Sending and Delivery
| Term | Meaning | Read more |
|---|---|---|
| Transactional email | A message sent because of a user’s action or an account event, such as a receipt or reset | First send |
| SMTP relay | A server that accepts email from your app and passes it toward the recipient’s mail server | SMTP settings |
| Email API | An HTTP service your app calls with a message and recipients | REST API |
| Transactional template | An email design stored in AhaSend and sent by ID through the API, with values per recipient; not the same as a campaign template | Transactional templates |
| Envelope sender | The SMTP sender used for delivery errors; it can differ from the visible From address | Authentication |
| Return-path | The address used for delivery-status messages, normally based on the envelope sender | Domain records |
| MX record | A DNS record that names a domain’s receiving mail servers | Inbound routing |
| STARTTLS | An SMTP command that upgrades a connection to TLS encryption before authentication | SMTP settings |
| Implicit TLS | TLS that starts as soon as the connection opens, before any SMTP command; AhaSend uses it on port 465 | Port 465 |
| Dedicated IP | A sending IP assigned to one sender account rather than shared with other senders | Dedicated IPs |
| Warm-up | Gradually increasing legitimate sending while checking receiving systems’ responses | Deliverability |
Authentication and Reputation
| Term | Meaning | Read more |
|---|---|---|
| SPF | A DNS policy describing which servers may send for the envelope sender’s domain | SPF, DKIM and DMARC |
| DKIM | A signature that lets receivers check a message against the signing domain’s public key | Authentication |
| DKIM selector | The name used to find the public key in DNS | Domain records |
| DMARC | A policy that ties passing SPF or DKIM to the visible From domain | Authentication |
| Alignment | The domain match required between a passing authentication result and the From domain | DMARC alignment |
| Sender reputation | Receiving systems’ view of a sender based on its sending history and signals such as complaints | Deliverability |
Results and Application Events
| Term | Meaning | Read more |
|---|---|---|
| Acceptance | AhaSend agreed to process a message; the final outcome is still pending | Sending responses |
| Delivered | The recipient server accepted the message; inbox placement is not guaranteed | Delivery event |
| Bounce | A rejected delivery or a later notice that delivery failed | Bounce handling |
| Suppression | A record that prevents sending to an address for its applicable domain scope | Suppression rules |
| Webhook | An HTTP notification from AhaSend to your app when an event occurs | Webhook setup |
| Idempotency key | A value linking repeat API requests so a stored result can be replayed | Limits and retry rules |
| Sandbox | A test mode that processes a message without delivering it to the recipient | Sandbox mode |
| Retention | How long message data or metadata is kept | Retention settings |
Campaigns and Marketing Mail
| Term | Meaning | Read more |
|---|---|---|
| Campaign | One email sent with Campaign Builder to one or more lists, over the marketing infrastructure | Campaign Builder |
| Campaign template | A reusable design that a campaign copies when it is made; not the same as a transactional template | Templates and editors |
| Contact | One person in the account, found by email address, with standard and custom fields | Contacts and lists |
| List | A group of contacts and the unit a campaign targets; each contact has its own status on each list | Contacts and lists |
| Sending type | The transactional or marketing setting of a domain, which decides the infrastructure and limit for API and SMTP mail from it | Sending type |
| Daily marketing limit | The rolling 24-hour limit for campaigns and other marketing mail of an account, separate from the hourly transactional limit | Marketing limit |
| Review | AhaSend’s check of a campaign’s lists and content before it is sent | Test, review and send |