Introduction
When you author website sends emails including admin emails, contact form messages, login resets and other notifications it is important they reach their destination.
WordPress does a lot of things well but delivering email is not one of them.
WordPress uses wp_mail, a piece of PHP code, to send emails but it’s unreliable making it hit or miss if it gets sent let alone delivered.
In this lesson I’ll show you how to install and configure the FluentSMTP plugin to make sure those all important website emails get where they are meant to go.
FluentSMTP is easy to use and comes packed with features.
- Support for multiple email service providers
- Email logging and error tracking
- SMTP authentication and email throttling
- Integration with popular WordPress form plugins including FluentForms, Gravity Forms, Contact Form 7, and Ninja Forms
- Detailed email metrics and reporting
FluentSMTP is free and well supported.
Install FluentSMTP
Let’s install the plugin
- Log in to your WordPress website’s admin dashboard.
- Navigate to the “Plugins” section in the sidebar.
- Click on the “Add New” button at the top of the page.
- In the search bar, type ‘FluentSMTP’
- Choose ‘FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP, Amazon SES, SendGrid, MailGun and Any SMTP Connector Plugin’ from the search results, and click the “Install Now” button next to it.
- WordPress will then download and install the plugin for you.
- Once the installation is complete, click on the “Activate” button.
- From the sidebar go to Settings > FluentSMTP
Configure Your Email Service Provider Connection
In FluentSMTP’s welcome screen it asks which provider to use to deliver the website’s email.
Some of the named services in the welcome including SendGrid, offer up to 100 email sends a day for free if you’d like to use a dedicated email service just to send website emails.
Most regular email providers offer an SMTP service as part of your account.
I’m going to select Other SMTP and show how to set up FluentSMTP using an account from MXRoute my regular email service provider.
Sender Settings
- From Email. I’ll use dirk at dirkvolcano dot com
- From Name. I’ll use Dirk Volcano | Author. It’s a quick way to jog the recipient’s memory when they see the name and role in their inbox.
- Force From Email is Checked. We always want emails from this site to be sent from the same address.
- ‘Set the return path to match the from email’ is Checked. This will send non-delivery receipts or bounces back to the sending email address we set in the from email.
- Force Sender Name. Checked. We want all emails sent from this website to be from Dirk Volcano | Author. This prevents other plugins from changing the from name. One example would be WooCommerce. If you installed a WooCommerce online shop on this site it may try to change the from name on emails that it sends from the site.
SMTP Settings
SMTP stands for simple mail transfer protocol. It’s an internet standard communication protocol that’s been responsible for moving emails between mail servers since 1980. It is WAAAAY beyond the scope of this course to go into the details of SMTP.
The main thing to know about SMTP is it’s so mature and globally distributed that once we’ve configured the settings on the FluentSMTP plugin it is going to communicate with your mail service and get your emails where they need to go.
- SMTP HOST. Your email service should provide you with the address of the SMTP server used by your account. This information usually comes in a welcome email when you sign up for a service or can be seen under account settings. If you’re not sure, contact your email provider’s support channel. MOOSEND and SOME other email marketing services also provide a SMTP service. I don’t recommend using an email marketing service for your SMTP services. They usually include an ‘unsubscribe’ link at the bottom of all website emails sent through them which may cause confusion. For this example I am using the SMTP service provided by my preferred email provider MXRoute.
- SMTP PORT. Most SMTP servers communicate over port 465 but check with your provider. I’ll add 465 as the port to communicate with my SMTP Host.
- ENCRYPTION. It’s vital that messages from your website are sent securely to your SMTP server. This prevents them being intercepted and adjusted for malicious purposes. If your email provider doesn’t offer secure SMTP communications I recommend getting a new provider. MXRoute uses a secure sockets layer or SSL encryption so I’ll tick that. Check with your email service provider which setting you should use.
- USE AUTO TLS. This is Enabled. If both servers can use transport layer security (TLS) they will. If one or none of them use TLS the email will not fail to send. Use this as WELL AS the previous SSL or TLS setting.
- AUTHENTICATION. Again, if your email provider DOES NOT require you to use authentication to use their SMTP service then get a different provider. Most, like MXRoute, require the account name, usually the full email address, and password to send email through the service. I’ll add those now, store the access key in the database and click ‘Save Connection Settings,’
- Your browser MAY offer to save these username and password details but click cancel and ignore.
Email test
Let’s test the connection we just set up.
- Go to Email test on the plugin’s top navigation bar
- Select the from address we just configured from the drop down box
- Enter a send to address you have access to
- Enable an HTML email
- Click send test email
If you’ve followed all the steps correctly and your SMTP host is active you’ll get a success message and a copy of the test email in your inbox. If you run into any problems check the FluentSMTP logs available from the plugin’s top navigation bar.
When you’re happy the plugin is configured correctly go back to the plugin’s settings and uncheck the option to ‘LOG ALL EMAILS FOR REPORTING.’ I only enable this if I need to do any trouble shooting.
Save settings and the website is now configured to reliably send email notifications from the core platform and from other plugins that require an SMTP connection.
Summary
An author’s website is the hub of their online presence and that will generate emails. The website will send notifications on upgrades and health status. Contact forms, which we will set up later, open up communications with readers asking questions, providing feedback and looking for ways to support your career.
Installing FluentSMTP and connecting it to a dependable SMTP service ensures those emails get to where they need to go.
