By default, Appstle sends your subscription emails from its own domain, app.subscription.appstle.com. With a custom email domain, they come from an address on your own subdomain instead, such as [email protected]. You add a few DNS records at your domain provider, and Appstle checks them for you.
Custom email domain is included in the Business Premium, Enterprise and Enterprise Plus plans. On other plans, the Custom domain field is turned off.
Before you start
Have the login for the provider that manages your domain's DNS, such as GoDaddy, Namecheap or Amazon Route 53.
Pick a subdomain, such as mail.yourstore.com or subscription.yourstore.com. A subdomain keeps the email on your main domain untouched.
Add your domain
In the Appstle Subscriptions admin, go to More → Notification Settings and open the Email Domain tab.
Enter your subdomain in Custom domain, for example mail.northside-roasters.com. Leave out https:// and any path.
Click Save. A DNS records card appears with the records to add.
Add the DNS records
At your DNS provider, add each record exactly as the card shows it. Use the copy button next to each Host and Value. The card lists these records:
Record | What it does | Needed? |
TXT (SPF) | Lets Appstle's email service send for your domain. | Yes |
TXT (DKIM) | Signs your emails so email providers can tell they're really from you. | Yes |
MX (two values) | Without it, some email providers, such as Apple iCloud, can reject your emails. | Yes, unless your subdomain already has MX records |
CNAME (tracking) | Used for open and click tracking. | Optional |
Some DNS providers add your domain to the end of the host for you. If yours does, enter only the part before your domain: for the host mail.northside-roasters.com, enter mail. If your subdomain already has MX records, keep them and don't add the MX records from the card.
Check that your domain is verified
DNS changes can take up to 48 hours. Appstle checks your records each time you open the Email Domain tab, so come back to it after you add them. Each record shows a status:
Verified: Appstle found the record.
Not verified yet: Appstle hasn't found the right value yet. When something else is at that host, a Found line shows it.
Optional on the CNAME record: Appstle hasn't found it yet. Your domain works without it.
Not found or Recommended on the MX record: your subdomain has no MX records yet. Add the ones on the card.
1 of 2 found on the MX record: one of the two MX values is missing. Add it.
Found on the MX record: your subdomain has MX records of its own, which is fine. The card lists them instead of the records to add.
Couldn't check right now: Appstle couldn't look up the MX records. Check back later.
When both TXT records show Verified, your domain is verified and Appstle starts sending your emails through it. Until then, they go out from Appstle's domain. Leave the records in place after your domain is verified.
Add the records within a month. If Appstle still can't verify your domain a month after you save it, it removes the domain and Custom domain is empty again. To try again, enter your domain, save, and add the records the card shows. The DKIM value may be new, so replace the old one.
Use your domain in the From email
After your domain is verified, set the From email on your email templates to an address at your domain.
Until you do, your emails keep their current From address, and Appstle won't save changes to an email template whose From email isn't at your domain.
Go to More → Notification Settings and open the Email Notifications tab.
Click Universal Email Settings at the top of the page. The Email branding window opens.
In Sender, enter the From email, for example Northside Coffee Roasters <[email protected]>.
Optional: enter a Reply-to email, the address that receives your customers' replies. Set it if you can't read the inbox of the From address.
Click Save.
This sets the sender on all your notification emails. You can still change the sender of a single template when you edit it. Bulk emails have their own sender: open the Bulk Communications tab and repeat steps 2 to 5.
What the From email accepts
Appstle checks the From email whenever you save an email template, even if you changed something else, and whenever you save a new From email in Universal Email Settings. The address must be:
One address. Either [email protected] or Your Store <[email protected]>. Two addresses, or extra text after the address, are not accepted.
At your sending domain, exactly. That's your verified custom domain, or app.subscription.appstle.com if you don't have one. If your custom domain is mail.yourstore.com, an address at yourstore.com is not accepted.
If Klaviyo, Mailchimp or Omnisend sends your subscription emails, the domain rule doesn't apply. The one-address rule still does. Gift emails are always sent by Appstle, so the domain rule still applies to them. If you save a From email in Universal Email Settings that isn't at your sending domain, gift emails keep their current sender, and a message tells you so.
Troubleshooting
"Enter a valid email address" or "Enter From Email as one address"
The From email has more than one address, text after the address, or an address that isn't valid. Enter one address, such as Your Store <[email protected]>. In Universal Email Settings, Save stays off until the address is valid.
"From Email must be an address at ..." or "Due to recent restrictions by email providers ..."
The From email isn't at your sending domain, so Appstle won't save the template. The message names the domain to use. The most common reasons:
Your domain was just verified. Your templates still use an address at app.subscription.appstle.com. Change the From email in Universal Email Settings, as described above, then edit the template again.
Your domain isn't verified yet. The message names app.subscription.appstle.com. Keep an address there until both TXT records show Verified.
If the message says "Emails sent by Appstle come from notification@...", your From email is at another domain, so Appstle sends from notification@ at your sending domain instead. Enter an address at that domain to choose your own. To get replies at another address, enter it in Reply-to email.
"We couldn't check your From Email. Please try again."
Appstle couldn't check the address right now. Save again in a minute. If it keeps happening, contact support in the chat.
My records stay on "Not verified yet"
Check these, then allow up to 48 hours and open the Email Domain tab again:
Each record is at the provider that manages your domain's DNS.
The Host and Value match the card exactly, with no extra spaces.
If your provider adds your domain to the host for you, the host doesn't end in your domain twice, such as mail.northside-roasters.com.northside-roasters.com.
If a record has a Found line, compare it with the value on the card.
The DNS records card is gone
If your domain wasn't verified within a month, Appstle removed it, and Custom domain is empty. Enter your domain again, save, and add the records the card shows. If Custom domain still shows your domain but the card is missing, reload the page. If it's still missing, contact support in the chat.
Saving the domain shows an error
"Enter a valid email domain." or "Please enter a valid domain": enter the domain on its own, such as mail.yourstore.com.
"Upgrade your plan to configure custom email domain." Custom email domain needs the Business Premium, Enterprise or Enterprise Plus plan.
"This email domain is already registered. Contact Appstle support to reconnect it to your store." The domain was added to Appstle's email service before, by your store or another one. Contact support in the chat.
"Unable to register your email domain right now. Contact Appstle support for help." Try again in a minute. If it keeps happening, contact support in the chat.
FAQs
How do I go back to Appstle's domain?
Clear Custom domain and save. Your emails go out from Appstle's domain again. Then set the From email on your templates to an address at app.subscription.appstle.com, for example [email protected]. If you add the same domain again later and see "This email domain is already registered", contact support in the chat.
Can I use my main domain instead of a subdomain?
You can, but a subdomain is safer. Your main domain already handles your store's email, so it has SPF and MX records in use. A domain can have only one SPF record: if you use your main domain, add include:mailgun.org to your existing SPF record instead of adding a second one, and keep your MX records.