Setting Up a SendGrid Account

The Rock Gym Pro email system acts as an interface to manage the emails you send your customers. However, it requires a separate service called SendGrid to actually send the emails.

SendGrid offers a variety of service levels, however, you may want to use the Pro level plan so that your emails are sent from a dedicated IP address to reduce the risk of emails being sent to a spam folder. Multigym facilities can share a single SendGrid account if desired by creating additional API keys for each location (see below). We aren’t associated with SendGrid, so if you have any questions about your SendGrid account or about the deliverability of an email please direct them to the SendGrid Customer Support.

Setting Up your SendGrid Account

1. Go to www.sendgrid.com and create an account

2. In your Sendgrid account complete steps to Verify your Sender Identity go to Settings -> Sender Authentication -> Verify an Address (Get Started)

3. Create a SendGrid API Key go to Settings -> API Keys click the Create API Key button. Give the key Full Access.

4. Domain Authentication
DNS authentication is required for all SendGrid accounts and is how SendGrid verifies the ownership of your Domain. To do this, click on Settings on the left hand side and then Sender Authentication. From there, you should see the Domain Authentication section. Click the Get Started button to begin the process.




On the next page, select your DNS (Domain Name Server), and click Next. Branding the links is not required.



If SendGrid's Automatic Setup is not an option for your particular Domain Host, you will need to manually verify the DNS records. To do this, login to your Domain host provider's website. 

From your Domain Host website, navigate to DNS settings, and add all four DNS records from the SendGrid Install DNS Records page. There are typically four CNAME records and one TXT record to add. 

When adding the DNS records from SendGrid, first select the DNS record type (CNAME or TXT). Next, copy the Host and Points To information into the appropriate fields. Repeat this process for all four records. 

The screenshot below is an example of SendGrid DNS records that need to be added.



The image below is an example of what it may look like when adding the first DNS record in the screenshot above. This part of the process may vary depending on which company hosts your domain.



Once all four records have been added, navigate back to SendGrid and tick the box that you have added the records, and then click Verify. SendGrid will then communicate with your website and verify your ownership. 

At this point, you should get a success message for at least one of the DNS records if they were copied correctly. Only one record needs to work to verify your DNS.


5. Enter API Key in RGP
In Rock Gym Pro, go to Data Entry → Manage → Email System → Settings → SendGrid API Key Integration. Enter the SendGrid API Key that you just created, and complete the other email settings in that window.

6. Be sure that the From Email Address in Data Entry → Manage → Email System → Setting smatches your verified sender email you created in Sendgrid. 

7. In RGP Calendar > Manage Schedule > Settings >Contact Email Address also needs to matches a verified sender email in Sendgrid. This can be a second Sendgrid verified email if desired - i.e. bookings@yourgym.com vs. info@yourgym.com, however, you will need to add the second email using the same instructions in Step 2 above.

Related Articles:

Transactional Email Overview - more information on enabling and testing the email system

How to Create HTML Email Templates with Sendgrid - learn how to create rich text email templates to match your brand.