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Production Checklist

Going to Production

Before sending your first campaign to real subscribers, work through this checklist. Each item here prevents a specific failure mode - skipping any of them usually results in broken links, emails going to spam, or tracking not working.

Infrastructure

  • Domain A record is pointing to your server IP and has propagated
  • SSL certificate is active - https://mail.yourdomain.com loads with a padlock
  • INSTALLATION_URL in your .env is set to your HTTPS domain (e.g. https://mail.yourdomain.com)

SMTP and deliverability

  • SMTP provider is configured in OwnMaily Settings and a test email sends successfully
  • Your sending domain is verified with your SMTP provider - you should see a green verified status in their dashboard
  • SPF and DKIM DNS records are in place - your SMTP provider adds these during domain verification and shows you exactly what to add. Check their documentation: Resend, Mailgun, Amazon SES
  • DMARC record is added to your domain. This is a separate record from SPF and DKIM. A minimal starting record: v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:[email protected] - your SMTP provider may have specific recommendations

Sending test

  • Send a test campaign to your own email address and confirm it lands in the inbox (not spam)
  • Open the email and click the unsubscribe link - it should work and redirect to a confirmation page
  • Click a link in the email - it should track the click and redirect you to the correct destination
  • Check your OwnMaily analytics dashboard - the test send should show as delivered, and the open and click should register after you open/click

Subscribers

  • Your list is imported or subscribers have started joining via your signup form
  • If you are using double opt-in, send a test signup and confirm the confirmation email arrives and the confirmation link works

Check your bounce rate after your first send. A high bounce rate (above 5%) signals that your list has stale or invalid addresses. Clean your list before sending again - repeated high bounce rates can get your sending domain flagged by your SMTP provider.

Before a large send

If this is your first time sending to a large list (10,000+ subscribers), consider warming up your sending domain first. Send to smaller segments over a few days before blasting the full list. Most SMTP providers have guidance on this - it reduces the chance of your domain being flagged as spam by inbox providers.