WP Mail SMTP is a useful plugin that reconfigures the wp_mail() function to use SMTP instead of the default PHP mail() function. WP Mail SMTP is usually preinstalled.
WP Mail SMTP
An significant number of server-generated emails sent by the default PHP mail() function are misinterpreted as spam and wind up undelivered. Having a mail server handling these emails via SMTP can solve this problem.
WP Mail SMTP simplifies this process by providing a panel for your SMTP settings.
Activation
WP Mail SMTP is deactivated by default, but you can easily activate it at Plugins > Installed Plugins by clicking Activate under the plugin name, as shown below:
Options Setup
Once activated, an options page for the plugin is created at Settings > Email. This page allows you to manage the following settings:
- Specify the from name and email address for outgoing email.
- Choose to send mail by SMTP or PHP’s mail() function.
- Choose whether the return path matches the from email address.
- Specify an SMTP host (defaults to localhost).
- Specify an SMTP port (defaults to 25).
- Choose SSL / TLS encryption (not the same as STARTTLS).
- Choose to use SMTP authentication or not (defaults to not).
- Specify an SMTP username and password.
If SMTP authentication is used, you’ll need to specify your SMTP credentials.