# 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:** [18.Май.2017 20:02:14 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:** 1
**Showing post:** 7

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### Author: ![BKerr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@BKerr](https://meta.discourse.org/u/BKerr)
#### Post date: [22.Июнь.2017 20:54:00 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/can-i-start-a-new-topic-by-sending-an-email-message/62975/7 "2017-06-22T20:54:00Z")

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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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