Vacation Messages

Away for a while? With a vacation message, everyone who e-mails you automatically gets a reply, for example saying you're away until 7 November and who they can contact instead. You choose a start and end date: after that, the message stops automatically. The e-mail itself still arrives in your mailbox as normal.

Setting up a vacation message

1. In DirectAdmin, go to E-mail Manager and then Vacation Messages. If needed, select the domain in the top right.
2. Click CREATE VACATION MESSAGE.
3. Under Vacation account (1), choose the mailbox that should send the message.
4. Under From (2) and To (3), choose the date and time the message should start and stop.
5. Under Reply Frequency (4), choose how often the same sender should receive the message, for example once a day.
6. Type your text under Vacation message and click CREATE.

Under Subject Prefix, enter a word that goes before the subject of your reply, for example Away. This field is required: if you leave it blank, you'll get the message Required Field. The reply's subject will then be Away: followed by the subject of the original e-mail. This field is required: if you leave it blank, DirectAdmin won't create the message. Leave Content-Type set to text/plain.

The overview

Under Vacation Messages, you can see for each mailbox when a vacation message is active, from when to when. This is also where you edit or remove the message, for example if you're back earlier than planned.

Writing a good vacation message

• Mention the day you're back.
• Include an address or phone number for urgent matters.
• Keep it short and businesslike. Don't include personal details: spammers receive this message too.

Tip: Don't have access to DirectAdmin, for example as an employee? You can also set up an automatic reply in webmail itself, using a filter in the webmail settings. See Opening webmail.

Frequently asked questions

I'm testing my vacation message, but only get it once.
This is due to the reply frequency: anyone who has already received the message won't get it again until that time has passed. Test with a different address, not from the address itself.

The message isn't going out.
Check the dates and times under From and To. The message only works within that period.