Verify your Namecheap domain to improve your Buzzshot email deliverability

Does Namecheap manage your domain's DNS?

Buzzshot sends emails to your players for you, such as your "Thanks for playing" emails. Verifying your domain tells other email servers that Buzzshot may send email for you, so fewer of those emails end up in spam.

If Buzzshot shows "uses Namecheap for DNS" on your domain's page, follow the steps below. These steps work when your domain uses Namecheap BasicDNS or PremiumDNS. If it uses Namecheap Web Hosting DNS, add the records in cPanel instead.

Step 1. Find your records in Buzzshot

Log in to your Buzzshot Admin account. Go to Settings → Emails → Verify Sending Domains and click Setup next to your domain. You will see three records: DKIM (a TXT record), Return-Path (a CNAME record) and DMARC (a TXT record). Steps 2 and 3 cover the first two, and Step 4 covers DMARC. Click the copy button next to a value to copy it.

Step 2. Open your DNS records in Namecheap

Log in to your Namecheap Domain List, click Manage next to your domain, then open the Advanced DNS tab.

Namecheap adds your domain to the end of every Host you enter. Type only the part before your domain (Buzzshot greys out the domain part). If you paste the full name, Namecheap saves it with your domain twice and the record will not verify.

Add the DKIM record

  1. Click Add New Record.
  2. Set Type to TXT Record.
  3. In Host, enter the DKIM hostname from Buzzshot without your domain, for example 20240325pm._domainkey.
  4. In Value, paste the DKIM text value from Buzzshot.
  5. Leave TTL on Automatic.
  6. Click Save All Changes.

Add the Return-Path record

  1. Click Add New Record.
  2. Set Type to CNAME Record.
  3. In Host, enter buzzbounces.
  4. In Value, enter pm.mtasv.net.
  5. Leave TTL on Automatic.
  6. Click Save All Changes.

If you already have a record with the Host buzzbounces, delete it or change it to match. Two records on the same Host can clash.

Step 3. Verify in Buzzshot

Go back to your domain's page in Buzzshot and click Re-Verify. Once DKIM and Return-Path show a green tick, go on to Step 4. Status on the Verify Sending Domains page shows Missing DMARC until you have.

Step 4. Add a DMARC record

DMARC tells mail providers that email from your domain is genuine. Your domain needs a DMARC record: Microsoft requires one, so without it emails to Outlook.com, Hotmail, Live and MSN addresses may not be delivered. Set up DMARC explains why. The DMARC row on your domain's page in Buzzshot shows what we found, with a button to copy the value you need.

First, check whether it is already there

A domain can have only one DMARC record, and a second one could make both stop working. Before you add anything, open your DNS records as you did in Step 2 and look through the list for a TXT record named _dmarc.

  • You find one: do not add another. Click Re-Verify in Buzzshot. If the DMARC row shows Verified, you are finished. If it shows Invalid, follow the warning on the page, or see Fix a record that does not work.
  • You do not find one: add it as shown below.

Add the DMARC record

  1. Click Add New Record.
  2. Set Type to TXT Record.
  3. In Host, enter _dmarc.
  4. In Value, enter v=DMARC1; p=none;
  5. Leave TTL on Automatic.
  6. Click Save All Changes.

Then go to your domain's page in Buzzshot and click Re-Verify. The DMARC row now shows a green tick. On the Verify Sending Domains page, Status shows Verified and DMARC policy shows None with a green tick. None is the policy you just set, so you are done.

Troubleshooting

  • New Namecheap records usually work within 30 minutes, but can sometimes take longer.
  • If a record stays unverified, open it in Namecheap and check the Host does not end with your domain.
  • If you can't see the host records on the Advanced DNS tab, your domain uses other nameservers. Add the records wherever your DNS is managed instead.
  • If the DMARC row still shows Missing after you click Re-Verify, check that the record's type is TXT and its name is _dmarc, then try again later.
  • If it shows Invalid, the warning below it says what is wrong with the record.
  • If you still can't get things to verify, book a call with the Buzzshot team and we'll go through it with you.

Any questions or feedback are gratefully received. Please use the message button on the bottom right of the screen or the "Help & Support" option within the app. Or feel free to email or call.