How to set up my agency's email?

This is an old version of the article. Please check the actual version in our new Knowledge Base.

XTRF sends all emails from one email address, regardless who the actual sender is.

Email privacy within organization

Your partners receive emails from a single address, no matter if it was sent by a PM, a salesperson or triggered by a status change. This helps building the translation agency's recognition. It does not mean however, that all XTRF communication is public within your organization. Each email contains a "reply-to" field filled in with the actual address of the user who was responsible for sending that message in the first place. If the recipient responds, the "reply-to" address is used, not the main agency's one.

Gathering the Necessary Data

Before you actually attempt to change the SMTP server settings, make sure that you know the details, especially the exact server address and authentication method. They are delivered by your email provider like Gmail or Office365 and should not be difficult to find.

Setup

Visit the configuration center in  > General Configuration -> Settings -> E-mail  > Edit and go through the SMTP Settings. This is one of the first operations that should take place on a new XTRF instance. 

Note

Your XTRF comes with a temporary SMTP account provided by us, so you can play and test XTRF immediately. When you decide to change it, there is no going back - we will not be able to restore the original temporary settings, forcing you to provide your own server details.

Here is a list of all fields explained (your system administrator should have no problem filling them out):

• SMTP Server
  • e.g. mailserver.xtrf.eu:2525
• E-mail Address
  • Agency's main email address, e.g. translations@my-translation-office.com
• Authorization Required
  • Checkbox should be usually ticked, which activates login and password fields below
• Email Login and Email Password
  • Credentials for the email account
  • Make sure to type in the email login and password carefully. If you see an "authentication error", it usually means you made a typo in the password.
    
• Connection Type
  • Server's security protocol in use
• Set Sender's E-mail Address in
  
  • "Reply-to field only" is the recommended setting, as most email providers nowadays will reject "From and Reply-to" ("From" should reflect the actual address used, it should not be modified)
• E-mail Sender Name
  
  • "First Name & Last Name" should do, unless you have specific requirements and need consultation with our customization team to use "Custom format"
• Redirect All Mail to Admin
  • An option used during implementation process, which redirects all emails to the system administrator in order to prevent agency from unnecessary traffic being sent to your real clients or vendors
• Send Test Email to
  • After filling out all the above fields (except Redirect All Mail to Admin), you can test the setup by entering your personal address to make sure the connection works

Sending Mass Mailing

If you plan to send bulk emails, your email provider should support it. Some providers choose to block mailboxes that exceed a message quota.

The Gmail mailer works well for sites that send low numbers of emails. However, Gmail's API has rate limitations and a number of additional restrictions that can lead to challenges during setup. If you expect to send a high volume of emails, or if you find that your web host is not compatible with the Gmail API restrictions, then we recommend considering a different mailer option.

More

You may also want to check our Lesson Zero where such setups are explained in short videos:

https://academy.xtrf.eu/unit/view/id:1938