What is SPF?
Sender Policy Framework, more commonly referred to as SPF, is a record that declares which SMTP/mail servers (other than your own) are allowed to send emails that come from your own domain.
When an email client receives a message, it will typically perform an SPF check to verify that the email actually came from who it says it did. If there isn't a valid SPF record identifying the IP address which sent the email as a sender, some receivers might consider that email as spam/fraudulent or, a phishing attempt, and then either dispose of the message or deliver it as junk/spam (depending on what spam settings you have in place).
Do I really need this?
In short, no. By default, the platform uses a no-reply email address from our domain (e.g. no-reply@brand.worldmanager.com). This means that when emails sent out from the platform are received & checked, it will show that it was sent from our domain and be delivered successfully.
However, if you do not wish to use the default no-reply@brand.worldmanager.com address to send out platform-related emails, and prefer for them to come from your own domain (e.g. no-reply@brand.com), then yes, an SPF record is typically required (and recommended). The reason for this is, when emails are being checked, they will be from your domain, but still get sent out via our mail server - so there is a potential for the check to fail, and the emails to not be delivered. Including our mail server in your SPF record, will authorise our mail server to send emails on behalf of your domains.
Note: You can change the default platform email address at any time via the System Configuration section within the platform. Please refer to Email Settings for more information.
It's also worth mentioning that, some tools within the platform will use the email address configured in the user's profile when sending out emails that they've triggered. For example, when sending out Notices (via email), it will use the Notice creator's email address by default (albeit, there is an option to choose to use the platform's default email address).
Tip: Whilst the Notices tool gives you the option to use the platform's default email address, this is not the case for all tools. For example, when sending out interview invites via the Recruitment tool, it will automatically use the account's email address of the user that is progressing the applicant (with no option to choose otherwise).
How do I set up an SPF record?
The process of setting up an SPF record varies for different environments and domain providers. In any case, this task is typically handled by your IT department/provider, so please consult with them directly for assistance with creating one.
Example SPF Record: v=spf1 include:smtp.worldmanager.com ?all. As you can see, there is an include value in this example SPF record that contains our mail server's (host name) address (smtp.worldmanager.com).
Important: This example SPF record will most likely not work for your particular environment. Hence the importance in consulting with your IT department/provider for assistance.