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Microsoft adding support for custom '+' email addresses in Office 365

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Re: Microsoft adding support for custom '+' email addresses in Office 365

#101
post #87
post #5

FastMail had some of the cleverest ideas for plus addressing. username+tag@fastmail.fm could be given away as tag@username.fastmail.fm

I wrote that! I'm glad you like it. :) It's been nearly 20 years since I added that feature. I assumed at the time everyone would do it when they saw how handy it is. For some reason that didn't happen...

I use it too! It's fantastic

Re: Microsoft adding support for custom '+' email addresses in Office 365

#102

They had to. This was the only reason why people would refuse to migrate from GSuite to Office365.

I don't think it is the only reason. Labels in Gmail are still really nice. Microsoft Outlook rules will often duplicate messages and smart folders using search filters don't work between browser and email client. Using IMAP they are simply virtual directories like they should be.

Microsoft Calendar is also pretty bad too. Like in a large organization you'll often have people leave the company. When you delete a series in Outlook with multiple people it tries removing the history for everyone which is important dates. There are a lot of nuances that would prevent me from ever switching to Office. Even OneDrive is tied to SharePoint and it is way too easy to break.

Re: Microsoft adding support for custom '+' email addresses in Office 365

#103

Now if only websites will stop rejecting plus-addressed email addresses as invalid. The most frequent offenders are mom & pop websites that you just _know_ are going to get breached.

I use shopname@firstname.lastname.email, with my own lastname.email domain. Fastmail makes configuring your dns records for this super simple. It's always fun interacting with customer service reps when they for example confirm my email address... "errrrrr yeah so we email you at ourname@...?"

I like this! I haven't used my own mail-server for much, however this is a great way to avoid a single "e-mail" that everyone can support :)

Re: Microsoft adding support for custom '+' email addresses in Office 365

#104
post #87
post #5

FastMail had some of the cleverest ideas for plus addressing. username+tag@fastmail.fm could be given away as tag@username.fastmail.fm

I wrote that! I'm glad you like it. :) It's been nearly 20 years since I added that feature. I assumed at the time everyone would do it when they saw how handy it is. For some reason that didn't happen...

I used it, Jeremy. Since then I transitioned to sitename@mydomain.email but I still have quite a bit of legacy sitename@myusername.fastmail.fm

Re: Microsoft adding support for custom '+' email addresses in Office 365

#105

Now if only websites will stop rejecting plus-addressed email addresses as invalid. The most frequent offenders are mom & pop websites that you just _know_ are going to get breached.

I use shopname@firstname.lastname.email, with my own lastname.email domain. Fastmail makes configuring your dns records for this super simple. It's always fun interacting with customer service reps when they for example confirm my email address... "errrrrr yeah so we email you at ourname@...?"

Why do you use shopname@? Once you know the pattern everyone can guess it.

Re: Microsoft adding support for custom '+' email addresses in Office 365

#106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Such services are likely breaking the law. Edit: Downvote me all you want, they're still breaking the law… In the US there's the CAN-SPAM act ( https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/can... ) and nearly every other country has similar laws. Most of them require one-click unsubscribes to work. It's still failure to comply even if it's due to negligence/ignorance/incompetence.

What law requires companies to follow IETF standards? '+' has no special meaning. The relevant standards only say that senders can't dictate how a system encodes its addresses. No law is in place to compel that behavior. If that were the case I'd love to force ISPs supposedly selling IP services to allow unencumbered use of port 25, residential servers, and transport protocols other than TCP and UDP.

They're not saying that not allowing a + is breaking the law, but unsubscribe links being broken (due to the presence of a + in the email) could be breaking the law, especially if there are no alternative methods to unsubscribe.

Re: Microsoft adding support for custom '+' email addresses in Office 365

#107
post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use shopname@firstname.lastname.email, with my own lastname.email domain. Fastmail makes configuring your dns records for this super simple. It's always fun interacting with customer service reps when they for example confirm my email address... "errrrrr yeah so we email you at ourname@...?"

Why do you use shopname@? Once you know the pattern everyone can guess it.

Not OP, but I'm guessing because it's easier to remember than completely random email address (password manager might solve this?) and more unique than using the same email everywhere.

Re: Microsoft adding support for custom '+' email addresses in Office 365

#108

Now if only websites will stop rejecting plus-addressed email addresses as invalid. The most frequent offenders are mom & pop websites that you just _know_ are going to get breached.

I use shopname@firstname.lastname.email, with my own lastname.email domain. Fastmail makes configuring your dns records for this super simple. It's always fun interacting with customer service reps when they for example confirm my email address... "errrrrr yeah so we email you at ourname@...?"

Oh yes, and also in physical stores when e.g. giving a contact e-mail for warranty updates.

- "Oh! You work with us? At which store?"

Re: Microsoft adding support for custom '+' email addresses in Office 365

#109
post #87
post #5

FastMail had some of the cleverest ideas for plus addressing. username+tag@fastmail.fm could be given away as tag@username.fastmail.fm

I wrote that! I'm glad you like it. :) It's been nearly 20 years since I added that feature. I assumed at the time everyone would do it when they saw how handy it is. For some reason that didn't happen...

Thank you!

I use tagname@myusername.mydomain these days, and that's still my favorite feature!

Re: Microsoft adding support for custom '+' email addresses in Office 365

#110
post #64

Now if only websites will stop rejecting plus-addressed email addresses as invalid. The most frequent offenders are mom & pop websites that you just _know_ are going to get breached.

The other problem I ran into is spam+sitename@mydomain.com is really awkward to read over the phone. I ended up switching to sitename@email.mydomain.com, which passes all validators and doesn't sound as sketchy. Using a subdomain, I don't seem to catch any of the spam that gets targeted to catchall domain addresses. Also, I once encountered a site where spam+xyz worked for signup but failed validation on the login fo…

I've done that, and gotten banned from a site later for having the company name in my email. (I was unbanned later, after contacting support)
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