Mailhop Forward Quick Guide
Categories: E-mail
Whether you want to use a more unique email address to provide that professional touch, or to have an email address that will never change or even if you just do not want to run your own mail server, our MailHop Forward service is exactly what you need.
The way the service works is that mail addressed to user@yourdomain.com will be forwarded to any existing email provider you decide to use, for example, the one you have through your internet provider. If you change email providers then all you do is change where the mail is forwarded to and anyone who writes to you will just continue using the same email address you gave them and it will continue to work.
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 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.
Creating MailHop Forward Service
First, you will need to add MailHop Forward to your domain using the Add Zone Services wizard:
https://www.dyndns.com/account/services/zones/svc/add.htmlEnter your domain name (domain.com, not www.domain.com) and select "Yes, I need email 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:
- Mailhop Forward Light: Allows you to create up to five aliases (receiving addresses) for your domain, with one recipient per alias
- Mailhop Forward Full: Allows you to create unlimited aliases, with up to ten recipients per alias
If you intend to have only one or two email 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.
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 find out more about MX records here:
https://www.dyndns.com/support/kb/email_mail_exchangers_and_dns.htmlIf 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 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, email for your domain will be directed towards our mail servers, and they will redeliver your mail to the assigned destination addresses.