Overview

This article helps Site Administrators resolve two of the most common email-delivery problems reported by participants and parents:

• A contact shows a red flag next to their email address and is marked as a "Bad" email, so they stop receiving your communications.
• A recipient reports that the Unsubscribe link at the bottom of an email is broken (often a 404 "page not found" error).

Both situations are handled through Communications > Email Filters in your Admin Site Map, and both can be resolved manually while the platform-side fix for the unsubscribe link is in progress.

What a "Bad" Email Filter (Red Flag) Means

A red flag next to an email address indicates that an email filter has been placed on that address, which blocks future sends to it. A "Bad" filter is typically applied automatically after a message to that address bounced or was returned by the receiving mail server.

Important points to keep in mind:

• A "Bad" filter is not necessarily permanent and does not always mean the address is invalid — but it will block future emails until the filter is cleared.
• If the address keeps getting re-flagged immediately after you clear it, the receiving mail server is likely rejecting the message (for example, Google error 550-5.1.1 means the recipient address does not exist). In that case, verify the address for typos or confirm the recipient still uses that account — clearing the filter alone will not fix it.
• Watch for simple typos in the address itself (for example, yaoo.com instead of yahoo.com), which produce a genuinely undeliverable address rather than just a filter issue.

How to Remove an Email Filter (Clear a "Bad" Flag)

1. From your Admin Site Map, go to Communications > Email Filters.
2. Type in the email address and click the Search button.
3. Once the lookup is complete, click the red X to delete the associated filter.

The contact should now receive future communications, provided the address is valid and not being rejected by their mail server.

Recommended Safe-Sender Guidance

To reduce the chance that emails bounce or land in spam/junk — which is what often creates a "Bad" filter in the first place — advise your participants and parents to add the sending address to their safe sender list (also called trusted senders or contacts):

• Add no-reply@teamsideline.com to their email contacts / safe sender list.

Broken or 404 Unsubscribe Link

Some recipients have reported that the Unsubscribe link at the bottom of outgoing emails leads to a broken or 404 "page not found" page, preventing them from opting out on their own.

This is a known issue that the TeamSideline team has identified and addressed. Until the fix is fully live for your site, use the manual workaround below so recipients can still be opted out.

Manually Unsubscribe a Recipient (Workaround)

When a recipient asks to be unsubscribed and the link is not working, an admin can opt them out by managing their email filter:

1. From your Admin Site Map, go to Communications > Email Filters.
2. Type in the recipient's email address and click Search.
3. Use the email-filter controls to add the opt-out for that address.

If you are unable to process the opt-out yourself, contact TeamSideline Support and provide the email address(es) to unsubscribe; support can process opt-outs on your behalf.

See All Email Filters Across Your Organization

To review every account that currently has an email filter (and the reason associated with it), you can run a report:

1. Go to Reports > Report Exports > Account Information Report.
2. Move Email Filter to the right-side (selected) column.
3. Run the report to see all accounts with filters and the associated reasons.

Quick Reference

• Red flag / "Bad" email: Communications > Email Filters > Search > click red X to remove.
• Address keeps re-flagging: The mail server is rejecting it — check for typos or confirm the account is active.
• Broken unsubscribe link: Manually opt the recipient out via Email Filters, or send the address(es) to TeamSideline Support.
• Prevent recurrence: Ask recipients to add the TeamSideline sending address to their safe sender list.

Possibly related existing articles:

• What does the red flag mean next to an email address? — https://support.teamsideline.com/hc/en-us/articles/201151007-What-does-the-red-flag-mean-next-to-an-email-address
• How to remove an email filter on a customer's email addresses? — https://support.teamsideline.com/hc/en-us/articles/201457106-How-to-remove-an-email-filter-on-a-customer-s-email-addresses
• How to prevent Emails from going into SPAM/Junk — https://support.teamsideline.com/hc/en-us/articles/208531146-How-to-prevent-Emails-from-going-into-SPAM-Junk