Back when I first hopped into the realm of self-hosting, I found the idea I could have my own email server fascinating. I immediately looked into setting one up. Now, when I say ‘self-hosting’ I mean that I own every element personally. That I literally was attempting to set up an email server on my personal hardware in my closet. Those of you who have attempted (let alone completed) such a task for the first time understand what I mean, but for those who don’t: imagine if you got out of bed one day and said ‘I’m gonna go run a marathon!’ It’s a commendable effort, and in the process of attempting that goal you will improve dramatically. But you will suffer. Oh, you will suffer.
So I settled for web hosting. Back in the day I used A Small Orange; these days I use Reclaim Hosting for my site, and NameCheap for my domain. Another mistake I made back in the day was when I discovered I could have unlimited email addresses on my hosted server: I made as many email accounts as I pleased. Accounts, mind you. I had fifty different passwords for fifty different accounts. Inboxes swarmed my screen, and it became so cluttered that my meticulous planning turned into a row of neat, ordered recycle bins that were all filled with crusty pizza boxes and complacent despair.
Let me recommend, evangelize really, the joy of actual email aliases. What do you need? One email account. Self-hosted, web hosted, a Gmail account (or any service that offers filtering by address.) That’s it! Oh, and a domain, but that’s simple and quite cheap. NameCheap will let you get a domain for roughly $10-20 USD a year, but there are other providers. The essence is as follows:
- Buy domain from provider.
- Configure an email redirect (this may also be called email forwarding) so that any email sent to any @yourdomain.biznetcomisioetc is instead sent to an email address of your choosing.
- Set up simple filters and folders on your email account to automatically sort incoming mail to them.
- Enjoy!
That’s really it. Here’s an example: I purchase my shower toiletries from Lush.com (shoutout to Dharia for recommending this place, excellent scents and product longevity.) When making an account with them, for my email address I simply put ‘lush@domain.name.’ I didn’t make a new email or anything; until I created my Lush account that address had never existed before. Once I did that, I set up my mail filter on my email service to automatically send any emails that went to lush@domain.name to a folder I created in that moment.
The benefits are three-fold: One, you no longer have an inbox cluttered with order confirmations and newsletters (if you so choose to have them sent at all.) Two, all correspondence is immediately organized. Three, if you suddenly start getting boner pill advertisements in that folder, you know that there was a data breach, or that your information was sold. If an address becomes spammy? Just change the filter, and the address to a new one entirely. You have total ad-hoc creation and control over an infinite number of email addresses. You no longer have to compete with everyone for cool addresses! You can even keep your actual email address that your chosen service provided you secret, so if things ever get too much you can remove the domain redirect/forwarding and start fresh. The only challenge is moving email services (such as going from Google to say, ProtonMail or some other provider.) You’d have to make your filters all over again, but it’s a small price to pay for this level of control.
This stuff is the kind of IT I nerd out about. I fucking love workflow optimization baby. Also, none of the companies here sponsored me. I’ve just had good experiences with them. If you do go shop at Lush now, I recommend their shampoo/conditioner bars. Very fragrant and very long-lasting. The cinnamon ones are great!
