Connecting your email authorizes Website Toolbox to send email for your email address domain name, so your members see your own address in the From line of your forum's emails. Until your email is connected, your forum sends email from a generic Website Toolbox address instead. Website Toolbox is not authorized to send email explains what that means for your forum.
The connection is made entirely in the Connect Your Email setup. Follow these steps to open it.
- Log in to your Website Toolbox account.
- Open Notifications Settings.
- Click Connect your email, then click Start setup. The setup is also linked from your domain's dashboard.
The setup gives you the exact records for your domain and checks them for you, one step at a time. Add the records exactly as the setup shows them and stay in the setup until the check passes. Records added outside of this process are not recognized by it, so the setup is what turns the connection on.
Step 1: Choose your outgoing email address
This is the address your members see in the From line of your forum's emails. Use an address on your own domain name, because the connection authorizes that domain to send.
If you are using a free email provider (like gmail.com) for your Outgoing Email address, it will not be possible to make the necessary changes because they do not give you access to their DNS records.
Note that if the sender and recipient of the email are both the same email address, we will always send it from a generic Website Toolbox address instead, to avoid it being marked as spam by the email provider.
Step 2: Choose where your email is sent through
Most forums send through Website Toolbox's mail system. We manage sending and email authorization for you, and the next steps give you the two DNS records your domain needs.
Sending through your own mail server
If your forum has its own mail server, you can send your forum's email through it instead. On the email authorization setup page, choose Send through my own mail server in step 2 and enter your mail server's address, port, security setting, and login. The page tests the connection before you save, no DNS records are needed, and you can switch back to sending through Website Toolbox at any time.
Step 3: Choose where you manage your domain
Choose your domain provider and the setup shows you exactly where to click, with instructions for common providers such as Microsoft 365, Cloudflare, and GoDaddy. If your provider is not on the list, choose Other for general instructions.
Step 4: Add the records the setup gives you
The setup shows the DNS records your domain needs and gives you the exact values to paste at your domain provider. Add them exactly as shown, then return to the setup so it can check them. The sections below explain what each record does and give extra tips for adding them.
If you are unfamiliar with DNS, you can click here for a pre-written email that you can send to your domain name provider to have them make the changes for you. Alternatively, you can contact us and provide your domain name provider's login information so that we can make the changes for you.
Updating your SPF record
You can check if your email address domain name has an SPF record by using this tool. If there is already an existing SPF record, ensure that mailers.websitetoolbox.com is given authorization to send email from that domain name by adding a:mailers.websitetoolbox.com to the SPF record. Here is an example SPF DNS record: "v=spf1 a mx a:mailers.websitetoolbox.com ~all". It may take up to 1 hour for Website Toolbox to detect your SPF changes.
If an SPF record doesn't already exist, you can add a new SPF DNS record by following these instructions:
- Sign in to the administrator console provided by your domain provider.
- Locate the page from which you can update the DNS records.
Adding an SPF record for a subdomain? If your domain host doesn't support updating DNS records for subdomains, add the record to the parent domain.
- Create a TXT record with the Name field blank, and with a value of "v=spf1 a mx a:mailers.websitetoolbox.com ~all"
- Save your changes.
It may take up to 1 hour for Website Toolbox to detect your SPF changes.
Creating a DKIM record
- Sign in to the administrator console provided by your domain provider.
- Locate the page from which you can update the DNS records.
Adding a DKIM record for a subdomain? If your domain host doesn't support updating DNS records for subdomains, add the record to the parent domain.
- Create a CNAME record named websitetoolbox._domainkey with a value of websitetoolbox._domainkey.websitetoolbox.com
The email authorization setup page has step-by-step instructions for adding this record in common DNS providers such as Microsoft 365, Cloudflare, and GoDaddy. If you are unfamiliar with DNS, you can also mention these instructions to your domain name provider to have them make the change for you.
- Save your changes.
Visit the Notifications Settings section of the Website Toolbox admin area.
If the Outgoing Email Address option already uses the domain name that you set up DKIM for, it will detect the new DKIM record, will enable DKIM, and will show a green check mark next to DKIM.
If you haven't updated the Outgoing Email Address with an email address that uses the domain name, update it and the DKIM status will appear next to the Outgoing Email Address option. Then press the Save button.
If the green check mark is not appearing next to DKIM, note that it may take up to 1 hour for Website Toolbox to detect your DKIM DNS changes. If the check mark is still not green after 1 hour, please contact us.
Creating a DMARC record
DMARC ties the other two records together. It tells receiving mail systems to check that the From address your members see lines up with the domain that passed SPF or DKIM, which is called alignment. Without a DMARC record, a receiving system can still hold or reject your email as unverified bulk mail even when SPF and DKIM are published.
Publish this DMARC record to start with:
- Sign in to the administrator console provided by your domain provider.
- Locate the page from which you can update the DNS records.
- Create a TXT record named _dmarc. Some providers want the full form instead, _dmarc.YOURDOMAIN.com.
- Set the value to "v=DMARC1; p=none" and save your changes.
- Visit the email authorization setup page and confirm that the DMARC status shows a green check mark.
The p=none policy means monitor only. No email is blocked while you are checking alignment, so it is safe to publish on a live forum. Once your email history has shown the expected alignment for a week or two, you can strengthen the policy to p=quarantine, which sends held email to the recipient's spam folder, and later to p=reject, which refuses it. Check the email history after each change, since a stricter policy that outruns your alignment will start rejecting your own email.
Step 5: Checking your records
The setup checks your records automatically and shows a green check mark next to each one that it recognizes. Detection can take up to 1 hour after you save a record at your domain provider, so wait a bit and click Recheck to look again. If a check mark is still missing after 1 hour, please contact us.
Step 6: Set where returned emails go
When a message you send cannot be delivered, because the mailbox is full or the address no longer exists, it is sent to an address on your domain, which forwards it to us so the returned email can be handled. The setup walks you through creating that address, and we recommend pointing it at an inbox you control so bounces reach you.
If a member still is not receiving your forum's email after the records show green check marks, follow Why isn't a member receiving our forum emails? (debugging guide). It covers checking the email history, the recipient's spam folder, and the recipient's email quarantine.