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— Setup walkthrough

Send from your own domain

Alva Courses sends its course emails, such as enrolment and certificate emails, from a shared alvaapps.com address by default. Add and verify your own sending domain to switch the From address to your brand, so learners see emails coming straight from you.

Last updated · October 13, 2026 Read time · 3 min Author ·

How it works

By default Alva Courses sends course emails from a shared alvaapps.com address with your store name shown as the sender. Adding your own domain lets you authenticate it with a DKIM record and a Return-Path record so mailbox providers trust the mail as genuinely yours. Once the DKIM record verifies, every course email — enrolment confirmations, certificates and notifications — sends from the address you entered.

Set up your sending domain

1. Open email settings

In the Shopify admin, open Alva Courses, go to Settings, and select Email Settings. Find the Own Email Domain section, which lets you send emails from your own domain instead of alvaapps.com.

The Own Email Domain section after setup: your From address stays Pending until Record #1 (DKIM) and Record #2 (Return-Path) verify.

2. Enter your From address

Under Email address from which you want to send notifications, enter the address learners should see — for example courses@yourbrand.com — and click Set Up Domain. Alva Courses then lists the two DNS records that verify the domain. Public domains such as gmail.com are refused.

3. Add the DNS records

Each record lists a Type, Host Name and Value. Add both to your domain's DNS host exactly as listed, using the Copy buttons. Record #1 is the DKIM record and Record #2 is the Return-Path record. No separate SPF record is needed.

4. Verify the records

Back in Alva Courses, click Verify DNS Records. Each record's badge turns from Unverified to Verified as it passes. Nothing re-checks in the background, so click again once DNS has propagated. Course emails switch to your address as soon as the DKIM record verifies. To change the address, click Remove Domain and set it up again.

What learners see

Course emails now arrive from your verified address with your brand as the sender, so learners recognise the mail and are more likely to open it. Replies go to that address too, and the enrolment email's plain-text contact line names it, so use a mailbox you check. Authentication helps inbox providers trust the mail, but as the section's warning notes, deliverability from your own domain is your responsibility.

See also

Email & notifications

Customize the enrolment email

Edit the subject, message and call-to-action learners get when they enrol.

 Email & notifications

Comment notifications

Control the emails sent when learners post and reply in discussions.

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Last updated 2026-10-13