Best practices for sending emails through Quickbase

App admins send emails to users in Quickbase through app notifications, subscriptions, and reminders. This article explains best practices to help improve deliverability and reduce the risk of messages being flagged as spam. Poorly crafted or misdirected emails can harm your ability to reach users.

Send emails responsibly

Only send to users who have consented

Make sure that recipients have given you permission to send them emails from your app. Sending unwanted emails increases spam complaints and can result in automatic suppression.

If you're launching a new app or managing an app that sends automatic notifications, reminders, or subscriptions, be sure to inform your users in advance that they may receive emails. Setting expectations helps users recognize legitimate messages and prevents them from flagging emails as spam or junk.

Update your recipient lists regularly

Remove email addresses for users who no longer exist, have left your organization, or no longer need the notifications. To remove user access to your app or realm, read Remove a user's access permissions and Deny users access to a realm.

You may also need to review recipient lists for individual notifications, subscriptions, or reminders that are:

• Set to Open or Ignore recipient permissions
• Contain the user’s email typed directly in the recipient list

Learn more about email permissions in Permission checks for custom emails.

Content guidelines

Email formatting and content can play a large role in whether your email is flagged as spam. To reduce the chance of being flagged as spam, avoid:

• Random capitalization in words or phrases
• Poor spelling or grammar
• Frequent variations in font size, color, or style
• ALL CAPS subject lines or content
• Excessive punctuation, especially !!! or $$$
• Overuse of images with little or no text
• Use of URL shorteners for hyperlinks

Avoid spam trigger words and phrases

Many spam filters look for certain language that appears overly promotional, manipulative, or unrealistic. Avoid using words or phrases like:

• Please click here
• Action required
• Act now
• This is not spam
• 100% free
• 0% risk

Tell users why they’re receiving the email

Always include context in your message, including:

• Which app or realm the email is from
• Who manages the app

That way, recipients recognize the source, know who to contact to request removal, and don’t mistake emails for spam.

An informational footer is automatically included on all legacy emails. For custom emails, consider adding a footer by following the steps in the Add a footer to custom emails section.

Add a footer to custom emails

While custom emails do not include a footer by default, we still recommend that you add a footer of your own to help users identify your email.

To add a new footer using markers:

1. Open your custom email and expand the Compose email section.
2. Select the Source button to switch to source mode.
   
3. Paste this code at the bottom of the editor, under any existing content:

   <hr>
   <p>
   This is an automated message sent via Quickbase from application&nbsp;<qb-marker type="app-id"></qb-marker> in the&nbsp;<qb-marker type="realm-name"></qb-marker> realm. You are receiving this email because your account is listed as a participant, subscriber, or recipient in this app.
   </p>
   <p>
   If you believe this was sent in error or no longer wish to receive these notifications, please contact the app manager and request removal from notification <qb-marker type="notification-id"></qb-marker>.
   </p>

4. Select the Source button again to switch out of source mode, and customize the footer if desired. Adding additional content like the name or contact information of the application manager can further assist your recipients.

The app ID, realm name, and notification ID are filled in automatically when the email is sent, resulting in a message like:

This is an automated message sent via Quickbase from application [app-id] at [realm-name]. You are receiving this email because your account is listed as a participant, subscriber, or recipient in this app.

If you believe this was sent in error or no longer wish to receive these notifications, please contact the app manager and ask to be removed from notification [notification-id].

About Quickbase authentication and security

Quickbase continuously monitors email performance and works with email delivery providers to reduce bounces, avoid blocklists, and improve deliverability across all recipient domains.

Quickbase follows industry-standard email authentication and security practices to ensure your emails are delivered safely and reliably. These include:

• Dedicated Sending IPs—Guarantees all emails from the Quickbase platform come from IP addresses used solely by Quickbase.
• Sender Policy Framework (SPF)—Verifies that our servers are authorized to send on behalf of our domain.
• DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM)—Ensures messages aren’t modified in transit.
• Domain-Based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC)—Builds on SPF and DKIM to protect against phishing and spoofing.