# Can I start a new topic by sending an email message?
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/can-i-start-a-new-topic-by-sending-an-email-message/62975
**Category:** Feature
**Created:** [May 18, 2017, 8:02pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/can-i-start-a-new-topic-by-sending-an-email-message/62975 "2017-05-18T20:02:14Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@BKerr](https://meta.discourse.org/u/BKerr)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2017, 8:02pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/can-i-start-a-new-topic-by-sending-an-email-message/62975/1 "2017-05-18T20:02:14Z")
A large proportion of my membership prefers to use email vs. web forums. This is due, not only to preference, but also because some key users work in secure facilities that don’t allow open access to the web. Most of the email functionality I have seen in Discourse is fine for my needs, but the ability to start a thread using email vs. only on the site is very important.
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### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2017, 8:13pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/can-i-start-a-new-topic-by-sending-an-email-message/62975/2 "2017-05-18T20:13:38Z")
Yes, this is possible, but it requires a bit of configuration:
> [@Configuring incoming email to create new topics or group messages](https://meta.discourse.org/t/start-a-new-topic-via-email-e-mail/62977):
>
> bookmark This guide explains how to set up incoming emails to create new topics or group messages in Discourse, including configuration of site settings and category or group-specific settings. person_raising_hand Required user level: Administrator This guide covers: Enabling and configuring incoming emails Choosing between category and group for incoming emails Setting up incoming emails for a group Setting up incoming emails for a category Deciding how forwarded emails are handled …
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### Author:  [@BKerr](https://meta.discourse.org/u/BKerr)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2017, 8:19pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/can-i-start-a-new-topic-by-sending-an-email-message/62975/4 "2017-05-18T20:19:38Z")
Thanks. I’ll dig into the details of your response to see how it will operate.
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### Author:  [@pfaffman](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pfaffman)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2017, 9:30pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/can-i-start-a-new-topic-by-sending-an-email-message/62975/5 "2017-05-18T21:30:36Z")
See also
> [@Configure direct-delivery incoming email for self-hosted sites with Mail-Receiver](https://meta.discourse.org/t/straightforward-direct-delivery-incoming-mail/49487):
>
> Discourse is all about enabling civilized discussion. While plenty of people like a web interface, e-mail is still the “hub” of many people’s online lives. That’s why sending e-mail is so important, and when you’re sending e-mail, you really want to be able to receive it, too. There are several reasons why: If e-mails “bounce” (they can’t be delivered for some reason), you need to know about that. Repeatedly sending e-mails that bounce will get your e-mails flagged as spam. Receiving e-ma…
Which should probably be added to [start a new topic via email](https://meta.discourse.org/t/start-a-new-topic-via-email-e-mail/62977?source_topic_id=62975) and [configuring reply via email](https://meta.discourse.org/t/configuring-reply-via-email-e-mail/42026).
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### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2017, 10:08pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/can-i-start-a-new-topic-by-sending-an-email-message/62975/6 "2017-05-18T22:08:33Z")
I think it only belongs in the latter one, but good idea, done!
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### Author:  [@BKerr](https://meta.discourse.org/u/BKerr)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2017, 8:54pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/can-i-start-a-new-topic-by-sending-an-email-message/62975/7 "2017-06-22T20:54:00Z")
Hi Jeff,
Last month you sent me the link for setting up incoming email (dated April 2016):
> [@Troubleshoot reply by email](https://meta.discourse.org/t/configuring-reply-via-email-e-mail/42026):
>
> If your Discourse does not have incoming email set up, see these topics: [Set up reply by email with POP3 polling](https://meta.discourse.org/t/set-up-reply-by-email-with-pop3-polling/14003)[Configure direct-delivery incoming email for self-hosted sites with Mail-Receiver](https://meta.discourse.org/t/direct-delivery-incoming-email-for-self-hosted-sites/49487)information_source If you already have basic reply via email set up (which is common on hosting plans), and you want to add the ability to start a new topic via email, [see this topic](https://meta.discourse.org/t/start-a-new-topic-via-email-e-mail/62977). Logging and Errors All incoming emails are logged and are visible in your admin panel at /admin/email/received.…
But, I now see a subsequent posting (dated July 2016) where it seems Discourse has made the first instruction moot/not necessary.
