For our customers building their Hub or their client/customer websites hosted in the Dollie Cloud, ensuring reliable email communication with customers is essential. Configuring your Hub or hosted websites to send emails via SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) enhances email deliverability. This guide will walk you through setting up SMTP on your Dollie Hub WordPress website and any client/customer sites hosted on the Dollie Cloud.

||| Warning - If you do not implement your own SMTP email delivery, our default fallback email is used. To prevent abuse the maximum amount of emails that can be sent out is limited to 5 emails per minute. So we strongly recommend you always follow this guide as soon as you go live with either your Hub or a client site.

Prerequisites

• Access to your Dollie Hub WordPress admin area or the admin area of your client/customer sites.
• An SMTP service provider (like Gmail, SendGrid, Mailgun, etc.).
• SMTP server details including host, port, username, and password.

Step 1: Choose an SMTP Plugin

1. Log into WordPress Dashboard: Sign into your Dollie Hub site or client site’s WordPress admin area.
2. Install an SMTP Plugin: Navigate to ‘Plugins’ > ‘Add New’. Search for a reliable SMTP plugin like ‘WP Mail SMTP’, ‘Easy WP SMTP’, or similar. Install and activate your chosen plugin.

Step 2: Configure SMTP Settings

1. Open Plugin Settings: Go to the settings page of the installed SMTP plugin.
2. Enter SMTP Details: Fill in the SMTP settings provided by your email service. This typically includes:
   • SMTP Host (e.g., smtp.gmail.com for Gmail)
   • SMTP Port (e.g., 587 for TLS or 465 for SSL)
   • Encryption (usually TLS or SSL)
   • Authentication (enable it)
   • Username (your email address)
   • Password (your email password or an app-specific password)

Step 3: Authenticate Your Email

1. Authenticate with Your Email Provider: Some email services like Gmail may require additional steps for authentication, such as creating an app-specific password or enabling less secure apps.

Step 4: Test Email Functionality

1. Send a Test Email: Most SMTP plugins offer a feature to send a test email. Use this to verify that your SMTP settings are correctly configured.
2. Check Test Email Receipt: Ensure the test email is received in the inbox and not in the spam or junk folder.

Step 5: Integration with WooCommerce or Other Plugins

1. Configure WooCommerce Email Settings: If you’re using WooCommerce, navigate to WooCommerce > Settings > Emails. Ensure that the "From" email address matches the one used in your SMTP settings.
2. Test Transactional Emails: Perform a test transaction to ensure that emails like order confirmations are sent successfully to customers.

Conclusion

Setting up SMTP for your Dollie Hub website or client/customer sites ensures reliable and professional email communication with your customers. This setup is crucial for transactional emails in eCommerce platforms like WooCommerce, enhancing your business's efficiency and customer satisfaction.

For further assistance or specific configuration queries, please contact our support team or refer to the documentation of your chosen SMTP service and plugin.