subaddressing (and auto creation of folders by default)

mtindor

Well-Known Member
Sep 14, 2004
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Am I imagining things or is plus addressing (subaddressing) AND the autocreation of mailbox folders for email sent to a plus address ENABLED BY DEFAULT in WHM 80?

So, somebody who wants to be a pain in the rear could send to 1,000,000 plus addresses [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] and WHM 80 is automatically giong to create a folders under [email protected] called "1", "2", "3" to receive those?

I would appreciate if somebody at cPanel would confirm this new behavior. If indeed this is the new behavior (autocreation of folders when mail is sent to a subaddress with NO option in WHM to disable this serverwide or bulk disable it for email users), this is insane.

Who thought this was a good thing to have?

Mike
 
Last edited:

mtindor

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Sep 14, 2004
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I'll follow up my own post. Apparently I misunderstood. Apparently Plus addressing has been available since WHM 58 and has always automatically created folders when somebody sends to a plus address. Apparently, the intent in WHM 80 is to give individual users the option to DISable the autocreation of folders when somebody sends to a plus address.

I don't like it, but hey I didn't even know it was happening for many versions now so apparently it isn't as widely abused as I would have expected it to be.

Mike
 

mtindor

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And with all of that said, cPanel needs to provide us with the ability to disable autocreation of subaddressing folders for all users with one click. There is just no way that autocreation of folders should have ever been on by default. I've never in my life had a customer request plus addressing, let alone one that would expect our servers to create a folder by default when something is sent to a plus address for the first time.

Mike
 

cPanelLauren

Product Owner II
Staff member
Nov 14, 2017
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Plus addressing is actually a really frequent request we've had. For the bulk disabling of it I'd suggest opening a feature request using the link in my signature. Once open update this thread with the link so others can voice their opinions as well.

Thanks!
 

Metro2

Well-Known Member
May 24, 2006
589
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I'll chime in on this also... I'm not freaking out over it and it's not a huge deal, but I would like the option to disable Plus Addressing globally and simply let my users know that it's a feature that they can enable themselves in their cPanel.

I realize that having the Plus Addressing option is a GOOD thing and I do make use of it myself, but my average client doesn't even know how to log in to their cPanel even though they're given clear instructions when they sign up for my shared hosting, much less use any of what they'd consider "advanced" features, BUT if I told them all "hey, you have Plus Addressing now" then I'm going to be seeing a lot more folders (and wasted iNodes) because they'll just start subaddressing like crazy. (And I mean no offense to them at all - they're good people; just happens to be that the majority of my customer base are the type that will over-use something for the sake of it if it's something they don't have to "configure").

So in my particular case, though I'm probably in the minority, it would be much better for me overall if I could disable subaddressing globally and simply let users know they can enable it if they wish, because knowing my customers well - only about 10% of them will actually use the feature.

I'll check to see if the OP has already started a feature request right now, and if not I'll start one myself and post back here with it.
 

Metro2

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May 24, 2006
589
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Metro2

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May 24, 2006
589
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178
USA
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You're welcome and thanks for being receptive. While doing some reading around a bit I discovered other admins who have their own good reasons for wanting the ability to disable it as well. In one example someone and his company use plus addressing for a specific purpose that has become part of their system, but they do not want it to automatically create subaddress folders as their system of doing things depends on having all plus address messages go directly into the main inbox. (I'm guessing they may have a lot of very specific filters set up and automatic subaddress folders would require them to make a lot of adjustments to how they run their operations).

As you can probably tell, my attitude is simply this - it's not the end of the world, plus addressing is a good thing to have and I think it's great that cPanel works on implementing such great features, but I would just like the option to disable it from WHM and have only the users who are savvy enough to actually use cPanel be given the option to go in and manually enable it. ;)
 
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mtindor

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sneader

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Aug 21, 2003
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La Crosse, WI
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I submitted a feature request for the ability to disable automatic plus addressing / automatic subaddress folder creation from within WHM , and still leave it as an option for users to manually enable it in their cPanel if they wish.

Here's the feature request link - https://features.cpanel.net/topic/ability-to-disable-plus-addressing-globally-from-whm
Hi @Metro2! I want to vote for this feature request, but the request is not live yet. I inquired to cPanel about it, and they say they have sent you an email about this request, and you need to respond to it. Can you look for the email from cPanel, and reply, so we can get this feature request live?

- Scott
 

Metro2

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May 24, 2006
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Hi @Metro2! I want to vote for this feature request, but the request is not live yet. I inquired to cPanel about it, and they say they have sent you an email about this request, and you need to respond to it. Can you look for the email from cPanel, and reply, so we can get this feature request live?

- Scott
Hi @sneader - what I didn't realize is that I can't exactly word the "story" the way that I would put it into my own words. I got an email from cPanel asking to revise it (and they politely offered to assist) but when I gave my feedback on how I'd like to revise / what I want the feature request to say, it still would not be in the words that I would use personally. I simply don't have the extra time to try to figure out what wording "fits the mold" of what they want it to say, so I'm abandoning it and looking for a way to remove the submission.

Maybe you or someone else could submit the Feature Request and have an easier time with it being put into words that you would say. I will definitely vote for it if someone else submits one and posts it here.

Sorry, I tried, but (and I'm not complaining) having words put in my mouth and not having the request stated using the verbiage that I would is not something that works for me.
 

cPanelLauren

Product Owner II
Staff member
Nov 14, 2017
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Hi @Metro2

I've reached out to the Community team on this and I'd be more than happy to assist if possible - feel free to send me a PM of what you had wanted it to say initially.
 

david364

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Sep 15, 2013
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6
58
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Reseller Owner
I would rather have plus addressing OFF by default on my server for all accounts. I don't want email recipients knowing the name of the folder I put their email in. If the name could be changed to a small integer, then fine, but not the actual folder name, please. Also, if I create temporary folders for certain email topics, I want to be free to empty and delete the folders, or change folder names, at any time. If I need to support tickets, I'll install a ticket system, not use uncontrolled plus addressing. And I agree with the OP: this feature will eventually be abused when malicious users realize it can be.