> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.elasticfunnels.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Sending Setup

> Connect a sender, wire templates to a merchant, and send a test before your first real order.

## Three things have to be true

An order confirmation only reaches a customer when all three of these are in place:

1. **A sender.** SMTP credentials on the brand, or an email integration on the merchant.
2. **A template.** The email itself, from **Emails** in your brand dashboard.
3. **That template selected on the merchant.** Merchant → **Email** tab → **Order Emails**.

Miss any one of them and nothing sends. There is no built-in fallback email, and for
shipping and cancellation notices there is no warning either. The order goes through, the
customer is charged, and the inbox stays empty.

<Warning>
  ElasticFunnels never sends a generic default on your behalf. If the slot is empty, the
  customer gets no email at all.
</Warning>

***

## Step 1: connect a sender

Go to **Settings** → **Emailing**. This is the SMTP relay ElasticFunnels connects to for
every transactional email this brand sends.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Enter the server details">
    Your email provider gives you these. This example uses Mailgun:

    | Field      | Value              | Notes                                                     |
    | ---------- | ------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------- |
    | SMTP host  | `smtp.mailgun.org` | From your provider's SMTP page                            |
    | Port       | `587`              | 587 for TLS, 465 for SSL, 25 unencrypted                  |
    | Encryption | `TLS`              | Match the port                                            |
    | Username   | `team@example.com` | Usually the full mailbox address, not your provider login |
    | Password   | The SMTP password  | Stored encrypted. Leave blank on later saves to keep it   |

    Mailgun, Postmark, Amazon SES, SendGrid, Gmail, and any other relay that speaks SMTP all
    work here.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set the sender identity">
    This is what the customer sees in their inbox:

    | Field          | Example               | What it does                                             |
    | -------------- | --------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- |
    | From name      | `Acme Health Team`    | The display name on the message                          |
    | From email     | `team@example.com`    | Must be on a domain your provider is allowed to send for |
    | Reply-to email | `support@example.com` | Where customer replies land                              |

    Set **Reply-to** to a mailbox someone reads. Customers reply to order emails constantly,
    asking to change an address or cancel. Leave it blank and their replies go to the From
    address instead, which is often an unmonitored sending mailbox.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save, then send a test">
    **Save SMTP**, then **Send test**. The test message goes to the email address of the user
    who is logged in, not to the From address.

    If it arrives, the card shows a green **Verified** badge.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  **"Verified" means one test message was accepted by your SMTP server.** It is not domain
  verification. It does not check SPF, DKIM, or DMARC, and it does not confirm your provider
  will accept the From address you entered. Send a real test order before you trust it.
</Note>

### The From address on the template is ignored

Email templates have their own `from_name`, `from_email`, and `reply_to_email` fields. When
the brand sends over SMTP, those are not used. The three values on the **Emailing** tab win
for every template. Change the sender in one place and every transactional email follows.

### Alternative: a per-merchant email integration

Instead of brand SMTP, a merchant can carry its own sending service. Merchant → **Email**
tab → **Email Integration** lists your Mailgun, SendGrid, and Mailrelay integrations from
**Integrations**.

**Brand SMTP takes priority.** If the brand has SMTP configured, the merchant integration
is ignored for order emails. Use the merchant integration when a single brand sells through
merchants that need to mail from different providers.

***

## Step 2: create the templates

Open **Emails** in the brand dashboard. Every brand ships with system templates for the
standard transaction types, and you can create your own. See
[Email Templates](/emails/overview) for the builder and
[Template Variables](/emails/template-variables) for the merge tags.

The fastest route is Step 3: the merchant screen can create a pre-built template and select
it in one click.

***

## Step 3: wire the templates to the merchant

Go to **Merchants**, open the merchant, and switch to the **Email** tab. This is the step
people miss.

Templates live on the brand. Sending is decided per merchant. A brand with three merchants
has three separate sets of these slots, and filling them in for one does nothing for the
other two.

### Order Emails

| Slot            | Fires when                                                             |
| --------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| New Purchase    | A purchase conversion is recorded, including every upsell              |
| Refund          | A refund is processed, from the gateway or from ElasticFunnels         |
| Order Shipped   | Fulfillment reports the order as shipped and a tracking number arrives |
| Order Cancelled | A cancellation is recorded for the order                               |

### Subscription Emails

Visible for NMI and Stripe merchants:

| Slot                  | Fires when                                                  |
| --------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- |
| Renewal Success       | A rebill is charged successfully                            |
| Renewal Failed        | A rebill is declined. The template escalates by retry count |
| Pre-Renewal Reminder  | 3 days before the next charge, from a daily job             |
| Subscription Paused   | A subscription is paused                                    |
| Subscription Canceled | A subscription is canceled                                  |

Each row has a **Create template** button that seeds a ready-made template for that type and
selects it immediately. A row showing **Not set** sends nothing.

<Tip>
  The usual setup is all four order slots filled on the merchant, with a custom purchase
  template rather than the stock one. Create from the button, then edit the copy in the
  builder.
</Tip>

### Which template actually gets used

There are two places a subscription template can be chosen, and they are checked in order:

1. The merchant's **Email** tab. This wins.
2. **Settings** → **Subscriptions**, which holds brand-wide defaults for the same events.
3. The brand's built-in system template for that event.

Order emails are simpler. Set them on the merchant. The brand defaults under
**Settings** → **Subscriptions** are not a reliable fallback for shipping and cancellation
notices, and purchase and refund prefer the brand's locked system template over anything
picked in a dropdown. If you want different purchase copy, edit the locked template rather
than duplicating it.

***

## What sends, and from where

Order emails are queued and sent by ElasticFunnels a couple of seconds after the conversion
lands, so Elasticsearch has time to index the line items. Members area login codes are sent
directly by the page runtime and arrive immediately.

| Email                                  | Triggered by                                                       |
| -------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| New purchase                           | The gateway postback for a purchase conversion                     |
| Upsell purchase                        | Each upsell is its own conversion, so each one sends its own email |
| Order bump                             | No separate email. Bump lines appear inside the purchase email     |
| Refund                                 | A refund postback, or a refund issued inside ElasticFunnels        |
| Order shipped                          | The fulfillment provider flipping the order to shipped             |
| Order cancelled                        | A cancellation postback                                            |
| Renewal success and failure            | The rebill result posted back from the gateway                     |
| Pre-renewal reminder                   | A scheduled daily job                                              |
| Members area login code and magic link | The customer requesting one on your site                           |

***

## Deliverability

The SMTP form gets the message to your provider. Getting it to the inbox is your provider's
job, and it depends on DNS records you set once:

* **SPF and DKIM** for the sending domain, at your email provider. Every provider documents
  the exact records. Without them, order confirmations land in spam or get rejected.
* **A From address on a domain your provider is authorised to send for.** `team@example.com`
  only works once `example.com` is added and verified as a sending domain at your provider.
* **A real reply-to mailbox.** Providers score unmonitored senders poorly, and customers who
  cannot reach you open chargebacks instead.

Use a subdomain for transactional mail if you also send marketing campaigns. A complaint on
a promotional blast should not put order confirmations at risk.

***

## Related docs

* [Order Emails](/emails/order-emails) - What each order email contains
* [Subscription Emails](/emails/subscription-emails) - Renewals, paused, canceled, dunning
* [Emails Not Sending](/emails/troubleshooting) - Checklist when a customer got nothing
* [Template Variables](/emails/template-variables) - Complete merge tag reference
* [Email Marketing Integrations](/integrations/email-marketing) - Mailgun, SendGrid, generic SMTP