How can I get the right advanced settings?

To get the right advanced settings it’s necessary to try out different combinations (normally a list with about 10 addresses will suffice) and verify how many messages actually get delivered (this info is given at the end of the sending operation, when it is also possible to check the logs). Users connected to a “tolerant” enough SMTP server won’t probably experience many problems, regardless of the settings specified that will only effect the sending speed.

On the other hand, if your connection is to a rather “strict” STMP server, in order to be able to deliver a high number of messages it might be necessary to slow down message sending and avoid sending messages simultaneously.

Here’s a few simple rules worth considering:

  • A tolerant SMTP server allows fast sending without pauses (or limited pauses anyway). On rather restricted SMTP servers that use numerous antispam filters, raise pauses and lower simultaneous connections.

  • Normally, SMTP servers don’t allow sending many messages simultaneously, therefore when using the SMTP mode the number of connections must be low or, in certain situations, equal to 1 (no simultaneous connections). If the SMTP server is equipped with antispam restriction mechanisms, it may be necessary to slow down message sending by setting a pause of a few seconds between each send, and set a longer pause between message blocks. Also, blocks shouldn’t contain more than a few dozen messages.

  • In case of a direct send, with a standard distribution list containing addresses belonging to different domains, the messages will be delivered to a variety of different servers: it is therefore possible to set a high number of connections* and limited (or none at all) pauses between messages and between blocks.

  • Raising the number of attempts in case of error can raise the percentage of success but it will slow down the sending operation, particularly if the number of simultaneous connections is low. Completing the operation at a later time from the history window (after having waited a few minutes) can be considered good practice.

Amongst the advance settings you can also find the message Encoding mode: choose between quoted-printable and base64. The header content that shows the software that generated the message (the Xmailer text): by using the Default setting the header will include SendBlaster’s name and release. Otherwise you can type a fee text, to simulate sending through a different e-mail client or choose the None option to avoid having a header added to the message.

Domain option allows for customizing the machine name used by the software for connecting to SMTP server or recipients’ email servers. This can be useful when using Direct send: some servers verify domain name before accepting messages; they require that domain name corresponds to the public hostname on the network, and before accepting messages they perform a ping (or similar operation) in order to verify that domain name corresponds to the IP address of the machine requesting connection. Should this be the case, selecting Internet address may lower refused messages. We suggest using default settings, or using Internet address when direct sending and PC local name when using SMTP (SMTP servers usually don’t perform any particular check on domain name).
SendBlaster checks your machine’s public address each time it is started; should Internet connection not be available when starting, public address may be left empty and PC local name will be used instead. If a fixed public IP is available, experienced users will select User defined… and enter a fixed value (please note that a hostname is needed – not an IP address) – but keep in mind that a wrong setting could compromise successful sending.

*In the Free edition the maximum number of connections is 2, even if a higher number is specified.