Quickstart

Quickstart

This guide gets you from a new PING8 workspace to a safe first test email.

Before you start

Prepare:

  • A sending domain, such as yourdomain.com.
  • Access to your DNS provider.
  • A mailbox or test recipient you control.
  • A clear decision about whether this first send is transactional or marketing.
  • A decision on delivery engine:
    • Use Local Postfix for low-volume self-hosted testing.
    • Use Tenant default after your tenant delivery profile is configured.
    • Use KumoMTA only after the KumoMTA connection is healthy.

Do not use a purchased, scraped, or unverified list for the quickstart. The goal is to prove identity, routing, and telemetry with mailboxes you control.

1. Add your domain

Open Sending > Domain and click Add Domain.

Fill:

  • Domain: yourdomain.com
  • Mail host: mail.yourdomain.com
  • Quota and mailbox limits appropriate for your deployment
  • Dedicated IP only if you already control one

Save the domain, then open DNS Records.

2. Configure DNS

Add the records shown in the DNS modal:

  • A record for the mail host.
  • MX record for the root domain.
  • SPF TXT record.
  • DKIM TXT record.
  • DMARC TXT record.
  • PTR/rDNS with your server provider.

Then click Records set, verify DNS resolution.

3. Create a contact group

Open Marketing > Contacts > Group and create a group named Test.

Open Subscribers, select the group, and import one or two test recipients that you control.

4. Create a template

Open Marketing > Template and click Add.

Choose:

  • HTML if you already have markup.
  • Drag editor if you want to design visually.
  • AI-assisted template if your AI settings are configured.

Preview the template before using it in a campaign.

5. Send a test campaign

Open Marketing > Email Marketing and click Add Task.

Set:

  • From: a sender on your verified domain.
  • Display Name: a real sender name.
  • Subject: a clear test subject.
  • Recipients: the Test group.
  • Template: the template you created.
  • Unsubscribe link: enabled for campaign mail.
  • Track opens/clicks: enabled only if appropriate.
  • Delivery engine: Tenant default, unless you are testing a specific path.
  • Send time: Send now.

Enter your own email in Test email and click Send test mail.

6. Confirm delivery telemetry

After sending:

  • Confirm the email was accepted or delivered in the task analytics.
  • Check Analytics for queued, delivered, deferred, bounced, opened, and clicked metrics.
  • Check Logs if the message does not appear.
  • Do not treat task progress as inbox delivery. Progress means PING8 attempted the recipients; delivery status comes from telemetry.

What success looks like

You are ready to expand beyond the quickstart when:

  • The DNS modal shows OK for A, MX, SPF, DKIM, DMARC, and PTR.
  • Your test message appears in the selected delivery engine logs or analytics.
  • PING8 shows a lifecycle result such as delivered, deferred, bounced, or suppressed.
  • Failed-send details show a specific provider or configuration reason when something fails.

Common mistakes

  • Creating multiple SPF records instead of merging all senders into one SPF TXT record.
  • Using a strict DMARC policy before SPF and DKIM are passing.
  • Selecting KumoMTA before the connection test and webhook flow are healthy.
  • Importing a real audience before unsubscribe and suppression are confirmed.
  • Judging success only by the task progress bar.

Next steps

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