# Does Discourse Need Incoming Mail?

**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/does-discourse-need-incoming-mail/118747
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [26 במאי,‏ 2019,‏ 11:08pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/does-discourse-need-incoming-mail/118747 "2019-05-26T23:08:12Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Showing post:** 2

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### Author: ![tobiaseigen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/tobiaseigen/32/539204_2.png) [@tobiaseigen](https://meta.discourse.org/u/tobiaseigen)
#### Post date: [26 במאי,‏ 2019,‏ 11:24pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/does-discourse-need-incoming-mail/118747/2 "2019-05-26T23:24:21Z")

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You do need incoming email to allow people to participate by email, but you can use direct delivery instead of setting up a pop/imap account somewhere:

> [@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…

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