Skip to main content
FAQ: Emails

Answers to frequently-asked questions about sending and receiving emails through HoneyBook

Updated over a week ago

Logistics for sending emails

How do I send an email or file to just one person?

If you want a quick way to do this, create a related workspace.

Whenever you create a project, you automatically create a workspace for that project. Any participants that you add to the project will receive all emails or files sent through it.

If you need to send an email or file to just one person or a specific group of people related to the project, you can add related workspaces within your main project. These related workspaces allow separate communication lines that are only visible to the participants you add, while still keeping track of any activity, such as payments or signatures, under the main project. Here's how to create a related workspace.

Once you've added multiple workspaces within a project, you can switch between them by selecting the workspace at the bottom of the grey section labeled Only visible to you under Related Workspaces. Then, you can simply send a message or file from within that workspace.

What email address will my emails and files send from?

If you connected your business email, any messages or files you send from a project will show as being from you and your actual email address.

If you haven't connected your business email, all emails and documents you send will still look like they come from you and your business name, but will actually be sent through a HoneyBook email proxy.

What about if I have a project that has multiple team members?

When a file or email is sent, it will always show the name of the person who originally created it, even if someone else on the team actually sends it.

For example, if Team Member 1 makes a file but Team Member 2 sends it, it will still say it was sent by Team Member 1.

Only owner, super admin, and admin permission levels can edit and send files drafted by other team members.

What about for emails or files sent through an automation?

Automation emails & files will always sent by the project owner, regardless of who created or applied the automation.

For example, if Team Member 1 is the assigned owner of a project, and Team Member 2 applies an automation that sends an email, that email will still appear as being sent by the project owner (Team Member 1).

How can I prevent emails from being marked as spam?

Ensuring that your emails reach their recipients is very important. However, it can be quite challenging to determine why a message might not be delivered or identified as spam, as there are many factors involved.

That said, there are several actions you can take to increase the chances of your messages reaching their intended recipients:

When can I add attachments to my emails?

Pretty much any time! You're able to add attachments to emails you send through:

However, at the moment, you cannot add attachments to payment reminder emails.

Can I embed photos in my emails?

At this time, photos cannot be embedded in emails/included in the body of messages. You can, however, add photos as email attachments.


What emails look like in HoneyBook

What emails show in HoneyBook?

HoneyBook looks at the sender, recipients, and threading of a message. If a message meets the criteria below, it will appear in the corresponding HoneyBook project’s activity feed, where you and the other project participants can reference the message along with other emails, important project details, files, and actions.

📣 Note

These rules apply regardless of if you have email integration set up. Integrating your email allows you to change the sender email and ensures that all of the communication you send through HoneyBook appears in your email inbox–it does not mean that all messages you or a client send will appear in HoneyBook.

What messages will appear in a HoneyBook project:

  • Any messages sent directly through the project’s activity feed

  • Responses (can be sent through the project’s activity feed or an email inbox) sent to a message that originated in the HoneyBook project

What messages will not appear in a HoneyBook project:

  • Any other messages

If you or a client start a new thread from your email inbox, it will not appear in HoneyBook, even if you have email integration set up.

Who receives emails in a project?

When there's new activity in a project that you own or are associated with—whether sent directly through the activity feed, or when files are sent and acted upon—here's when to expect an email notification regarding that activity.

Adding a participant to a project

If you are adding a participant to a new project or workspace that contains no activity yet (i.e., no emails or files have been sent), neither client participants nor team members you add will receive an email notification.

If you are adding a participant to a project or workspace that already has activity (emails or files have been sent), all client participants and team members you subsequently add will receive an email notification.

Activity feed: sending and receiving messages

If a project owner, team member participant, or client participant sends a message through the activity feed, emails will go to the:

When a response comes in on that email thread, all project participants will be notified of the response as well.

Files: sending, and activity on files once sent

When a file is sent, emails will go to the:

If a client sends a response to message containing a file, or if action is taken on the file (i.e., it has been viewed, signed, or received a payment), emails will go to the:

  • Team member who created the file

Additional team members associated with the project—even the project or account owner—will not be notified for any actions related to files they did not create.


Multiple companies and emails

How do login emails and multiple companies work?

The email that you use to log into HoneyBook is account-based, not company based. This means that you'll always use the same email as you toggle between your companies. The email listed in your account settings' account info is the email that you'll use across your companies.

How do email integrations and multiple companies work?

Email integrations live under your Company Settings, which means you can integrate a different business email for each company. Here's how to connect a business email to HoneyBook.

  • This email will show as the sender whenever you send a message from the corresponding company

  • Even if you’re integrating different emails across companies, you will still have one login email per account

  • At this time, one email host can be integrated per company, per login


DKIM, SPF, and DMARC

DKIM, SPF, and DMARC are a set of email authentication records used by the email industry to help email recipients identify the authenticity of an email and its origin. When you define these records for your custom domain, you significantly decrease the likelihood of your email being marked as spam or rejected.

