Sending Connections: How Campaigns Send
A sending connection is the named sender PhishGrid uses to deliver a message — one for Email, SMS, WhatsApp or Voice. This page explains which connections you can use, which one a campaign picks, and how to choose a different one.
Two kinds of connections
| Kind | Who can use it | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Shared (global) connection | Every workspace | Provided by PhishGrid. Nothing to set up — email, for example, works out of the box. |
| Your own connection | Only your workspace | Added for your workspace (for example, your own SMTP relay or SMS account) by your PhishGrid administrator. |
Connections are identified by a name (for example, India SMS), not by the provider behind them.
The default connection
Each channel has one default connection at each level:
- one shared default per channel, used by everyone who hasn't set up their own;
- one default per channel inside your workspace, if you have your own connections.
If your workspace has its own connection for a channel, your default is used instead of the shared one. If it has none, the shared default is used. Marking a different connection as the default automatically replaces the old default — you never end up with two — and the current default can't be deleted until another is chosen.
Which connection does a campaign use?
For each message, PhishGrid uses the first match from this list:
- A group selected on the template (a set of connections that share the load and fail over).
- The connection you chose when launching the campaign.
- The connection saved on the template.
- Your workspace default for that channel, otherwise the shared default.
You can only select a connection that is shared or belongs to your workspace; connections from other workspaces are never available.
A template created without choosing a connection keeps the default that was active when it was created. If you later change your default and want an older template to follow it, open the template and select the new connection.
Choose a connection for one campaign
- Start a campaign and work through the wizard as in Create Your First Campaign.
- Open Advanced on the sending step.
- Under Sending Gateway (override), pick the connection. Leave it blank to use the default.
- Picking a connection also pre-selects its sending and tracking domains; change them in the same panel if needed.
The override applies to this campaign only and only to the channel it belongs to — an email choice never affects the SMS leg of a multi-channel campaign.
Sender name, domains and timing
These settings change how the message looks and when it goes, never which connection sends:
- Sending domain — the domain in the From address. Your campaign choice wins over the template's, which wins over the connection's own domain.
- Tracking / landing domain — hosts the open pixel, links and landing pages. Campaign choice, then template, then the sending domain (when it is validated for tracking), then the PhishGrid default.
- Sender name, address and reply-to — set in the Personalize step; these win over the template's values.
- Schedule — send immediately, at a set time, or spread across a date range (see Campaign Scheduling Strategies). Connections may also have a daily message limit; messages over the limit wait for the next day.
Rehearse without sending
Choose the Simulator connection to run a campaign with no external delivery — simulated recipients open, click and report so you can check the setup and report first.
Troubleshooting
- "Template gateway is unavailable for this channel" — no connection exists for that channel. Ask your administrator to add one and mark it as default.
- A connection is missing from the override list — it is disabled, belongs to another workspace, or is for a different channel.
- Emails send but land in spam or aren't received — see Emails not being received and Sending Domains & IPs.