Configuring SMTP for Store Transactional Emails

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

Navigate to: Stores and Reps > Stores > Manage > SMTP

Simple Mail Transfer Protocols must be configured before email notifications can be sent. All email notifications from this store come from this single server.

Field

Details

SMTP Port

Enter the port number for the server

SMTP Server

Enter SMTP server Ex. smtp.gmail.com

SMTP Server User Name

Enter a server user name

SMTP Server Password

Enter the password for the email server

From Display Name

This is the name that is displayed in the subject line of the email.

From Email Address

All transactional emails are sent to the customer from this email address. If this field is blank, then the emails will be sent using the Store admin's email address (Stores > General Settings > Store Contact Information). If both the Email Address fields are blank, then no transactional emails will be sent to the customers. Hence any one of the fields should always have the Email Address. 

BCC Email Address

This functionality works as normal BCC email functionality. Any emails sent to the customers are also sent to this email address.

Enable SSL for SMTP

Checkbox to enable SSL for SMTP. 

Note - To establish the connection and use the email services, the Enable SSL flag should be true at both ends. When the checkbox of  “enable SSL for SMTP” is checked then, it sends the email over a secure protocol (HTTPS).   

Turn Off Emails

This turns off the email-sending capability for the particular store.

SMTP Port Information

  1. Port 25
    1. 25 is typically used as a clear-text SMTP port. Usually, when there is SMTP running on port 25, there is no SSL and no TLS, therefore the email client has to be set accordingly.
  2. Port 465
    1. 465 is usually used for SMTP over SSL, therefore there needs to have settings that reflect this, however, it does not use TLS.
  3. Port 587
    1. 587 is usually used for SMTP when using TLS. TLS is not the same as SSL. Typically anything, where SSL needs to be on or off, should be set to off. This includes any setting that goes along the lines of “SSLOnConnect”. It doesn’t mean TLS is less secure, it’s just a different way of creating the connection. Instead of SSL being used straight away, the secure connection is “negotiated” after the connection.

SMTP Account Setup

An SMTP service provider helps you send emails from your website to your users. There are multiple services and 3rd party services like Sendgrid and Gmail to use in connection with Znode SMTP. If Sendgrid fits your business use case, please refer to the following article, How to Setup SendGrid with Znode SMTP.

Two Factor Authentication setup

Twilio SendGrid’s Two-Factor Authentication can be configured to accept a code sent to your mobile phone either via the Authy App, or an SMS message. Enabling 2FA does not require an Authy account, but if you have one, you will be able to use either the Authy App or SMS messages.


Before setting up two-factor authentication, ensure you have access to your account email address. You can do this by visiting your Account Details and reviewing your email address under Your Account > Personal Info.


If you need to update your email address, click the pencil icon to update to an email address you can access, send a confirmation email, and visit your inbox to confirm your email address by clicking the link in the email address change confirmation email.


Once you have confirmed access to your account email address, you may choose from 2 different verification methods when using two-factor authentication:

  1. Generate a verification code with the Authy App. The Authy App allows you to authenticate over WiFi if you do not have cellular service and allows you to send your code as an SMS message. If you use Authy, enable the Authy backup feature to help prevent getting locked out of your account.
  2. Enter a code sent to your mobile phone that is generated by SendGrid.

When authenticating via SMS message, you must have cellular service, or you will not be able to log into your account.

To set up Two-Factor Authentication:

  1. Navigate to Settings, and click Two-Factor Authentication.
    From this page, you see an overview of your Two-Factor Authentication settings, along with any settings that you have created for credentialed users. 
  2. Click Add Two-Factor Authentication.
  3. Select either the Authy App or text messages (SMS) as your means of authentication.
  4. Enter your country code and phone number.

Sub-users and Teammates need to create their own Two-Factor Authentication settings in their accounts using the same steps.

Using Two-Factor Authentication

After you create a setting for Two-Factor Authentication, log in as you normally would. If you opt to receive a text message with your authentication token, look for the text message and enter the code that you receive. If you have selected the Authy App, go to your app, and enter the generated code.

Once set up, you will always be required to use Two-Factor Authentication to perform security-restricted actions in your SendGrid account, such as logging in or changing your Two-Factor Authentication settings. When prompted, enter the 7-digit token sent to your device, or generated by the Authy App.

Sender Configuration

Single Sender Verification

To protect your sending reputation and to uphold legitimate sending behavior, we require customers to verify their Sender Identities. This article will walk you through all the necessary steps to verify a Single Sender, one of two methods of verifying a Sender's Identity.

Adding a Sender

  1. Under Settings in the navigation bar, click Sender Authentication.
  2. Proceed with Single Sender Verification by selecting Get Started under Verify an Address.
  3. You will be taken to the Single Sender Verification page. Under Create your First Sender, click Create New Sender to load a form modal.

