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SPF Records

We are trying to optimize and further improve your email communications to your members. For a more simple explanation;

Because we are sending emails on behalf of your domain, some email providers do not like this. What does this mean? It means email providers could flag an email as spam/junk, or sometimes prevent the email from being sent at all. Each members email provider (e.g. orcon, gmail etc.) has the right to change their settings at any time, and become more strict in an attempt to prevent phishers. DotGolf has no control over another email providers rules and settings.

It is important to note that nothing has changed with the Bulk Email system, and emails will continue to attempt to be sent as they always have been in the past. This is merely a suggestion to clubs in an attempt to get a little more assurance that emails will reach the intended recipient.

Therefore the following settings will help reduce your emails being blacklisted by spam filters.

SPF (Sender Policy Framework)

The Sender Policy Framework (SPF) refers to a standard DNS record that indicates the list of mail servers that are allowed to send email on behalf of a specific domain name. In the absence of an SPF record, emails are increasingly being treated as possible spam, so it is advantageous to have an SPF record for your domain.

Unfortunately an incorrectly configured SPF record will prevent DotGolf from sending email on your behalf (such as those sent via our Subscriptions or Bulk Email systems).

Note: DotGolf strongly recommends you get in touch with your IT contractors/personnel, or domain/email service provider before making any changes to your SPF record or DNS records in general. Some SPF records are complex and even subtle changes can break them, leading to lost email.

This is an example of a correctly configured SPF record:

v=spf1 include:spf.protection.outlook.com include:_spf.golf.co.nz -all

include:_spf.golf.co.nz is the part that allows DotGolf’s mail servers to send emails on your behalf. Note that the rest of the record may be completely different depending on your email provider and/or DNS host. If your SPF record ends with ~all or ?all we may still be able to send email even if the include is missing, although warnings may be reported or the email may get marked as spam.