Everyone can start sending email the moment you start with Powerbase. But, there are some important settings you need to make that increase the chances that your email will land in people's Inboxes.
Specifically, you need to make changes to your domain name. Your domain name is the part of your email address that comes after the @ sign (for example, if you send email from the address info@example.org, then your domain name is example.org).
The technical names for the changes you need to make are: Sender Policy Framework (SPF), Domain Keys Identified Email (DKIM), and Domain Message Authentication Reporting (DMARC). If you want to learn more, click the links for each technical name to learn more about it.
Unfortunately, we cannot make the settings for you because they have to be made on your domain name - but, we can help! And be sure to tell us when you have completed these steps because we have to take a final step when you are done to add the signing key to your domain.
Step 1: Check if your domain name has the records it needs.
If you think you have added the records required, please enter your domain name in our Domain Name Checker Tool. It will tell you what records are missing.
Step 2: Find out where your domain name is hosted and find your login information
This is the hardest part! Please feel free to contact support and we may be able to point you in the right direction.
If you have a staff person, volunteer or consultant who works on your web site, they are the person to consult first and may be able to do all of these steps for you.
Typically, your domain name is hosted with the organization that hosts your web site. If your web site is hosted with May First, Electric Embers, Koumbit, Dreamhost, Bluehost, Godaddy, etc. then you can ask them for help setting up your domain name records (or click on the links we've provided to go straight to their control panels). You can also send them the link to this page so they'll know exactly what you need.
There are some exceptions. For example, if your web site is protected by Cloudflare or Deflect, then your domain name may be accessed via their respective control panels.
Also, sometimes it's the company where you registered your domain name (like Gandi, or Network Solutions, or Domain.com).
If you are not sure, contact PTP support and we can help.
Step 3: Ensure these records are added
All domain name records have a type. You will need to add (or edit) both CNAME and TEXT records.
Adding the CNAME records
A CNAME record is like an alias or a pointer that points one domain name to another. For CNAME records, you'll be asked to enter the "name" (it might be referred to as the domain name or even the fully qualified domain name). And you'll be asked to enter the "value" or "alias" or "points to".
If you are using Cloudflare to manage your DNS, be sure to turn off the "proxy" setting when creating the CNAME record.
Add CNAME record number 1:
- name:
pb1._domainkey - value:
pb1.domainkey.SHORTNAME.ourpowerbase.net(please replace SHORTNAME with the first part of our Powerbase address - if your powerbase address ishttps://mygroup.ourpowerbase.net/- then the CNAME value would be:pb1.domainkey.mygroup.ourpowerbase.net)
Note that in the name field, _domainkey has an underscore, but in the value field domainkey does not have an underscore.
Add CNAME record number 2:
- name:
civimail - value:
civimail.ourpowerbase.net
Provider specific links
If your DNS provider is listed below, you can click on the links to find more detailed instructions on how to add CNAME records:
Adding the TEXT records
Text records associate a string of text to a given domain name. They have a name field and a value field.
Adding TEXT record #1
For your first TXT record, you will need to either add or edit a TEXT record assigned to your main domain (e.g. mygroup.org) with the term spf in the value field.
If you already have a TEXT record, assigned to your domain, with a value that starts with: v=spf1 - then you simply need to ensure that the value includes this string: include:_spf.mayfirst.org some where between the v=spf1 part and the ~all part (with a space on either end).
If you do not already have an SPF record, you'll need to add a new one that includes that part include:_spf.mayfirst.org along with your email provider.
Here are some values for common email providers:
- May First Movement Technology:
v=spf1 include:_spf.mayfirst.org ~all - Protonmail:
v=spf1 include:_spf.mayfirst.org include:_spf.protonmail.ch mx ~all - Gmail:
v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com include:_spf.mayfirst.org ~all - Dreamhost:
v=spf1 include:_spf.mayfirst.org include:netblocks.dreamhost.com ~all - Office 365:
v=spf1 include:_spf.mayfirst.org include:spf.protection.outlook.com ~all
Adding TEXT record #2
The second text record to add is a DMARC record. If you already have a text record in which the domain name starts with "_dmarc" then you are done!
If you do not yet have such a record, you will need to create a TEXT record with the following values:
- Domain name: either
_dmarcor some providers require your full domain name:_dmarc.followed by your domain name, e.g._dmarc.example.org - Text:
v=DMARC1; p=none;
Provider specific links
If your DNS provider is listed below, you can click on the links to find more detailed instructions on how to add SPF TEXT records:
Step 4: Let us know so we can complete the process
Check our Domain Name Checker Tool again - but remember, some DNS changes take several hours to appear, so you may want to wait a day before checking.
We have to take the last step to create your signing keys so be sure to let us know when you are done.
Additionally, all of these records are publicly available so we can check to make sure everything is set properly. Be sure to ask! If a setting is wrong it can have a negative impact on people's ability to receive email you are sending.