# Subscribe to a topic by email in a "watching first post" channel
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/subscribe-to-a-topic-by-email-in-a-watching-first-post-channel/119275
**Category:** Feature
**Created:** [01.Июнь.2019 13:12:13 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/subscribe-to-a-topic-by-email-in-a-watching-first-post-channel/119275 "2019-06-01T13:12:13Z")
**Posts on this page:** 17
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@eddowding](https://meta.discourse.org/u/eddowding)
#### Post date: [01.Июнь.2019 13:12:13 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/subscribe-to-a-topic-by-email-in-a-watching-first-post-channel/119275/1 "2019-06-01T13:12:13Z")
Is there way to subscribe a topic’s replies by email?
Scenario: I’m “watching first post” in a channel. I see something I like. I reply “watch” (or “subscribe” or click a “follow” link etc), and am subscribed to replies to that single topic.
I understand that if I reply to it with a comment or “+1” I’ll be subscribed, but is there a way to subscribe without “liking” it?
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### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [01.Июнь.2019 20:51:49 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/subscribe-to-a-topic-by-email-in-a-watching-first-post-channel/119275/2 "2019-06-01T20:51:49Z")
Use the notification control on the topic to set your notification level for the topic. It is visible both near the timeline and at the bottom of the topic.
You will only be emailed about notifications if the website has not seen you active in a web browser in the last 10 minutes.
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### Author:  [@eddowding](https://meta.discourse.org/u/eddowding)
#### Post date: [01.Июнь.2019 21:22:59 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/subscribe-to-a-topic-by-email-in-a-watching-first-post-channel/119275/3 "2019-06-01T21:22:59Z")
Sorry to be clearer: is there a way to subscribe _by email_ without liking it?
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### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [01.Июнь.2019 21:34:35 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/subscribe-to-a-topic-by-email-in-a-watching-first-post-channel/119275/4 "2019-06-01T21:34:35Z")
The answer remains the same. Use the topic notification level control — that has nothing to do with “liking”. Whether or not you get an email depends on whether your web browser touched the website in the last 10 minutes.
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### Author:  [@eddowding](https://meta.discourse.org/u/eddowding)
#### Post date: [01.Июнь.2019 22:06:41 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/subscribe-to-a-topic-by-email-in-a-watching-first-post-channel/119275/5 "2019-06-01T22:06:41Z")
I love you and your work dearly, but this doesn’t address the question.
Q: “Can I do x by email?”
A: “You can do x by visiting the website.”
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### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [02.Июнь.2019 22:50:27 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/subscribe-to-a-topic-by-email-in-a-watching-first-post-channel/119275/6 "2019-06-02T22:50:27Z")
I do not understand your question, sorry.
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### Author:  [@featheredtoast](https://meta.discourse.org/u/featheredtoast)
#### Post date: [03.Июнь.2019 00:25:25 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/subscribe-to-a-topic-by-email-in-a-watching-first-post-channel/119275/7 "2019-06-03T00:25:25Z")
I think I understand - You’re asking if there are ways of changing the notification control through email only by a special reply (similar to “+1” response).
~~There is currently no “special” reply by email to subscribe without liking or responding; For that action it’s only available through the web app, but it is a nice suggestion.~~
EDIT: TIL, this is possible (below). Even while following Discourse’s development pretty closely I still miss some of these real cool ninja features!
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### Author:  [@Dannii](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Dannii)
#### Post date: [03.Июнь.2019 02:06:19 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/subscribe-to-a-topic-by-email-in-a-watching-first-post-channel/119275/8 "2019-06-03T02:06:19Z")
I can’t speak to exactly what the OP was thinking of, but it would make sense to me that if you have turned on the Watching First Post mode for a category, then the email could include a button/link to directly watch the topic. Underneath the Visit Topic button maybe there could be another saying “Watch this topic to be sent emails for all replies.”
Perhaps there could also be a little explanation sentence in the footer too: “You received this email because someone replied to you/you are watching the topic/you are watching the category/you have requested notifications for new posts in this category.”
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### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [03.Июнь.2019 05:12:37 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/subscribe-to-a-topic-by-email-in-a-watching-first-post-channel/119275/9 "2019-06-03T05:12:37Z")
> [@featheredtoast](#):
>
> There is currently no “special” reply by email to subscribe without liking or responding; For that action it’s only available through the web app, but it is a nice suggestion.
I don’t think that’s entirely true, @sam added some kind of ninja expert mode magic email reply command words but I don’t know where they are documented.
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### Author:  [@sam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/sam)
#### Post date: [03.Июнь.2019 05:16:12 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/subscribe-to-a-topic-by-email-in-a-watching-first-post-channel/119275/10 "2019-06-03T05:16:12Z")
> [@codinghorror](#):
>
> added some kind of ninja expert mode magic email reply command words but I don’t know where they are documented.
Yeah this is not documented. You can reply with the word `watch` to watch a topic and `mute` to mute a topic.
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### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [03.Июнь.2019 05:19:37 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/subscribe-to-a-topic-by-email-in-a-watching-first-post-channel/119275/11 "2019-06-03T05:19:37Z")
Ok this request makes more sense now @eddowding there you go ↑ ↑ ↑
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### Author:  [@eddowding](https://meta.discourse.org/u/eddowding)
#### Post date: [05.Июнь.2019 10:38:45 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/subscribe-to-a-topic-by-email-in-a-watching-first-post-channel/119275/12 "2019-06-05T10:38:45Z")
Boom! Sorry for the dealy - had to be afk for a few.
