Setting Up the Other SMTP Mailer

In this tutorial, we’ll cover how to use the Other SMTP mailer with Easy WP SMTP.

  1. Configuring Easy WP SMTP Settings
    1. SMTP Configurations for Specific Email Providers
      1. Generating an App Password
        1. Troubleshooting

          1. Configuring Easy WP SMTP Settings

          With the Other SMTP mailer, you can send emails using the standard SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) from any email address, making it easier to configure than other mailers.

          To begin the setup process, go to Easy WP SMTP » Settings in the WordPress dashboard.

          easy-wp-smtp-settings

          In the next steps, we’ll go through each of the settings located on this page.

          Mailer Settings

          Select the Other SMTP option from the list of available mailers. Once you choose Other SMTP, more settings related to this mailer will appear.

          Other SMTP option in Easy WP SMTP settings

          SMTP Host

          The outgoing server listed in your email provider’s SMTP settings.

          Other mailer SMTP Host

          Type of Encryption

          The type of encryption used for the SMTP connection (None, SSL, or TLS).

          Other mailer type of encryption

          SMTP Port

          The port your provider uses for SMTP connections.

          Other mailer SMTP port

          Auto TLS

          This setting is only available if Type of Encryption is set to SSL. TLS encryption is recommended and automatically enabled if the server supports it.

          Other mailer Auto TLS option

          SMTP Authentication

          Turns mail server authentication on or off. Most providers require it to be on.

          Other mailer SMTP authentication

          SMTP Username

          The username to log in to your mail server.

          Other mailer SMTP username

          SMTP Password

          The password to log in to your mail server. The password will be encrypted in the database.

          Other mailer SMTP password

          General Settings

          From Email Address

          This is the email address that emails are sent from.

          Note: Make sure to enter the email address you will be using to send SMTP emails (this would be the email address associated with your Yahoo account, Gmail account, etc.).

          We also strongly recommend enabling the Force From Email toggle. If enabled, your From Email will be used for all emails sent from your site, ignoring values set by other plugins.

          From email address

          From Name

          The From Name is the name that appears in the emails sent from your site, letting the recipient know who sent the email. By default, the From Name is set to your site’s name. However, you can change the name to whatever you’d like.

          Similarly, you can enable the Force From Name toggle to apply the settings site-wide.

          from name

          When you’re done with the configuration, be sure to click the Save Settings button to save your settings.

          save settings

          2. SMTP Configurations for Specific Email Providers

          If you’re unsure about the required SMTP settings for your email provider, we have listed SMTP configurations for popular email providers below. It’s important to note that each provider may have slightly different SMTP configurations.

          SendLayer SMTP Settings

          • SMTP Host: smtp.sendlayer.net
          • Type of Encryption: TLS
          • SMTP Port: 587
          • SMTP Authentication: On
          • SMTP Username: Generated when you authorize your domain
          • SMTP Password: Generated when you authorize your domain

          Gmail or Google Workspace SMTP Settings

          • SMTP Host: smtp.gmail.com
          • Type of Encryption: TLS
          • SMTP Port: 587 (or 465 using SSL encryption)
          • SMTP Authentication: On
          • SMTP Username: Your Gmail account email address (e.g., [email protected])
          • SMTP Password: You will need to generate an app password in Google

          Hotmail or Live SMTP Settings

          • SMTP Host: smtp.office365.com
          • Type of Encryption: TLS
          • SMTP Port: 587
          • SMTP Authentication: On
          • SMTP Username: Your Hotmail account email (e.g., [email protected])
          • SMTP Password: You will need to generate an app password for your account

          Yahoo Mail SMTP Settings

          • SMTP Host: smtp.mail.yahoo.com
          • Type of Encryption: SSL
          • SMTP Port: 465
          • SMTP Authentication: On
          • SMTP Username: Your Yahoo Mail account email (e.g., [email protected])
          • SMTP Password: You will need to generate an app password for your account

          Yahoo Business (Verizon Small Business Essentials) SMTP Settings

          • SMTP Host: smtp.bizmail.yahoo.com
          • Type of Encryption: SSL
          • SMTP Port: 465
          • SMTP Authentication: On
          • SMTP Username: Your Yahoo Business email address
          • SMTP Password: You will need to generate an app password for your account

          AOL SMTP Settings

          • SMTP Host: smtp.aol.com
          • Type of Encryption: TLS
          • SMTP Port: 587
          • SMTP Authentication: On
          • SMTP Username: Your AOL screen name
          • SMTP Password: You will need to generate an app password for your account

          Zoho Mail SMTP Settings

          Zoho offers two types of email addresses: free accounts (i.e., [email protected]) and domain-based accounts (i.e., [email protected]). Each type of email requires different SMTP settings. We’ve shared both sets below.

