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Getting started with Flowmailer - Set up

First you will receive a welcome email or a message in response to a trial request, to set a password.

Log in

In the login screen (https://login.flowmailer.net/login.html), enter your username and password.

Login_education.png

By default, an extra step is required for logging in (2FA) for security. You will receive a verification code in an email.   

Set-up of your Flowmailer account

When you log in for the first time, you will see the screen below:

Welcome_Flowmailer.png

You will see a welcome message about the help wizard, a navigation with steps at the top and on a video on the right.

Step 1 - Welcome

Watch the instruction video. This video explains the steps you need take in order to set up your account, such as configuring a sender domain. Click Next after watching the video.

Step 2 - Sender domain

In this step you set up the sender domain; the name you are sending from (@yourcompany.com). Flowmailer must be authorized to send messages from your domain.

Watch the instruction video for setting up a Sender domain on the right.

Step2_Senderdomain.png

After setting up a sender domain, go to step 2 where you see the screen below.

Step 2_Trackingbounces.png

Tracking & Bounces

Set this up for bounce handling and click tracking. Return Path is used for bounce handling and Web domain for click tracking. Flowmailer already gives a suggestion of what you can set up, namely ‘e’. This is the standard that is used. But if necessary, you can change this as you wish. Click Next when you have filled this in.

You then see a screen with DNS records.

Step2_DNS.png

Essential DNS records

Essential DNS.png

The red crosses in this example show that the DNS records have not yet been set up. These are required to use the sending domain. Adjust this or contact your system administrator to do so. This is a necessary step in order to send messages from your Flowmailer account. In the meantime, you can continue on to the next steps. 

You will see 3 CNAMES in this overview. The first is for bounce handling and open/click tracking and the second and third are for DKIM. DKIM is an encrypted code in the header that proves that the message has not been modified between sender and recipient.

Optional Add a DMARC record

Optional_Add_DMARC.png
By adding a DMARC record, you can ensure that a statement with a DMARC report is sent to Flowmailer. In this report you can see, which other senders send email from your domain.

It is not mandatory to have a green check mark here. It does not prevent you from sending messages from Flowmailer. A green check mark means a report is sent to Flowmailer, orange doesn't send anything and a red cross means that your DMARC has not been set up (correctly).

Under Value, you see an example of what your record can look like if you want to send your DMARC reports to Flowmailer. Your DMARC record may deviate from this. You have the option of specifying more addresses to which you want the report to be sent.

Optional Add SPF for manual inspection and visibility

Add_SPF.png

SPF stands for Sender Policy Framework and this technique ensures that a mailing sent on behalf of a sender is authorized to do so by the owner or manager of the sending address (your organization). If you see a green check mark, web.flowmailer.net is listed in the SPF record. An orange status means it does not contain this address, but it does not stop the sending process and a red cross means there is a problem. When a red cross is the case, contact your IT department to solve the problem. 

Under Value, you can see an example of what the record can look like. For Flowmailer, set an include:spf.flowmailer.net to the record. You can add more includes if desired. A problem occurs when you have more than 10 includes. That is a technical limit within SPF. Please contact your IT department or our Support department for more information.

Step 3 - Connecting a Source

In this step, select a protocol. If you are new user, you can only create new sources. In other cases there is a drop-down menu to select an existing protocol. The most frequently used options:

API

This is the most common protocol next to SMTP. With an API link it is possible to trigger messages in Flowmailer. The advantage of an API compared to the other protocols is that you can more easily use personalization directly with the extra data that is provided from your system. With the other protocols, you have to set up extra steps for personalizing messages, for example using an external flow step.

SMTP

This protocol is used to transfer messages between servers. Most email systems that send emails over the Internet use this protocol. Let’s take Outlook as an example. This protocol uses a user name and password for delivery. Besides SMTP, API is the most common protocol. Want to know more about SMTP? Read our Help Center article: What is SMTP?

If you cannot work with the above protocols, you have the following options:

SMTP (Header auth)

If you cannot provide a password or user for an SMTP connection, you can use SMTP (Header auth). Instead of a user or password, you use specific headers that are read out. Please contact us if you cannot use the default SMTP and want to use this option.

Inbox Source

If your system cannot connect to API or SMTP, you can use this option. You then send a message to a specific email address (inbox source). From there, Flowmailer picks up the message and processes it as an SMTP message. In the header you add extra data, so that Flowmailer knows which recipient should receive the mailing.

Inbox Domain

When incoming mail from a specific domain needs to be handled, choose this option. You can use an API to retrieve these messages.

