MailHop Forward How-to

Creating and configuring MailHop® Forward from start to finish

Step One: Domain Registration and DNS

Before you can use MailHop Forward for your domain, the domain must be registered and have some form of DNS service. If your domain is not registered or you don't have DNS, you can get both from DynDNS.com as well as our MailHop services. You can buy the necessary services at the same time as MailHop Forward on the Add Zone Services page.

Step Two: Creating MailHop Forward Service

First, you will need to add MailHop Forward to your domain using the Add Zone Services wizard. Enter your domain name (domain.com, not www.domain.com) and select "Yes, I need e-mail Forwarding for this domain (MailHop Forward features)" under the E-mail section. (You may also choose DNS and domain registration options at this time.)

When you add MailHop Forward to your shopping cart, you will be asked to choose a Service Period between 1 and 5 years, and a Service Level. There are two Service Levels to choose from:

If you intend to have only one or two e-mail addresses at this domain, you may wish to consider MailHop Forward Lite. If you want to receive mail for multiple addresses, and wish to have mail delivered to multiple users at a single address, MailHop Forward Full is a better option.

When you select a Service Level and click Next, you will be prompted to choose your first alias. An alias is the receiving address at your domain, such as user@domain.com. The Forwarding Address is the mailbox where your mail will ultimately be delivered, such as mypersonaladdress@example.com. You can send mail to multiple recipients by making a comma-separated list.

You may also enable our optional spam scanning and virus elimination services for this alias. Spam scanning and virus elimination can be enabled on a per-alias basis, allowing you to protect some addresses but leave others open (to prevent any potential false-positives). You can learn more about our anti-spam options here.

Once you have made your choices, the service will be added to your shopping cart. You can continue shopping or check out to create the service.

Step Three: Setting Your MX Records

Now that your MailHop Forward service has been created and activated, you will need to configure your domain's MX records to use our mail servers. It can take up to fifteen minutes to activate, so please be sure to wait a little while before changing your MX records. (You can learn more about MX records here.)

If you are using Custom DNS, you can use the Configure for MailHop link to automatically create the necessary MX records for your domain. If you are using the Expert interface, you can create the records manually using the Add New Record section like so:

If you are using third-party DNS service, you will need to add the MX records to your domain's zone file through their interface.

Once the MX records have been created, e-mail for your domain will be directed towards our mail servers, and they will redeliver your mail to the assigned destination addresses. (If you changed existing MX records, the old information may still be cached, and it may take some time for mail to begin flowing through MailHop Relay. You can learn more about DNS caching here.)

Incorrect settings for your server hostname and relay port may cause mail to be lost. Be certain your configuration is correct by manually sending mail from outside your network through your server on the hostname and port you configured in MailHop Relay before you change your MX records.