WordPress website not receiving inquiry emails? Post SMTP Plugin setup tutorial

UseWordPress Website BuildingAfterwards, the website cannot receive emails, especially for foreign trade websites. If you don't receive inquiry email notifications and have to check the website backend each time, or if you don't receive user messages, it greatly affects website conversion. This issue occurs because WordPress's email sending system is not working properly.

Principle Analysis

Why can't WordPress receive emails?This starts with WordPress's email sending process.

WordPress itself cannot send emails; it requires the server to have a mail system.

For general shared hosting, such asSiteGround、GreenGeeks、HostingerThis type of shared hosting typically has a mail system installed on the server by default (you can think of it as a program), and WordPress's default email sending function calls the system's built-in mail system.

For those of us who use VPS to build websites, the website environment we install (for example,Baota Panel) does not have a mail system installed by default. So, at this point, we need to use an external email account to send emails, usually via SMTP.

Can I install a mail system on my own server?

The answer is yes, but this method is not recommended.

Due to spam issues, many server providers block email ports by default, and you need to apply separately to open them; most importantly, self-built mail systems are unstable, and sent emails are easily intercepted.

Using SMTP for email delivery has a higher accuracy rate than the server's built-in mail system.

Solution

To solve the issue of WordPress sending emails normally, we just need to configure an SMTP sending plugin. Previously, the article „Recommended WordPress SMTP Email Plugins I Have Used" introduced several. This article will provide aPost SMTP Plugin Setup Tutorial。

Post SMTP Plugin Setup Tutorial

First, we can search for Post SMTP in the WordPress Admin Dashboard to install the plugin.

Many WordPress Theme demos may come with the WPForms inquiry/contact form plugin, and the recommended SMTP plugin is WP Mail SMTP by WPForms. However, to view sending logs with this plugin, you need to pay. Post SMTP allows you to view sending logs for free, which is a very useful feature, so it is recommended to prioritize using Post SMTP.

After installation and activation, you can find the Post SMTP settings entry in the left menu bar.

Click the 'Start the Wizard' button to begin account setup.

Then, enter the email account you want to use to send emails.

If you have a B2B website, it is recommended to use a Gmail account directly for higher stability.

If you have a B2C website, because it also involves the website sending emails to customers, using a business email gives a better impression, but you need to enable the SMTP function in your business email first.

Here, we will configure using a Gmail account.

Fill in the SMTP server address.

Since we filled in a Gmail email address, it automatically recognized Google's SMTP address. If using another email service, ensure the address here is entered correctly.

Select the email sending method, then click Next.

For Gmail, it is recommended to use port 587 and OAuth 2.0 for authentication.

Go to Google to create authentication credentials.

Click the button below to go to the Google API Console to create credentials.

Google API Console

Google has been redesigned, so the interface differs from the tutorial below. Find the location shown in the image below to create it. If you really can't figure it out, contact Naiba for help.

First-time access requires agreeing to the terms of service.

Go to the Credentials page.

Select Gmail API, User Data, then click Next.

Fill in the application information.

Enter any name for the application, and use your own Gmail address for the email address.

Configure OAuth information.

Here you need to enter two URLs. Copy the two URLs provided by the Post SMTP Plugin, then click Create.

Creation completed.

Click to edit the OAuth 2.0 client.

Copy the Client ID and Client Secret and fill them into the Post SMTP Plugin settings.

After filling them in, simply proceed to the next step in the Post SMTP Plugin until completion.

Publish the application.

Then, on the Post SMTP Plugin page, click 'Grant permission with Google' to authorize.

You can directly ignore the security warning and continue.

Check the permissions, then continue.

At this point, the entire configuration is complete. You can click 'Send a test email' on the Post SMTP interface to send a test email.

If the email is received, then send a test inquiry to see if it can be received.

If everything is normal, our WordPress SMTP email sending setup is complete. If emails are not received, first check the email logs in the Post SMTP Plugin to see if they were sent. If sent successfully, they likely went to the spam folder. If sending failed, analyze the logs to identify the issue, check, reconfigure, and test again.