In February 2024, Gmail and Yahoo announced new requirements for all senders to set up authentication on all sending domains. To assist you with meeting these new requirements, we have made some exciting changes to our Advanced Settings page. These changes will make it easier to set up and manage authentication and verification for all your sending domains.
Two options for authentication
In the updated Advanced Settings page, we now offer two options for authentication and setting up your DNS (Domain Name System) records:
“Configure Domain”
The “Configure Domain” button is a new, simplified option that lets you log in to your DNS provider through ActiveCampaign. Once logged in, we set up all the DNS authentication records you need in just a few clicks.
If you choose “Configure Domain,” we will:
- Automatically detect your DNS provider
- Connect to your DNS provider and ask you for credentials to log in
- Check if the DNS records already exist. Particularly with DMARC, we will not create an additional DMARC record if one already exists
- We will create the relevant DNS records in your DNS provider
- We will add this domain to your account and automatically mark it as Verified
“Set up manually”
The “Set up manually” button allows you to manually set up your DNS records. “Set up manually” replaces the previous option called “I will manage my own authentication.” This method involves copying and pasting DNS records from ActiveCampaign into your DNS provider (i.e. Godaddy). This method has been updated to be more streamlined than before.
Learn how to add a Sending Domain.
Additional DNS records (Mailserver Domain, DMARC)
Previously, when setting up your authentication manually, we needed you to create two DNS records to set up DKIM. In the updated “Set up manually” authentication method, there are now four DNS records needed.
Here is an example of the two additional DNS records in ActiveCampaign when you use “Set up manually":
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Mailserver Domain
Previously, a Mailserver Domain was only available to Enterprise plans but is now available on all Marketing plans. Access to a Mailserver Domain helps you achieve full domain alignment and meet Gmail and Yahoo’s authentication requirements better. Although this is not mandatory (only DKIM and DMARC are necessary), we believe that having this feature will significantly boost your email deliverability. -
DMARC
Gmail and Yahoo require all sending domains to have a basic DMARC record. Creating a basic DMARC record is now a standard part of adding a Sending Domain.
Is there still an option for ActiveCampaign to “Manage my authentication”?
No, "I will manage my own email authentication" will no longer be an option. This has been replaced by the “Configure Domain” option on the Advanced Settings page (link to section above). Due to Google and Yahoo requirements, you must use your own domain, and you must set up authentication on all sending domains. The “Configure Domain” option is the easiest option to set up and authenticate your domain. Learn how to set up your Sending Domain.
If you do not already own a domain, you can purchase a domain through ActiveCampaign. Learn how to buy a domain in ActiveCampaign.
If you have not set up authentication for your domain, ActiveCampaign will use our own authentication on your behalf, just like before. However, this is not ideal and will result in major deliverability issues. We highly recommend setting up authentication for all sending domains.
Where did the SPF record go?
Previously, there was an area on the Advanced Settings page to set up SPF. It was removed because the SPF record presented here was unnecessary to complete authentication with ActiveCampaign.
Now, when you set up authentication with ActiveCampaign, your From domain (Mailserver Domain) is part of this standard flow and will cover SPF for all messages sent with ActiveCampaign.
However, we still encourage customers to set up an additional SPF record on your From domain if you:
- Send to international providers in France, China, or Germany
- Struggle with deliverability to Hotmail/Outlook
Learn more about this SPF record and how it relates to the Mailserver Domain.
Where did the custom mailserver domain go?
This is now part of our standard authentication process when setting up a sending domain and is available on all plan levels.
Authentication and Verification status
Another new feature of the updated Advanced Settings page is the“Sending Domains” table. The previous “Domain Verification” table has been expanded to bring together where you authenticate your domain and clearly show you the Authentication and Verification status for all domains. In addition, helpful, relevant actions can be found to the right of each domain (Check DNS, View DNS, Resend Verification Email, Delete Domain).
"Resolve Issues" button
If your DNS records do not successfully propagate, the “Resolve Issues” button will appear. You can use this button to resolve authentication issues.
When you click the "Resolve Issues" button, it launches the same flow used in the "Configure Domain" Option 1 when setting up your sending domain. "Configure Domain" is where we connect to your DNS provider to set up the correct DNS records. Learn how to use the "Configure Domain" option.
If your domain is only partially set up, it is safe to click the "Resolve Issues" button to complete the setup.
Learn more about verification and authentication and how to set up a Sending Domain.