Sending from your own email domain
In this article:
FAQs
- How can I deactivate and delete records?
- Can I send from multiple different domains across each of my projects?
- I added the records to my DNS settings. How long will this process take?
- Why am I getting a "Domain has already been taken" error?
Sending successfully from your email domain—in three steps
By default, your Delighted surveys will be sent from an “@delighted.com” email address. While Delighted surveys maintain exceptional levels of deliverability, you may want to send from your company’s domain and extend your brand to the From address.
There are three steps:
Domain verification is a critical step to ensure we’re able to correctly authenticate and sign the surveys with your email address. CNAME records facilitate the verification process to ensure:
- The domain is not spoofed
- The domain is valid
- There is no misuse of the domain name
Think of these records as guest security badges when visiting an office. The badge says, “I don’t work here, but I have permission to be here.” In other words, “This email is coming from Delighted, but we have permission to send it from your domain.”
Note: The ability to send surveys from your own domain is a premium feature. Check our Pricing page for more information.
1. Generating the records in Delighted
Generating the records you need is accomplished quickly from within your Delighted account!
Admin users are the only ones who can set up custom sending domains. Standard and Limited users will not even see a “Sending domain” option on their Account page.
To generate the records:
- 1
- Click "Account."
- 2
- Choose “Sending domain.”
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- 3
- Type in the domain you want to send from and choose “Begin setup.”
- 4
- That’s it! Your records will be generated and available to copy on the next page. (Make sure to add all three CNAME records to your domain.)
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You can specify subdomains if you do not want to use your domain. For example, rather than sending from mycompany.com, send from surveys.mycompany.com instead.
Note: Setting up a subdomain, like surveys.hemandstitch.com, negates the ability to use the domain separately (ex. hemandstitch.com).
2. Adding the records to your DNS
DNS providers vary in terms of where the records are added and the required structure for the added values.
Regardless of your DNS provider, there are some best practices and keywords that are applicable.
- Type: The type of record you’re adding, such as CNAME, TXT, MX, SRV, etc. For the purposes of Delighted’s DNS process, you only need to use CNAME
- Name: The "Host" domain—like ._domainkey.testdomain.com
- Value: The subdomain to which the above domain "Points to"—like ...dkim.amazonses.com
- TTL: The time-to-live (TTL). This value can be set for each DNS record. TTL values impact how long it takes, after a change to your DNS settings, before the DNS change is propagated and able to be recognized
If you’re running into trouble adding these records, we recommend pulling in your engineering team or any team member that regularly manages your DNS settings.
You can also reach out to our team. We’re happy to provide you with needed resources and information!
3. Verifying your DNS records
Once these records have been added to your DNS settings, head back to your Delighted account and access the Sending domain page. From there, walk through the final steps of configuring your custom domain settings, including:
3a. Verifying the records have been added
3b. Setting your From address
3c. Sending a test email
3a. Verifying the records have been added
On the Sending domain page ("Account" > "Sending domain"), click “Check status” to see whether your records have been added and propagated correctly. While awaiting verification, you’ll see a yellow status light and a message saying “Your domain is pending verification.”
After your domain has been verified, you’ll receive an email and see a green status light on the Sending domain page. (You may have to click “Check status” once more to see the verification light change).
From the email (or in your browser), head back to the Sending domain page ("Account" > "Sending domain").
Click “Check status” and confirm that the status light turns green. The button at the bottom of the page will also change and say “Activate.”
Click the “Activate" button when you’re ready to finish setting up your domain.
3b. Setting your From address
After your domain has been activated, head over to the Email customization page by clicking the link on the Sending domain page.
Under the Email customization header, type in the email you want to send from—using your newly set up domain. This email will also become the reply-to email address.
If you use the wrong email domain at this step, you’ll see an error message—so double-check the Sending domain page if you run into a roadblock.
3c. Sending a test email
Once your From address is set, we recommend sending yourself a test email via the Customize appearance page under “Email Customization” > “Send a test email” as marked in the above image.
And you’re all set!
How can I deactivate and delete records?
It's easy to remove the DNS records if you decide you’d rather send from an @delighted.com email address again, or if you’d like to set up a different custom domain.
Simply head to "Account" > "Sending domain" and choose either “Deactivate” or “Delete,” as desired. Either option will revert your from email address back to an @delighted.com address.
Can I send from multiple different domains across each of my projects?
Not currently.
Delighted supports setting up one custom sending domain to use across all of your projects.
I added the records to my DNS settings. How long will this process take?
DNS records will include what is called a TTL (Time To Live), which is specified within your DNS settings. This value determines how long it will take before a DNS change goes into effect.
TTL values are often specified in the same area where you add the CNAME values, but may also be located within your DNS account settings.
Why am I getting a "Domain has already been taken" error?
Delighted’s custom DNS feature only allows a specific custom domain to be set up for one account.
If another team in your organization has a separate Delighted license and has already set up custom DNS with your domain, you won’t be able to finish the final setup.
Feel free to reach out if you need help consolidating licenses in this case!