Updating Your Website DNS, SPF + DKIM/DMARC Record

Make changes to your domain name to allow Commerce7 to send transaction emails to customers on your behalf

REQUIRED ACTIONS

To send Transactional and/or Campaigns from Commerce7, you need to take the following steps:

Update/Add an SPF record to your Domain
Add DKIM/DMARC authentication (required by Google/Yahoo as of Feb 1, 2024)

What happens if you do not take these steps?

Transactional and Campaign emails from Commerce7 may land in your Customers' spam folders.

In this article:

What are SPF or DKIM/DMARC records?

Updating/Adding an SPF record to your domain

Check if your SPF records have been set up correctly

Creating DKIM/DMarc (Domain Authentication) records in Commerce7 (required by Google and Yahoo as of Feb 1, 2024)

What is an SPF Record?

An SPF (Sender Policy Framework) record is a type of DNS record that is used to specify which servers are authorized to send email messages on behalf of a specific domain.

When an email is received, the receiving mail server checks the SPF record of the domain in the email's "From" address to determine if the sending server is authorized to send emails for that domain. If the sending server is not authorized, the email may be rejected or marked as spam.

SPF records can help prevent email spoofing, which is when someone sends an email pretending to be someone else, and can also help protect against spam and phishing attacks. SPF records are published as a DNS TXT record, and the syntax of the record defines the authorized mail servers for a domain.

Check with your email provider or IT / tech department on if you have an existing SPF DNS record setup for your domain. If you don't have an SPF record, we recommend setting one up.

What is a DKIM/DMARC Record?

DKIM/DMARC are types of DNS records added to your domain name for an extra level of security. Beginning February 1, 2024, Google and Yahoo will start requiring that emails sent from your domain be authenticated with DKIM/DMARC. Read more from Google on DMARC and why you should implement it here.

Once initial DKIM/DMARC authentication is added through your domain name, you will need to make another update to also allow Commerce7 to continue sending emails on your behalf with this extra level of security. Steps on how to do that can be found here.

If you need help setting this up, contact your IT / tech department or website developer.

Updating / Adding Your SPF Record to your Domain

Log into your Domain Registrar (examples: GoDaddy, Network Solutions, etc).
Navigate to the DNS management section.
Add a TXT (text) Record.
Enter all of the following into the TXT field: include:_spf.commerce7.com
(note the underscore before _spf.commerce7.com is required)

If your record looked like this:

v=spf1 a mx ptr ~all

It should now look like this:

v=spf1 a mx ptr include:_spf.commerce7.com ~all

5. Once you have added it, use the tool below to confirm that it's been correctly inserted.

Check if Your SPF Record Has Been Added Correctly

If you're not sure whether the Commerce7 SPF record has been added to your domain (or you want to check that it's been added correctly), you'll want to use this free tool to do so:

Visit MX Toolbox (https://mxtoolbox.com/SuperTool.aspx)
In the main SuperTool lookup at the top of the page, it defaults to 'MX Lookup'. Choose 'SPF Record' in the drop-down.
Enter in your domain and click the SPF Record Lookup button.
Look at the results. If you see the commerce7 SPF record, then you're good to go.
If you don't see the Commerce7 SPF record, learn how to add it here.

Creating DKIM/DMarc Records in Commerce7

Before You Begin

Note that part of this process will require you to update your domain name email settings directly at your Domain Name Registrar. This step is completely outside of Commerce7. Engage with your IT / tech department to assist with this if you are unsure how to proceed.

Once your domain name has been updated to DKIM/DMARC, you're ready to authenticate Commerce7 emails with DKIM/DMARC.
Go to Settings > Emails.
In the Email Sending section, click the Register button.
Enter your domain name and click the Register button in the modal.
(This action triggers Commerce7's email processor to generate DNS email entries for Commerce7 emails).
1. !!IMPORTANT!! Be sure that you are entering the domain that you use for your email (if it's different from your website domain).
  Example: If you use britneyfamily.com for your website domain, but use britneyfamilyvineyards.com for your email domain, then enter britneyfamilyvineyards.com for this registration.
2. Using the Commerce7 Storefront for your frontend website? If so, then your domain URL ends with 'obtainwine.com'. You should not enter this domain in for this registration. Instead, use the domain that you use for your email.
In the pop-up modal, you will see the new entries+values. You will also see 'Unverified' to the right of the values, which is expected (see below screenshot).
Add these values to your domain at your Domain Name Registrar.
If you are unsure how to do this or you have a tech department that handles your DNS (domain name), you can either click the "copy" button to copy each DNS entry and then send it to them, or if they already have Admin Owner access to your account, they can come in here at any time to view these records themselves.
1. Attention Squarespace users: You will enter the information without the domain at the end. So instead of "_dmarc.spectraywinery.com", you'd simply enter in "_dmarc". (Squarespace populates your domain for you).
You can close at the window at any time and once the values have been added at your Domain Name Registrar, come back and click the Verify DNS Settings button.
(This action pings Commerce7's email processor to check that everything is set up correctly at your Domain Name Registrar).
If all is set up properly, you will see green 'Verified' tag will display and you're all done!

FAQs

What if you have more than one email domain?
Example: You send Order-related transaction emails from info@spectrawinery.com and Club-related transaction emails from info@spectraclub.com.
If you have more than one domain, you can click the Register Additional Domain button which will repeat the verification process for any additional domains.
What if I changed my domain name?
If you changed your domain name, you can click the "Remove" button in the window. This will remove the registration for this domain name. You can then add your new domain name.