Send emails from a custom domain

By default, transactional emails (e.g., password resets, user registration notifications) are sent from the email address donotreply@wpvip.com. The default sender’s email address can be overridden with an SMTP plugin or custom code to send emails from a custom domain instead.

Access to the DNS settings of the custom domain is required for this modification to work as expected. Convenience domains cannot be used for sending emails.

Requirements

To send emails from a custom domain:

• The domain must be added to the environment’s VIP Dashboard.
  • If the www variant of a domain is added to an environment’s Domains panel, both the www or the non-www variant of the domain can be used for sending email as long as the domain that will be used meets the DNS record requirements.
  • If the non-www variant of a domain is added to an environment’s Domains panel, only the non-www variant of the domain can be used for sending email as long as that domain meets the DNS record requirements.
• The domain must be verified.
• The domain’s DNS records must be updated with the SPF and DKIM setting values as outlined in DNS record requirements. Emails sent in large quantities from custom domains also require DMARC setting values.
• After updating a custom domain’s DNS settings with the DNS record requirements , at least 12 hours must elapse before the updated settings can be detected and allow for the domain to be used to send emails.
• If the domain is being added solely for the purpose of sending emails (not for launching a site) the domain’s DNS does not need to point to VIP. Only the updated records outlined below in DNS record requirements are necessary.
• Even if a domain has been verified and has all of the required DNS settings, at least 12 hours must elapse after adding the domain to an environment’s VIP Dashboard before it can be used to send emails.

Required DNS records for the custom domain

To successfully configure emails to be sent with a custom domain, SPF and DKIM records must be added to the DNS records for that domain.  

SPF record

A Sender Policy Framework (SPF) record identifies the mail servers and domains that are allowed to send email on behalf of a domain.

Adding SPF records for Automattic’s mail servers to the DNS records of the custom domain helps prevent emails sent from a WordPress site on VIP using a custom email address from being marked as spam on the receiving end.

SPF record value:

include:_spf.wpvip.com

If a range of IPs is required for the SPF record, they can be retrieved by running this command in a local machine’s terminal:

dig txt +short _spf.wpvip.com

DKIM record

A DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) record stores the public key used to verify the authenticity of the email sent from the custom domain. For most DNS providers, these settings are assigned to the TXT DNS record type.

Substitute <custom_domain> where it appears with the actual custom domain (i.e. update wpvip1._domainkey.<custom_domain> to wpvip1._domainkey.example.com).

DKIM record values:

wpvip1._domainkey.<custom_domain> CNAME wpvip1._domainkey.wpvip.com
wpvip2._domainkey.<custom_domain> CNAME wpvip2._domainkey.wpvip.com

DMARC record

If more than 5,000 emails are sent per day from the custom domain, a Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance (DMARC) record must also be added to the domain’s DNS records. For most DNS providers, these settings are assigned to the TXT DNS record type.

Substitute <custom_domain> where it appears with the actual custom domain (i.e. update _dmarc.<custom_domain> to _dmarc.example.com).

DMARC host value:

_dmarc.<custom_domain>

DMARC TXT value:

v=DMARC1; p=none;

External email service providers

To send emails in large quantities, or to send email from a custom domain, an external SMTP server or email service provider (ESP) should be used. 

Most email service providers have WordPress plugins that allow their service to be integrated with a WordPress site. External email service providers can also be integrated with a site on the VIP Platform via custom code that hooks directly into the phpmailer_init hook which is also used by VIP’s Automattic mail server integration. For additional guidance and code examples for this type of integration, refer to PHPMailer’s wiki.

SMTP and email service provider plugins

Most email service providers have WordPress plugins that allow their service to be integrated with a WordPress site. Email service provider plugins often provide the option to alter the sender’s email address, and other email sending behavior by using the service provider instead of the web server.

Customers who use an external email service should evaluate plugin candidates for these service integrations before enabling them in a production environment.

Custom code

Use the wp_mail_from filter to programmatically customize the email address of the sender to something other than the default donotreply@wpvip.com. When using this filter, the priority must be set to a value greater than 1 to override the default configuration of the sender’s email address in the VIP MU plugins.

This code example demonstrates the use of the wp_mail_from filter to update the default sender’s email address to the custom value user@example.com:

add_filter( 'wp_mail_from', function( $from ) {
    return 'user@example.com';
}, 15 );