Windows Hosting : Note to AOL Users

If you use AOL and have your e-mail from your website forwarded to your AOL address, PLEASE READ THIS.

Every time you report as SPAM e-mail is forwarded to AOL from an Onalaska Web hosted account it looks like the SPAM is comming from Onalaska Web or from your site, so AOL flags it then sends a SPAM report to us. After so many SPAM complaints/reports, the server gets blacklisted and it is a nightmare getting AOL to remove a server from their blacklist.

As AOL subscribers, there are some steps you can take to ensure this does not happen again. First, if you receive spam to your forwarder e-mail address, do not click Report as Spam instead just delete it. We are now monitoring all those who click the Report As Spam button and if you continue to click the Report as Spam button, we will remove the forwarder that is set up to your AOL address and if necessary we will take such drastic measures as terminating your account. Unfortunately these steps need to be taken as this affects every one on that server.

Simple changes to your AOL filter will also help to ensure this problem does not happen again.

You can teach the AOL filters what is and isn't spam, but NOT by leaving the default settings for the filters. All that is required is changing one setting, and then checking the spam folder and "un blocking" anything that gets reported as spam that shouldn't be.

To change the settings open AOL then click on Mail on the top tool bar, go down to block unwanted e-mail and click on it, that will open up the filter settings, the only setting you need to change is the setting that says delete spam e-mail automatically, you need to change this to send it to the spam folder. By default it is deleted.

Save the settings and you are done with that portion, now you need to make it a habit of checking the spam folder on a regular basis and UN BLOCK anything that isn't spam. This will teach the filter what is and isn't spam, and after a while you will start getting fewer and fewer false positives in your spam folder.

With the e-mails set to auto delete, that is telling AOL that anything their filter thinks is spam, is in fact spam...even if it isn't.

onahosting.com is a division of Onalaska Web offering Red Hat Linux web hosting ©Copyright Onalaska Web - a web design and hosting company, All Rights Reserved Send mail to support@onalaskaweb.com for assistance.