How to add a Sender Domain to Userlist

In order to use your own domain name to send emails from Userlist you need to add a Sender Domain to the application.

To allow you to get started and send your first emails quickly, Userlist defaults to sending emails from a shared @userlistmail.com domain. However, you probably want to send from your own domain name - it makes your emails look more trustworthy and probably improves deliverability.

Luckily this process is fairly straightforward, and Userlist is really good at guiding you. You just need a Userlist account and access to your DNS-provider.

Add a Sender Domain

  1. Go to https://app.userlist.com/settings/sending-domains.
  2. Click "Add Sending Domain".
  3. Enter the domain you want to send emails from (ie the part after the @ in your email address, for example emailsherpa.net).
  4. Click "Add Sending Domain".

The page that appears contains values that make up a DKIM record which you need to add to the DNS records of your domain name.

Add a TXT DNS record

How you actually do that depends on your DNS provider, ie the service that hosts your domain name. Since most providers have their own ways of doing things, the following steps are somewhat vague.

Example using GratisDNS

For this example, I am using GratisDNS to give you a sense of the process. Other providers are likely to have similar workflows.

  1. Log in to you account at admin.gratisdns.com.
  2. Go to your DNS settings.
  3. Find the relevant domain name in the list and click "Change".
  4. Scroll down to the list with "TXT" fields.
  5. Click "Add TXT record".
  6. In the form that appears use userlist._domainkey.emailsherpa.net for the Host value. In the Text field you need to copy and paste the long string of gibberish that Userlist provided (the one that starts with v=DKIM1; k=rsa; h=sha256 - copy all of it).
  7. Click the submit button.

Verify your TXT record

After the DNS changes have been made you should head back to Userlist. Back in Userlist, click the "Verify TXT record" button. You should see "The domain was verified succesfully" and your domain should get a green label and you're ready to start sending emails.

Do note that not all DNS providers publish DNS record changes immediately. If your TXT record isn't verified you might need to wait a while (say 15 minutes) and try clicking the "Verify TXT record" button again.

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