Under **Administration › Settings** you maintain the basic settings of your company: the portal name, your address for PDF documents, legal documents as PDF, the next credit note number, default alcohol tax rates, the sender of your e-mails and – if you want – your own SMTP mail server.

The page only stores **your** values. Every field you leave empty uses the X-Sitter default, which is shown as a placeholder. If you empty a field again, it switches back to the default.

![Screenshot: Settings page with the section menu on the left (General settings, Emails) and the fields of the "Global" section on the right](/administration/images/settings-overview.png)

## Before you start

- Your user needs the permission **Settings (company)** in the **Administration** area of the permissions tree. Ask your administrator.

## Step by step

1. Open **Administration › Settings** (*Administration › Einstellungen*). Your company name is shown next to the title.
2. Choose a section in the menu on the left, e.g. **Global** or **SMTP**.
3. Enter your own values. Each field shows a badge:
   - **Default active** (*Standard aktiv*) – no own value, the X-Sitter default applies,
   - **Custom value** (*Eigener Wert*) – your own value is used.
4. Click **Show X-Sitter default** (*Standard von X-Sitter anzeigen*) below a field to see the default.
5. To go back to the default, empty the field or tick **Remove custom value – use default** (*Eigenen Wert entfernen – Standard verwenden*).
6. Click **Save** (*Speichern*). You see "The settings have been saved" – or "Nothing was changed".

![Screenshot: A settings field with the "Custom value" badge, the expanded "Show X-Sitter default" area and the reset checkbox](/administration/images/settings-field-badges.png)

## Sections and fields

Which sections you see depends on your setup. The menu is split into **General settings** (*Grundeinstellungen*) and **Emails** (*E-Mails*).

| Section | Fields | Default from X-Sitter? |
|---|---|---|
| **Global** | **Portal name** – the name of your portal, used e.g. in e-mails. **PDF address** – your address block for PDF documents. | Portal name: yes. PDF address: no – only your own value is used. |
| **PDF attachments** (*PDF Anhänge*) | Upload your legal documents as PDF: terms and conditions (*AGB*), cancellation policy (*Widerrufsbelehrung*), privacy policy (*Datenschutzbestimmung*), battery regulation notice (*Batterieverordnung*). Use **Choose file** (*Datei wählen*); **Open in new tab** shows the current file. | No – your documents never get X-Sitter's files. |
| **Number ranges** (*Nummernkreise*) | **Credit note number** (*Gutschrift Nummer*) – the next number for credit notes. | No – each company counts its own numbers, so no number is used twice. |
| **Alcohol tax** (*Alkoholsteuer*) | Default tax rate in € per litre of pure alcohol for each alcohol code: S200 spirits, S300 ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin, S400 partially denatured alcohol, S500 fully denatured alcohol, I000 intermediate products, W200 still wine, W300 sparkling wine, B000 beer, and the rate for alcopops. A rate stored on the article always takes priority; empty = 0. | Yes, per field. |
| **Email - sending** (*E-Mail - versenden*) | **Sender name**, **Sender email**, **E-mail header HTML**, **E-mail footer HTML** – used for the e-mails X-Sitter sends for you. | Yes, per field. |
| **SMTP** | **Server**, **User** (*Benutzer*), **Password** (*Passwort*), **Port**, **Encryption** (*Verschlüsselung*: SSL or TLS), **Sender name** (*Absender Name*). | Only as a whole – see below. |

The alcohol tax rates are used by the [alcohol tax ledger](/stock/alcohol-tax-ledger.md). Header, footer and sender apply to the e-mails from your [e-mail templates](/automation/email-templates.md).

![Screenshot: Alcohol tax section with the rate fields per alcohol code, some showing "Default active"](/administration/images/settings-alcohol-tax.png)

## Using your own SMTP server

Without your own SMTP server, X-Sitter sends your e-mails through its own mail server. If you enter your own server, **only** your SMTP settings are used – nothing is taken from the X-Sitter defaults. So enter server, user and password completely.

1. Open the section **SMTP**.
2. Enter **Server**, **User**, **Password**, **Port** (e.g. 587) and choose **Encryption**.
3. Optionally enter a **Sender name**.
4. Click **Save**.

As long as X-Sitter's mail server is used, your e-mails are sent from the X-Sitter system address and your **Sender email** is set as the reply-to address, so answers still reach you.

Passwords are never shown again after saving. The field says "saved – leave empty to keep it" (*gespeichert – leer lassen, um es zu behalten*). Only enter a new password if you want to change it.

![Screenshot: SMTP section with server, user, password (saved placeholder), port and the SSL/TLS encryption options](/administration/images/settings-smtp.png)

## Good to know / Troubleshooting

| Message / situation | Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| "Nothing was changed" (*Es wurde nichts geändert*) | You saved without changing a value. | – |
| "There are no settings in this section." | The section has no fields for your setup. | Choose another section. |
| E-mails are not sent after entering your own SMTP server | Server, user or password incomplete or wrong. | Complete the SMTP data, or empty all SMTP fields to use the X-Sitter mail server again. |
| "Unauthorized access" (*Unbefugter Zugang*) | The permission is missing. | Ask your administrator. |