> [@Reply-by-email enabled for all Discourse customers](https://meta.discourse.org/t/reply-by-email-enabled-for-all-discourse-customers/47010):
>
> After a few weeks of testing, we are now introducing reply-by-email to all our hosted customers. Every email notification your users receive from now on will include the notice “reply to this email to respond” in the footer. Replying by email is great for people who are on the move or just happen to prefer email for whatever reason – accessibility, habit, or offline access. (…) This topic is for comments on the original blog entry at: [Reply-by-email enabled for all Discourse custome…](http://blog.discourse.org/2016/07/reply-by-email-enabled-for-all-discourse-customers/)
**My question:** Do I still need an email address - outside of Discourse - in order to initialt email postings AND replies fully functional?
Apologies in advance; I know CMS systems, but email set up is not something I have any experience with.
Thx.
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### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2017, 9:43pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/can-i-start-a-new-topic-by-sending-an-email-message/62975/8 "2017-06-22T21:43:47Z")
Simple “reply via email” is configured automatically out of the box on our hosting.
Starting a new topic via email requires additional configuration as indicated [in this topic](https://meta.discourse.org/t/start-a-new-topic-via-email-e-mail/62977).
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### Author:  [@BKerr](https://meta.discourse.org/u/BKerr)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2017, 7:42pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/can-i-start-a-new-topic-by-sending-an-email-message/62975/9 "2017-06-26T19:42:28Z")
In testing the functionality of inbound emails for starting a thread, a posting has been rejected with the system giving this message:
> The category you sent this email to only allows replies from users with valid accounts and known email addresses. If you believe this is an error, contact a staff member.
The user had entered one email address at sign-up, but her actual account sends mail from a different sub-domain. She created her account with an address like this: _[user@domain.edu](mailto:user@domain.edu)._
However, the actual sending server mails from this: _[user@subdomain.domain.edu](mailto:user@subdomain.domain.edu)_
As the Admin, I went into her account to update her email, however the system won’t allow me, instead giving this message:
> There was an error changing your email address. The address is already in use by a staged user.
I can anticipate this situation could happen to a number of my community members. How can this be solved?
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### Author:  [@pfaffman](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pfaffman)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2017, 8:46pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/can-i-start-a-new-topic-by-sending-an-email-message/62975/10 "2017-06-26T20:46:15Z")
> [@BKerr](#):
>
> I can anticipate this situation could happen to a number of my community members. How can this be solved?
### Get your school’s email admins to get their act together.
But that’s not an option.
### Train your not-yet-users to register with the email address that they send from.
But that’s not feasible either.
Can your users tweak their mail settings so that they send from [user@domain.edu](mailto:user@domain.edu) instead of [user@x.domain.edu](mailto:user@x.domain.edu) if only they would bother? If so, that seems like the least painful solution.
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### Author:  [@BKerr](https://meta.discourse.org/u/BKerr)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2017, 9:01pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/can-i-start-a-new-topic-by-sending-an-email-message/62975/11 "2017-06-26T21:01:11Z")
My own university is one thing, but my general membership base is another. I have a lot of international academic researchers on my list, and others at specialized institutions, who do not have control over how their organization configures email. New subscribers may be able to be “trained,” however if, after a data migration, I encounter existing users with the same issue, what to do? And with the person I wrote about, she is helping me test Discourse right now. Is there no workaround on the Discourse side? Or is it all about wrestling with the IT department each time?
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### Author:  [@pfaffman](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pfaffman)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2017, 9:08pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/can-i-start-a-new-topic-by-sending-an-email-message/62975/12 "2017-06-26T21:08:15Z")
> [@BKerr](#):
>
> My own university is one thing, but my general membership base is another.
Darn.
> [@BKerr](#):
>
> And with the person I wrote about, she is helping me test Discourse right now. Is there no workaround on the Discourse side?
I think they can create a new account using the staged address, but you can see [this discussion here](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-to-appropriate-staged-user-account/57998) (it’s not promising).
There’s been lots of discussion about this very problem, but there are not currently any very satisfactory solutions.
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### Author:  [@fefrei](https://meta.discourse.org/u/fefrei)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2017, 5:09am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/can-i-start-a-new-topic-by-sending-an-email-message/62975/13 "2017-06-27T05:09:59Z")
This issue would be solved by Discourse supporting multiple email addresses per user, which is [currently being worked on](https://meta.discourse.org/t/additional-email-support/59847) 🙂