📣 Note

If you use HoneyBook’s default email sending service, no need to be concerned about DKIM, SPF, or DMARC because HoneyBook handles this for you.

If you integrate your email with HoneyBook and that email uses a custom domain (e.g. @yourbusinessname.com) and not a generic name (e.g. @gmail.com), you should define DKIM, SPF and DMARC records with your custom domain provider.

What is DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)?

This security protocol signs every email sent from your domain with a public key, so that the servers of those receiving your email can validate that the email was sent and authorized by you.

In other words, DKIM is like putting a unique stamp on all your letters. It helps prove that the email came from you and wasn’t changed along the way.

DKIM records are TXT records. A DKIM record includes both a TXT record name and TXT record value that contains the DKIM key. Both the record name and record value should be generated by your email provider and then added to the Domain Name System (DNS) settings of your domain provider.

Here is an example* of a DKIM record name and record value:

  • Name: mail._domainkey.example.com

  • Value: v=DKIM1; p=36E374F292D293747382EEEEBF3834720374CKAHEH23JLUHRWORHQ23EERS9FHK

*Do not use the above DKIM record—this is just an example.

What is Sender Policy Framework (SPF)?

This security protocol defines a list of IP addresses that are permitted to send emails from your domain name.

In other words, think of SPF like a VIP list for your party (aka your email domain). It tells email servers which guests (mail servers) are allowed to send emails from your domain. When you send an email, the receiving server checks your domain’s SPF record to make sure the email is coming from a server on your VIP list. If it is, great! If not, it might mark the email as spam.

SPF records are TXT records that store information about your domain. SPF records will look different depending on how you configure them to behave.

Here is an example* of what an SPF record can look like:

  • v=spf1 include:_spf.website.com ~all

*Do not use the above SPF record—this is just an example.

What is Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC)?

This security protocol builds upon SPF and DKIM by providing a way for email recipients to determine if an email message is legitimate, fraudulent, or suspicious.

In other words, you can think of DMARC as the boss that takes the rules from SPF and DKIM and decides what to do if the rules aren’t followed. It’s like setting house rules for what happens if someone crashes the party.

DMARC records are TXT records that incorporate both DKIM and SPF. Prior to setting up DMARC, you will need to make sure DKIM and SPF are set up for your domain.

Here is an example* of a DMARC policy record:

*Do not use the above DMARC record for your domain—this is just an example.

What are the 2024 spam protection updates?

Effective February 2024, Google and Yahoo will be implementing stricter requirements for any businesses or entities that send commercial emails, in an effort to reduce email spam. Both platforms have already been blocking senders who have high spam complaints or missing domain records.

How can I check my DKIM and SPF records in HoneyBook?

Start by verifying your email authentication through HoneyBook's DKIM and SPF domain tester. If the authentication fails, it’s crucial to follow the steps in the domain tester to update these records, as your emails are likely to go to spam otherwise. After verifying your DKIM and SPF, you can also check your DMARC settings to make sure it’s set properly as well.


AI composer

How does the AI composer work?

For new leads

When a new lead comes in via HoneyBook lead form or contact form, your company name, industry type, and the fields of the contact form are received by the AI composer. The composer drafts up a suggested response in real-time: an email reply that's personally tailored to your lead and matches your tone.

For client emails

The AI composer for project emails takes in the historical communication from the corresponding project, project context, and your own personal style; then uses this information to generate a suggested email reply.

Custom prompts

The AI composer takes in your custom prompts, historical communication and your company details, then uses this information to generate a suggested email reply.

When can the AI composer start suggesting responses?

In order for the AI composer to generate an accurate and complete response, there needs to have been enough communication history in the corresponding project.

  • For leads: When a new lead comes in via HoneyBook contact form or lead form

  • For client emails: When at least 2 client emails have been sent in the project

📣 Note

More communication history may be needed for the AI composer to suggest a response for leads that come in through Zapier. Consider using AI custom prompts for these situations.

Can I turn off the AI composer?

Yes, you can turn off the AI composer and all suggested responses.

From desktop

  1. From any page, click your profile photo > Company settings

  2. Select AI Preferences

  3. Toggle Automatic email drafts OFF

From mobile

  1. Open the HoneyBook mobile app

  2. Tap your profile photo

  3. Scroll down and tap App preferences

  4. Toggle AI composer OFF

How do I access a suggested response from the AI composer once the notification goes away?

Even after the corresponding notification disappears, you'll still be able to access the AI composer's suggested response. Open the corresponding project > select the AI composer icon by the email composer.

Do I have to use the AI composer's suggested responses?

No, you don't have to use the AI composer's suggested responses. If you'd prefer, you can always create a different response and send it off to the project participants.


Still have questions? Feel free to send us a message by clicking the Question Mark icon on any HoneyBook page. Our team is always happy to help!

Did this answer your question?