The discussion revolves around automated email flags appearing in emails from Discourse forums, particularly those self-hosted. anon65426961 noticed these flags, which indicate email authentication issues, and shared screenshots of the warnings. simon clarified that this is not a Discourse bug but likely due to improper email configuration, such as missing SPF and DKIM records, and directed the user to the installation guide and a checklist for email delivery. anon65426961 reported the issue to administrators, and Heliosurge successfully identified the root cause as leftover configurations from Sendinblue’s rebranding to Brevo. anon65426961 appreciated Heliosurge’s help, noting that many administrators dismiss such issues. The discussion also touches on the complexity of email systems and the importance of proper setup, with a final note on a German email flag still appearing despite fixes anon65426961.
Good day,
Am confused by some of these flag notifications I see on many automated e-mails, including some self-hosted discourse forum sites but not discourse server hosted ones.
Believe these may have something to do with the way servers are configured, may not necessarily be a bug or problem but from my side this does look like one:
Not posting the whole technical sender address here, these are typically just a lot of random numbers and letters.
I don’t think that’s a Discourse bug. The error message will occur when email is not properly configured. If you are in contact with the admins of any sites you are seeing this on, let them know about the problem. To fix it, they should make sure that all steps in the Setting Up Email section if the install guide have been completed: discourse/docs/INSTALL-cloud.md at main · discourse/discourse · GitHub. My guess is that they haven’t added valid SPF and DKIM records to their domain.
You could also try pointing them to this topic: Email delivery configuration checklist.
Thanks I have reported these to some administrators.
Congratulations to Dan @Heliosurge for being the fist administrator I’ve ever reported this to who figured out what the problem is!
T-Mobile USA notifications from donotreply@notifications.t-mobile.com are flagged as being invalid being sent by notifications@digital-delivery.com, will tell T-Mobile about that one.
Thank you! I presume this is related to the isdue you reported to me from when Sendinblue mail server changed name to brevo.. With still left overs from the sendinlue left overs.
Yeah that was helpful to hear you figured out the issue with that, usually administrators are just like “Why are you bothering me about some nonsense!?”
Wasn’t sure if it could be some relay servers are intentional in not validating mail the way usual senders do as part of a security measure or something.
Well your report and ss helped a lot. Added with notification from sendinblue. changing over to brevo made it easier to identify potential root cause.
Even using an admin account can make it harder to understand a regular user issue due to admin not necessarily having to follow site rules. ie category access settings. Admin can post anywhere. I have on a few occasions created topics ppl could only read & not reply to.
Yeah there are so many bells and whistles is amazing.
Good about the email, can check your site again to see if the Swiss or Germans have stopped flagging your mail.
