Communication

Send email notifications from your own domain

Ploy sends notifications from your own domain in two ways: Your domain via Ploy, where Ploy sends from your domain after you publish DNS records, or Your own SMTP server, where Ploy logs in to your mail server and sends from there under your own SPF and DKIM. Both are set up in the Sender section of the Email channel, and both end with a verified sender and a test email to your own address.

Platform emails, such as login and invite emails, are always sent by Ploy from its own address, whichever sender mode you choose.

Open the sender settings

  1. In the Ploy dashboard, go to Integrations and select the Channels tab.

  2. Open the Email channel and click Configure. To create a new channel, click Add new channel, then Email, then Connect.

  3. In the Email Integration modal, go to the Sender section.

Choose a sender mode

The Sender section offers three modes, and they differ in who runs the mail transport:

  • Ploy sends for you — Nothing to set up. Your staff get email from a Ploy address straight away.

  • Your domain via Ploy — Emails come from an address your staff recognise. Your IT team adds a few DNS records once, and Ploy keeps running delivery.

  • Your own SMTP server — Ploy logs in to your mail server and sends from there, under your own SPF and DKIM.

The picker also lists Microsoft 365 mailbox and Google Workspace mailbox, but sending through your own Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace tenant is not available yet. Use your own domain verified with Ploy, your own SMTP server, or keep sending as Ploy.

Send from your domain via Ploy

Use this mode when you want Ploy to keep running the mail transport, with your domain on the sender. You maintain DNS records; Ploy handles delivery.

  1. Select Your domain via Ploy.

  2. Enter a From name and From address. Use a dedicated subdomain, such as iam.yourcompany.com, so Ploy can only ever send from that subdomain and never from your main domain.

  3. Publish the DNS records Ploy shows at your DNS provider. Each record has Type, Host, and Value fields, with Copy host and Copy value buttons.

  4. Return to Ploy and click Save sender, then Check verification.

The sender status shows Verified once your records are detected, Waiting for your DNS records while they propagate, or Not working yet when the records aren't detected. DNS changes usually take under an hour to take effect.

Send from your own SMTP server

Use this mode when your mail must come from your own infrastructure. Ploy connects to your SMTP server, authenticates, and submits each message there.

  1. Select Your own SMTP server.

  2. In SMTP server, enter the hostname only, for example smtp.office365.com. Don't use an IP address, and don't append a port or protocol: Ploy checks the server's certificate against the hostname.

  3. In Port, choose 587 (STARTTLS) or 465 (TLS). Ploy always encrypts the connection, and port 25 is blocked.

  4. Enter the Username and Password Ploy should log in with.

  5. Enter the From address notifications should carry. Your SMTP server decides whether the authenticated account may send as this address, so use an address that server permits. Add an optional From name and Reply-to address.

  6. Click Save sender. The settings are saved with the status Waiting on checks, and saving doesn't contact your server yet.

  7. Click Check verification. Ploy connects to your server, negotiates TLS, logs in, and closes the connection without sending anything. A successful check sets the status to Verified.

Your password is stored encrypted and never shown again. A blank password keeps the stored one only while the host and username are unchanged; change either and Ploy asks you to enter the password again.

Test your sender

A custom sender is used only when its mode is selected, its status is Verified, and a sender address is present. Otherwise Ploy sends the notification from its own address.

  1. Click Save sender so there are no unsaved changes.

  2. Click Send test email. It goes to your own registered organization email address, not to an address you enter.

The test uses the real delivery path, so an SMTP test travels through your configured server. The confirmation names the from address and host it was sent through, and the email arrives titled Ploy test email. The button is unavailable while you have unsaved changes or the sender isn't verified. Passing verification proves the connection and login, not that the server permits sending as your From address; the test email is the check for that.

Troubleshooting

Notifications still arrive from Ploy, not my domain

Ploy falls back to its own sender whenever the custom sender isn't verified or has no sender address. Confirm the status shows Verified and the sender address is present, then use Check verification.

Check verification says the login was refused

The message reads: "The SMTP server refused the login. Check the username and password (Google and Microsoft accounts with two-step verification need an app password), and that the server accepts LOGIN or PLAIN." Use an app password for Google or Microsoft accounts with two-step verification.

Check verification can't reach the server

The error names the host and port, either refusing the connection or timing out. Check that your firewall allows Ploy to reach the server on the port you chose. A connection problem doesn't change the status of an already verified sender; Ploy marks a verified sender as failed only after three failed checks in a row, and a passing check resets that count.

Port 587 fails with a STARTTLS error

The message reads: "The SMTP server does not offer STARTTLS on port 587, and Ploy never sends unencrypted. Try port 465."

Choose which notifications use email

The sender controls who delivers your email; which notifications go out by email is set separately. See Set up email notifications.

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