  4. Fill in all of the fields in the form modal and then click Create Form Fields: 
    1. From Name - This is a user-friendly name that is displayed to your recipient when they receive their email.
    2. From Email Address - This will display to the user as the email address that sent this email. We will send the verification email to the address you enter in this field. If you have not received your verification email after some time, please refer back to the Sender settings and confirm that the "From" email is a valid address.
    3. Reply To - If your user hits reply in their email, the reply will go to this address.
    4. Company Address, City, State, Zip Code, Country - Your business address.
    5. Nickname - A label for your sender identity to help you identify it more quickly. This label is not visible to your recipients.

      When filling in the "From Email Address" field, you may notice a warning when entering an address at yahoo.com, aol.com, gmail.com, and some other domains. This warning indicates you should not use the address as your verified Single Sender because your messages will likely fail a DMARC check. For more details, see our comprehensive DMARC page.

  5. Check the inbox of the email address that you entered and click the link in the email to verify the Sender address.
    If, for any reason, you need to resend the verification email, click the action menu on the Single Sender Verification page and select Resend Verification. We will deliver a new confirmation email to the address you are attempting to verify.


If you have an authenticated domain and your sender email address matches that domain exactly, your sender identity will be verified automatically.

You will now see a page confirming the verification of your address. Click Return to Single Sender Verification to add more addresses or make any changes to the address you just verified. Congratulations, you are now ready to send emails with SendGrid.


Set up Domain Authentication

Each user may have a maximum of 3,000 authenticated domains and 3,000 link brandings. This limit is at the user level, meaning each Subuser belonging to a parent account may have its own 3,000 authenticated domains and 3,000 link brandings.

Before you begin

To set up Domain Authentication, you must submit the DNS records provided by Twilio SendGrid to your DNS or hosting provider. Popular DNS providers include DNSimple, GoDaddy, Rackspace, and Cloudflare, but there are many others.

  1. Determine who your hosting provider is and make sure you have the access required to change your records.
  2. If you don't have access to your DNS or hosting provider, determine who in your company is able to make DNS modifications for your domain.

Setup

  1. In the Twilio SendGrid App user interface (UI), select Settings > Sender Authentication.
  2. In the Domain Authentication section, click Get Started. The Authenticate Your Domain page will load.
  3. From the Authenticate Your Domain page, select your DNS host from the drop-down menu below the text: Which Domain Name Server (DNS) host do you use? You can select I'm not sure or Other Host (Not Listed) if necessary.
  4. You can choose to set up Link Branding by choosing Yes below the text: Would you also like to brand the links for this domain? If you choose No, you can add Link Branding at a later time. Link Branding is not a required part of the Domain Authentication process. See our Link Branding docs for more information.
  5. Click Next. A second Authenticate Your Domain page will load.
  6. From the new page, add the domain you want to authenticate below the text: Domain You Send From. This will be the domain that appears from the address of your messages. For example, if you want your messages to be from addresses like orders@example.com, you will authenticate example.com. Make sure that you enter only your root domain <domain-name.top-level-domain>. Do not include a subdomain or protocol such as www or http://www in this field.
  7. Select the Advanced Settings appropriate for your needs. Most customers can leave Use automated security checks and continue. For more information about advanced settings, see the "Advanced settings" section of this page.
  8. Click Next. The Install DNS Records page will load.
  9. If you cannot modify your domain's DNS records, you can email the records to a colleague using the Send To A Coworker tab. The email includes a direct link to the records. The recipient doesn't need to log in to your Twilio SendGrid account.
  10. In the Manual Setup tab, you will see the DNS records that must be added with your DNS host provider. If you left Use automated security checked during the earlier configuration steps, and you will have three CNAME records. If you unchecked Use automated security, you will see an MX record and two TXT records. For more information about these records, see the "Twilio SendGrid's DNS records" section of this page.
  11. Next, you will add the records displayed using your DNS provider. This process varies depending on your DNS host. For videos on how to add records with some popular DNS service providers, see these videos.
  12. Once you add the DNS records to your domain, return to the Twilio SendGrid App UI and click Verify.
  13. You should now see the records verified successfully.
  14. If only half of your records are verified, you likely need to wait a bit longer. It's also possible that you entered one of your records incorrectly. For other troubleshooting information, see Troubleshooting Sender Authentication.
  15. Any time that you send an email with a from the address where the domain matches your authenticated domain, Twilio SendGrid applies that domain to your email. You only need to update your Domain Authentication if you want to update the domain you are emailing from.

GoDaddy, Amazon Route 53, and Namecheap, among other providers, automatically append your domain to your new DNS record values, resulting in a CNAME entry that fails verification. For example, if your domain is example.com, and Twilio SendGrid's CNAME host value is em123.example.com, the incorrect record will become em123.example.com.example.com.

You can remedy this by pasting only the subdomain section of the host value, em123, into your DNS provider's host field. You do not need to modify the value of the record. Be sure to check your CNAME for this behavior if your domain doesn't validate initially.

It can take up to 48 hours for the records to verify after you upload them into your DNS host, so you will likely have to come back later to verify.


Reference Article:

How to Setup SendGrid with Znode SMTP

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