The Problem:

Your WordPress site is set up to send emails for things like verification when you forget your password and also for contact form emails.  By default, these messages are sent using PHP, which is something that can cause problems with spam filters and can be blocked from going through at all.

Fortunately there is a way to change the WordPress email-sending protocol to something called SMTP, which does not have the problems associated with mail sent via PHP.

And about the email you choose for your main website admin messages, it’s always best to use a matching domain email (info@redspiralhand.com is one example), the following solution also seems to work fine with Gmail, too.

The Solution: WP Mail SMTP Plugin

We have been using the plugin WP Mail SMTP on our WordPress websites to assure reliable delivery of site-generated emails.  If you are familiar with installing and configuring plugins, here are directions so you can do it yourself:

1. Log into your website and go to Plugins > Add New
2. Search for the WP Mail SMTP plugin and click Install Now
3. Then click Activate
4. In the left sidebar menu of your dashboard, go to WP Mail SMTP > Settings

Setting Up WP Mail SMTP

1. On the main settings page, scroll down to the Primary Connection area From Email and fill in the admin email for your website (this is the same email used for the main site Settings > General)
2. Scroll down to the WP Mail SMTP Settings area and enter that same email address again as well as the From Name associated with the address (in this case the business name).
3. In the Mailer area, choose the last option Other SMTP.
   
4. Scroll down to the Other SMTP area…this is where things get a little more technical and you may need some info from your web hosting company.
5. Fill in your SMTP Host.  Generally this is mail.yourdomain.com (I’ve used RedSpiralHand as an example)
6. Under Encryption choose TLS which is the recommended option.
7. Fill in SMTP Port (you will need to get this from your mail/web hosting provider)
8. Authentication should be ON.
9. Fill in the Username (same email again) and Password for your email account.
   
10. Click the orange Save Settings button at the bottom of the page.

Testing Your SMTP Settings

Before calling it a day you will want to test your SMTP settings first.

1. On the left sidebar menu in your WordPress dashboard go to WP Mail SMTP > Tools to go to the test email page.
2. In the Send To area enter the email address (a different one) you wish to send the test message to.
3. Click the orange Send Email button.  You should receive the email at the provided address.  If you do not, check back on this page for any error messages.

Need help getting your WordPress email up and running again?

Send us a message!  We’re happy to help.