ChiDesk uses either your own SMTP server, or SendGrid for sending email messages. If you don't have SMTP details, or you need to send and track a large volume of emails we recommend using SendGrid. Their packages start at around $10 for 40,000 emails per month.
By logging into your SendGrid account you can see detailed statistics about your email sending, including the number of opens, bounces and other important marketing information.
Setup a SendGrid account
- Navigate to https://sendgrid.com/pricing and select the Free Plan option.
- Submit your account details and confirm your email address.
- Submit your profile details. Select the "Transactional" for the email type selection.
- Once you are logged into your account click on the Settings menu option in the left-hand menu, and then select API Keys.
- Click the Create API Key button and select General API Key.
- Enter ChiDesk as the name, and then under the Mail Send section select the Full Access radio option.
- Click the Save button and new screen will appear showing your API key.
- Select this key and paste it into the SendGrid Api Key text box in the Add Ons - SendGrid section of ChiDesk.
- You must also enter a From Name and From Email. These will indicate to your client who the email is from, and if they respond to the email it will go to this email address.
- Make sure you setup a valid Sender in SendGrid that matches the email address and domain you'll be using to send from ChiDesk. You will need to setup the various DKIM and other details to ensure your sending is verified.