Your Email Has Disappeared or Your Email Was Never Sent. How to Check Your Mailflow.

Your email has disappeared or has never been sent out.  There could be a number of reasons why this has happened, so here are a few steps to try before you contact support.  These steps can also be preformed if you are having difficulties sending a PreFlight Test send.  There is a video at the end of this article outlining some of these steps.  If your organization is sending through the Outlook Server versus the PoliteMail server, skip to the end of this article.  

Sending through the PoliteMail Server

First determine where your message is.  There are 3 places to check - the Sent Folder, the Drafts Folder and the Outbox.  

Message is in the Sent Folder

If your message is in the Sent folder, it means that it has gone to the PoliteMail Server.  Now let's check the Results tab.  Go to PoliteMail > Results > Messages.  If you see your message there, then sending was successful.  You may need to wait a bit for your message to collect metrics, especially if you've sent to a large distribution list.   If the report is stating 0 (zero), try updating it manually
Click here to learn how to manually update your report.

If the message is in the Sent folder, but not in the Results tab, the next place to look is in the Scheduled Sends field.  All messages enter Scheduled Sends briefly when sent through the server regardless if they are scheduled or not.  Go to PoliteMail > Campaigns > Scheduled Sends.

If your message is there, look at the second column.  It should be checked.

If the message is listed in Scheduled Sends and that second column is checked, your message is ready for delivery. It might be still replicating, or it might be waiting for another message to clear the mail queue before it goes through. Your message will send, but it may take some time. Please keep checking your Results tab for your message to be delivered.

You can also go to PoliteMail > Settings > My Profile and click on View Server Information at the bottom of the screen.  You should see your message appear under Next Send, or in the SMTP Service under "Messages in Queue."

If this box is not checked, scroll to the right and click the Edit button.

Put a checkmark in the second column from the left. 

Click Save/Update.

Now verify that it has made it to mailflow.

Mailflow 

**Please note only Admins can start and stop mailflow**  If you are a User or a Manager and SMTP Service has stopped, you need to contact your Admin to start the mailflow again.

Go to PoliteMail > Settings > My Profile

Scroll to the bottom of the screen under Preferences and click on View Server Information.

Under SMTP Service look at Message in Queue. If it is not 0 (zero), the message is in the PoliteMail Server. If this is the case, also confirm under SMTP Service START is grayed out and STOP is not.
If START is not grayed out and STOP is, click START. (only Admins can do this)

Now log back into your PoliteMail Server.  You may also need to clear your cache.  

Message is in the Outbox Folder

If your message is stuck in the Outbox folder, you are not connected to the PoliteMail Server and your message might be too large to send via the Outbox Server. Please save the message and then remove the message from the Outbox.  Then clear your cache.  

Now that your cache has been cleared, reauthenticate your server. Go to PoliteMail > Server Connection. Verify that you are logged in to the correct PoliteMail Server.  Verify that Send Email Via is set to PoliteMail Server, not Outlook Outbox.  Click OK. You may be asked to verify your user name and password if applicable.  You know you have successfully connected to the PoliteMail server when it brings you to the My Profile page.

If you have not been brought back to the Profile page, then you are having issues with the PoliteMail login.

If you've been brought back to My Profile, try sending it again.  If it goes back into the Outbox folder, you will need to submit a case to our Support team.

 If it goes into the Sent folder, then it means that the server connection has been reestablished.  You should be able to send without issues now, but you want may want to check the Results tab and Scheduled Sends, outlined in Sent Folder section above.

Message is in the Drafts Folder

If your message is going to the Drafts folder, delete all versions of your email from the Drafts folder (save a copy for yourself).  Then clear your cache.  

Now that your cache has been cleared, reauthenticate your server. Go to PoliteMail > Server Connection. Verify that you are logged in to the correct PoliteMail Server.  Verify that Send Email Via is set to PoliteMail Server, not Outlook Outbox.  Click OK. You may be asked to verify your user name and password if applicable.  You know you have successfully connected to the PoliteMail server when it brings you to the My Profile page.

If you have not been brought back to the Profile page, then you are having issues with the PoliteMail login.

If you've been brought back to My Profile, try sending it again.  If it goes back into the Drafts folder, it has failed going to the PoliteMail Server.  There are three potential reasons for this, which are outlined in this article.  You may need to repair your Outlook data file.  Please review the article, make any necessary changes or reports, and then try and send your message again.  

Message is not in Any of These Folders

Verify that you are using the correct version of PoliteMail.  By clicking on the Request Support button, you can see which version you are on.  Please contact an Administrator user on your account or your IT department for instructions on how to download and install the latest version of PoliteMail. If you are unable to do this, you need to submit a case.

If the above options are clear, the message is likely stuck in the exchange, in this case your IT team will be able to assist and release the messages.

Not in the above solutions?  There may be another cause.

1.  Sent Without Tracking Enabled
If this message was sent from a draft, tracking may not have been enabled, please confirm if anyone has received the message.  You can prevent this from happening in the future by going to PoliteMail > Preferences and clicking on the Prevent Unintentional Sends.  This will warn you if you are sending to a Distribution List without tracking on.

2.  Use the To: field when sending to Lists

If using PoliteMail lists, Exchange will not recognize the email address on the list and will not deliver to those recipients, however any individuals or Distribution lists will receive the untracked message.  To make ensure that everyone on the list is getting a copy of the message, click on the To: field when entering in your mailing list, instead of typing it in.

3.  Only send from one Outlook window.  Close any extra windows from Outlook you may have open.

4.  Send yourself a tracked email with nothing in it

Test to see if your messages are going to yourself.  If this is working, try sending your message to yourself and a few others using PreFlight Test Send.

If none of these options work, please contact Support by clicking the Request Support button.

Sending Through the Outlook Server

First, check in the Results tab. Go to PoliteMail > Results > Messages.  If the message is there, then it has sent.  You'll check the recipient count next.

If the message is not there, check in Scheduled Sends.  All messages enter Scheduled Sends briefly when sent through the server regardless if they are scheduled or not.  Go to PoliteMail > Campaigns > Scheduled Sends.  Check the data grid for your message.  If it's not there, you'll need to preform a Get Recipient Count.

To perform a recipient count, put a distribution list or lists in the To: field. Go to the PoliteMail Flag and choose Get Recipient Count.

If your message is showing up in your  Results folder, and the recipient count matches what is displayed in your Metrics report, then sending is successful.

If there is a discrepancy between Get Recipient Count and your Results, or if the message is not appearing at all, there may be an issue with sending.  You will need to submit a case to our Support Team so a technician can assist you.