SMPP

SMPP is an older protocol that is generally used to send SMS.

 

Create credentials

The next step is to create credentials. This creates a username and a password that enables a link between your system and Flowmailer. Before you create the credentials, you first specify the settings. All these settings, except for the password, can be changed at a later time. The password is stored with encryption and no one can access it afterwards. The password is shown once, so save it well in a secure way by using a password manager for instance. If you have lost your password, you will need to create new credentials. 

In addition to creating credentials for new sources, you can also re-create credentials for an existing source here.

API

When you select the API option, you'll see the following settings:
API_settings.png

  • Role: there are multiple roles to select. The role you set here determines how much and what the source can read. If you choose None and select the checkmark next to Allow submit message, you create a source that may only enter and not read data from Flowmailer.
  • Source: you can create new sources or you can use an excisting source via the dropdown menu. Do you have Flowmailer Go! then you can only use one source.

Then click Next and you will see the following screen:
Settings_API_2.png

  • Description: place a description here that is easily recognizable to you.
  • Max. message sixe (KB): only fill in this field when your message must be under 30 MB. Keep in mind that this includes your attachments.
  • TLS required: this is checked by default. Make sure that your system also sends with TLS. If that is not an option, uncheck this option. Lower than TLS 1.2 is not supported
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SMTP

When you have chosen the SMTP option, you will see the following settings:
SPMT_Settings.png

  • Description: place a description here that is easily recognizable to you.
  • Allowed senders and/or domains: this option is not mandatory, but it is possible to whitelist senders and domains that send messages to the SMTP.
  • Max. message sixe (KB): only fill in this field when your message must be under 30 MB. Keep in mind that this includes your attachments.
  • Limit access to IP (CIDR notation): it is possible to restrict IP addresses by placing specific IP addresses here from which you can connect to SMTP.
  • TLS required: this is checked by default. Make sure that your system also sends with TLS. If that is not an option, uncheck this option. Lower than TLS 1.2 is not supported
  • Contact info: place the details of the contact person responsible when there are problems with the sync to Flowmailer here.

SMTP (Header auth)

When you have chosen the SMPT (Header auth) option, you will see the following settings:
SPMT_Settings.png

  • Description: place a description here that is easily recognizable to you.
  • Allowed senders and/or domains: this option is not mandatory, but it is possible to whitelist senders and domains that send messages to the SMTP.
  • Max. message sixe (KB): only fill in this field when your message must be under 30 MB. Keep in mind that this includes your attachments.
  • Limit access to IP (CIDR notation): it is possible to restrict IP addresses by placing specific IP addresses here from which you can connect to SMTP.
  • TLS required: this is checked by default. Make sure that your system also sends with TLS. If that is not an option, uncheck this option. Lower than TLS 1.2 is not supported
  • Contact info: place the details of the contact person responsible when there are problems with the sync to Flowmailer here.

Inbox

When you select the Inbox Source option, you'll see the following settings:
Inbox_settings.png

  • Description: place a description here that is easily recognizable to you.
  • Max. message sixe (KB): only fill in this field when your message must be under 30 MB. Keep in mind that this includes your attachments.
  • TLS required: Check this if desired, but make sure that your system also sends with TLS. Is this not possible? Then uncheck this option. Lower than TLS 1.2 is not supported
  • Recipients: enter an email address here. Flowmailer picks up the message and processes it in the same way as SMTP. After that, the message enters a flow.

Inbox Domain

When you select the Inbox domain option, you'll see the following settings:
Inbox domain_settings.png

  • Description: place a description here that is easily recognizable to you.
  • Max. message sixe (KB): only fill in this field when your message must be under 30 MB. Keep in mind that this includes your attachments.
  • TLS required: Check this if desired, but make sure that your system also sends with TLS. Is this not possible? Then uncheck this option. Lower than TLS 1.2 is not supported
  • Domain: Enter your domain here. To use an inbox source you must have a domain that has a DKIM authentication. More information in the article: Setting up an inbox domain.

SMPP

When you select the SMPP option, you'll see the following settings:
SMPP_Settings.png

  • Description: place a description here that is easily recognizable to you.
  • Limit access to IP (CIDR notation): it is possible to restrict IP address by placing specific IP addresses here from which you can connect to SMTP.
  • TLS required: this is checked by default. Make sure that your system also sends with TLS. If that is not an option, uncheck this option. Lower than TLS 1.2 is not supported

  • Contact info: place the details of the contact person responsible when there are problems with the sync to Flowmailer here.

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