Guides
Guides to business email on your own domain
How to set up mail on a domain you own, what the DNS records say, how to connect a client, and why mail does or does not arrive.
Setting up
From choosing a domain to a mail program that connects.
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How to set up business email on your own domain
How to create business email on your own domain: choosing addresses, proving you own the domain, publishing the DNS records and connecting mail clients.
MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC: the DNS records a mail domain needs
The four DNS records a mail domain publishes, MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC: what each one says, how they work together and how to check that DNS carries them.
IMAP, SMTP and POP3 settings: which ports and security to use
Which port to use: 993 or 143 for IMAP, 465 or 587 for SMTP, 995 or 110 for POP3. The security each one needs, and why 587 is not an IMAP port.
Set up business email in Outlook with IMAP, step by step
Add a business mailbox on your own domain to Outlook with IMAP: the settings to enter, the steps in each version of Outlook and what to check if it fails.
Set up business email on an iPhone or an Android phone
Add a business mailbox on your own domain to an iPhone or an Android phone with IMAP: the settings to enter and the steps in Mail and in the Gmail app.
Catch-all email address: when it helps and when it floods you
What a catch-all address does, when it saves a lost enquiry, when it fills a mailbox with spam, and the options: off, a mailbox, an alias or elsewhere.
Email alias or mailbox: what to create for info@, sales@ and support@
The difference between an email alias and a mailbox, which suits info@, sales@ and support@, what each costs against a plan and how to forward safely.
Delivery and trust
Why mail arrives, why it does not, and what the receiving side checks.
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Why business email goes to spam: a checklist
Why mail from a business domain lands in spam and what to check: the four DNS records, a signed message, the content and the habits behind a reputation.
postmaster@ and abuse@: the addresses every mail domain needs
Why a mail domain should answer postmaster@ and abuse@, what RFC 2142 says about role mailboxes, who writes to them and how to keep them useful.
MTA-STS explained: making senders encrypt mail to your domain
What MTA-STS is, where its policy file lives, what the modes enforce, testing and none mean, and what the policy does and does not protect against.
Where the name Alcitron comes from: a sweet from Honduras
Alcitron takes its name from alcitrones, a candied sweet from Honduras made with chiberro and closely tied to the city of Siguatepeque.