Short Links Settings

By default, Reteno uses the domain esclick.me to shorten links in messages. Add your own domain, for example yourbrandname.link, so that the links in your messages sit on a domain of yours instead of one shared with other companies.

While the account has no custom domain, a notice about it appears when you create a campaign. It is a recommendation, not a restriction — the campaign sends on the default domain as well. The notice is about the domain the links are wrapped in, not about the addresses in the email itself.

📘

Note

A custom short link domain is used only for tracked and shortened links in messages. It does not authenticate the sender domain, replace SPF, DKIM, or DMARC setup, or warm up the sender domain used in the From address. Adding, changing, or removing it doesn't affect email deliverability either.

To use a custom short link domain, add a domain or subdomain that you control and create the DNS CNAME record generated in Reteno. The subdomain does not have to host a website, but it must be configured in DNS and point to the target shown in your account. A single CNAME record is enough — no TXT, A, or MX records are required.

Allocate a separate subdomain for short links. Don't use a domain or subdomain already assigned for sending emails (it has an MX record) — for such a domain, verification fails with the cname required error.

A link whose address is built by an expression rather than starting with a protocol — a Velocity variable, for example — is not shortened: it gets no identifier, so there is no short key to build. See Short Links and Dynamic URLs for workarounds.

For email, tracked URLs are shortened in both the HTML content and the automatically generated text/plain part. This keeps click tracking consistent when an email client displays the plain-text version instead of HTML.

The label in your default esclick.me subdomain (e.g., xxx.esclick.me) is generated from the Name field entered when your account/workspace was registered. It can't be changed from account settings — contact Reteno support if you need it updated. Changing it breaks the short links in messages that have already been sent: those links keep pointing at the old subdomain.

One short link domain — the default esclick.me subdomain or a custom domain — is used per account and applies to all shortened links in the account. It cannot be selected dynamically per message or per project; if you run several brands or projects, use a separate account for each.

Adding a Custom Domain

1. Go to your account settings → Links → Short links tab and click New custom domain.

2. Enter your domain name — usually a subdomain of your own site, such as click.yourcompany.com — and click Done. The type, host, target, and SSL certificate are generated automatically; you only need to set up a DNS CNAME record pointing to our secure server.

📘

Note

DNS changes can take up to 48 hours to propagate. After that, press Update / Verify domain in Reteno to re-check the record.

If your DNS is hosted on Cloudflare, records that must point directly to Reteno must not sit behind the Cloudflare HTTP proxy — set the relevant CNAME to DNS only (grey cloud), not Proxied (orange cloud).

Before re-checking, confirm the public DNS answer through an external resolver rather than relying on the DNS provider's own panel.

Pointing the record elsewhere. The one supported exception is the AppsFlyer ESP integration: there the record points to AppsFlyer, which passes the click on to our host — see Integrating AppsFlyer Deep Linking. Any other host takes the click away from us, and campaign reports show none.

If the certificate is not issued. A CAA record on your domain limits which certificate authorities may issue certificates for it. When such a record exists and does not list our certificate authority, the SSL certificate for the custom domain is not created, and the error contains the line CAA record for <domain> prevents issuance. Check the CAA record on your domain and allow the issuance in it.

Adding a Destination Domain (Deep Links)

If you need the links to direct users to specific content in the app, create a destination domain.

The association file is served from your own short-link domain only. If no custom domain is set up in the account, the interface still lets you upload the file, but a request to /.well-known/apple-app-site-association returns 404. Set up the short-link domain first, then add the association file.

You can add multiple destination domains.

1. Click New destination domain.

2. Enter the domain name and upload the associated files. The destination domain has to be a subdomain of your own, and a different one from the subdomain you verified as the short-link domain:

• For iOS: a TXT file (no larger than 128 KB) containing data in JSON format.
• For Android: a JSON file (no larger than 128 KB).

The iOS file is accepted in Apple's current format, without the apps array, and in the older format that contains it. A file with a wrong structure is not accepted: the Invalid file structure error appears next to the upload, and the current rules are described in Apple's Supporting associated domains article.

Defining Paths to Open Links in a Browser/App

The paths specified in links allow you to determine where to open them, in a browser or in a mobile app.

The paths in links are processed in the following channels:

• Email
• SMS
• Web Push
• App Inbox

In channels such as Mobile Push and In-App, links to Android apps require special processing settings.

Paths for opening links in Android apps must be added in the association file that you upload to Reteno, as such settings are made in the AndroidManifest.xml file.

Paths for opening links in iOS applications can also be added to the association file, or specified directly in the Reteno settings:

Paths examples

You can use the * symbol instead of the domain name — then the path will work for all destination domains created in your account.

📘

Note

The examples above do not work in the system by default — you must specify similar paths in the association files or in the Reteno settings.

Other features of the functioning of the paths:

• Any other links that do not meet the rules specified in the paths will open in the app.
• An associated file that does not have a path specified cannot be downloaded.
• At least one path must be specified in the account settings.
• The letter u is added to links that open in the application, for example, https://click.example.com/u/jh3kkj3kl.

Domain Activating, Deactivating and Deleting

Only one custom domain can be active. The active URL-shortening domain applies to all senders in the account; separate shortening domains for different senders are not supported. If several are registered in the account, the last one created will be added to the top of the list and activated. You can deactivate a domain and activate any of the listed ones instead.

📘

Note

Links wrapped in the esclick.me domain that were sent earlier will continue to work.

Deactivating or switching away from a custom domain does affect messages that were already sent: links using a domain that's no longer active stop working once you switch to a different one. If you need links in previously sent messages to keep working, keep the original domain active instead of switching to a new one.

To delete a custom domain, click on the three dots opposite its name and choose the corresponding option.

Note that links using this domain in already sent messages will stop working after it is deleted.