mooresunnydaze/docs/email-migration.md

Moore Sunny Daze — Email Migration: Gmail → MXroute

Current State

• Tim & Ashley use a @gmail.com address for rental inquiries
• Business correspondence mixed with personal email
• No professional domain-based email

Target State

• Email: reservations@mooresunnydaze.com (or hello@, stay@ — TBD)
• Platform: Germaine's MXroute account
• Access: Webmail (Roundcube) + IMAP/SMTP for phone/desktop

Steps

1. Create mailbox on MXroute

# Via MXroute DirectAdmin (Germaine's account)
# Add new mailbox: reservations@mooresunnydaze.com
# Generate strong password, save to Vaultwarden

2. Configure DNS at Cloudflare

After domain transfer is complete, add MX records:

Type  Name  Content                    Priority  TTL
MX    @     mx1.mxroute.com            10        120
MX    @     mx2.mxroute.com            20        120
TXT   @     v=spf1 include:mxroute.com ~all    120

3. Add DKIM (if MXroute provides it)

• Get DKIM record from MXroute control panel
• Add as TXT record in Cloudflare DNS

4. Add DMARC (optional but recommended)

Type  Name            Content
TXT   _dmarc          v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:g@germainebrown.com

5. Test email delivery

# Send test from external account
echo "test" | mail -s "Test" reservations@mooresunnydaze.com

# Verify receipt in Roundcube
# Send reply back

# Check SPF/DKIM/DMARC at mail-tester.com

6. Migrate existing emails (if needed)

• Google Takeout export of Gmail mailbox
• Import to MXroute via IMAP migration tool
• OR: set up Gmail forwarding for 90 days

7. Configure on Tim & Ashley's devices

• iPhone: Settings → Mail → Add Account → Other → IMAP
  • Server: mail.mxroute.com
  • IMAP port: 993 (SSL)
  • SMTP port: 587 (STARTTLS) or 465 (SSL)
• Desktop: same IMAP settings in Apple Mail / Outlook / Thunderbird

8. Update all listings

• VRBO/Airbnb contact email → reservations@mooresunnydaze.com
• Facebook page contact → reservations@mooresunnydaze.com
• New website contact → reservations@mooresunnydaze.com
• Business cards/signage if any

9. Transition period (90 days)

• Set Gmail auto-reply: "We've moved! Please email reservations@mooresunnydaze.com"
• Forward Gmail → MXroute for 90 days
• After 90 days: remove forwarding, keep Gmail for personal use only

Email addresses to set up

Address	Purpose	Who accesses
reservations@	Booking inquiries, guest communication	Tim & Ashley
stay@	Alternative booking alias	Tim & Ashley
tim@	Owner direct	Tim
ashley@	Owner direct	Ashley

Cost

• $0 additional — included in Germaine's existing MXroute plan
• Domain email hosting = free with our hosting