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[Hosting] Adding email addresses and related mail records

2

Oy. I’m setting up email on my hosted site (both site and DNS are hosted with WPMUDEV).

I add the first email address and I’m told I have to add the MX, DKIM, SPF and DMARC records MANUALLY! Seriously, where’s the button to add the records to my DNS. I understand if the DNS is hosted somewhere else, but it’s hosted with WPMUDEV.

Sigh…

Mon, 8 Jun 2020 19:15:19
  • Kasia Swiderska
    • Support nomad

    Hello Jack Lavender ,

    I understand your frustration.
    Our developers are working on improvements for emails and those records. Right now there are two tasks – automatically add records when DNS is hosted at WPMU DEV and also a copy option so it can be easy as copy&paste when it is hosted somewhere else.
    I’ve added your ticket to the task about the automatic adding.

    kind regards,
    Kasia

  • Jack Lavender
    • The Crimson Coder

    Actually, the problem is a bit bigger. I added my MX records yesterday and there is still on sign of propagation for them.

    Also, I think there are some errors in the information you’re providing. For instance all of the records (MX, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC) show the Host with a trailing period (e.g., morganexteriorsllc.com.). I’m pretty sure that’s non-standard and I”m not even sure if it works (I didn’t try including the period).

    Further, on the SPF record, you’re showing a dash all (-all), not an enye all (~all). I’m not sure if they are interchangeable, but I’ve never seen a dash used before.

    Jack

  • Patrick Freitas
    • FLS

    Hi Jack Lavender

    Hope you are doing well.

    I checked the domain morganexteriorsllc and the DNS status show as valid, do you still have an issue on any domain?

    Further, on the SPF record, you’re showing a dash all (-all), not an enye all (~all). I’m not sure if they are interchangeable, but I’ve never seen a dash used before.

    It is a valid record too:

    ” – ” : (Hard) Fail = The address failed the test; bounce any e-mail that does not comply. Example: “v=spf1 -all”

    You can find more on https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-use-an-spf-record-to-prevent-spoofing-improve-e-mail-reliability

    Let us know if you need any further help on this.
    Best Regards
    Patrick Freitas

  • Jack Lavender
    • The Crimson Coder

    Patrick,

    We’re all square and things are working. Personally, I’ve never seen the dash used before in an SPF record (I’ll keep it in mind when setting up my next email environment).

    Also, adding the MX records is particularly confusing because if I DON’T use the trailing period on the host/name, it appears as what I’ve typed in (i.e., it appears as morganexteriorsllc.com). However, if I DO use the trailing period, the host name is removed and all I see is the text before the name (e.g., “_dmarc”:wink: or the @. So, there’s no way to get the MX records to match what is provided on the Hosting/Emails/Email Accounts tab.

    That said, it’s all working now.

    Jack