          Emails @zoho.com

          • SMTP Host: smtp.zoho.com
          • Type of Encryption: TLS
          • SMTP Port: 587 (or 465 using SSL encryption)
          • SMTP Authentication: On
          • SMTP Username: Your Zoho Mail account email (e.g. [email protected])
          • SMTP Password: You will need to generate an app password for your account

          Emails @yourdomain.com

          • SMTP Host: smtppro.zoho.com
          • Type of Encryption: TLS
          • SMTP Port: 587 (or 465 using SSL encryption)
          • SMTP Authentication: On
          • SMTP Username: Your domain-based email (e.g. [email protected])
          • SMTP Password: You will need to generate an app password for your account

          3. Generating an App Password

          In order to use SMTP on your WordPress site, you’ll likely need to create an app password within your email account. Below, we’ll show you how to do this for Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, Outlook (including Hotmail and Live), and Zoho.

          Gmail or Google Workspace

          Note: Before generating an app password in Gmail, you’ll need to turn on Google’s 2-Step Verification.

          To get started, log in to your Gmail or Google Workspace account.

          From your account dashboard, go to App passwords in your security settings and click the Select app dropdown.

          Google App password

          Next, select the Other (Custom name) option from the dropdown menu.

          Selecting Other in Google App passwords

          Then, enter Easy WP SMTP in the field provided and click the blue GENERATE button.

          Adding name for App password

          This will generate an app password that you can use for your Easy WP SMTP setup.

          Generated App password

          Copy the app password, go back to your WordPress dashboard, paste the password into the SMTP Password field, and save the settings.

          SMTP Password in Easy WP SMTP settings

          Note: Sometimes, Gmail may automatically block the sign-in used by SMTP for security reasons, even when using an app password. When this happens, an email will be sent to your recovery email address with a sign-in attempt warning (see below).

          To remove this blocker, you’ll need to click the Check Activity button in the email (or visit your account’s Notifications page) and follow the instructions provided to let Google know this was a legitimate login attempt.

          Google-check-activity

          Yahoo

          Note: For Yahoo Business (Verizon Small Business Essentials), please see the official documentation on managing app passwords for steps on finding the proper settings for generating your app password. Then you can follow the rest of the steps below.

          First, log in to your Yahoo account and open your account’s security settings.

          Next, click Generate app password to generate a unique password for your Easy WP SMTP integration.

          Generate app password for Yahoo

          Then, enter Easy WP SMTP in the field provided.

          Generate password button

          Yahoo will generate a one-time password that you can use for your Easy WP SMTP setup.

          Copy the app password, go back to your WordPress dashboard, paste the password into the SMTP Password field, and save the settings.

          SMTP Password field in Easy WP SMTP settings

          AOL

          First, log in to your AOL account and open your security settings.

          Then, click on Generate app password to create a one-time password.

          Generate app password in AOL

          An overlay will appear where you’ll need to enter Easy WP SMTP in the field provided.

          Generate password button

          AOL will then generate a one-time password for you to use with your Easy WP SMTP setup.

          Copy the app password, go back to your WordPress dashboard, paste the password into the SMTP Password field, and save the settings.

          SMTP Password field in Easy WP SMTP settings

          Outlook (Including Live and Hotmail)

          To create an app password in Outlook (including Live and Hotmail accounts), log in to your account and open your account’s security settings.

          Then, click Advanced Security Options.

          Advanced security options in Outlook

          Next, you’ll need to activate 2-Factor Authentication (2FA) for your account, if you haven’t already.

          Once you’ve enabled 2FA for your account, you’ll return to the Security page, where you’ll need to generate an app password to use with Easy WP SMTP.

          To generate the password, scroll to the App passwords section and click Create a new app password.

          Create a new app password in Outlook

          This will create a unique password you can use for your Easy WP SMTP setup.

          Generated app password in Outlook

          Copy the app password, go back to your WordPress dashboard, paste the password into the SMTP Password field, and save the settings.

          Zoho

          First, log in to your Zoho account and open your account’s security settings.

          Next, scroll to the Application-Specific Passwords section and click the Generate New Password button.

          Generate a new password button in Zoho

          In the Enter app name field, enter Easy WP SMTP, then click the Generate button.

          App name field in Zoho

          This will create a unique password you can use for your Easy WP SMTP setup.

          Generated app password in Zoho

          Copy the app password, go back to your WordPress dashboard, paste the password into the SMTP Password field, and save the settings.

          4. Troubleshooting

          Are you receiving the following error? SMTP Error: Could not authenticate

          In the following section, we’ll cover what can cause this issue and how to fix it.

          Incorrect SMTP Username and Password

          In your Easy WP SMTP settings, double-check to make sure your SMTP Username and SMTP Password are correct.

          For Gmail, Outlook (including Hotmail and Live), Yahoo, Yahoo Business, AOL, and Zoho require app-specific passwords. Please refer to the Generating an App Password section to learn how to generate passwords for each provider.

          That’s it! You’ve now successfully set up the Other SMTP mailer with Easy WP SMTP.