E-mail Address
Contents
- Why must my E-mail address be unique?
- Why Can’t I Change my Email Address?
- Blog & E-mail on the Same Domain (Google Apps)
Related
The e-mail address registered with your WordPress.com account is your unique identifier. You will notice that when you sign up, we do not require any other information. As such, it is how we are able to verify ownership of blogs and accounts; it is very important to remember and update it as necessary.
Why must my E-mail address be unique?
Early on, WordPress.com allowed users to create several user accounts using the same email address. This created several problems with account management, so we had to make changes and require each user account to use a unique email address.
The single sign-on method is perfect unless you require separate accounts for some reason. In that case, you’re welcome to keep separate accounts. Each account should have its own email address.
There is a trick that works with Gmail (and possibly other email providers) to let you use one email address as though it were several different addresses. Gmail lets you add “+something” to your mailbox name and still get your mail. For example, joe@gmail.com and joe+wordpress@gmail.com and joe+secretblog@gmail.com each look like different addresses to our system but they all route mail to the same inbox: joe@gmail.com.
Why Can’t I Change my Email Address?
If you attempt to change the e-mail address in Your Profile and find that it never sticks after saving the changes, the issue is quite simple. The e-mail address you are attempting to use is probably associated with another WordPress.com account. Because the e-mail address is the unique identifier of all users, each address can only be associated with one WordPress.com account. Thus, if you attempt to change it, it will not allow you to do so.
The remedy is just as simple. You must log in to the account currently holding your desired e-mail address and change it to something else. This will allow you to free up the e-mail address that you want to use. Once the address is free to use, log in to your primary account and change the e-mail address in your user profile (what you were originally trying to do). Do not be shocked if it takes a little while for the address to completely free itself up.
Blog & E-mail on the Same Domain (Google Apps)
WordPress.com bloggers can now send and receive email from their mapped domains. With just a few clicks, you can configure your DNS records (MX records) to use Google Apps, a service that provides email to domain registrants. A free Google Apps account includes 2GB of space and the ability to set up multiple email mailboxes.
This means you can have your WordPress.com blog AND email addresses on your own domain. There is no extra charge for this. Everyone who has purchased the Domain Mapping upgrade can use this feature immediately. The steps to set this up are as follows:
1. Map a top level domain (not subdomain) to your WordPress.com blog.
2. Sign up for Google Apps. Choose the plan that fits your email needs best.
NOTE: Currently, the only Google Application you will be able to use with your domain is email.
3. Enter your domain name that you already own and have mapped to your WordPress.com blog in Step 2 of the Google registration process.
4. When it’s time to verify domain ownership, choose the Upload an HTML file option. We have simplified the process however, so there is no need to upload anything! Once you have chosen this option, you will see a verification code that starts with “google” and ends with a series of random characters. You will need to use this code in the next step, so copy it to the clipboard.
5. Go to the Settings –> Domains menu in your WordPress.com blog’s administration area. If you have mapped a domain, you should see a link that says Enable Google MX in the far right column. Click this link. If you do not see this link then your mapped domain cannot yet have email.
6. Enter your verification code in the text box that appears and click Save.
7. Go back to your Google Apps control panel click the link to complete the HTML verification process.
8. That’s it! You can now setup your email accounts as needed from within the Google Apps control panel. You can then send mail to your mapped domain name and receive it in your new Google mailbox. (It may take several hours for the DNS changes to propagate. Don’t panic.)
Custom URLs (such as email.mydomain.com) are not supported for Google Apps email.
Your inbox will be protected by Google’s excellent email spam filters. You can access your mail using the GMail web interface for your domain, forward it to another mailbox, set up POP/SMTP, or use smart filters to manage your inbox.
Support Note: WordPress.com does not provide technical support for Google services.
