Right down the bottom of the list of accounts on the left, should be “Outgoing server ( SMTP)”.Click on Account Settings (usually on the Tools menu).The message could not be sent because the connection to SMTP server smtp.gn.apc.org timed out.” The usual symptom is that Thunderbird will try to send for about 20 seconds before giving up with “Sending of message failed. Other causes for not being able to send include an invalid recipient address: it’s usually worth recording any error message you see on screen, however cryptic.
Instructions for changing the port (and sometimes which port to use) may vary depending on the exact version of the email program you are using, but the following covers most of the common ones.
This is particularly likely to occur when travelling and connecting through a different ISP from normal, because the ISP may block outgoing ports as a safeguard against their connections being used to send spam. (If you’ve come here from a web search and use an email service other than GreenNet, the server names will be different depending on your email provider, and maybe some of the port numbers too.) All the settings mentioned are for GreenNet users. Here are the steps to follow for Outlook, Thunderbird etc to fix this. Need a bit more info about mobile and responsive email messages – here’s a post just for you.Sometimes you’ll open your email client and your email will arrive in your inbox, but when it comes to sending a message you get an error message. If you’re pulling constituent information to display or hide specific content, always send your test messages to a corresponding test record to make sure that the correct information shows up in the email message.ĭo you have an email send fail to share? Get it off your chest and into our comments! Examples include sending cat photos to dog lovers, or asking people to give a first gift when they are already a monthly donor. Nothing rattles a reader more than seeing inaccurate information about themselves in an email message. Don’t forget to check linked images and text links in your email header and footer each and every time… those HTML gremlins can show up at any point. Remember – you are sending an email messages to encourage users to take action-so make sure they can! Click on every single link in your email message to make sure links are working and taking readers where you want them to go. While it seems like a no-brainer, folks may be tempted to skip this step… especially when your Communications Director is standing over your desk sighing heavily. Be on the lookout for mistakes that are easily overlooked while proofreading for grammar and punctuation including: telephone numbers, email addresses, subject lines, event dates, addresses and times. When staffing issues, sniffles or summertime vacations leave you without a proofreader, it’s important to reach out to someone-an intern, your executive director, even a friend outside of your organization-to review your message with a fresh set of eyes. Ideally you’ll have a small team of two or three colleagues to review your email message. I never (ever) see my own mistakes – especially when it is content I’ve been working with for an extended stretch. If you don’t have access to a testing tool, you can get around it by setting up test accounts in popular web-based clients. Our tech team uses Email on Acid or Litmus. Tools to facilitate email testing can be a huge time-saver. Send Test Messages to Multiple Accounts & Multiple Screen SizesĮmail clients (like Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo and Hotmail) all render HTML a little bit differently, so it’s good times for everyone! We can’t overstate how important it is to test across a variety of email clients. I invite all fellow send button freakers to chill out with the following tips: Set up a thorough review process and you can feel confident when clicking send, knowing that you’ve taken steps to reduce your chances of error. Firefly is here to stop the ulcers with one little word: TEST. Are there typos? Did I check all the links? Are the email lists correct?Īdd mobile device responsiveness, an array of different email clients and a tight deadline to the mix, and it’s enough to make the coolest of us feel frazzled at times. Despite a thorough review process, there’s always a little voice in the back of my mind asking all sorts of questions.
I don’t know about you, but I find clicking the send button on an email marketing message to be a tiny bit nerve-wracking.