CUNY Academic Commons

For the reply-by-email plugin, we use IMAP mode, which relies on connecting to a GMail account to check for new replies and posting items to the Commons.

This isn't the best for performance because IMAP mode uses a long-running process to do the new email checks. RBE also has another mode called Inbound mode, which works on a per-email basis. This mode is already being used to create new forum topics with a custom, group email address (GROUP@groups.commons.gc.cuny.edu), but we haven't fully switched over to using Inbound for replies and private messages because IMAP was already in use.

Some things-to-do before switching:

1. Since we already have set up the GROUP@groups.commons.gc.cuny.edu email address for new forum topics, would it be okay to keep using this email domain for replies as well? (Regular reply email addresses would look something like fb2da051ba2b7220193cca6ada@groups.commons.gc.cuny.edu). The alternative is to set up another email address domain like X@reply.commons.gc.cuny.edu, but RBE hasn't been tested with two different email domains yet. Some background info here: https://redmine.gc.cuny.edu/issues/2880#note-24. I'd say for now, we should keep using the same email domain unless anyone has any objections.

2. Once we switch to Inbound mode exclusively, replying to older items with the cunyacademiccommons+IDENTIFIER@gmail.com GMail address would no longer work. I was thinking we can set up an auto-replier in GMail, so if a new email matches the body of the RBE format, an auto-reply with the following message could be sent:

Hi,

You attempted to reply to our older reply-by-email address that is no longer in service. We have transitioned to a new email address.

If you would like to try emailing your reply with the new email address, please copy the IDENTIFIER portion of the "To" email address in the format of:

cunyacademiccommons+IDENTIFIER@gmail.com

to:

IDENTIFIER@groups.commons.gc.cuny.edu

And resend your previous email using this new email address.

You can always login to the CUNY Academic Commons to view your thread and make your reply there as well.

If you have any questions, please contact us at support@cunycommons.zendesk.com.