Automated DNS Setup Emails

When customers connect their own domains to your application, configuring DNS is often the biggest onboarding hurdle.

In many organizations, the person using your application isn’t the same person who manages the company’s DNS. As a result, customers often have to copy DNS records from your dashboard and forward them to an IT administrator or web developer before setup can continue.

To simplify this process, Hostgrid can automatically send a DNS setup email containing everything needed to configure the domain.

The recipient doesn’t need access to your Hostgrid dashboard—they simply follow the instructions in the email.

How it works

When creating a custom domain, you can optionally provide an Instructions Email Recipient.

Once the domain is created, Hostgrid immediately sends a DNS setup guide to that email address.

Create Domain
        │
        ▼
Enter Instructions Email Recipient
        │
        ▼
Hostgrid sends DNS setup email
        │
        ▼
Recipient configures DNS
        │
        ▼
Hostgrid verifies the domain
        │
        ▼
SSL is provisioned and the domain becomes active

This allows the person responsible for DNS to begin setup immediately, reducing delays caused by forwarding screenshots or manually copying DNS records.

Configuring the email recipient

When creating or editing a custom domain, you’ll find the Instructions Email Recipient field.

Instructions Email Recipient Field

Enter the email address of the person who should receive the DNS setup instructions.

For example:

admin@customer.com
it@customer.com
webmaster@example.org

This field is optional.

If you leave it blank, no email will be sent.

What’s included in the email

The email contains everything needed to configure the domain, including:

The custom domain being connected
The DNS records that need to be created
Step-by-step setup instructions
Information about what happens after DNS verification

The recipient does not need to sign in to Hostgrid or access your dashboard.

Example email

After a domain is created, the recipient receives an email similar to the following:

Automated DNS Instructions Emails

Why use automated DNS setup emails?

Automating DNS instructions can help you:

Reduce customer onboarding friction
Eliminate manual copy-and-paste of DNS records
Avoid support tickets asking for DNS instructions
Help non-technical customers involve the right person sooner
Speed up custom domain activation

For SaaS platforms that onboard many customers, this can significantly reduce the amount of manual support required for domain setup.

Best practices

For the fastest setup, send DNS instructions to the person responsible for managing the customer’s DNS.

This is often:

An IT administrator
A web developer
A website administrator
The team’s DNS or infrastructure administrator

If the person connecting the domain isn’t responsible for DNS, they can provide the appropriate contact when creating the domain.