Sender addresses

If you want to create a new sender address, go to the Setup module > Sender Addresses and click on Insert. A screen opens where you can create a sender address from the local domain, or create one from you own sender domain

If you select My own sender address for the scenario of adding a new sender adress, you have the option to check the SPF records. You will then find an overview of the SenderID/SPF records to ensure there won't be any deliverability issues. Follow along with this article to make sure everything is set up correctly.

How to make my Sender address SPF, DKIM & DMARC compliant

Spotler MailPro ensures proper delivery of your emails. The only thing you have to arrange yourself is setting up the right authentication. Your sender address must be SPF, DKIM & DMARC compliant to ensure the best deliverability to the recipient's inbox.

DMARC, SPF and DKIM are email security standards. By setting these on your sending address domain (contact@domain.com) you prevent unauthorized individuals from sending emails from this domain.

SPF

SPF stands for Sender Policy Framework and this technique ensures that a mailing sent on behalf of a sender (for example Spotler) is authorized by the owner or manager of the sending address (your organization). It is part of the DMARC authentication technique.

DKIM

DKIM ensures that a digital signature is added to your mailings and with this your organization therefore confirms that the mailing sent is actually sent on behalf of your organization.

DMARC

DMARC is the best guarantee against phishing, because DMARC is a policy for requiring authentication. It is an extra guarantee that indicates your mailings are protected with SPF and DKIM. If mailings are sent without SPF and DKIM, DMARC will report this to you. This gives you insight into - possible - misuse of your domain.

Follow these steps to make sure your sender address is compliant:

  1. Check which Sender address is in use in your Spotler MailPro license
  2. Make sure your SPF, DKIM & DMARC records are valid
  3. If needed: set up SPF, DKIM & DMARC

If you run into any trouble while setting this up, please check the Frequently Asked Questions below or contact support.

Check which Sender addresses are in use in your Spotler MailPro license

You will find the list with all of your current Sender Addresses under Setup > Sender Addresses. It concerns the From address. Click Insert to access the dropdown list of Sender Domains.

Please note that you have to set up DMARC for every top domain. So if you use mail.domain1.nl and mail.domain2.nl, you need to check and set up DMARC for both. So in that case, you have to do the following steps twice.

Make sure your SPF, DKIM & DMARC records are valid

Check 1: Is your DMARC record valid?
Check the status of your DMARC record on this website: https://dmarcadvisor.com/dmarc-check/. Good to know: the policy ("p" tag) 'None' is also a valid policy. Although it does not prevent abuse on your domain, you will receive DMARC reports.

Check 2: Are the SPF & DKIM records Spotler MailPro-proof?
Check the content of your DNS records on this website: https://toolbox.googleapps.com/apps/dig/. On this website, you can see which records are currently set in the DNS of the sender address. These are Spotler MailPro-proof if the Preferred DNS settings for use as shown below, appear in these records.

If needed: set up SPF, DKIM & DMARC

Have you not yet set up DMARC, or are your SPF & DKIM records not yet Spotler MailPro-proof? Share the preferred DNS settings below with your system administrator. Please note: the parts [local_domain] and [license_name] are specific to you and therefore need to be adjusted.

You can find this in the following places in Spotler MailPro:

  • [local_domain]: this is the domain of the sender address you want to use (Setup > Sender Addresses > FROM address > Click "Insert" to access the dropdown list of Sender Domains)
  • [license_name]: You can find this in the URL of your account: licensename.webpower.eu

Preferred DNS settings for Spotler MailPro use

type     A 
name     [local_domain] 
record   91.197.72.25

type     MX
name     [local_domain]
record   virtualmail.webpower.eu
prio     10

type     TXT
name     [local_domain]
record   "v=spf1 a mx include:virtualmail.webpower.eu ~all"

== DKIM record 1
type     CNAME
name     wps1._domainkey.[local_domain]
record   wps1._domainkey.[license_name].webpower.eu.
TTL      86400 seconds (24 hours)

== DKIM record 2
type     CNAME
name     wps2._domainkey.[local_domain]
record   wps2._domainkey.[license_name].webpower.eu.
TTL      86400 seconds (24 hours)

type     TXT
name     _dmarc.[local_domain]
record   v=DMARC1; p=reject; rua=mailto:dmarc@[local_domain]

Adding your first DMARC record? Use p=none
To demonstrate to receiving parties that you take email authentication seriously, it is important that you set a DMARC record. However, if you would rather not have a handling policy yet, we advise you to choose p=none. Then you benefit from having DMARC reports, but do not actively block emails that are sent without a valid DKIM record. Later on, if you want to tighten your email authentication, you can change the policy to p=quarantine or p=reject.

If you experience any problems setting up SPF, DKIM and DMARC, please contact support.

TTL 24 hours
The TTL is basically the time a DNS record stays in the internet’s memory. The higher the value, the less often systems need to check it again. This will reduce the number of false-positive authentication failures from Microsoft and will increase successful deliveries.

Since a CNAME usually points to a service that almost never changes, a TTL of 24 hours is the best choice. It ensures stability and reduces unnecessary lookups.

Do you already have a DMARC record for non-Spotler MailPro purposes?
Do not replace your current record with the recommended Spotler MailPro settings, but merge them.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens if I don't set up DMARC and still send emails?

Then there is a chance that a large part of your emails will not be delivered to the recipient's inbox. Receiving parties, such as Gmail and Yahoo, can't verify that you're really allowed to send emails using the From address, and therefore they can't rule out that you are a spammer. To protect the recipient from spam, email clients might decide not to deliver your email. This may affect all emails sent from your sending domain.

Should I set up DMARC only for Spotler MailPro? Or also for other systems?

You appear most reliable if you optimize your SPF, DKIM and DMARC settings for all systems from which you send email with your sending domain. Consider, for example, system emails from your webshop.

I already configured SPF, DKIM & DMARC for my main domain, is that sufficient when I use subdomains?

Unless you want to have the DMARC handling to be different, it's enough to set up DMARC for the main domain. An example of a main domain is name@spotler.nl, and an example of a subdomain is name@mail.spotler.nl.