Set Up Wordpress E-mail SMTP (Instruction)

If your WordPress is having problems sending or receiving emails, we have the solution for you.

Of course, you can use special third party services like Mandrill instead of the following solution, but these services cost money.

In this article, we will show you a way that doesn't cost you money but is still very effective. Because you simply use your own email address of your hosting package or server. We show you how to set up an SMTP server for sending your WordPress emails.

The problem with WordPress emails

WordPress uses the mail function in PHP to send its internal e-mails. But this is often the problem. Many shared hosting providers have either not configured this function correctly or have deactivated it completely for security reasons. This causes you the problem that your WordPress cannot send the e-mails correctly. For example, new users will not be sent passwords and you will not be informed about new comments on your blog. Of course, you can use a third-party service like Mandrill or Sendgrid. But these services are not free of charge and can be quite expensive for many users or user accounts.

But don't worry, there is a solution to this problem. Because you can use a service you already pay for anyway.

Use one of your own e-mail addresses for WordPress

With every shared hosting package or even your own server, you will also get your own domain with the package and thus the possibility to create your own e-mail addresses. This is quite easy and will fix the WordPress problem. 

The creation of an e-mail address works a little bit differently from every provider, therefore I show here as an example of how it works with hostNET.com in the easyTECC4 administration panel. We strongly recommend using an e-mail address like [email protected].

Create an e-mail address

In the screenshot below, I enter the desired e-mail address, set the password and mail quota (storage space of the mailbox) and click Save Changes. Now I receive the access data and can set up my own e-mail address in WordPress. Important is also the SMTP port for secure login. Normally the port 587 is used. However, this can be another one for you, which you can find out about in your system in the support area or at your hoster.

Important: Write down your login data and the server addresses to be used so that they are not forgotten.

Using your own e-mail address for WordPress, here's how it works

Unfortunately there are two plugins called WP Mail SMTP. Make sure that you download the right one (see screenshot).

First of all, we need a small WordPress plugin called WP Mail SMTP (easy SMTP) to configure the email address. Please download, install and activate it. Then navigate to the plugin's settings under "Settings => EMail" and make settings there according to the following pattern:

Enter the access data

First you have to enter your e-mail address. Afterwards the sender name follows in the field "From Name". The option "Send all WordPress emails from SMTP" must be activated. In the section "SMTP Options" you enter the SMTP host. This is the server address from which emails are sent. The field "Use SSL encryption" must be checked, so that the access data and the transmission is encrypted. At "Authentification" "Yes: Use SMTP authentication" must be checked. Below that, you only have to enter your username and password for the e-mail address and then click on the button "Apply changes".

Check the settings with a test e-mail

Now enter an e-mail address, a subject and a message in the "Send a Test Email" field. Now click on "Send Test". This will generate a test email. When this email arrives, you have done everything correctly and sending emails with your own server is working. If not, you will get an error message.

Troubleshooting for e-mail problems with WordPress

The most common reason that the plugin cannot send e-mails is the wrong input of an SMTP host (server address for sending) or a wrong port. Make sure you are using the correct host and port. If in doubt, check with your hosting provider's support. SSL works with most providers, but sometimes it does not. Then switch to "None" in the "Type of Encryption" field and test again.

This way your WordPress emails will not end up in SPAM

WordPress emails have the stupid habit of regularly ending up in spam. This is due to the fact that regularly an important value is missing, which you first have to deposit with your "domain registrar".

The plugin "Stop WP Emails Going to Spam" helps you with this.

The plugin shows you the value that you have to deposit with your domain registrar. With Dr. Web it looks something like this:

SPF Record Current record SPF record for drweb.de:

v=spf1 +a +mx ?all +ip4:12.34.56.789

To do this, go to the backend of your domain registrar and add the value that the plugin spits out to the TXT records

And there you go, once these values are propagated (which can take 1-2 hours or more), the WordPress emails will no longer end up in spam.

Conclusion

With a little consideration and without further costs we have solved the problem and our WordPress now reliably sends the important e-mails. Because the faulty sending via the PHP mail function was bypassed and the e-mails are now sent directly via your hosting provider.