Email as login: handle plus '+' aliases properly

Related products:Online account

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
June 5, 2023
6 replies
61 views

Some customers may use site-specific email aliases like name+site@domain.tld for increased efficiency and security when signing in to account.ovoenergy.com.

OVO’s email system currently distinguishes between an alias and its underlying address. This means that email sent from name@domain.tld is not recognized as originating from the user whose login username is, say, name+ovo@domain.tld.

I suggest that this be changed.

BPLightlog

Super User

I had not come across this before (which I thought unusual) but it does sound a good idea. How long have you been using this technique @Firedog ? and do most sites deal with this as you would expect?

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Blastoise186

Super User

As an example, cPanel has supported it for years via cPanel Webmail, especially when using Roundcube rather than Horde. It can even automatically create folders in Roundcube whenever a new + address combo is detected for the first time.

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Firedog

Author

Super User

The technique has been around for many years, but I probably only started using it consistently and effectively around 10 years ago, when Outlook finally started handling plus aliases properly. OVO’s is the first site I’ve come across that fails in this respect. There have probably been others that simply don’t allow a plus alias to be registered as a username (“Please enter a valid email address”).

Noel | I have no official status; I'm just a volunteer who comes here to help other customers. My gear: Aclara SGM 1416-B Electricity-only E7 meter; Chameleon IHD3-PPMID-AAA | It may look as if I know what I’m talking about, but don’t let that fool you. |