When you move your Choir Genius site to a custom domain, such as www.yourchoir.com, you will need to decide how incoming email for that domain will be handled.
This is especially important if you already have email addresses such as:
These are domain email accounts, and they are different from Choir Genius mailing lists.
This guide explains the difference and what you need to decide before moving your site to a custom domain.
Domain Email and Mailing Lists Are Not the Same Thing
Domain email
Domain email is a traditional email account or mailbox hosted by an email provider such as Google Workspace or Microsoft Outlook.
For example:
Mail sent to this address is delivered to an inbox where someone can read, reply to, organize, and store messages.
If your choir already uses Google, Outlook, or another email provider for addresses on your domain, you are using external domain email.
Choir Genius mailing lists
Choir Genius mailing lists are communication tools within Choir Genius.
They allow you to send messages to groups of people based on your Choir Genius membership and mailing-list setup.
When Choir Genius is also handling incoming email for your domain, messages sent to your Choir Genius mailing-list addresses can be received and processed through Choir Genius.
These addresses are not individual email inboxes like Gmail or Outlook accounts.
Why Do I Have to Choose?
Your domain needs to know which email system should receive incoming mail.
This is controlled through your domain's DNS settings. In particular, email routing records tell other mail systems where messages addressed to @yourchoir.com should be delivered.
Because of this, you need to choose between:
-
Choir Genius handling incoming domain email, including incoming messages to CG mailing lists; or
-
An external email provider, such as Google or Outlook, handling incoming domain email.
You cannot have both systems independently receive incoming email for the same domain at the same time.
Option 1: Use Choir Genius Mailing Lists for Incoming Email
Choose this option if you want incoming messages addressed to your Choir Genius mailing lists to be handled by Choir Genius.
For example, your group may want to use addresses associated with its Choir Genius mailing lists rather than maintaining separate Google or Outlook mailboxes.
With this setup:
-
Choir Genius handles incoming mail for your domain
-
Choir Genius mailing-list addresses can receive incoming messages
-
Mailing lists can be used for group communication
-
You can optionally use the Public Inbox for public-facing incoming messages
What about addresses like info@yourchoir.com?
If you need a general public contact address, the Public Inbox can provide an incoming-message workflow within Choir Genius.
For example, you may want the public to contact your group at an address such as:
or
A Public Inbox allows Choir Genius to receive messages sent to that address and forward them to the people you have designated to receive them.
However, it is important to understand that a Public Inbox is not an email mailbox or outgoing email account.
A Public Inbox:
-
Receives messages sent by the public
-
Forwards those messages to designated people in your organization
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Cannot be used to compose or send new messages to the public
-
Cannot be used as the sending address when replying to someone
If one of the designated recipients replies to a message they received through the Public Inbox, the reply will come from that person's own email address, not from the Public Inbox address.
For example:
Someone emails:
The Public Inbox forwards that message to your designated recipient.
If that person replies, the public sender may receive a response from:
rather than:
This means the Public Inbox works well as a receiving and forwarding address, but it should not be treated like a shared mailbox where your organization can send and receive email using the same public-facing address.
If your group needs staff or volunteers to send and reply to messages using an address such as info@yourchoir.com, you will need an external email service that provides an actual mailbox for that address.
Important
If Choir Genius is handling your incoming domain email, you cannot also use an external email provider such as Google Workspace or Microsoft Outlook to host mailboxes on that same domain.
Option 2: Keep Your Existing Google, Outlook, or Other Domain Email
Choose this option if your choir already has established email accounts such as:
and you want those accounts to continue working through your existing email provider.
With this setup:
-
Your existing email provider continues to receive mail for @yourchoir.com
-
Your existing individual mailboxes continue to work
-
Choir Genius does not receive incoming email for its mailing-list addresses
-
Replies and incoming messages are managed through your external email system
Can I still send email from Choir Genius?
Yes.
Choosing an external email provider does not prevent you from using Choir Genius to send communications.
You can still:
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Send messages from within Choir Genius
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Send bulletins and other communications to members
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Use your Choir Genius mailing lists by posting to them from within the site
When you post to a mailing list inside Choir Genius, the message will still be sent out to everyone on that list.
The difference is that the mailing-list address itself cannot receive incoming email when your domain's email is being handled by Google, Outlook, or another external provider.
This means:
-
Members can receive messages sent through the mailing list
-
Replies should be directed to the individual sender
-
Members cannot send a new message directly to the mailing-list address
-
If someone tries to email the Choir Genius mailing-list address directly, the message will bounce back as undeliverable
So, with external domain email, Choir Genius mailing lists still work as an outgoing communication tool when used from within the site, but they cannot be used as incoming or reply-to mailing lists.
Sending vs. Receiving: The Important Difference
This is the distinction that causes the most confusion.
If you keep external domain email:
Choir Genius can still SEND email.
What it cannot do is RECEIVE incoming email through its mailing-list addresses on your custom domain.
For example, if your choir uses Google Workspace for yourchoir.com:
-
Sending a bulletin or message from Choir Genius → Yes
-
Posting to a CG mailing list from within Choir Genius → Yes
-
Members receiving that mailing-list message → Yes
-
Members replying directly to the individual sender → Yes
-
Receiving incoming mail through Google at director@yourchoir.com → Yes
-
Sending a new message directly to the CG mailing-list address → No
-
Replying to the CG mailing-list address → No — the message will bounce back
Your domain's incoming email is being routed to Google, so Choir Genius is not receiving those messages.
Which Option Should We Choose?
Use Choir Genius for incoming email if:
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You primarily want to use Choir Genius mailing lists for group communication
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You want members to be able to send messages to your mailing-list addresses
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You do not need separate Gmail, Outlook, or other hosted mailboxes on your domain
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You want to use the Choir Genius Public Inbox for general incoming enquiries
-
You are comfortable with Public Inbox replies coming from the designated recipient's personal or individual email address
Keep your external email provider if:
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Your choir already uses Google Workspace, Outlook, or another email service
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Committee members or staff rely on individual @yourchoir.com mailboxes
-
You want to keep your existing email history and workflow
-
You need to send and reply to public messages using an address such as info@yourchoir.com
-
You are comfortable using CG mailing lists as outgoing-only lists posted to from within Choir Genius
-
Receiving messages through CG mailing-list addresses is not important to your group
For established organizations already using domain email, keeping the existing email provider is often the least disruptive option.
Decide Before Moving to a Custom Domain
If you are planning to move your Choir Genius site from:
yourchoir.choirgenius.com
to:
please decide how your domain email should work before the move is scheduled.
When contacting Choir Genius Support, let us know whether you want to:
A. Use Choir Genius for incoming email and mailing lists
or
B. Keep your existing external email provider
This allows us to configure your custom domain correctly without disrupting your choir's email.
If you are not sure which setup you currently use, please let Support know before making any DNS or nameserver changes.
