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How to create an autoresponder for an email account

  knowledgebase  :: network status

Auto-responders can be used to create an "away message", "out of office reply", "I'm on holiday" or a "thank you for your mail" message - as well as other replies such as "Thanks for your enquiry" - which automatically replies to anyone who mails you. These messages are useful when you'd like to send an acknowledgement of the mail before you can reply to it personally.

There are two ways to configure an autoresponder. If you have access to your mailbox, but not to the full hosting account, use method 1. If you have access to the full hosting account, you can use either method.

method 1: using webmail

  1. login to your webmail
  2. click the 'Auto-responder' tab
  3. enter the automatic response details into the subject and message fields
  4. click Save
  5. logout

To disable the autoresponder, follow the above process, clearing the automatic response details from the subject and message fields (ensure both are empty) before clicking 'Save'.

method 2: using the hosting account control panel

  1. login to the website control panel
  2. create the autoresponder:

    • regular hosting accounts:

      1. click the 'Email Control' tab
      2. next to your domainname, click the 'Mailboxes' link
      3. next to the mailbox to add the responder to, click the 'Edit' link
      4. enter the automatic response details into the subject and message fields
      5. click 'Next Step'
      6. logout

      To disable the autoresponder, follow the above process, clearing the automatic response details from the subject and message fields (ensure both are empty) before clicking 'Next Step'.

    • Pro hosting accounts:

      1. under Mail, click Auto Responders
      2. click the Add Auto Responder button
      3. leave the character set on default
      4. in the Interval box, enter the number of hours to delay sending the response
      5. in the email box, enter the left-most portion of the mailbox to add the responder to
      6. if on a multisite account, select the correct domainname from the dropdown
      7. in the From box, enter the name that the auto-response will be from (eg. Sales Team) (this cannot be blank)
      8. in the Subject box, enter the subject line for the auto-response
      9. in the Body box, enter the text of the auto-response
      10. click the Create/Modify button
      11. logout

      To disable the autoresponder, click Auto Responders (under Mail on the home screen), and click Delete next to the autoresponder to delete.

The autoresponder can be tested by sending an email to the address. You should receive the automatic response in reply. Emails will continue to accumulate in the mailbox of the user.

Note: it may take up to 15 minutes for the autoresponder to be activated or deactivated.

Note: to protect your mailboxes from spam, flooding, and other malicious activity, a security system on the server manages the autoresponder. If an incoming mail seems "spammy" to the security system, an auto-response will not be sent. In addition, the security system will allow only a single auto-response to a given address. An automatic response is not sent for every mail received by the mailbox. For these reasons, when testing an auto-responder, failing to get an automatic reply does not mean that the auto-responder is not working. If the "test" message seems spammy to the server, an automatic response will not be sent.

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