How to Add DNS Records for Email Sender Verification
Overview
Friendbuy requires setting up DNS records to ensure that we can deliver email on behalf of your domain. These records prevent email servers from rejecting the messages or treating them as spam. They are necessary for the success of your referral program to ensure high email deliverability. Follow the steps below to add email authentication.
Step 1
Navigate to Settings > Email Sender in the Friendbuy platform, and ensure the requested fields are saved. The From Address will determine what email address the referral program emails will be sent from.
Once done, click Save Changes.
Step 2
You will need to add a TXT record for the domain/subdomain you provided for your From Address. Email servers will look at SPF records to see what email servers are allowed to send emails on behalf of the domain, which is extremely important to ensure proper email deliverability. In this case, we are authorizing SendGrid to send emails for your domain. The following SPF record is required to send emails:
You can have multiple "include" lines within your SPF record without issue. After adding SendGrid to the SPF record, it should look something like the example below:
v=spf1 include: _spf.google.com include:sendgrid.net ~all
Step 3
Now that the SPF record has been added/updated, it's time to add a DKIM record. DKIM records use private/public keys to verify the authenticity of the email being sent.
You will need to add the following record, replacing 'YOURDOMAIN' with your sending email domain. This can be found in the Friendbuy platform under Settings > Email Sender > Email Domain Verification.
Name | Value | Type |
smtpapi._domainkey.YOURDOMAIN | k=rsa; t=s; p=MIGfMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBAQUAA4GNADCBiQKBgQDPtW5iwpXVPiH5FzJ7Nrl8USzuY9zqqzjE0D1r04xDN6qwziDnmgcFNNfMewVKN2D1O+2J9N14hRprzByFwfQW76yojh54Xu3uSbQ3JP0A7k8o8GutRF8zbFUA8n0ZH2y0cIEjMliXY4W4LwPA7m4q0ObmvSjhd63O9d8z1XkUBwIDAQAB | TXT |
Step 4
We now have one last record to add, being the Verification Record! Friendbuy uses this verification record when sending emails through SendGrid on your behalf.
Navigate to Settings > Email Sender > Email Domain Verification to find your unique record that needs to be added. Here is an example one shown below:
Name | Value | Type |
MerchantID.YOURDOMAIN | MerchantID.YOURDOMAIN | TXT |
From the example above, if 'YOURDOMAIN' is equal to testmerchant.com and your MerchantID is equal to 1234567890, then your record should look like the below:
Name | Value | Type |
1234567890.testmerchant.com | 1234567890.testmerchant.com | TXT |
You're now all set for the Email Authentication using DNS records! Below are some helpful links on different ways you can manager your DNS records based on what DNS manager you may be using.
Helpful Links for DNS Management
DNS records can be updated wherever you register or manage your domain names. The process of adding DNS records can depend on what domain provider you are using. Here are links to help documentation for common providers:
