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Email Tests
I am a judgment broker who writes often. It’s now 2013. I think oh my goodness when even in 2013, I see folks sending e-mail messages to several topic-specific (large) e-mail list-serve groups, with subjects such as “this is a test”, “test of my email”, or “test, please ignore”. It is as if some people do not understand that they can test their email without bugging many other folks.
It is a common situation when somebody would want to verify their e-mail. One situation could be when you get a new computer or device, and are setting it up; it is comforting to verify everything is working. Or, perhaps something has changed, and you wish to verify that your email still works.
The perfect method of testing your email is to e-mail yourself. If this does not appear to be working within 5 minutes, then try e-mailing yourself from another e-mail address you may use; or install a free e-mail account some place, and send yourself an e-mail. Or, if you know some buddy who checks their email all the time, email them and ask them to email you back ASAP. You might also ask your ISP to help test your email address.
Email deliveries isn’t as reliable or quick as it used to be. For a few years now, as per laws, lots of dedicated servers were installed to grab and store all communications sent through ISPs. This tends to prevent the quick delivery or bounce-backs of email. Also, due to the spammer problem, many legitimate emails get trapped in junk or spam folders, or get bounced.
An e-mail sent to yourself might arrive within five seconds, five minutes, 15 minutes, or perhaps never. Often, the best idea is to leave the computer/device, and come back in a little while, after doing something constructive such as making a sandwich or going to the restroom. Eventually, you will get either your e-mail back, or some error message (which could happen days later) stating your message can’t get sent, and that means something isn’t set up correctly, or is not working.
Your e-mail circumstance is your responsibility. It might be some problem with your internet provider or your computer/device. The best way to test your email is to email a friend, yourself, or your ISP. The worst way of testing your e-mail is to send an e-mail to some e-mail list-serve group, and send your test message to who knows how many recipients. You probably won’t get an e-mail response back, and most of the recipients will get just a little bit upset.
One more e-mail testing situation is when you are sending or getting attachments. So many hackers and evil-doers send malicious attachments which can hurt Windows computers, that sometimes even regular “good” PDFs are blocked from being delivered. If you need to send important e-mail attachments, testing is a good idea, although it’s best to send a test email to the fewest number of folks possible.
