Reply by Email
When FeedbackJar emails you about a comment on your post, a reply to your comment, or an @mention, you can answer by simply replying to that email. Your reply is posted as a comment on the same thread — no need to open the portal.
It works for everyone on the thread: the person who wrote the post, and a team member answering them, can keep the conversation going from their inboxes.
How it works
- Someone comments on your post (or replies to your comment)
- You get a notification email
- You reply to it in your mail app, like any other email
- Within a few seconds your reply appears as a comment, nested under theirs
You’ll see the thread update with your name and avatar, exactly as if you had commented on the portal.
Who can reply by email
Each notification email carries a reply address that works only for the person it was sent to.
- Reply from the same address the notification was sent to. A reply from a different address, or a forwarded copy sent by someone else, is rejected.
- The post author and the author of the comment being replied to can reply by email.
- If you were only @mentioned, use the View and reply link in the email instead.
Replying to a “New Post” email (owners and admins)
The emails that tell owners and admins about a new post, or a post waiting for approval, can be answered the same way. Reply to the email and your reply is posted as a public comment on that post, under your name.
- It works only for project owners and admins, and only from the address the email was sent to
- Replying doesn’t approve a pending post — approve it from the dashboard when you’re ready
- If you comment on a pending post, the author is emailed your comment. They can’t open the post on the portal yet, so their email says to simply reply to it — and their answer is posted on the thread
What you can include
| In your reply | What happens |
|---|---|
| Text | Posted as your comment. The quoted original email and your signature are removed automatically. |
| Images | PNG, JPEG, GIF or WebP, up to 5 MB each and 4 per reply, are attached to the comment. |
| Other files | Not imported. The comment ends with a line like Attachments not imported: report.pdf. |
A reply needs some text to go with an image — an email that is only an image is rejected, the same as on the web form.
Auto-replies (out-of-office messages, bounces) and mailing-list mail are ignored, so they never turn into comments.
When a reply can’t be posted
If FeedbackJar can’t post your reply, your mail app shows a bounce message with the reason:
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
Sender is not allowed to use this reply address. | Reply from the address the notification was sent to |
Sender does not match this thread. | You weren’t the post author or the comment’s author — use View and reply |
Only project owners and admins can reply to this email. | You replied to a “New Post” email but aren’t an owner or admin of the project any more |
Post no longer exists. | The post was deleted |
Guest comments are disabled for this project. | The project doesn’t allow guest comments — sign in on the portal to comment |
Add a message to go with your image. | Add some text above the image and send again |
Reply was empty. | There was nothing to post — write your reply and send again |
Comment no longer exists. | The comment you’re answering was deleted |
Good to know
- Don’t forward the notification to someone else expecting them to reply to it — the reply address only accepts the person it was sent to.
- Emails about one post stay in one conversation. New post, comment, reply, approval and status emails all use the same subject,
[Project name] Post title, and link to each other, so Gmail, Apple Mail and most other mail apps group them. What happened (“MC replied to your comment”, “status is now Completed”) is at the top of each email. Emails sent before this change stay separate, and editing a post’s title starts a new conversation. - Reply notifications follow your notification settings. Use the Unsubscribe link at the bottom of an email to change them.
- Posts that someone emails in are covered in Email to Post; when you comment on one, the person who emailed gets a reply they can answer the same way.