… GMail has been gradually tightening up rules for sending mail.
Actually, if I was actually making a living from my website, I’d already be dead.
GMail has (properly) tightened up its standards to thwart spam. For a while, I have suffered because sometimes my messages would get through, sometimes not. (I was using the standard WordPress mailer.) But there was a period of time when no messages were going through. I don’t get a lot of mail, so I didn’t realize it.
I would take a stab at it, and get nebulous advice to set up DKIM, or SPF or some such malarkey. I did try a few of these but it was really beyond my willingness to farble around. Over time, I stopped receiving mail about comments, etc.
I finally created a site where I cared about email delivery, and realized that I had to address the problem. I installed and configured a SMTP plugin in WordPress that does all the donkey work to meet Google’s strict requirements by actually generating all the required credentials.
Solution: I chose WP Mail SMTP mostly because it was the first hit and its relative ease of setup. I also chose Brevo as my "SMTP Mailer" because you don’t need a credit card if you handle fewer than 300 messages a month. (I already mentioned that I don’t get out much…).
Setup is complicated, but does work. I’m writing these key points here so I remember the process next time I need it:
- Install WP Mail SMTP on your WordPress system and activate it
- It has a very good setup wizard. Follow it.
- It requires a "SMTP Mailer" to relay your messages. As noted above, I chose Brevo because low volumes of mail (less than 300 messages/month) are free.
- Sign onto Brevo (creating an account if necessary) and go to the SMTP & API page and Generate a new API Key
- Fill in the WP Mail SMTP wizard
- API Key copy/pasted from the Brevo page
- Sending Domain is your site’s domain
- From name and Email are usually set correctly, but change if you like
- Save and Continue…
- The next page entices you to get the “Pro” options. I just Save and Continue… without changes
- The next page asks you to provide your email to receive advice. I just Save and Continue without changes
- The next page asks you to enter your Pro license. I just Skip this Step
- Generally, this gives a “Congratulations!” page. If there is a problem, look at the error logs.
- There are two more steps on the Brevo end that aren't well-covered:
- Setting up the DNS records (DKIM, SPF, DMARC, etc.) Go to the Senders, Domains, & Dedicated IPs page, and click Add a Domain. Use Authenticate the domain automatically, and you’ll be prompted for the credentials for your domain’s DNS registrar. The Brevo site automatically creates the necessary records. There are a couple authentication steps, and couple minutes of grinding away, but ultimately you should see a page saying your domain is authenticated. (It may take a while before the Brevo and your DNS values match. They will, after a while.)
- Setting up the host's IP address Brevo rejects incoming messages unless they are sent from an address in the Authorized IPs page. Click Add Authorized IP Address…
- The final step: Go back to WP Mail SMTP setup, choose Tools (it’s in the menu) and click Email Test. You should get a test email.