This is exactly what I was after, thank you @sam for the code and @Dannii for the translation 🙂
So next related question: is it possible to insert a link? I know we can edit templates, but does that email customisation have access to the reply key? So href=mailto:[reply-key]@[domain]?subj=[subj]&body=watch ?
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### Author:  [@sam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/sam)
#### Post date: [06.Июнь.2019 06:28:38 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/subscribe-to-a-topic-by-email-in-a-watching-first-post-channel/119275/13 "2019-06-06T06:28:38Z")
Unfortunately after reading through [https://github.com/discourse/discourse/blob/19e3b3b1bce96787e27dd59c424605a43c7bf5db/lib/email/message\_builder.rb](https://github.com/discourse/discourse/blob/19e3b3b1bce96787e27dd59c424605a43c7bf5db/lib/email/message_builder.rb) I don’t think you have a reply-key or even reply email address discrete var to use.
Maybe for the first few month add a generic link for “Getting the best out of your email experience” and add that to the bottom of all the emails. You can put a full cheat sheet there including explaining about various user settings etc.
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### Author:  [@sunjam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/sunjam)
#### Post date: [31.Июль.2020 02:43:10 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/subscribe-to-a-topic-by-email-in-a-watching-first-post-channel/119275/14 "2020-07-31T02:43:10Z")
> [@sam](#):
>
> К сожалению, после прочтения [https://github.com/discourse/discourse/blob/19e3b3b1bce96787e27dd59c424605a43c7bf5db/lib/email/message\_builder.rb](https://github.com/discourse/discourse/blob/19e3b3b1bce96787e27dd59c424605a43c7bf5db/lib/email/message_builder.rb) я не думаю, что у вас есть переменная reply-key или даже отдельный адрес электронной почты для ответа.
Проверяю, есть ли какие-либо обновления по разработке опции reply\* для адресов электронной почты. Также было бы здорово иметь возможность отвечать на конкретные ongoing темы по электронной почте.
> [@sam](#):
>
> Да, это не задокументировано. Вы можете ответить словом `watch`, чтобы следить за темой, и `mute`, чтобы отключить уведомления о теме.
Есть ли дополнительная документация по этому вопросу? Возможно ли мне заменить `watch` на `subscribe`?
---
### Author:  [@eddowding](https://meta.discourse.org/u/eddowding)
#### Post date: [13.Июль.2023 00:01:49 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/subscribe-to-a-topic-by-email-in-a-watching-first-post-channel/119275/15 "2023-07-13T00:01:49Z")
Возвращаюсь к этому вопросу. Я вижу, что доступны следующие опции:
- `+1` или `like` — лайк поста
- `watch` — наблюдение за темой
- `track` — отслеживание темы
- `mute` — отключение уведомлений по теме
> **[How do I use Discourse via email?](https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/how-do-i-use-discourse-via-email/15279)**
>
> Discourse can be used exclusively via email, much like a Mailman mailing list. Here's how: Receive emails when active on the site Head to the email section of your preferences, and set the settings like so: “Mailing list mode” is a red...
Есть ли какие-то обновления относительно возможности настроить эти опции как кликабельные ссылки внутри шаблона email-оболочки, чтобы они генерировали mailto: с ключом ответа? (То есть href=mailto:[reply-key]@[domain]?subj=[subj]&body=watch)
> [@Subscribe to a topic by email in a "watching first post" channel](https://meta.discourse.org/t/subscribe-to-a-topic-by-email-in-a-watching-first-post-channel/119275/13?u=eddowding):
>
> Unfortunately after reading through [https://github.com/discourse/discourse/blob/19e3b3b1bce96787e27dd59c424605a43c7bf5db/lib/email/message\_builder.rb](https://github.com/discourse/discourse/blob/19e3b3b1bce96787e27dd59c424605a43c7bf5db/lib/email/message_builder.rb) I don’t think you have a reply-key or even reply email address discrete var to use. Maybe for the first few month add a generic link for “Getting the best out of your email experience” and add that to the bottom of all the emails. You can put a full cheat sheet there including explaining about various user settings etc.
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### Author:  [@aidanheerdegen](https://meta.discourse.org/u/aidanheerdegen)
#### Post date: [13.Сентябрь.2023 07:46:16 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/subscribe-to-a-topic-by-email-in-a-watching-first-post-channel/119275/16 "2023-09-13T07:46:16Z")
Это очень старая тема, но интересно, не появилось ли каких-либо изменений, позволяющих отслеживать тему с помощью специально подготовленного письма.
Наш сценарий использования таков: есть пользователи, которые, несмотря на множество напоминаний, объяснений и просьб, так и не могут подписаться на важные темы, которые мы используем в качестве фактических почтовых списков.
Было бы здорово иметь простую ссылку mailto, по которой они могли бы кликнуть, чтобы подписаться на тему. Обратите внимание, что в настоящее время они не получают письма от этой темы, поэтому не могут отвечать на них.
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### Author:  [@alehandrof](https://meta.discourse.org/u/alehandrof)
#### Post date: [22.Ноябрь.2023 14:29:03 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/subscribe-to-a-topic-by-email-in-a-watching-first-post-channel/119275/17 "2023-11-22T14:29:03Z")
> [@Aidan Heerdegen](#):
>
> Было бы здорово иметь простую ссылку mailto, по которой можно было бы подписаться на тему. Обратите внимание, что в настоящее время они не получают письма из этой темы, поэтому не могут на них ответить.
Эта функция уже запрашивалась ранее здесь: [Change notification level with a link](https://meta.discourse.org/t/change-notification-level-with-a-link/57784)
К сожалению, продвижения в разработке этой функции пока нет.