How to use Mailinator

Owned by Andrea Schmidt, created
Last updated: Jul 01, 2023
2 min read

Most tools in Sakai can send an email, (Announcements, Assignments, Tests & Quizzes, etc.). Mailinator allows you to make up any name and use @mailinator.com to be added to the username and that address can then receive emails. More information on the Public Mailinator Inbox

If you create your own users on Sakai, then add the mailinator email address if your users don’t already have an email address. If you use a site that has been automatically created in Sakai, the majority of those users already have a mailinator address. If you create your own site, you can add some users from the Admin > Users page. As you can see in the screenshot below, the User Id is used for the mailinator address.

To test this:

  1. Log in as admin and go to the Users page

  2. Either add your own user or copy the ID from one of the existing users with a mailinator address

  3. Add the user to your site

  4. Select to send an email when you add the user to your site

  5. Go to https://www.mailinator.com/ and enter the ID of the user in the textbox to Enter Public Mailinator Inbox and click Go

  6. That user’s Inbox loads and you will see the email from Sakai

  7. To check any other user’s email, just replace the current username/ID with the new one and click Go

Some things to keep in mind when you use mailinator:

  • All emails are automatically deleted after a few hours

  • Mailinator can only be used to receive emails

  • Emails cannot be sent from mailinator or using the mailinator address

  • Mailinator cannot receive attachments