather than
"Gladys Kravitz".
Best Practices for Outgoing Email Setup
| Field |
Example Value |
Description |
| Server Admin Name |
Community System Admin |
Typically this is overwritten with the name of the person performing the action.
This name is used only when it's a system function sending the email. |
| Server Admin Email |
yourcommunity-no-reply@yourdomain.com |
Use an account that doesn't exist so that if a user replies to
something from email, they'll get a bounce-reply letting them know
that their content did not post in the community. |
| Bounce Email Address |
bounces@yourdomain.com |
Use an account that does exist. Check the emails that come into
this box and remove or disable bouncing accounts. Note that
out-of-office emails would also be sent to this address. |