When logged in, in your user Preferences, under Emails, you can configure which notifications should be emailed to you, and when.
You can also enable “Mailing list mode” there, which means all posts will be mailed to you immediately. And you can reply to these, using the forum like a mailing list. Next time you visit the site, you’ll see your emails as normal forum posts.
(Just be aware that what you receive by email is the first version of a post; to see any more recent edits, you have to visit the website.)
Members can start a new topic by sending email to
CATEGORYNAME @ plaintextaccounting.org.
Email notification delay:
When you create a topic or post a reply, discourse sends the email notifications exactly 10 minutes later, using the latest content at the 10 minute mark, so as to catch your last minute edits. When you create a private message to another site member, the delay is 20 seconds.
(There is no such delay for the forum’s RSS feeds or matrix notifications, those will show new posts immediately.)