There could be a couple of reasons as to why emails from Stacks aren't showing up in your inbox. Below we discuss the two most common reasons for this.
Email Configuration
If you configure your Stacks site to send emails using an address from your organization’s domain (e.g., info@yourcompany.com), you may encounter deliverability issues.
This is because, by default, Stacks sends emails on your behalf using our own enterprise email service. When your domain is not fully verified with our provider, this can appear as "email spoofing"—a situation where the email seems to come from your domain, but wasn't actually sent through your organization's own servers.
Many email systems are designed to detect and block spoofed messages to prevent phishing and spam. Organizations that enforce strict email authentication policies (like DMARC and DKIM) may reject or mark these emails as suspicious unless certain configurations are in place.
To ensure reliable email delivery, Stacks offers two options:
- Use your own SMTP settings. You can configure your Stacks site to send emails directly through your organization's own SMTP server. This ensures full alignment with your domain’s authentication policies (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) and gives you complete control over outbound email delivery. For more information on how to set this up, see the user guide article SMTP Settings.
- Verify your domain with us. If you prefer to use Stacks’ built-in email sending, we can verify one or a few email addresses that would be used as the "Send From" email; however, we strongly recommend verifying your entire domain as an alternative. Domain-level verification allows us to send emails on your behalf using proper DKIM signatures, which significantly improves deliverability and reduces the chances of emails being flagged or blocked.
Contact EBSCO support for assistance with email or domain verification if using option 2.
EasyForm Email Configuration
If you are using Stacks' built-in email (option 2 described above) and we have verified an email address or your entire domain but you still are not receiving notifications, review the email configuration on your EasyForms.
It's important to remember that the "Send From" must use a verified email address or domain as described above. Some customers have previously selected the email element from the form, which is typically added so the submitter can add their own email address as a way to receive a reply to their submission. The potential problem with this is if the email they add does not match the verified email address or domain then the notification will not be sent.
Instead, ensure the verified email address is selected as the "Send From", then select the email element as the "Reply To," this will ensure notifications are sent as expected and you can still reply directly to your users/patrons inquires and submissions. For more information on EasyForm email notifications, see the user guide article EasyForm Settings - Emails/Handlers.